7 Ways to Save an Image From Google Docs

When you right-click an image on a web page, you’ll find an option to download the image to your device. Many text editing tools also provide clear-cut options or buttons to download images. Things work differently in Google Docs. Saving images from a Google document is such a head-scratching task.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to save an image from Google Docs on mobile devices (Android and iOS) and computers. You’ll also learn how to extract bulk or multiple images from a document in a single download.

Note: The web screenshots in this tutorial were captured on a Mac computer. However, the methods and steps are the same on Windows devices.

1. How to Save Images From Google Doc on iPhone

All you need is the Google Docs app and the Notes app. Here’s how to go about it:

1. Open the document in the Google Docs app. Long-press the image you want to save, release your finger, and select Copy.
2. Open the Notes app and paste the image in a new or pre-existing note. Tap and hold a blank space in the note and select Paste.

3. Tap the image, select the share icon in the bottom-left corner and select Save Image.

That’ll download the image to your iPhone or iPad and you should see the image in the Photos app.

2. Save Google Docs Images on Android

Unlike iOS, you (currently) cannot save an individual image from a document in the Google Docs app. You’ll have to download all images in the document to your device’s storage via Google Drive.

1. Open the Google Docs app, tap the menu icon on the document, and select Send a copy.
2. Select Web page (.html, zipped) and tap OK.

3. Select Drive in the share menu to upload the zipped image file to your Google Drive account.
4. Give the document a suitable name, select the Drive folder you want the file saved, and tap Save.

5. When the upload is complete, locate the file in your Drive account, tap the menu icon, and select Download.

6. Open the file in the Files app or any third-party file manager and extract the images out of the zip file.

You’ve successfully saved images in the Google Docs document to your Android device.

3. Save Images From Google Docs Using Google Keep

Google Keep is one of the many Google add-ons integrated into Google Docs. The add-on primarily lets users insert Google Keep notes in a document and save excerpts from a document as a note.

The Google Keep also provides a nifty workaround for saving images in a Google Docs document or presentation.

1. Open the document, right-click the image you want to save, and select Save to Keep.

On the right sidebar, Google Docs will create a Note file with the selected image as the content.

2. Right-click the image and select Save Image As.

3. Give the image a file name and select Save.

Delete the image from your Google Keep notepad after saving the image to your computer.

4. Hover your mouse on the image on the Google Keep section and select the three-dot menu icon.

5. Select Delete to remove the image from Google Keep.

4. Extract All Images as a Web Page File

Want to download the entire images in a Google Docs file all at once? Saving the file as an HTML webpage will do the trick. The operation exports the document in a ZIP file with two items: an HTML text file and a folder containing all images in the document.

1. Open the Google Docs file, select File on the Toolbar, select Download, and select Web Page (.html, zipped).

2. Save the ZIP file on your computer and unzip it to extract the embedded folders. 
3. Open the (unzipped) folder and open the images folder to view all images in the Google Docs file.

Note that images in the folder aren’t arranged in the sequence that they appear in the Google document. Likewise, the images don’t carry their original names. They’re assigned a random image name and number randomly generated by Google.

5. Save Google Docs Images Using Microsoft Word

Export the Google Docs file as a Word document and extract images in the document to your computer. 

1. Open the Google Docs file, select File on the toolbar, select Download, and select Microsoft Word (.docx).

2. Save the Word document on your computer and open it using Microsoft Word when the download is complete.
3. To save an image from the document, right-click the image, and select Save as Picture.

4. Rename the image file (if you wish) and select a storage location. Microsoft Word also lets you save the image in different formats—PNG, JPEG, BMP, or GIF. Select your preferred image format in the “Save as Type” drop-down menu, and select Save.

5. To save all the images in the document, select File on the menu bar, and select Save As.

6. Select the File Format drop-down menu and select Web Page (.htm).

7. Choose a storage location and select Save. Head to the location where the HTML file is saved and open the folder with a matching name.

You’ll find all images in the Word document in the image folder, arranged in the order they appear in the document but with randomly-generated file names.

6. Use the “Publish to the Web” Trick

Google Docs has a feature that lets you publish a copy of your Google Docs file as a lightweight webpage. If you need to download selected pictures from a document, use Google Docs’ “Publish to the web” feature to your advantage.

The trick is to create a web-based copy of the file and download the image(s) from the file webpage. Easy peasy.

1. Open the Google Docs file, select File on the Toolbar, and select Publish to the web.

2. Select the Publish button.

3. Select OK on the pop-up.

4. Copy the document’s web URL and open the link in a new tab.

5. Right-click on the image you want to save on and select Save Image As or Save Image.

6. Rename the image (if you wish), select a preferred storage location on your computer, and select Save.

One good thing about this method is that it retains the original name of the image(s), so it’s easy to identify saved images. Plus, it saves you the stress of renaming images, especially if the document has many images.

7. Third-Party Add-Ons

“Image Extractor & Remover” is a popular Google Docs add-on that lets users save images from Google documents. While it’s convenient to use, the app permissions are overkill. This add-on requires access to your Google Drive files and personal info in your Google account.

You also have to grant it permission to view, edit, and delete your Google Drive files. That’s too much data/access for the functionality it offers. The exchange isn’t worth it.

But if you’re okay with these permissions, or you’re in the mood to experiment, here’s how to install the add-on.

1. Select Add-ons on the Toolbar and select Get add-ons.

2. Type image extractor in the search bar and select Image Extractor & Remover in the suggestions.

3. Select the Images Extractor & Remover app.

4. Select Install to add the tool to Google Docs. You should check out the add-on’s permission in the “Permissions” tab. Likewise, head to the “Reviews” section to read other users’ experience before installing the add-on.

Let’s Talk Image Quality

From our experiments, images downloaded using these methods maintained the same size, dimension, and quality as the original image uploaded to the Google document. We uploaded about 50 images to a document, re-downloaded them all, and compared them with the original copies we uploaded.

There was no reduction in image quality or size, both on mobile and desktop. However, it’s worth stating that editing an image in Google Docs will affect the download size and quality. For instance, cropping an image will reduce its dimension and size.

Let’s leave you with one last trick to saving images from Google Docs. Download the document as a PDF and extract images from the PDF file. You’re welcome 😉.