HARVARD STUDENTS - NEW UPDATE AVAILABLE
Step 1 of 3
Donna works best when your files live in Google Drive for Desktop — this syncs
your Drive files to your local filesystem so Donna can open and link them the same
way it does any other file on your computer.
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Step 1
Head to google.com/drive/download and download the installer for your operating system — Mac or Windows. Run the installer and follow the on-screen prompts to completion.
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Step 2
Once it’s installed, your Google Drive shows up like any other storage folder (Documents, Downloads, iCloud drive, OneDrive, an external disk, etc):
Windows: Open File Explorer and look for Google Drive in the left sidebar (usually shown as a drive, e.g. Google Drive (G:)).
Mac: Open Finder and look for Google Drive under Locations in the left sidebar.
Inside, you’ll find My Drive and any Shared drives, with all your files.
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Step 3
Donna works with Word (.docx), Adobe PDF (.pdf), and Excel (.xlsx) files. Any .docx, .pdf or .xlxs stored in your Google Drive is ready to open in Donna or in Google docs/sheets. (Note: Google supports and stores Microsoft file formats but doesn’t default to them, so documents created first inside Google are often Google’s file format instead of Microsoft’s. When working on Microsoft files in Google docs, there is no visual difference other than a discreet label. See Working with Google Docs below.)
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Step 4
Double-click any .docx or .pdf in your Google Drive folder to open it in Donna (once Donna is your default editor — see Step 3), or right-click it and choose Open with → Donna.
Edit and save as usual, or turn on auto-save in Donna to match the Google Docs experience.
Tip: In Google Drive for desktop settings, choose to mirror your files to keep them available offline, handy for writing on the go without Wi-Fi.
Google Drive for desktop syncs your changes back to the cloud automatically, so your latest version is always waiting for you on every device from either Google or Donna.
Step 2 of 3
Once Donna is your default, every .docx and .pdf file you double-click — including
your Drive files — opens instantly in Donna. No more opening Word or Preview first.
Step 3 of 3
Our team put together a short walkthrough of everything that's changed in v0.0.48 — new features, performance improvements, and a few things you might have missed.
⚡ Faster Sessions
🔗 Improved Threads
🔍 Search Upgrades
📊 Dashboard v2
The Final Step
Pick your platform below. The installer is about 80MB and takes under a
minute. If you already have Donna installed, this will update it automatically.