How to Edit Google Docs on the Kindle Fire

Google does a fantastic job of integrating all their services. They work smoothly with each other to make your life easier. However, Amazon doesn’t like playing nice with Google, since they’re such fierce competitors.

Since Kindle Fire is Amazon’s product, the same rules apply. You can’t even install the Google Play Store on your Kindle Fire if you’re not an advanced tech user. It’s not entirely impossible, but it’s difficult because it involves APKs and third-party downloads.

Read on to find out simple ways of editing Google Docs on any Kindle Fire device.

How to Make Google Docs Work on the Kindle Fire

This may sound redundant, but it’s necessary to explain why Google Docs can’t be easily edited on Kindle Fire. Google Docs are stored on Google Drive, which is Google’s Cloud storage app. You can’t download Google Drive to your Kindle Fire, because you can’t even install the Google Play Store.

Therefore, editing Google Docs on Kindle Fire seems impossible. Fortunately for you, however, there are a few workarounds anyone can do, not just the tech-savvy amongst us. Editing Google Docs on Kindle Fire is much easier than editing them on a smartphone, because of the bigger screen.

If you have a computer, you’ll get around this issue much easier. You can use the Send to Kindle app, and send the Google Docs file to your Kindle Fire. Alternatively, you can use a USB port on your computer, or even send the file via email.

Of course, you can also consider using the Silk browser on your Kindle Fire, without installing any apps and complicating things. You can access your Google Drive via Silk just fine. Basically, these are all your options, so let’s go over them in more detail.

Using Your Desktop or Laptop Computer

If you have a working computer, editing Google Docs on the Kindle Fire is going to be much easier. The things you’ll need are a Google Drive account, containing the desired document, any web browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Microsoft Edge, etc.), and the Send to Kindle app.

You can download this nifty app from the official Amazon website. It’s designed for sending documents from your computer to your Kindle Fire, which is exactly what you need. Amazon did a really good job with this app because it supports all major text formats (PDF, Word, Notepad, Text files).

Here are the download links for Windows, Android, and Mac. Simply install the app on your device (it has really low system requirements) following the instructions on your screen.

Fetch the Google Docs document from your Google Drive using your browser. This is easy, just log in with your credentials, and save the desired doc somewhere where it’s visible, e.g. on your desktop.

Right-click the desired document and press Send to Kindle. You can also select multiple documents and send them all at once. Alternatively, you can open the Send to Kindle app and drag all the docs you want to be sent to it.

When you connect to a Wi-Fi network on your Kindle Fire next time, it will receive the sent files. Then you’ll be able to view the document and edit it as much as you like.

Using Your Kindle Fire E-mail

Send to Kindle actually works via e-mail too. Each user of Kindle Fire gets a unique Send to Kindle e-mail address (e.g. Johnathan@kindle.com). There are many supported file types for this option, including the doc and docx files that you need to send.

You can give your Kindle email address to your friends or colleagues so they can send you Google Docs files too. If you don’t know your Kindle email address, log in to your Amazon account, and visit Manage Your Device, and then Manage Your Kindle.

Note that you have to approve the e-mail of your senders, even if that’s you from another device. Visit the Manage Your Kindle page again and add your e-mail to the list of approved contacts.

Now that you’re all set, you can write an e-mail to your Kindle e-mail (or leave it empty) and simply attach the Google Docs file you want. You can use any e-mail client to do this.

The next time you connect your Kindle Fire to a Wi-Fi network, your sent doc will be shown in the Doc List.

Connect Your Kindle Fire to Your Computer

If you want to keep things simple, always use a USB port to send your Google Docs to Kindle Fire. Just follow these steps:

1. Fetch the desired document from your Google Drive and place it somewhere memorable, like your desktop.
2. Then plug in your Kindle Fire into your PC’s USB port. It will appear on the drive list.
3. Open it, and then click on the Internal Storage directory.
4. Next, you need to click on the Documents folder.
5. Find your Google Doc file on your computer and drag it to this Documents folder.
6. Now you can unplug your Kindle Fire from your PC. The document will be there, ready for editing.

Using the Silk Browser

Finally, you can use the Silk browser on your Kindle Fire to access your Google Drive. Be aware that sometimes this option isn’t viable, even if it seems like the simplest solution. For whatever reason, there can be glitches with Google Drive if you access it via Kindle Fire.

Make sure your device is updated before you do this. In most cases, it should work, and you should be able to log in to your Google Drive, access the desired Google Doc file and edit it freely.

Get to Editing

There you have it. Editing Google Docs on Kindle Fire should be simpler, but at least there are some workarounds for it. Hopefully, Amazon will cooperate with Google in the future and work on better integration of their services.

Until then, you have these neat tricks up your sleeve. Which one did work best for you? Let us know in the comments section below.