Google Ads Editor is Google's free desktop application for managing Google Ads accounts in bulk. You download one or more accounts, make changes offline, check them for errors and post everything back to Google Ads in one action.
That makes it the fastest way to edit Google Ads at scale: launching new campaigns, rewriting ads across dozens of ad groups, adding negative keywords or swapping tracking templates. This guide covers the workflow step by step, the bulk tools that save the most time and the mistakes that cause problems after posting. It is part of our Google Ads hub, and the facts below reflect Google's help center as of October 2026.
What is Google Ads Editor?
Google Ads Editor is a downloadable application that keeps a local copy of your Google Ads accounts, so you can edit them without the web interface and upload the result when you are ready. Google calls it a free, downloadable application and says it is useful for accounts of any size, especially those with many campaigns and long lists of keywords or ads.
According to Google, the main things you can do with it are:
- Use bulk editing tools to make many changes quickly.
- Export and import files to share proposals or make changes to an account.
- Manage, edit and view multiple accounts at the same time.
- Search and replace text across ad groups or campaigns.
- Copy or move items between ad groups and campaigns.
- Make changes in draft before uploading them to your account.
- Keep working when you are offline.
The key idea is that nothing you do in Editor is live until you post it. That gives you room to build, review and fix before a single change reaches the auction.
How to download and set up Google Ads Editor
You install Google Ads Editor from Google's download page, sign in with the Google account that has access to your ad accounts, and download the accounts you want to work on. The system requirements are short: 64-bit Windows 10 or later, or macOS 13 or later.
As of October 2026 the current release is version 2.13, which PPC News Feed reported as released in July 2026. It added support for the "Show your ads on TV screens" recommendation, business name and logo fields for video ads, a customer retention goal for Performance Max and AI Max for Shopping campaigns, among other changes.
Google supports each Editor version for one year from its release. Its support policy states that on October 19, 2026, versions 2.10 and earlier will no longer be supported, so check your version now if you have not updated in a while.
- Download and install the app. Get the installer for your operating system from Google's Google Ads Editor page and install it like any other desktop application.
- Review the settings. Editor has default settings for new campaigns, such as targeting. Check them before you build anything, so new campaigns do not inherit defaults you did not choose.
- Add your accounts. Select Accounts in the top menu, click Add, sign in, tick the accounts you need and click OK.
- Choose the campaigns to download. Pick all campaigns or a subset. Smaller downloads are faster and keep the local copy easier to work with.
- Open the account. Select the account and click Open. The account tree appears in the left panel, with the type list (campaigns, ad groups, keywords, ads and so on) below it.
The Google Ads Editor workflow: get, edit, check, post
Every Google Ads Editor session follows the same four steps: get recent changes, make your edits, run Check changes and post. Google's own six-step overview adds reviewing settings and optionally sharing changes, but these four are what you do every time.
Get recent changes
Editor works on a local snapshot, so start every session with Get recent changes. Google offers two options in its help article on recent changes: Basic, which is usually faster for a small set of campaigns, and More data, which is usually faster across many campaigns and also downloads top-of-page and first-page bid estimates and Quality Score.
If a downloaded change conflicts with one of your local edits, you choose. Right-click the row and click Revert to accept the downloaded version, or do nothing to keep your edit, which then overwrites it when you post.
Edit
Make your changes in the data view, in the edit panel or with the bulk tools described below. Edited items are marked, so you can always see what is pending. Until you post, you can undo edits or revert items.
Check changes
Click Check changes in the toolbar before posting. Editor then flags anything that could stop your changes from posting, with error icons next to the affected items and on the tabs that contain them. Custom rules, covered below, add best practice warnings on top of these checks.
Post
Click Post, choose All campaigns or Selected campaigns, review the summary and confirm. Google's posting guide explains that Editor then shows a report with any errors, and campaigns with failed changes stay in bold so you can find them. You can also post to several accounts at once.
Bulk changes you can make in Google Ads Editor
The bulk tools are the reason most advertisers use Google Ads Editor. Three of them cover the bulk of daily work: Make multiple changes, Replace text and Change URLs.
Make multiple changes accepts pasted rows from a spreadsheet. You can add or update keywords, negative keywords, ads, ad groups or campaigns in one pass. Google's guide to adding keywords lists the required columns as campaign name, ad group name and keyword, with optional columns such as match type, max CPC, final URL and status.
- Select the item type. Pick Keywords (or another type) in the type list.
- Open the tool. Click Make multiple changes.
- Choose the destination. Tick the option for data that includes campaign and ad group columns, or use selected destinations.
- Paste your rows. Copy them from your spreadsheet, including the header row.
- Process and map columns. Click Process, map any unrecognized headers and click Process again.
- Review and keep. Click Finish and review changes, then Keep proposed changes.
Replace text lives under Edit, Replace text. It finds and replaces text in the selected items, with options for Match case, Match whole words only, Preserve capitalization and Make changes in duplicate items. That last option is useful for ad tests, because it creates edited copies and leaves the originals untouched. The tool also supports formula words in square brackets, such as [adgroup] or [campaign], which insert the value of that column into the new text.
Change URLs lives under Edit, Change URLs. It replaces final URLs or tracking templates, appends text such as UTM parameters, or strips a specific parameter from all selected URLs. If you are cleaning up tracking, align the parameters with your analytics and tracking setup first.
Copy and paste works across campaigns and ad groups, which is the fastest way to clone a proven campaign structure into a new market. Google's custom rules then act as a safety net: a default set of recommended rules flags issues with ad structure, assets, bidding and conversion tracking as warnings, and you can add your own rules as warnings or errors.
Google Ads Editor vs the Google Ads web interface
Google Ads Editor is better for building and editing, the web interface is better for analyzing and for features that Editor does not support yet. Most accounts need both.
| Google Ads Editor | Google Ads web interface | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Desktop app on Windows 10 or later (64-bit) and macOS 13 or later | Any browser |
| Offline work | Yes, changes stay local until you post | No, changes go live when saved |
| Bulk edits | Make multiple changes, Replace text, Change URLs, copy and paste | Bulk actions on selected rows, uploads and scripts |
| Review before going live | Check changes, custom rules, posting summary | Limited to the edit itself |
| Reporting | Downloaded statistics for selected date ranges | Full reporting, segments and recommendations |
| New features | Arrive with new Editor versions, unsupported fields are stripped on post | Available first |
| Sharing proposals | AES share files with comments | Shared access to the live account |
A simple rule: if a change touches more than a handful of rows, or if you want a colleague to review it before it goes live, do it in Editor. If you need to look at performance, test a feature that just launched or act on a recommendation, use the web interface.
Sharing, reviewing and backing up changes
Google Ads Editor can export proposed changes as an AES file that a colleague or client imports, reviews, comments on and then posts or sends back. Google's sharing guide notes that AES files are snapshots tied to a moment in time, so import them soon after they are made.
For backups, use the AEA format (Ads Editor Archive) under Account, Export, Whole account. Importing an AEA file restores the archived parts of the account to their previous state, including unposted changes, comments and draft campaigns. For quick sharing with someone who does not use Editor, a CSV export works too.
When the build is done, the next questions are usually about budget and performance. Our guide to Google Ads cost explains how bids and budgets translate into spend, and conversion rate optimization covers what to test on the landing pages your new ads point to.
Common mistakes with Google Ads Editor
- Skipping Get recent changes. If someone edited the account online, your post can overwrite their work. Always refresh before you start and again before you post on a busy account.
- Posting without Check changes. Errors then show up only after posting, spread across campaigns. Run Check changes and fix every error first.
- Replacing text too broadly. Replace text acts on the selected items. Select only the rows you mean to change and consider Make changes in duplicate items for ad copy.
- Assuming every setting is supported. Fields that Editor does not support are stripped on posting. Make edits to brand new features in the web interface until Editor supports them.
- Running an outdated version. Each version is supported for one year. Update before versions stop working, such as 2.10 and earlier on October 19, 2026.
- Treating AES files as backups. Share files are temporary snapshots. Use an AEA export for a backup you can restore later.
