Text Editor Help

Text Editor opens text and code files straight from your computer. No upload and no sign-up; the file is read right in your browser.

How to open a file

• Open from your computer. On the start page, click Open File From Computer and pick a file from your device, or use File > Open > From Computer (Ctrl+O). The file loads into the editor right away.
• Drag and drop. Drag a file from your desktop or a folder window onto the editor to open it.
• Recent files. The start page lists files you opened recently; click one to pick up where you left off. The same list lives under File > Open, with a Clear recents option at the bottom, and the start page also offers a "Pick up where you left off" card for the file you edited last.
• Start from scratch. Choose File > New to begin a new, empty document.

What you can open

Text Editor opens plain-text and code files in many formats: TXT, Markdown, CSV/TSV, JSON, XML, HTML, CSS, SVG, LaTeX, RTF, JavaScript, Python, Java, C/C++, and many more. It detects the language from the file extension and turns on the matching syntax highlighting.

If a file looks garbled

Text Editor checks for binary files before opening them. A PDF opens in the PDF view, where your browser shows the document itself; see PDF files. A JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, or BMP image opens in the image view, which shows the picture; see Images. Other images, executables, and other binary files open view-only, so they can't be accidentally corrupted; unusual characters are expected there, and saving is disabled. Recognized files can also get a recommendation for a suitable app; see Opening non-text files. Text that opens normally but looks wrong is usually an encoding question instead; see Text encoding.

If a file will not open or reopen

• "Permission is needed to open this file." After a browser restart, the browser asks you to confirm access to files you opened before. Click the file again and approve the browser's permission prompt to re-grant access.
• "This file is no longer available on your computer." The file was moved, renamed, or deleted since you opened it here. Find it in its new location and open it again.
• A recent file says it is not reopenable. One-click reopening needs lasting file access, which only Chromium browsers such as Chrome, Edge, and Opera can grant. Where that access is missing, for example for local files in Firefox and Safari, the recents row is a reminder rather than a button: open the file again with File > Open to keep working with it. In Chromium browsers, a recent that has lost its link to the file asks you to click and locate the file again.
• "That item could not be opened as a text file." Folders and some special items can't be read as text. Pick a regular text or code file.

You can open a text or code file that lives in Google Drive. Using Google Drive is the only part of Text Editor that needs a Google sign-in; local files and new documents work without an account.

How to open from Drive

• Open from Google Drive. Choose File > Open > From Google Drive (Ctrl+Shift+O), or click Open from Google Drive on the start page, and sign in if you haven't already.
• Pick a file. Select the file you want in the Google Drive picker. Text Editor loads it into the editor.
• Open with, from Drive itself. In Google Drive, right-click a supported file and choose Text Editor in the Open with menu.

What access Text Editor asks for

Text Editor uses the limited drive.file scope. That means it can only see the specific files you pick or create with it, never your whole Drive. Google's picker controls which file is shared, and Text Editor never has standing access to anything else.

If the file won't open

• Check your connection. Make sure you're online and your connection is stable. Try loading another website to confirm.
• Use the right Google account. If the file belongs to a different account than the one you signed in with, use Text Editor's Switch account prompt, or click the account image in the upper-right corner to switch.
• Confirm the file still exists. If the file was deleted or its sharing was revoked, it can no longer be opened. Ask the file owner to confirm it's still available.
• Disable interfering extensions. Ad blockers, privacy extensions, and VPNs can interfere with Google sign-in. Try disabling them temporarily, or open Text Editor in an Incognito/Private window.
• Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides can't be opened as text. Text Editor works with plain-text files, so a native Google document needs to be exported first. Open it in Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides, use its own File > Download menu to save a .txt, .md, or .csv copy, and then open that copy.

Files opened from Google Drive can be saved right back to Drive with Save (Ctrl+S), and the File menu adds Drive extras like Share, Move, and Version history. See Save your file.

Text Editor is a text editor, so an image, a PDF, or a video can't be edited here. A PDF opens in the PDF view, where you can read it and open it in PDF Editor (see PDF files), and a JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, or BMP image opens in the image view, where you can look at it and open it in Image Editor (see Images). When you open another image, a video, or another file Text Editor can't edit (from your computer, by drag and drop, or from Google Drive), the file first opens as text, view-only, so you can look inside it. When Text Editor recognizes the file, it asks whether to open it in the matching editor: Detected Image offers Open in Image Editor for TIFF and HEIC images, and Detected Video offers Open in Video Editor for videos (see Videos). The file is recognized by its contents, not its name, so an image saved with a .txt extension is still detected. Choose Stay in Text Editor (or press Esc, or close the dialog) to keep the view-only text instead; a message then reminds you that the file does not look like text. A file Text Editor does not recognize skips the dialog and shows only that message.

A file large enough for the large-file prompt is checked before anything opens: if Text Editor recognizes it, the dialog comes first and says what the file appears to be. If you choose the other editor there, the file is not opened in Text Editor; Stay in Text Editor goes on to the large-file prompt. For a large file from Google Drive, the large-file prompt comes before the download and the dialog after it.

What happens next

• The file opens in the other editor. It opens in a new tab as a regular document there; nothing is uploaded by Text Editor, and the file stays on your device or in your Drive. Edit it there and use that editor's own Download or Save commands. Text Editor keeps no link to the file once it has been handed over. A file that opened as text first stays open view-only in Text Editor, and a PDF or an image stays open in its view. If the file's name did not match its contents, the other editor receives it under the matching extension (for example, report.txt arrives as report.pdf).
• Files from Google Drive. Image Editor and PDF Editor can update the original file in your Drive: choose the Update in Drive button there and sign in to the same Google account. The first time, it asks you to select the file in a Google Drive picker so it has permission to change it. If the original can't be found, you can save the result as a new file instead. Video Editor always saves your edits as a new file; the original video in Drive is not changed.
• Staying in Text Editor. The file stays open view-only, which is only useful for a quick look inside it; saving is disabled so the file can't be corrupted. See View-only files.

If the other editor doesn't open

• "The Image Editor tab was blocked" Your browser's popup blocker stopped the new tab. Click Open Image Editor (or Open PDF Editor, or Open Video Editor) on the message to try again, or allow popups for Text Editor.
• "Could not connect to Image Editor" The new tab did not answer in time, usually because it was closed before the file arrived or the connection was slow. Open the file again and keep the new tab in front.
• "Image Editor is taking longer than expected to open this file" The file was handed over, but the other editor has not confirmed that it is open. Look at the new tab first: a large file can need more time there. If that tab shows an error or stays empty, open the file again.
• "Image Editor could not open this file" The other editor refused the file: it may be damaged, or its contents don't match what Text Editor detected. The message in that tab says more.
• "This image is too large to send to Image Editor" Images over 100 MB (64 MB for HEIC) are not sent; videos have no size limit. Use the Open Image Editor link on the message and open the file there directly, or reduce the file first. The view-only text stays open in Text Editor. For a PDF over 100 MB, the PDF view's banner gives the limit instead (see PDF files), and so does the image view's banner for a JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, or BMP image (see Images).

PDF files

A PDF opens in the PDF view: your browser's own PDF viewer shows the document, under a banner with an Open in PDF Editor button. The view is for reading; Text Editor never changes or saves the file. To edit it, choose Open in PDF Editor: PDF Editor opens in a new tab with the file. A PDF is recognized by its contents, not its name, so a PDF saved with a .txt extension opens in the view too, and PDF Editor receives it as a .pdf file. Dismiss hides the banner for this file. The view starts with the menu bar and the toolbar hidden: the Menu button at the right end of the app bar shows the menu bar while you view this file (View > Show menu bar hides it again), and Alt+F10 (or Option+F10 on a Mac) opens the File menu, which also has Open in PDF Editor. Once you click in the document, your browser's viewer keeps the keys you press, so click outside the document first.

To save a copy, use Text Editor's Download button: it saves the PDF under its own name. The download button inside the browser's viewer may not use the file's name.

PDF Editor can edit PDFs up to 100 MB. A larger PDF still opens in the view, and its banner gives the limit instead of the button. A large PDF opens without the large-file prompt, except a PDF over 100 MB from Google Drive, which asks before the download. If your browser can't show PDF files (for example, Chrome on Android), the view shows the file's name, and Open in PDF Editor opens it in PDF Editor.

Images

A JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, or BMP image opens in the image view: Text Editor shows the whole picture, scaled down if it is larger than the window, under a banner with an Open in Image Editor button. The view is for looking; Text Editor never changes or saves the file. To edit it, choose Open in Image Editor: Image Editor opens in a new tab with the file. An image is recognized by its contents, not its name, so a PNG saved with a .txt extension opens in the view too, and Image Editor receives it as a .png file. Dismiss hides the banner for this file. The view starts with the menu bar and the toolbar hidden: the Menu button at the right end of the app bar shows the menu bar while you view this file (View > Show menu bar hides it again), and Alt+F10 (or Option+F10 on a Mac) opens the File menu, which also has Open in Image Editor.

The buttons at the top right zoom the picture: Zoom out and Zoom in step between 10% and 400%, the percentage between them shows the picture at its actual size (100%), and Fit to view shows the whole picture again. A zoomed picture scrolls; once you click it, the arrow keys scroll it too. Transparent areas show a checkerboard, a photo is turned the way the camera recorded it, and an animated GIF, PNG, or WebP image plays. To save a copy, use Text Editor's Download button.

Image Editor can edit images up to 100 MB, 100 megapixels, and 20,000 pixels on a side. An image over 100 MB still opens in the view, with Open in Image Editor disabled and the banner giving the limit. An image over 100 megapixels or 20,000 pixels on a side shows the file's name instead of the picture, also with Open in Image Editor disabled and the banner giving the limit. A large image opens without the large-file prompt, except an image over 100 MB from Google Drive, which asks before the download. If the picture can't be shown (for example, a damaged file), the view shows the file's name instead, and you can still try Open in Image Editor. TIFF and HEIC images open as view-only text with the Detected Image dialog (see Opening non-text files).

Videos

For MP4, M4V, MOV, WebM, and MKV videos, choose Open in Video Editor in the Detected Video dialog: the video opens in Video Editor in a new tab, and if it opened as text first, the view-only text stays open in Text Editor. A video saved under another name (for example clip.txt) is detected too, and Video Editor receives it under its real extension. Videos have no size limit, but a very large one can take a while to open there.

Known audio files (for example .m4a or .mka, which use the same containers) are not offered. Video Editor checks whether the file holds a supported video track before it opens it, and it saves your edits as a new file. Known limit: a WebM file that holds only audio is still offered, because Text Editor cannot see which tracks a file holds; Video Editor then reports that it could not open the file.

Archives

For ZIP, RAR, 7z, TAR, GZIP, BZIP2, and XZ files, Text Editor can recommend ZIP Extractor. Choose Open ZIP Extractor, then select the file in that app. This recommendation opens the app in a new tab; it does not transfer your file automatically. The view-only text stays open in Text Editor.

Office documents (including Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Visio, and XPS files), e-books, and packaged apps are excluded from this recommendation, also when their name does not say what they are. Other binary files have no matching app here; they open view-only as text. For a file that came from Google Drive, View in Google Drive on the message opens Drive's own preview. The same link is on the message after you choose Stay in Text Editor on this recommendation for a file from Google Drive.

The HTML preview renders your page inside a security sandbox that shows only what is in the file itself. Images, stylesheets, and fonts that live on other websites are not downloaded, so an image placeholder or plain styling can appear where the page expects them. When a file references external images or styles, a notice above the preview says so.

Why they are not downloaded

• Nothing leaves the app. Fetching an image or stylesheet would tell the site that hosts it that something loaded it, much like opening the page in a browser would. The preview makes no such request.
• Your file never changes. The preview is a view of the document; the placeholders are not written into it.
• Scripts never run. Page scripts, event handlers, and forms stay disabled in the preview.
• Links stay inert. The preview does not open external links.

To see the page with its external resources, open the file in a browser. Choose Dismiss to hide the notice for the current document.

This section applies to Google Drive operations: opening a file, saving back to Drive, making a copy, and the Drive extras like Share, Move, and Version history. Some failures are temporary connection hiccups; others come from permissions, file status, or the selected Google account. Text Editor points at the cause when it can.

What to try first

• Check your connection. Make sure you're online and your connection is stable; try loading another website to confirm. If a download error screen offers Retry, click it once you're back online.
• Just try again. Momentary Drive hiccups are common. Retry the same action; your current text remains in the editor while you do.
• Disable interfering extensions. A VPN, ad blocker, or privacy extension can silently block requests to Google Drive. Try disabling them temporarily, or open Text Editor in an Incognito/Private window.

If it still fails

• Use the right Google account. If the file belongs to a different account than the one you signed in with, use Text Editor's Switch account prompt, or click the account image in the upper-right corner to switch.
• Confirm the file still exists. If the file was deleted in Drive or its sharing was revoked, requests against it fail. Ask the file owner to confirm it's still available.
• Keep a local copy. If saving to Drive keeps failing, use File > Download a copy before closing the tab, so your changes are on your device while you sort things out.

Specific download errors

Some download failures have their own cause and fix: the file hit its download limit, the owner disabled downloads, or Google flagged the file.

Google Drive limits how often any single file can be downloaded in a short period. When a file hits that limit, Drive temporarily blocks further downloads of it, for everyone and from every app, and Text Editor shows: "Google Drive has temporarily limited downloads of this file. Wait a few hours and try again"

Good to know

• It's the file, not you. The limit is on the file itself and is shared across everyone who accesses it; it is not about your account or anything Text Editor did. It usually happens to files that are shared widely.
• It resets on its own. Google doesn't publish an exact reset time, but the block usually lifts within a day. Retrying right away will not help. Wait a while, then try again.
• Ask for a copy. If you need the contents sooner, ask the file owner to make you your own copy in Drive (a copy is a different file with its own, fresh limit).

Google Drive lets a file's owner turn off downloading, printing, and copying for people who only have view or comment access. When that setting is on, Drive refuses to hand the file's contents to any app, including Text Editor, and you'll see: "The owner of this file has disabled downloads"

What to do

• Ask the owner. The owner can either grant you Editor access (editors are not blocked by this setting) or turn off the restriction: in Drive, Share > Settings > uncheck "Viewers and commenters can see the option to download, print, and copy".
• Don't bother retrying. This is a deliberate permission setting, not a glitch; signing out and back in or retrying will not change the result.

Google Drive scans shared files and flags ones that look like malware, spam, or other abuse. Once a file is flagged, Drive blocks everyone except the file's owner from downloading it, and Text Editor shows: "Google Drive flagged this file as malware or spam. Only the file owner can download it"

What to do

• Be cautious. Treat a flagged file with suspicion; the flag exists to protect you. Only proceed if you know and trust the source.
• Contact the owner. The owner can still open the file (Drive asks them to acknowledge the warning) and, if the flag is a mistake, can request a review from Google or share the contents another way.
• Retrying won't help. The block stays until Google lifts the flag; it is not affected by signing out, retrying, or a different browser.

Text Editor is a full editor powered by Ace. Once a file is open, you can edit it the way you would in a desktop code editor. Commands live in a familiar menu bar (File, Edit, View, Format, Tools, and Help), with the most-used actions repeated on the toolbar.

Editor features

• Syntax highlighting. Code is color-coded for many programming and markup languages, detected from the file extension. To override the detected language, use Format > Language mode.
• Line numbers. Every line is numbered in the gutter so you can find your place quickly.
• Undo and redo. Step backward and forward through your edits at any time.
• Command palette. Press Ctrl+Shift+P to search every command by name and run it from the keyboard.
• Keyboard modes. Prefer Vim, Emacs, Sublime, or VS Code key bindings? Switch the whole keymap under Tools > Keyboard settings.
• Autocomplete and syntax checking. Toggle code completion and linting from the Tools menu.
• Follow links. Hold Ctrl (or Cmd on a Mac) and click a URL in the text to open it in a new tab.
• Keyboard shortcuts. Standard editing shortcuts for select, copy, paste, comment, indent, and more (see Keyboard shortcuts).
• Status bar and toolbar. The status bar shows your cursor position, insert or overwrite mode, word count, language mode, editor theme, and keyboard mode, and each readout is clickable. Tools > Customize toolbar picks which button groups appear, and the View menu can hide the menu bar, toolbar, or status bar when you want a quieter screen.

The sections below cover the most common tasks: finding and replacing text, jumping to a line, editing with multiple cursors, adjusting word wrap and font size, and choosing themes and dark mode.

Encoding is how a file's raw bytes are turned into readable characters. Most files today use UTF-8, and Text Editor reads files as UTF-8 by default. Files made by older tools or in some languages may use another encoding (for example Shift JIS, Windows-1252, or ISO-8859-1). When a file's encoding does not match how it is read, the text looks garbled, with stray symbols, wrong accents, or question-mark boxes. This is called mojibake.

Fixing garbled text

• Pick an encoding. Use Encoding in the Tools menu to re-open the current file with a different encoding. Only how the bytes are read changes; your file on disk is left untouched.
• Autodetect. Text Editor can guess the encoding from the file's bytes. When it is confident a file is not UTF-8, it offers to switch for you.
• Undo. Right after you change the encoding, a message appears with an Undo button, so you can go straight back if the new encoding does not look right.

Good to know

• Saving always writes UTF-8. Whenever you save, Text Editor writes the text as UTF-8, the modern universal encoding, whatever encoding the file was read with. Before the first save that would convert a legacy-encoded file, Text Editor warns you that the original encoding cannot be preserved and asks you to confirm.
• Change encoding before you edit. Re-reading a file with a different encoding replaces what is on screen, so it clears the text undo history. Choose the right encoding first, then start editing.

When you open a file, Text Editor keeps a reference to the file's original bytes so it can re-read them later; that is what powers the encoding menu and encoding autodetect. For safety, your browser cancels that reference the moment the file changes on disk. If you then pick an encoding, Text Editor can no longer re-read the original bytes and shows: "Couldn't re-read the file. It changed on disk since it was opened"

Why this happens

• Another program changed the file. The same file was saved by a different editor, a build step, a sync tool (Dropbox, Google Drive for desktop), or a script while it was open here.
• The file was moved, renamed, or deleted. The reference points at the original file, so any of these breaks it too.

What to do

• Re-open the file. Open it again (Open, or reopen it from your recent files) to load the file's current bytes. The encoding menu works again on the freshly opened file.
• Keep your edits first. If the editor holds unsaved changes you want, save a copy before re-opening, because re-opening loads what is on disk now, which may differ from what you see on screen.

Good to know

After you save a file with Text Editor, the file on disk is UTF-8, because the editor wrote those bytes itself. There are no other original bytes left to re-interpret, so the encoding menu is disabled until you open another file. See Text encoding for how saving and encodings interact.

Search the file for any text, and optionally replace what you find.

How to use it

• Find. Press Ctrl+F (or Cmd+F on a Mac) to open the search bar, then type what you're looking for; matches highlight as you type. Press Enter to jump to the next match.
• Replace. Press Ctrl+HCmd+Shift+H (or Cmd+Shift+H on a Mac) to open find and replace. Enter the text to find and the text to replace it with, then replace matches one at a time or all at once. Both are also in the Edit menu.

Search options

Find and replace lets you match case, match whole words, use regular expressions, and limit the search to your current selection, so you can narrow results to exactly what you mean. Find all selects every match at once, which is handy for editing them together with multiple cursors.

Jump straight to a specific line number instead of scrolling.

How to use it

• Open Go to line. Press Ctrl+L (or Cmd+L on a Mac), or choose Edit > Go to line.
• Enter a line number. Type the line you want, or a line and column like 42:7, and press Enter. The editor scrolls there and places your cursor on that spot.

This is handy when a compiler, linter, or stack trace points you at a specific line.

Edit in several places at once by adding more than one cursor. Whatever you type appears at every cursor, which is great for renaming variables or editing repeated lines.

How to add cursors

• Add a cursor by click. Hold Ctrl+Alt (or Cmd+Option on a Mac) and click wherever you want another cursor. (A plain Ctrl/Cmd+click on a URL opens the link instead.)
• Add a cursor above or below. Press Ctrl+Alt+Up or Ctrl+Alt+Down to stack cursors on the lines above or below.
• Select the next match. Select some text, then press Ctrl+Alt+Right to also select the next occurrence of that text. Repeat to select more.

Press Esc to collapse back to a single cursor.

Adjust how the text is displayed to suit the file you're working on and your screen.

Word wrap

Turn View > Options > Wrap text on to make long lines fold to the width of the editor instead of running off the right edge. This is useful for prose, Markdown, and log files. Turn it off to keep each line on a single row, which is often clearer for code.

Font size and font

Make the editor font larger or smaller with View > Increase font size / Decrease font size (Ctrl+Shift++ / Ctrl+Shift+-). A larger size improves readability; a smaller size fits more lines on screen at once. You can also pick a different monospace font under View > Font.

More display options

View > Options holds the rest of the per-document display settings: indent wrapped lines, show invisible characters, show indent guides, highlight the active line and the selected word, a print margin guide at 80 or 100 columns, your choice of cursor style, and right-to-left text for languages that need it. Format > Tabs switches between real tabs and two or four spaces, and Format > Line can move, duplicate, or sort lines.

Text Editor has two appearance settings. The app theme can be System, Light, or Dark, and System follows your operating system. The editor theme controls the colors of the document itself, with nine light and nine dark choices.

How to switch

Choose View > Theme to open the theme chooser. Editor themes preview live as you move through the list; choose OK to keep one, or Cancel to go back to what you had. The App theme control in the same chooser switches between System, Light, and Dark. Your choices are remembered the next time you visit, so the editor opens the way you left it.

These help and info pages have their own light/dark control: the circular button in the page header cycles between System, Light, and Dark.

For supported formats (Markdown, HTML, CSV/TSV, XML, JSON, SVG, LaTeX, and RTF, plus a clean reading view for plain text), Text Editor can show a live rendered preview so you can see how the result will look as you type. The preview is view-only: editing always happens in the editor pane.

View modes

• Edit. Show only the editor, full width for writing.
• Split. Show the editor and the rendered preview side by side. The preview updates as you type, and can scroll in step with the editor (View > Mode > Keep preview in sync).
• Preview. Show only the rendered result, useful for reading or checking the final output.

Switch between Edit, Split, and Preview at any time under View > Mode. The Markdown preview renders headings, lists, links, code blocks, and other standard Markdown formatting, and the Format menu offers one-click Markdown formatting: bold, italic, headings, lists, quotes, and code. Math renders too: write $...$ for inline math and $$...$$ (or a math code fence) for display equations, typeset with KaTeX. In the CSV/TSV preview, click a column header or a row number to select it and copy it as tab-separated text with the Copy chip that appears, or click a single cell and copy it with Ctrl+C.

Save (Ctrl+S) writes your changes back to wherever the file lives, and the save status in the app bar shows when everything is saved. If the file was changed somewhere else in the meantime, Save asks before overwriting (see If the file changed somewhere else), and view-only files cannot be saved over their source.

Where Save goes

• Files on your computer. On Chromium browsers such as Chrome, Edge, and Opera, a file opened with the Open picker, or dropped onto the page, saves back in place: the original file on disk is updated, just like a desktop editor. In Firefox and Safari, or when the browser can't grant in-place access, Save downloads a copy instead.
• Files in Google Drive. A file opened from Google Drive saves straight back to that file in Drive.
• New documents. The first Save of a brand-new document follows File > Save new files to. With the default, Automatic (last used), it saves straight to Google Drive when that was your last destination; otherwise it asks you to pick a name and location (or downloads a copy on browsers without in-place access). You can also pin new files to Google Drive or to this computer.

Other ways to save

• A new document. File > Edit in Google Drive saves it straight to Drive, and File > Save as asks you to pick a name and location on your device. Either way, future saves go to that home.
• A file in Google Drive. File > Google Drive > Make a copy creates a copy in Drive and opens it in a new tab (like Google Docs). File > Download a copy downloads a snapshot to your device without changing where the file lives. File > Edit locally moves the document's home to a file on your computer, so future saves go there.
• A file on your computer. File > Save as re-saves it as a new local file, and File > Edit in Google Drive moves the document's home to Drive, so autosave and future saves go there.

Drive file management

You can rename the open document at any time with File > Rename. For files that live in Google Drive, the File menu adds a Google Drive submenu with Make a copy, Move, Open, Locate, and Version history, plus a top-level Share command that opens Drive's own sharing dialog.

If saving fails

• Your text remains in the editor. A failed save does not clear what you wrote; the text stays in the editor, and a recovery draft keeps guarding it where browser storage allows. Fix the cause, then save again.
• Files on your computer. Approve the browser's permission prompt if one appears, check that the disk isn't full, and confirm the file wasn't moved or locked by another program. If in-place saving keeps failing, File > Save as can write the document to a fresh local file instead.
• Files in Google Drive. Drive saves can fail for connection, permission, account, or file-status reasons; see If Google Drive requests fail.

While a file is open here, the same file can also change somewhere else: someone edits it in Google Drive, or another program on your computer writes to it. Instead of silently overwriting anyone's work, Text Editor notices and shows a warning banner: "This file changed in Google Drive (or on this computer) since you opened it. Saving now will overwrite the other version."

Your choices

• Save anyway. Your text in the editor becomes the file's contents. The other version is replaced (for Drive files, it remains available in the file's version history).
• Use their version. Text Editor backs up your text first, then loads the other version, and the confirmation message offers Undo to bring your text right back.
• Dismiss. Keep editing without deciding yet. Autosave stays paused so nothing overwrites anything in the background; the question comes back when you save.

Good to know

• Nothing happens without you. While the banner is up, no version is written over. Both versions still exist until you choose.
• If the safety backup fails. "Use their version" backs up your text before loading theirs. If that backup cannot be written, Text Editor stops and changes nothing. Save a copy of your version elsewhere first (File > Download a copy for a Drive file, File > Save as for a local file), then decide.

Some files open in view-only mode: you can read them, but the editor won't let you change or save them. A banner above the editor tells you when this is the case, and why.

When a file opens view-only

• No edit access in Drive. The file was shared with you as a viewer or commenter. Only the owner or an editor can change it.
• The file is very large. Extremely large files open read-only so the editor stays responsive.
• A binary file opened as text. A file that isn't really text (an executable, or an image the image view doesn't show) opens as text so you can inspect it, but saving is disabled, because writing it back as text would corrupt it. For the same reason, the copy commands are disabled for these files too.

What still works

Everything that doesn't change the file: reading, selecting, copying text out, find, and go to line.

To edit a Drive file you can only view

For a Drive file that is view-only because of permissions, make your own copy: File > Google Drive > Make a copy creates an editable copy in Google Drive and opens it in a new tab, and File > Edit locally or File > Download a copy puts an editable copy on your device. The copy is yours; the original stays untouched. Extremely large files and binary files opened as text stay read-only for safety.

Print your document straight from the editor with File > Print (Ctrl+P, or Cmd+P on a Mac). Text Editor's own print dialog lets you choose what to print (the document text or the rendered preview), along with orientation, paper size, margins, and text size, and whether to include line numbers, syntax colors, or a header and footer, before handing the job to your browser's print dialog. From there you can send it to a printer or save it as a PDF. For a quick PDF with sensible defaults, File > Save as PDF skips the options and goes straight to your browser's print dialog, where you can pick Save as PDF as the destination.

Large documents

• Rendered preview has a size limit. For formats with a rendered preview (like Markdown), a very large document prints as plain text instead of the rendered layout, because rendering it whole for print would be too slow.
• Very long documents print without line numbers. Line numbers are an option in the print dialog. Past 50,000 lines they are left off automatically to keep printing fast.
• If the rendered preview fails to print. Text Editor falls back to printing the document as plain text, so you still get your content on paper.

Text Editor helps protect your work in two ways: autosave writes your edits to the file automatically, and recovery drafts add a local safety net for unsaved changes.

Autosave

• Saves as you type. When your document has a writable home, either a file on your computer with in-place access or a file in Google Drive, autosave flushes your edits to it automatically, the way Google Docs does. The save status in the app bar tells you when everything is saved.
• On by default. File > Autosave > On by default sets your usual preference, and On for this document overrides it for the open file. With autosave off (or for a document with no home yet), save manually with Ctrl+S.

Recovery drafts

• Saved in your browser. While a document has unsaved changes, a recovery draft is kept locally in your browser on this device. It stays on this device.
• Restored automatically. After a reload, an accidental tab close, or a crash, Text Editor restores your latest unsaved edits and shows a "Recovered unsaved changes" notice, so you can pick up where you left off.
• Manage drafts. Tools > Manage drafts lists every recovery draft this browser is holding, so you can restore one or delete the ones you no longer need.

Important

Recovery drafts are a safety net, not a permanent backup. They live only in this browser on this device, and clearing your browser data will remove them. To keep a lasting copy, save your file (see Save your file).

Recovery storage warnings

• "Recovery storage is full." The browser storage that holds recovery drafts is out of space, so new unsaved changes may not be backed up. Save your file, or free up space by clearing site data you no longer need.
• "Recovery storage is unavailable." The browser is blocking local storage (this can happen in private windows or with strict privacy settings). Your editing still works, but there is no crash safety net, so keep the tab open and save your file to make your changes durable.
• "Large file: autosave runs less often." For large files, recovery drafts are written at a slower pace to keep typing smooth. Everything still works; there is just a slightly longer gap between backups.
• "Recovery drafts and autosave are off for this large file." For very large files, recovery drafts are turned off entirely. Your changes live only in the editor until you save, so use Ctrl+S early and often.

Text Editor supports the standard editing shortcuts. On a Mac, use Cmd where the list shows Ctrl unless noted. For the complete, up-to-date list, open Help > Keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+/) in the app.

Common shortcuts

• Open from computer / Open from Google Drive: Ctrl+O / Ctrl+Shift+O
• Save: Ctrl+S
• Save as: Ctrl+Shift+S
• Print: Ctrl+P
• Find: Ctrl+F
• Replace: Ctrl+HCmd+Shift+H (Cmd+Shift+H on a Mac)
• Go to line: Ctrl+L
• Undo / Redo: Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Shift+Z
• Select all: Ctrl+A
• Toggle comment: Ctrl+Shift+/
• Move line up / down: Alt+Up / Alt+Down
• Duplicate line: Ctrl+Shift+D
• Select next match: Ctrl+Alt+Right (the literal Ctrl key on a Mac, not Cmd)
• Add cursor above / below: Ctrl+Alt+Up / Ctrl+Alt+Down (the literal Ctrl key on a Mac, not Cmd)
• Collapse to one cursor: Esc
• Increase / decrease font size: Ctrl+Shift++ / Ctrl+Shift+-
• Command palette: Ctrl+Shift+P
• Word count: Ctrl+Shift+C
• Full screen (hide app controls): Ctrl+Shift+F to toggle (Esc also exits)

In Markdown files, the usual formatting keys work too: Ctrl+B bold, Ctrl+I italic, Ctrl+U underline. The editor also supports many more shortcuts for indenting, commenting, and navigating, the standard set you'd expect from a code editor.

If Copy, Cut, or Paste from a menu does not work

Browsers restrict how web pages may reach the system clipboard, so the Edit-menu clipboard commands sometimes get blocked; the keyboard shortcuts never are. Use Ctrl+C to copy, Ctrl+X to cut, and Ctrl+V to paste (Cmd on a Mac). If the browser shows a clipboard permission prompt, allowing it also unblocks the menu Paste command (Copy and Cut do not need a prompt).

Text Editor runs entirely in your browser. Your files are processed locally on your device.

Key points

• Local processing. Files you open from your computer are read and edited in your browser. They stay on your device.
• Limited Drive access. Opening from Google Drive uses the drive.file scope, so Text Editor can only access the specific files you pick or create with it, never your whole Drive. When you save a Drive file, your changes go from your browser directly to your own Drive.
• Recovery drafts stay local. The recovery drafts that guard unsaved work live only in your browser on this device. They are not sent anywhere.

For more about the Google permissions Text Editor uses, see the FAQ.