Where did the File menu go in Google Docs? [2023 Guide]

The File menu at the top of the Google Docs window is where you go when you need to add something to a document or apply formatting to some text.

So if you don’t see this list anymore, it could be a big problem.

Fortunately, you can restore the list in one of two ways to continue using the app as normal.

You can fix the missing Google Docs toolbar by clicking the arrow on the right side of the toolbar or by pressing the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + F.

How to restore the toolbar in Google Docs

1. Open a Google Docs document.
2. Look for the down arrow in the upper right corner of the window.
3. Click the arrow to restore the list to view.

Our guide continues below with more information on displaying the Google Docs toolbar, including images of these steps.

The menus at the top of the Google Docs window provide you with the means to customize settings and formats for your document.

These menu items, called controls, including File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Tools, Table, Add-ins, and Help, are core elements of the application, allowing you to customize your document as needed.

You can make the menu and toolbar visible again in Google Docs by clicking the down arrow in the upper-right corner of the window.

Since many of the changes you need to make to the document, be it text formatting or modifications to page layout, require access to this menu, it can seriously hinder your productivity if you cannot access it.

If you have text with a line through it, a Google Docs strikethrough removal guide can show you how to change that.

The usefulness and necessity of these tools will make you think they should always be there because they definitely limit your productivity if you can’t use the Format tab or the Edit tab, for example.

However, these controls can be hidden or minimized so that more of the document is visible on the screen. If you have shrunk the controls intentionally or unintentionally, the steps below will show you how to restore them to their display.

We also provide you with information on how to hide this list if you decide you need to do so in the future.

Check out our article on uploading PDFs to Google Drive if you want to start using Google Drive to store other types of files.

How to retrieve, edit, view, etc. file in Google Docs (guide with pictures)

The steps in this article were performed on the web browser version of the Google Docs app. These steps assume that you currently cannot see the menu bar at the top of the screen, including options such as File, Edit, View, Format, etc. By following these steps, you can restore these menu options to be visible.

Step 1. Go to Google Drive https://drive.google.com/drive/мой-драйв And open the Google Docs file.

Step 2: Click the down arrow in the upper right corner of the window.

Note that you can also display these menu items by pressing Ctrl + Shift + F on your keyboard.

You can hide these menus again in the future by clicking the arrows in the upper right corner of the window again (although they point up when the file menus are visible), or by clicking the View menu and selecting the Items option. CD control. (Editor’s note – This compact control feature has been removed in recent versions of Google Docs.)

Our tutorial below continues with an additional discussion on restoring the missing Google Docs menu toolbar.

If instead you switch to full screen mode and there is nothing at the top of the screen, you can go into full screen mode by right-clicking on an empty space in the window and selecting the option to exit full screen. Or by pressing the Esc key on the keyboard.

Crossing out words in documents can be very helpful. You can also do this in emails by following our guide on how to strikethrough in Outlook.

More information on how to fix a missing Google Docs toolbar

If you often switch between showing and hiding the Google Docs menu and toolbar, it might be helpful to know a quicker way to switch.

You can hide controls in Google Docs using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + F (Windows) or Command + Shift + F (Mac).

Note that this shortcut can hide and show controls, so you can use it no matter which display option you need at the moment.

If you see a file menu but don’t see a line with different formatting buttons, you may be in view mode, not edit mode.

You can switch to editing mode by clicking the eye icon in the upper right corner of the window labeled View if you hover over it, then select the editing option instead. You should then see a series of buttons and icons that allow you to apply various formatting changes to your document.

If you cannot switch to editing mode, you are most likely viewing a document whose creator did not give you permission to edit the document. You can either make a copy of this document and make changes to that copy, or contact the creator of the original document and ask them to give you permission to edit.

Is your Google Docs file a collection of information you’ve collected from various sources? This often leads to a mess in the format settings, making the document difficult to read. Learn how to clean up formatting in Google Docs to create a more organized document.