[Feature Request] Downloading Google's Office Documents locally

Discuss new features and functions
Posts: 1
Joined: 3 Oct 2025

cloudstudio

Hi longtime user, first time poster. My thanks for creating and maintaining FFS.

Currently I use FFS to keep a few folders in sync between my Local & GDrive. The main problem I've been facing has been with syncing Google Docs/Sheets/Slides files locally. Currently FFS shows them as binary files without any extension with no way to open them locally. I have to exclude them all-together, but in that situation I hate to think that those files only exist on GDrive.

What I propose is to download GDocs → .docx , GSheets → .xlsx & GSlides → .pptx.

This is feature is already implemented by other oss like `rc`, so the implementation can be inspired from there. It would be awesome to have this feature in FFS.

Thanks.
Posts: 2
Joined: 11 Oct 2025

krmanr

FYI, I have experienced errors with syncing any "gdoc" file.
Posts: 5
Joined: 4 Dec 2025

Aimdezilaere

Same issue here, and same longing - I have a lot of documentation in GDocs and GSheets 😬
Posts: 1222
Joined: 8 May 2006

therube

(I have no knowledge of gdrive...)

Are the files within the GDocs, GSheets & GSlides "directories" solely .docx, .xlsx & .pptx. files?
(Or are you apt to have any general file type in said directories?)

If the former, could you run a post sync command that renames any files in the G directories that do not have an extension, to .docx... (as appropriate per directory)?
Posts: 5
Joined: 4 Dec 2025

Aimdezilaere

Are the files within the GDocs, GSheets & GSlides "directories" solely .docx, .xlsx & .pptx. files?
(Or are you apt to have any general file type in said directories?) therube, 05 Dec 2025, 17:15
No, its a seperate fileformat, you cant rename a .gdoc to .docx
User avatar
Site Admin
Posts: 7523
Joined: 9 Dec 2007

Zenju

The only way to get Google-specific file formats off of Google Drive is to convert them into different formats (as you suggested). Problem is, this isn't really a "synchronization" operation...