Though you can work in Google’s offline mode (after following a series of steps), you can’t normally access the platform when Google’s servers are in chaos or when you lack Internet. Or Google’s servers go down right before your huge AM presentation? You access your docs online, you write and edit in-browser, and your documents are saved to your online Google Drive cloud.īut what happens when your internet goes out thanks to a big thunderstorm? … But free comes with limitations and a lack of control Our winner: You can’t beat free - Google takes the cake here. Most of these packages include the desktop versions of all the Office apps and online access for their web-based counterparts.
You have to purchase the entire Microsoft 365 software package just to receive a full version of Word. Our winner: You can access the full version of Google Docs, with all its features, from any browser. The Word app comes pre-installed on Windows Phone devices and as a free (very bare) app for iOS and Android.
The Google Docs app is available for both iOS and Android devices-but not on Windows-based phones like BlackBerry. Unlike Microsoft Word, which can only be installed on Windows and OS X computers, you can use Google Docs from any computer and browser, including: Simply log in to your Google account from any browser and head over to. You don’t have to download any software or purchase a suite of programs you don’t want/need to use it. It offers a more streamlined experience though it leaves others wanting more.įor instance, Word Online isn’t able to handle large or more complex documents and users find it clunkier to work around these bugs than using their regular Word program from the start.Īs an internet-based company, Google Docs started out as a cross-platform word processor that works entirely online. Select ribbons and toolbars were removed from the online version to help it load and run faster. Though Word Online boasts enough features for casual users, it is not the full version of Word by any means. It wasn’t until 2010 that Microsoft finally launched Word Online as part of its Microsoft 365 package.
So if you install Word on your desktop, you’ll need to bump up your plan to get a copy for your laptop, which can get pricey. Once you purchase this suite, you can only install Word on a select number of computers, depending on the plan level you choose. It comes as part of the Microsoft 365 package (formerly called Office 365), which includes other programs like Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, and Access. You cannot purchase Microsoft Word as a standalone program. Here, we’re going with the “Simple Text Box” option.How to use and access Microsoft Word and Google Docs On the drop-down menu, choose the type of the text box you want. To insert a text box, switch to the “Insert” tab and click the “Text Box” button. Go ahead and get your image or other illustration inserted first. This technique is handy when you want to use anything other than regular paragraph text. You can drag it around and have it show up in front of another object like an image. When you create a text box, it works like any other illustration object. There’s also another way to get text to appear in front of a picture or other object-a text box.
RELATED: How to Position Images and Other Objects in Microsoft WordĪt any rate, now that you’ve got that “Behind Text” option enabled, all your regular paragraph text appears in front of your object. It can be a little confusing how this works, but we’ve got a guide on positioning images and other objects in Word if you want to learn more. The “Fix position on page” option keeps your graphic in the same place on the page as you add or delete text. The “Move with text” option allows your graphic to move on the page as you add or delete text. Notice that when you select “Behind Text,” two more options become available. Once you do, any text on the Word document that got moved around when inserting the image will go back to its original position. Select the “Behind Text” button under the “With Text Wrapping” section. Go ahead and click that to pop up a small list of layout options.