The Google Drive for Android app has a new update rolling out this morning, bringing support for opening Microsoft Office password protected files with it. The new build is version 2.18.252.01 for those keeping score at home and has been released to the Play Store.
While Google Drive online has been able to open and view password protected Microsoft Office files, the mobile versions of the app haven’t supported the feature. If you tried to open a password protected file, you would get an error indicating the file couldn’t be opened. Now Google Drive has feature parity across the desktop and mobile platforms.
To be clear you still can’t edit a password protected Microsoft Office file in Drive or any of the other G Suite apps for that matter. If you have such a file and want to edit it, you still have to open it up either using Microsoft Office 365 online or installed on a laptop.
Beyond this new feature, the rest of the update focuses on bug fixes and performance improvements according to the release notes. What exactly was addressed or fixed was not specifically disclosed which is Google’s normal mode of operation.
Given that the update has already been released into the Play Store, chances are it is waiting for you this morning or you have already been updated if you have auto updates enabled. If by chance you don’t see the update yet, give it a day or two but it shouldn’t be long.
