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How to Save Google Slides on a USB Flash Drive? [EASY WAY]

How to Save Google Slides on a USB Flash Drive? [EASY WAY]

One of the most convenient features of Google Slides is its ability to automatically save the presentation in the cloud server allowing you access to your presentation anytime from anywhere. But, there are times when you want to also save your Google Slides presentation to a USB Flash Drive! So, how does one do that?

In order to save your Google Slides presentation to your USB flash drive, first, insert the flash drive in the USB slot. Then, on your Google Slides presentation, click on File, Download, and choose your preferred file format. Once the file is downloaded, transfer it to your USB flash drive.

That’s just a short explanation of the process. However, if you want a full step by step explanation on how to save the Google Slides on a USB flash drive, keep reading!

How to Save Google Slides to a USB Flash Drive? (Step by Step Process)

A presentation that is edited or created in Google Slides is saved directly in the Google Drive cloud server. Since it is always available online, it can feel challenging at first to know how to put it to a USB flash drive.

The key to transferring your Google Slides presentation to a USB flash drive is to know how to first download it to your computer.

Saving the Google Slides file on your computer is actually quite an easy process. You can save your file in multiple formats. Here’s a list of file formats in which you can currently download your Google Slides presentation –

  • JPEG image (.jpeg)
  • ODP document (.odp)
  • PDF document (.pdf)
  • Microsoft PowerPoint (.pptx)
  • Plain text (.txt)
  • PNG image (.png)
  • Scalable Vector Graphics (.svg)

How to Download Google Slides to Your Computer?

As mentioned above, the process of downloading a Google Slides presentation is quite simple. Nevertheless, if you are doing this for the first time, you may need some help.

You can easily follow the steps mentioned below and download your Google Slides presentation.

Step 1 – Open and Download Your Google Slides Presentation

First, simply open the Google Slides presentation that you wish to download.

Then, as indicated in the image, first click on “File“. A dropdown menu will appear.

Click on “Download” from the dropdown menu. A side menu will pop-up. Choose the format type of the file that you wish to download. I would recommend using either a “.pptxor.pdf” file type.

Step 2 – Select the Folder in where you Wish to Download the File

If you are using a Chrome browser, the presentation will get downloaded by default in the “Downloads” folder of your computer.

You can then open the downloads folder, and move it to any specific location on your computer.

That’s the hard part for most people.

How to Save Google Slides to a USB Flash Drive? 

Once you have downloaded the Google Slides file to your computer, the rest is easy. I am going to guide you step by step about how you can transfer the Google Slide file from your computer to your USB flash drive in Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Ubuntu operating systems.

Saving to USB flash Drive on Windows

Once you have downloaded the Google Slides presentation, there are few different methods in which you can move it to your USB Flash drive.

Method 1 – Drag & Drop

Step 1: Connect the USB flash drive to your computer’s USB port.

Step 2: Find the saved Google Slides file on your computer.

Step 3:  Open File Explorer and double click on the USB flash drive that you connected.

Step 4: Now drag the Google Slides file using the mouse courser to the USB flash drive folder that was opened in the File Explorer and drop the file here.

Step 5: Wait for the file to complete the transfer from your computer to your USB drive. 

Method 2 – Copy & Paste

Step 1: First, connect the USB flash drive to your computer’s USB port.

Step 2: Find and select the Google Slides file on your computer.

Step 3: Under the “Home” tab situated at the top left corner of the File Explorer Click on “Copy to”.

Step 4: Click on “Choose location” from the dropdown menu. 

Step 5: Now find the USB flash drive and click on “Copy” to transfer your file.

Step 6: Wait for the transfer to finish.

Method 3 – Open the Presentation and use “Save As”

Step 1: As always, first connect the USB flash drive.

Step 2: Find the Google Slide file and double click to open it. 

Step 3: After opening the file, click on “Files> Save As” in the application.

Step 4: Browse the file explorer andselect the USB flash drive to save the file.

Step 5: Wait for the file transfer bar to reach 100%.

Note: “Save as” method can only be used when the Google Slide file is opened in an application. Make sure your computer has the right software installed to open the file.

How to Download Google Slides directly to USB Flash Drive?

You can also download Google Slides Files directly to a USB flash drive. You can do that in two ways. The first one is to change the download path in the Chrome web browser settings.

To do that, first, connect the USB flash drive to your computer. Then open the Chrome browser and go to settings. From there go to the “Advanced” tab. There, select “Downloads” from the dropdown menu.  You will find the download location option there. Turn on “Ask where to save each file before downloading” and save settings. Now if you download the file, it will ask where to be saved. You can select the USB flash device folder here. 

The next method is to use a third-party downloader. Google Slides files are automatically saved to Google Drive cloud. Go to Google Drive and locate the file to download. Connect the USB flash device. Now right-click on the file and select “Download”. A pop-up window will open where you can select the download location. Select the USB flash device location and start the download. The file will be downloaded to the flash drive.

Caveat to Downloading Google Slides directly to a USB Flash Drive

A USB flash drive is an external device that you can connect to your computer and other devices. It is prone to damage easily. When you download a file directly to USB, if the device gets unplugged in the midway of the transfer, the file will be corrupted and you will not be able to open it. You will need to download the file again. This is annoying if the file is very large.

That’s why directly downloading to USB devices is not recommended.

Should you Play a Presentation directly from a USB Flash Drive?

USB flash devices are plug and play devices. To play a presentation directly from USB, plug it to your computer’s USB port and click on the file to open it. Make sure you have the right software installed to open the file.

JPEG and PNG file formats are suitable for playing presentation slides through monitor or TV USB ports as most of the TVs and monitors support these file formats. You can also use a portable USB Media Player to run your PowerPoint slides on the TV or monitor.

However, although most USB flash drives offer the plug and play feature, I would recommend you to try and download the presentation from your USB drive to your computer. That way, even if the flash drive were to get disconnected, your presentation will still be open.

Furthermore, if you are operating a heavy presentation file (upwards of 50 MB), opening it directly on a Flash Drive will make it slower for you to operate the presentation file.

Why Should You Download Google Slides to a USB Flash Drive? 

Google Slides is a web-based application that is frequently used for making presentation slides for work or school and saves the file in the cloud servers. It grants you easy access to your files any time anywhere, all you need is an internet connection. 

However, sometimes to transfer the files from one device to another, you need to download your files to a USB flash drive. Or, if you need to work on some slides but there is no internet connection, you can transfer them to a USB drive and edit them while you are offline (although Google now provides an option to work and edit Google Slides presentation offline as well.)

Conclusion

By now, you’ve learned all the things that you need to know about how to save Google Slides on a USB flash drive. Thank you for having the patience to go through the entire article. Hope this was of some help to you to find what you seek. Have a great day!