Top 6 Ways to Download an Image From Google Docs on a PC or Phone

When it comes to downloading an image from the web, it’s as simple as right-clicking on the image (long-pressing, if you’re using a phone) and saving it as a file on your device. Unfortunately, things don’t work quite as easily with Google Docs as there’s no straightforward way to download images from a Google Docs document. 

In this post, we’ll guide you through various ways you can save images from a document inside Google Docs on your PC or a phone. 

Save an image from Google Docs on a PC [3 Ways]

There are a few workarounds that you can use to download an image from a Google Docs document and here’s the easiest set of ways to get it done. 

Method 1: Save the document in HTML format

You can download images from Google Docs by saving the document as an HTML file which saves all of your document’s contents onto your computer. From there, you can simply access the images present in the document from the “images” folder that also gets saved along with the HTML file. 

SHORT GUIDE:

Launch Google Docs, select your document, and go to File > Download > Web Page (.html, zipped). Extract the contents of the ZIP file and open the images folder inside the extracted folder to access all the images from the document. 

GIF GUIDE:

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE:

1. Open the Google Docs document, whose images you want to download, on a web browser. When the document loads up, go to File > Download > Web Page (.html, zipped). The document will now be downloaded in a ZIP file. 
   
2. When the ZIP file is downloaded onto your computer, open the Downloads or Desktop folder or whichever folder the downloaded files are saved to. Here, extract the contents of the downloaded ZIP file. On Mac, you can easily unzip it by double-clicking on the file. On Windows, you’ll have to right-click the ZIP file and then use the Extract option. 
   
3. When the contents are extracted, open the unzipped folder. 
   
4. Inside this folder, open the images folder. 
   
5. This folder will now show all the images that were present inside the Google Docs document. You can move the necessary images from this folder to your preferred location to save them elsewhere. 
   
6. You can delete the ZIP file and unzipped folder from your computer once you’ve saved the required images from them. 

Related: How to Use Google AI in Google Docs With Workspace Labs

Method 2: Save an image to Google Keep

While Google Docs doesn’t let you download images directly, you can save images that you share into a note on Google Keep. Fortunately, Google makes it easy for you to share images to Google Keep from where you can save them. 

SHORT GUIDE:

Launch Google Docs and select the desired document. Here, right-click on an image and go to View more actions > Save to Keep. Now, open Google Keep and you’ll be able to right-click on the selected image from the note to save it. 

GIF GUIDE:

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE:

1. Open the Google Docs document, whose images you want to download, on a web browser. When the document loads up, locate the image you want to save and right-click on it. 
   
2. In the overflow menu that shows up, go to View more actions > Save to Keep. 
   
3. As soon as you save the image to Google Keep, Google Docs will show a sidebar on the right to view the new Keep note that was created using the selected image.
   
4. Now, open a new tab on your web browser and go to keep.google.com. In the Google Keep homepage, you’ll see the recently created note with the image you wanted to download. Click on this note to expand it. 
   
5. When the note expands, right-click on the image and use the Save Image option to download it onto your computer. 
   

Related: How to Merge Cells in Google Docs on Mac, Windows, Android or iOS

Method 3: Publish your document online

If you want to download the images from a document directly from Google Docs, you’ll need to publish your content online so that images can be saved from within the document without moving it across other apps/services. 

SHORT GUIDE:

Launch Google Docs, select a document, and go to File > Share > Publish to web > Publish > OK. Copy and paste the generated URL on a new tab and right-click on the desired image to save it. 

GIF GUIDE:

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE:

1. Open the Google Docs document, whose images you want to download, on a web browser. When the document loads up, go to File > Share > Publish to web. 
   
2. This will open the Publish to the web prompt box on the screen. Here, click on the Publish button under “Link”. 
   
3. You’ll now be asked to confirm your action. Inside the dialog box, click on OK. 
   
4. A URL will now be generated for the document you just published. Here, copy the URL of the document from the “Link” section. 
   
5. Now, open a new tab on your web browser, paste the URL you copied from the previous step, and press the Enter key on your keyboard. 
6. When the published Google Docs document loads up, locate the image you want to download. 
   
7. Now, right-click on the desired image and use the Save Image option to download it onto your PC. 
   

Related: How to Use Voice Typing on Google Docs

Save an image from Google Docs on an iPhone or Android [3 Ways]

The process of downloading images from Google Docs on your phone may vary depending on the device you own. 

Method 1: Drag the image directly from Google Docs to the Photos app on iOS 

iOS has a neat little feature that lets you copy text and photos across apps simply using the inbuilt drag-and-drop functionality. You can use this feature to move an image from a Google Docs document directly onto the Photos app. 

SHORT GUIDE:

Launch the Google Docs app > select a document > long-press on an image and drag it away > tap on more images to select them. Use another finger to leave the app, open the Photos app, and drop the dragged content inside Photos. 

GIF GUIDE:

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE:

1. Open the Google Docs app on your iPhone and select a document whose images you want to download. 
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2. When the document opens, locate the image you want to download, long-press on it, and start dragging it away from its original location. 
   

3. If you wish to download more than one image from this document, scroll down to the other images and tap on them to add them to the dragging stack. 
   

4. Use any other finger to swipe up to the Home Screen or Recent Apps screen. Now, open the Photos app on your iPhone. 
   

5. When the app opens, drop the selected images inside Photos. The stack of images you dragged from Google Docs will now appear inside the Photos app.  
   

Related: How to Customize Shapes in Google Docs

Method 2: Save the document as an HTML file on Android

Unlike iOS, Android devices don’t have a built-in tool that lets you drag and drop items across apps. However, you can download images from a Google Docs document by saving the file in HTML format. 

SHORT GUIDE:

Launch the Google Docs app, select a document, and go to the 3-dots icon > Share and export > Save as > Web page (.html, zipped) > OK > Download icon. When the file is downloaded, go to Files app > Browse > Downloads to open the ZIP file and extract its contents. You’ll see the downloaded images from Google Docs inside the Files app. 

GIF GUIDE:

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE:

1. Open the Google Docs app on your Android device and select a document whose images you want to download. 
   

2. When the document loads up, tap on the 3-dots icon at the top right corner and select Share and export from the overflow menu. 
   

3. On the next menu, select Save as. In the Save as menu, select Web page (.html, zipped) and tap on OK. 
   

4. When the HTML gets downloaded, the file will be opened automatically inside your device’s preferred web browser. From here, tap on the download icon at the top to save the ZIP onto your device. In the popup that appears at the bottom, tap on Download. 
   

5. Once the file is downloaded, open the Files app on your device and go to Browse > Downloads. 
   

6. On the next screen, tap on the recently downloaded ZIP file. In the prompt that shows up, tap on Extract. 
   

7. Once the file is extracted, tap on Done. You’ll now see all the images from the Google Docs document inside the Downloads folder on the Files app. 
   

Related: How to Make a Family Tree in Google Docs [2023]

Method 3: Access image from Google Keep on iOS/Android

While methods 1 & 2 above will work individually on iOS and Android respectively, there’s a way to save an image in the same manner on both platforms and this involves the Google Keep app. 

SHORT GUIDE:

Use Method 2 from the PC guide to save an image from Google Docs to Google Keep. Open Google Keep, select a note and go to image > 3-dots icon > Send > Edit > Save. You can access the image by going to the Files app > Browse > Recent > Markup. 

GIF GUIDE:

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE:

1. Use steps 1-2 from Method 2 from the PC guide above to save an image from Google Docs to Google Keep. 
   
2. Now, open the Google Keep app (iOS | Android) on your phone and tap on the recently created note that you saved from Google Docs.
   

3. When the note expands, tap on the image and then go to the 3-dots icon > Send. 
   

4. Inside your device’s Share sheet, tap on Save Image on iOS or go to Edit > Save on Android. The image will now be saved on your device. You can access the downloaded image by going to the Photos app on your iPhone or by going to the Files app > Browse > Recent > Markup on Android. 
   

That’s all you need to know about downloading an image from Google Docs on your PC and phone. 

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