How to Save an Image From Google Docs

Google Docs has no Save image command, so right-clicking a picture will not download it. To save one image, right-click it, choose Save to Keep, then right-click the picture in the Keep side panel and choose Save image as. To save every image at once, select File > Download > Web page (.html, zipped), unzip the download, and open the images folder.

Both routes need Google Docs in a web browser on a Windows PC, Mac, or Chromebook. The rest of this guide gives the full steps for each one, a few alternatives, what to do on a phone, and fixes for the most common problems.

Before you start

• Use a computer browser. The steps below are for docs.google.com in Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari. The Google Docs mobile app works differently, and it is covered in its own section.
• Check your access. You need to be able to open the document. If the owner has turned off downloading, printing, and copying for your role, the download and copy options will be unavailable to you.
• Know what you need. One or two pictures: use Save to Keep. Many pictures: use the Web page download. A picture that only has to be seen on screen: a screenshot is enough.
• Respect ownership. Being able to save a picture does not give you the right to reuse it. If the image belongs to someone else, ask before you publish or share it.

Save one image with Save to Keep

Google Keep is Google’s free note-taking app. Docs has a Keep panel built into its right-hand side, and Google’s help page on using Google Keep in a document confirms that you can save an image from a document as a Keep note. Once the picture is sitting in that panel, your browser treats it like an ordinary web image, so its normal save option appears.

1. Open the document in Google Docs on your computer.
2. Click the image once to select it. A blue border appears around it.
3. Right-click the image and choose Save to Keep. On some accounts the command sits inside a submenu near the bottom of the right-click menu, such as View more actions.

4. Wait for the Keep panel to open on the right side of the window. The picture appears there inside a new note.
5. Right-click the picture in the Keep panel and choose Save image as. This is your browser’s own menu, so the wording can differ slightly between browsers.
6. Pick a folder, type a file name, and click Save.

The note stays in your Google Keep account after you save the file. If you do not want it, open the note in the Keep panel and delete it from the note’s menu.

Download every image from a Google Doc

Google Docs can export a document as a web page. A web page keeps its pictures as separate files, so this export hands you every image in the document in one download. Google’s instructions for downloading a copy of a file cover the File > Download menu that this method uses.

1. Open the document in Google Docs on your computer.
2. Click File at the top left, then point to Download.
3. Choose Web page (.html, zipped). Your browser downloads a .zip file named after the document, usually into your Downloads folder.
4. Unzip the file. On Windows, right-click it and choose Extract All, then click Extract. On a Mac, double-click it. On a Chromebook, double-click it in the Files app and copy the contents to another folder.
5. Open the extracted folder. It contains an .html file, which is the text of the document, and a folder named images.
6. Open the images folder. Each picture from the document is a separate file with a generic name such as image1.png or image2.jpg.

The file names do not always follow the order in which the pictures appear in the document. Switch the folder to a thumbnail or large icon view so you can pick out the picture you want, then rename it.

A zip file, by the way, is a single compressed file that holds other files and folders. Nothing in it can be used properly until you extract it, which is why opening a picture straight from the unextracted zip sometimes fails.

Other ways to save an image

If neither main method suits you, these alternatives use tools you already have. Each one has a drawback, so read the note that goes with it.

Download the document as a Word file

Select File > Download > Microsoft Word (.docx), then open the downloaded file in Microsoft Word. Right-click a picture there and choose Save as Picture. This is handy when you already use Word and only need a few images. It is slower than the Web page download for a long document because you save the pictures one at a time.

Publish the document to the web

Warning: publishing creates a web address that people outside the document can open. Depending on your account’s settings, that can mean anyone on the web. Do not use this method for a private or sensitive document, and only the owner or an editor can publish.

1. Select File > Share > Publish to web.
2. Click Publish and confirm.
3. Copy the link that appears and open it in a new browser tab. The document loads as a plain web page with no toolbar.
4. Right-click a picture and choose Save image as.
5. Go back to the document and select File > Share > Publish to web again. Click Published content & settings, then Stop publishing.

Do not skip the last step. Google’s page on publishing Docs files states that a published file stays on the web until you stop publishing it, and that later edits to the document are pushed to the published copy automatically.

Copy and paste the image

Click the image and press Ctrl + C (Command + C on a Mac). Open an image editor such as Paint, or another document, and press Ctrl + V or Command + V. Then save from that app. This does not work everywhere: some apps receive nothing when you paste a picture copied from Docs. If the paste comes up empty, use Save to Keep instead.

Take a screenshot

A screenshot captures whatever is on your screen, so it works even when the other options are unavailable. On Windows, press Windows + Shift + S and drag a box around the picture. On a Mac, press Command + Shift + 4 and drag. The result is only as sharp as the picture looks on your screen, so set the document zoom to at least 100% first. If you need help with that, see how to change the zoom level in Google Docs.

Save an image on a phone or tablet

The Google Docs app for Android and iPhone does not have a command for saving a single picture. Google’s help also notes that the Keep feature is not available in the Docs app for Android, so the Save to Keep method is a computer-only route.

• Screenshot it. Open the document, zoom in until the picture fills the screen, take a screenshot the way you normally do on your device, and crop it in your photo app.
• Wait for a computer. If you need the picture at its stored quality, open the same document on a computer later and use one of the two main methods. The document is saved to your Google account, so it will be there.

You can still print the whole document from the Google Docs app if a paper copy is all you need.

Confirm the image saved correctly

1. Open the folder where you saved the file and double-click the picture. It should open in your computer’s photo viewer.
2. Check the file type. Pictures usually come out as .png or .jpg files. A file ending in .html or .zip is not the picture itself.
3. Compare it with the document. If the picture was cropped in Docs, look at whether the saved file shows the cropped version or the full original, because the two can differ depending on the method.

None of these methods changes the document. The picture stays where it was, and you can delete the downloaded zip file, the extracted folder, or the Keep note whenever you like. The only method with something to undo is publishing, which you reverse with Stop publishing.

Troubleshooting

Save to Keep is missing from the right-click menu

First make sure you clicked the picture itself and not the text beside it. Then look for a submenu at the bottom of the right-click menu. If the command is still missing, Keep may be turned off for your account, which is common with work and school accounts that an administrator manages. Use the Web page download instead.

The Download menu is grayed out or missing

The owner has probably restricted the file. Google lets an owner choose which roles can download, print, and copy a document, as its page on limiting how a file is shared explains. There is no setting on your side that changes this. Ask the owner to send you the image or to allow downloads for your role.

The right-click menu shows browser options, not Docs options

You have right-clicked outside the document area, or the page has not finished loading. Reload the tab, click the picture once so its border appears, then right-click it again.

The images folder is empty or a picture is missing

The Web page download only includes real images. Charts linked from Google Sheets, drawings made with the Docs drawing tool, and equations may be exported differently or left out. For those items, take a screenshot. If you made the drawing yourself, our guide on how to create a drawing in Google Docs explains how to open it again.

The zip file will not open

Wait until the download has fully finished, then extract it rather than double-clicking files inside it on Windows. If the file is damaged, delete it and download the document again.

Frequently asked questions

Why can’t I right-click and save an image in Google Docs?

Google Docs replaces your browser’s right-click menu with its own editing menu, and that menu has commands such as cut, copy, and comment but no save command. The methods above work by moving the picture somewhere your browser’s normal menu is available, such as the Keep panel or a published web page.

Will the saved image be full quality?

Save to Keep and the Web page download both give you the image file that Google Docs stores, which is the best quality you can get out of the document. Google may reduce very large pictures when they are added to a document, so the saved file can be smaller than the original upload. A screenshot is the lowest-quality option.

How do I save all the images from a Google Doc at once?

Select File > Download > Web page (.html, zipped), unzip the download, and open the images folder. It is the only built-in option that collects every picture in one step.

Can I save an image from a document I can only view?

Yes, as long as the owner has not turned off downloading and copying for viewers. In that case the File > Download menu works as usual. If the owner has blocked those actions, ask them for the image.

Does downloading the document as a PDF save the images?

No. A PDF keeps the pictures inside the pages. It does not give you separate image files, so use the Web page download when you want the pictures on their own.

Where does the downloaded file go?

It goes to your browser’s download location, which is the Downloads folder unless you changed it. In Chrome, press Ctrl + J (Command + Shift + J on a Mac) to open the list of recent downloads and click the folder icon next to the file.

How do I add images back into a document?

See how to insert, crop, and edit pictures in Google Docs. To bring an existing file into Docs, see how to put a PDF into Google Docs.

Next step

If you need the whole document on your computer and not only its pictures, our guide on how to save a document in Google Docs covers the download formats and where the files end up.