How to Download the Images from a Google Doc

Matthew April 26, 2023

Google Docs is one of the best cloud software alternatives to desktop word processors. The cloud app lets you draft documents that include tables, charts, hyperlinks, YouTube videos, images, and more. Sure, it might still have fewer text formatting options and tools than MS Word, but Google Docs is getting better and better. Yet, there’s still one notable option missing from its picture context menu. Where’s the Save image as option in Google Docs?

How to Download the Images from a Google Doc

Alas, Google Docs doesn’t have a Save image as option to download selected pictures whenever you right-click them because it is in editing mode. Therefore, you get Copy, Cut, Save in Keep, etc. Unfortunately, there is no way to select and download a few pictures directly from a document. That option would certainly be a handy addition to the cloud app’s context menu. Nevertheless, there are still a few ways to download selected pictures from documents open in Google Docs.

Download Docs Images by Publishing to the Web

Google Docs has a Publish to the web option that allows you to open a document in a browser tab. This feature lets you download the images directly from the document’s page. Here’s how to do it.

Click on File -> Share -> Publish to the web, which opens the publishing menu.
Click on the blue Publish button.
Select OK to confirm your submission.
Press Ctrl + C (Windows) or Command key (⌘) + V (Mac) over the highlighted link, then select Copy.
Leave the publishing browser tab open and launch a new tab. Paste the link, then press the Enter/Return key. The newly published page loads. Don’t worry; nobody has the link except you.
Hover over the image you want to save. Right-click (Windows) or double-finger tap (Mac) over the image and select Save Image As…
Optional: You can unpublish the Doc when done. Return to the Google Doc tab where your publish option still appears. Click on Published content and settings, then select Stop publishing.

Save the Images to Google Keep

Google Keep is a handy note-taking app now integrated with Google Docs. The feature lets you open the “Notes from Keep” sidebar. Furthermore, that also means you can save Google Docs images directly to Keep and download them! Here’s how to do it.

Right-click (Windows) or double-finger tap (Mac) over the image you want to save, then select View more actions -> Save to Keep from the context menu.
Right-click (Windows) or double-finger tap (Mac) on the picture in the “Notes from Keep” sidebar and choose Save image as.

Bulk Download Images from Google Docs using HTML Format

If you need to download numerous images, it is probably better to download the document in HTML format. This option automatically saves images in a zipped folder. Extract the file and open the images subfolder that includes all the pictures.

To download the Google Doc as HTML, select File > Download -> Web Page (.html, zipped).
Click on the browser’s downloads icon, then choose to open the file’s location.
Unzip the file, then browse and select the images folder.
Browse the images and delete any you don’t want.

Extract Pictures from Documents with Add-ons

You can install a Chrome browser add-on such as Shift Click Image Extractor that downloads pictures from open documents in Google Docs and other web pages.

Add-ons from the Google Workspace Marketplace do not include any image capturers for Docs.