Why I Prefer Microsoft Word over Google Docs
The online platform I spend the most time on (for academic purposes) is Microsoft Word.
Yes, I prefer Word over Google Docs.
Photo by CaliCirilo on Adobe Stock
I use Word to write my many university assignments with, the only exception being group assignments. Even I will admit Google Docs makes it a lot easier to collaborate with others when working on an assignment. But for every other aspect I prefer using Word, here are a few reasons:
- Most files my professors have created and uploaded onto UR Courses is a Word document, meaning I can easily download and edit the documents.
- Some professors I have had only accepted Word documents for assignments.
- Microsoft Word was the program my school had, so with those years of experience, I have a very strong understanding of how to use it. I haven’t used Google as much, and it is frustrating when I can’t transfer all of my Word knowledge to Google Docs.
- I have a student account on Microsoft, meaning I have access to all of the major Microsoft apps for only $3.00/month which is more than affordable (Less than what many students will spend on a coffee each day!). Although there are free versions of these apps, I find there can be issues if your wi-fi is slow.
So which do you prefer? Comment down below!
Other websites I use for school are Top Hat and Pinterest. I had to download Top Hat for my ELNG 310 class, which has us utilizing one of their online textbooks, and I use Pinterest to gain ideas for lesson planning.
When I finish my school work for the day, the apps I spend the most time on are YouTube and Instagram. Instagram is the place where I tend to get distracted and lose track of time. It is very sad how addicted we can become to our phones. I do have a screen time limit set on my phone, but it is way too easy to press ignore and keep on scrolling. I should look into downloading apps that make it harder to ignore the time limit. I could also set timers for phone breaks while I’m doing my homework, or set my phone in another room so I don’t reach for it as often.
To help me stay on track with organization and productivity, I use a physical planner. I guess I’m old school that way. I love using different coloured pens to organize what I have to do each day. I make sure to split up working on papers and projects over a week or two so I only have to do a little each day (I do not like leaving things to the last minute). Having a detailed planner also helps me to balance screen time for school and leisure. I treat school like a 9-5, once my checklist is completed or it reaches 5:00pm, I stop doing school work. I allow myself the evening to do chores, reading, and personal use of technology.
I would love to hear if you guys also schedule your days, and if so, how do you schedule it?
4 thoughts on “Why I Prefer Microsoft Word over Google Docs”
MICROSOFT WORD ALL THE WAY!!! I feel so weird having way more spirit about this than any U of R sports teams but this is a hill I am more than willing to die on. Wanna know a tip no one wants you to know? You can actually get FREE access to Office 365 through the U of R. I can’t remember the steps for the life of me, but I know it’s true; at least that’s how I have access to the pinnacle of word processing engines. I hope this tip saves you some money!
Microsoft Word for life! I am the same way I use Word for almost everything and I haven’t even touched Google Docs. I get Microsoft 365 so I can access all of their apps for free (because FNUC gives me a free account) and honestly, I got so comfortable with Word that I would feel bad switching apps because Word hasn’t done anything bad to me!!
Its nice to meet you Hailey!! and its been a pleasure reading your blogs.
P.S I hope you have fun at the Taylor Swift concert Movie and I hope its everything you wished for!!
Hey Hailey!
I have to disagree – I prefer Google Docs. You mentioned you used Word in high school, whereas I used Docs, so maybe that’s why I prefer it. I also like that I can easily access my documents from anywhere, and they save automatically. I know the features of Docs better and love that you can edit the same document from far away for group assignments. My ideas on Word could be outdated, as I don’t think I have used it since I was in grade 5 or 6, 9 or 10 years ago.
I also like physical planner because it is easy to customize; however, I have stopped using them because when I think of things, it is never near me. I have found a calendar app that helps me called TimeTree. I can customize colours, notifications, add notes and links, and so much else. I find it as similar as possible to having a paper planner, as you can get on my phone!
Hi Hailey,
I honestly don’t think I prefer Google Docs or Microsoft Word more and I use them both interchangeably. I have been using Word more because of lack of storage on my Google Account which is annoying. They’re trying to get me to pay for more storage or delete some files (which I have been trying to do).
I also use a physical planner with different coloured pens to stay organized. In an entrepreneurship class I took, I had to invent something and I decided to create a planner app. If I was actually able to make it function properly it would be super useful as it was supposed to create a lock screen of my day schedule and would update it on my phone everyday so that when I open my phone I can see what I need to do for the day. You could go into the app and edit your schedule as often as you want or need. I hope someday this is something that I will actually be able to use as I find a paper day planner hard to use since it is not always with me when things become scheduled.