9 Quick and Easy Tips Every Zoho Docs User Should Know: Part 1

Remember how when the year started, we were all geared up with exciting new resolutions! From kickstarting driving classes to joining the salsa dancing class or going backpacking around Europe – we had it all set. I did too. My goal was to help my users be ‘uber-productive’ this year!

Yes, my resolution was to help you spend less time figuring out stuff and more time doing it right. And if your goal was to be more productive this year – here’s a shot in the arm to keep you going.

Laid out below are the 9 best productivity tips from Zoho Docs to help you save time and create documents that are sure to impress your boss.

1. Keep a Tab on Shared Files

You can share your Zoho documents with as many people as you like, but how many are actually looking at them? Zoho Docs has a way to let you know. Right-click any file that you have shared, be it an individual file or a file in a shared folder, and click Access Stats to see how many people have viewed your document.

2. End Your File Search

There are times when you have to access an important file for a meeting and suddenly you can’t remember the file name. Or, you created multiple versions and just can’t locate the final one.

While remembering the file name can be tough, getting the keywords from the content of the document isn’t nearly as hard. So type in important keywords from your document and land at the right file within seconds.

3. Email-In Scanned Documents

When it’s tax time, we all know how it goes: after months of procrastinating, we finally decide it’s time to get those tax papers going. Processing and sending those big piles of tax papers to the accountant can be tiresome, but you can make it easy with the Email-In feature of Zoho Docs. Scan all your tax papers, receipts, and forms and send them to the unique email id to have them stored directly in your Zoho docs account. So, within minutes you have all your important tax papers digitized and saved to your Zoho Docs account. You can even share sensitive tax files securely as a link with your accountant.

4. Always have a Backup!

Imagine you created a presentation on your home computer and saved it locally without emailing it to your account. Now you are at work and need that presentation.

With the Zoho Docs for Desktop application, your files are always in sync, no matter where you are or what device you are using. You can save any file you create in your desktop to the Zoho Docs folder and have it automatically synced to the cloud and easily accessed from anywhere. Since the syncing happens both ways, your latest files from the cloud are also available on your desktop.

5. Assign Tasks

Did you know you can simply select any document and assign a task to one of your colleagues? There is no need to leave where you are or fire up that email. You can just select the document, pick the Add Task action and have your friend review it.

6. Transfer Document Ownership

Let’s say you are the HR head of your company, and maintain a shared folder of policy and reference documents with your new employees. You have set the specific user permissions and you add and delete members as necessary. What happens when you leave or move to a different role? You are not entitled to maintain employee records, so you no longer need access to the shared folder. In such situations, you can transfer the ownership of your shared folder to the appropriate user and help them have a smooth transition.

7. Make Use of Templates

Are you always delegated the task of sending out the minutes of the meeting? If the answer is yes, your work can get a bit easier with our ready-to-use templates. Pick your required template from https:docs.zoho.com/writer/templates.htm and modify the details to have your own brand-new version of the document in no time. You can also save your own document as a template and use it next time from your Zoho Docs account, or add it to the public pool and help others speed up their work.

8. Access Your Documents Offline

Offline access in Zoho Docs is a one-time setup that allows you to sync your documents to an offline server that can be accessed using the link: https://docs.zoho.com/writer/offline

It might be a bit old-hat for some users, but if you don’t have 24*7 internet connectivity, this is your best bet. It also comes in handy when you are traveling or have a weak internet connection. Any changes you make to the document offline syncs back to the cloud the moment your network comes up.

9. Pick Your Favorites

There are a lot of ways in which you can reduce your file searching time. As we discussed earlier, keywords or tags can help you nail your exact file in seconds. But if you are frequently accessing the files, searching for them every day can be a waste of time. Instead, you can mark them as Favorites by clicking the icon next to the filename and access them directly from the Favorites tab.

Your Turn!

If you have any productivity tips you want to share with us, please comment below! Stay tuned for more tips from our online word processor.