Bulk convert all the Google Docs within a given folder to PDFs and optionally delete the Docs afterward, version 2.0
The following Google Apps Script tool is designed to bulk convert all Google Docs within a given Google Drive folder into PDFs. You can choose the destination folder for the PDFs to be put into and also whether you want the original Docs to be deleted. This tool does work on Shared drives.
It is an improved version of this Google Doc to PDF tool post.
Improvements / Features
- Maximum runtime – in order to prevent the tool from reaching the limits imposed by Google you can adjust the number of minutes the tool can run for. Change this in the ‘GlobalVariables.gs’ file in the Script Editor.
- Continue from where it left off – if you have a lot of Google Docs to convert and the above runtime is reached the tool will save its progress and prompt you to run it again, avoiding any file duplication.
- HTML popup – as well as the ‘Log’ sheet the tool now displays a direct popup to the user if it encounters a problem.
- PDF counter – after successfully running the tool will include the number of PDFs created as part of the success popup to the user.
Source: The Gift of Script: Bulk convert Google Docs to PDFs 2.0
I use Google Apps Script to support staff and students in my job. I enjoy dabbling with creating tools to help with automation and I freely share my learning experiences on my blog, where I also have a number of useful Google Add-ons: www.pbainbridge.co.uk
Thank you for such a fantastic tool! I am running into some issue and am hoping you can help point me in the right direction. I run the script and the notification box pops up saying, “Tool complete. 0 PDFs created. No errors. PDFs have been created for all Google Docs.” As for as I know, I have followed the directions. Any ideas on where I am going wrong? Thanks!
Hi Carrie
Sorry to hear you are having difficulties, below are a few suggestions:
1) This is an update of an older blog post tool, have you been able to catch the tutorial video on the original post (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFQK3ebvq-k)?
2) There is a ‘Log’ tab in the Google Sheet, are you able to copy/paste what is being logged in there please (it may highlight where it is getting stuck)?
3) Have you been able to get it working at all? Have you tried creating a simple Google Drive folder and popping a single Google Doc into it and then using the tool on that?
Kind regards
Phil