This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps.
Google Docs turned 20 this year, so I’m sharing 20 of my favorite GDocs features you might find useful.
1. Type with my voice
Tools > Voice typing
When I’m tired of typing, I dictate. I like voice typing with Google Docs to add sentences to a blank page as I think out loud. Here’s a sample of my dictated text. Read it aloud to test your voice typing. The transcription isn’t perfect, but it’s free.
2. Match a prior doc’s format
File > New > Help me create > Match doc format
I can base any new doc on a prior design, like my pedagogy resources handout. This gives me a quick way to create new styled drafts. Requires Gemini to be turned on.
3. Add extensions
Extensions > Add-ons
Get apps for GDocs. I like Beep for attaching voice notes to docs. Word Cloud Generator is nice too. Here’s an example, drawn from this post. Docs to Slides by Alice Keeler is useful for converting a doc into a presentation. The Free icons extension from icons8 is useful for easily adding little visuals to a doc.
4. Add a quick link to any text
Type Command+K with any word or phrase selected
Google Docs is the most efficient tool for adding links to text. Select a word and press Command+K to choose from several relevant links without leaving the doc. It helps me avoid opening a separate tab to hunt down links. Here’s a gif showing this.
5. Quickly create a new doc
Type doc.new into any browser to quickly create a document.
This shortcut lets you jump into a new document from any browser window. It works with other Google services too: slide.new, sheet.new, form.new, site.new, cal.new, meet.new, and keep.new. It also works for notion.new, canva.new, substack.new, and playlist.new (Spotify). More examples.
6. Divide a doc into sections
Insert > Tab
Instead of creating 20 files for a project, make a single doc your headquarters. Each topic can have its own tab. Or each team can. Share everything with one link instead of maintaining a dozen separate docs. See my tips for tabs, then add your own idea in a comment. (View a published GDoc version to see the difference between shared docs and published ones).
7. Add a table of contents
Insert > Table of contents
For long documents, create a table of contents (TOC) so people can quickly find what they need. Choose the black text option for a cleaner look, if you’re printing.
Add headings within the doc (Format > Paragraph styles) to ensure they appear in the TOC. Here’s step-by-step help on this if you need it.
8. Keep track of changes
File > Version history
Version history makes it easy to see what you’ve changed, when. Or look at what collaborators have edited. See what’s new, who made an edit, and when.
9. Copy a doc
File > Make a copy
Duplicate something to make a different version. Simple, easy, and fast. Sometimes I use this for version control instead of the built-in version history.
10. Download a PDF—or other formats
File > Download > PDF Document
Sometimes I need to share a PDF so anyone can easily read my doc. Nothing fancy, but it’s been useful hundreds of times.
11. Create typing shortcuts
Tools > preferences, then select Substitutions on the top right.
Use shorthand with GDocs for words or phrases you frequently type. List them in your preferences. For each one, pick a simple key combination of letters. From then on, any time you type those letters, they’ll expand into your desired phrase. It’s useful for your email or mailing address, or a word you often misspell.
12. Try new templates
File > New > From a Template
Start from a design instead of a blank page. Google now has more than 100 templates, including 60 in the template gallery and 40 when you choose the “from a template option” to start a new doc. The new project road map and onboarding templates are well-designed. The résumé, letter, and proposal templates also make your words look good. Some of the other templates are a bit visually bland.
13. Design docs for the web
Format > Switch to Pageless
Many of the docs we create never need to be printed. So GDocs now offers a pageless format for docs you’ll use on screen. It lets you include wider images and eliminates artificial page breaks. See a gif of Pageless view. Here are a few more points about this format.
14. Listen to your words
Insert > Audio Buttons
When I hear my writing read aloud, the clunky bits jump out. That helps with editing. When an AI voice reads my writing, I can look away and devote my full attention to listening. This feature lets you choose from seven synthetic voices. They don’t sound like robots. This feature requires an AI subscription or an eligible Google Workspace plan.
15. Get proofreading help
Tools> Proofread
Check for spelling or grammar errors. Get suggestions for where you might break up overly long sentences or avoid passive verbs. You accept or reject changes one by one. I like getting to decide which fixes make sense. It’s like an augmented spellcheck that requires AI settings to be turned on. See it in action on a prior draft of this post.
16. Translate your doc instantly
Tools > Translate document
Share your doc in another language. GDocs keeps your original and makes a translated copy. It’s not human quality, but it’s enough for the gist.
17. Use markdown for formatting
Enable it under Tools > Preferences
Easily add headings, bullets, and other formatting from the keyboard with simple symbols. Use *ital* for italics or **bold** to make something bold. You can also paste markdown text from other apps with Edit > Paste from Markdown
18. See who’s viewing your doc
Tools > Activity Dashboard
A dashboard you may not have noticed shows who else in your organization has viewed a doc and when. You’ll also see a chart showing when comments have been added. It requires Google Workspace, and it’s not available for solo free accounts. Adjust privacy settings to keep your activity secret.
19. Insert interactive elements
Insert > Building Blocks
Include an AI summary of your document, a decision log, a team directory, a content tracker, or other templated, editable text blocks. Or insert a linked doc that updates automatically when you update the original file.
20. Link to people, events and docs with Smart Chips
Insert > Smart chips
Smart chips let you paste a live link into docs with a preview. Type @ and the name of a person, place, or calendar event to insert a preview that pops up when someone scrolls over the item. See Google’s help explanation.
Bonus tip: Add more fonts
Fonts > More fonts
Georgia, Raleway, Proxima Nova and Oswald look good. And they’re easy to read. But experiment with other new fonts. Use WhatTheFont to identify other fonts you see and like online.
Good alternatives to Google Docs
- Kraa is a slick text editor I like. Create simple, polished pages like this gallery, library, or archaeology article. It has new sharing features. The iOS app is coming soon.
- iA Writer offers a simple, minimalist writing view.
- Versey is a promising new option I’m testing, with AI to help with editing. Textjam and Reproof are others I’m trying, though not yet recommending.
- Superhuman Docs, formerly called Coda, is underrated. It’s an alternative to Notion that lets you incorporate AI in your workspace and connect documents to your calendar, CRM, email, and Slack.
- Craft remains one of my favorite tools for creating visual handouts.
- Scrivener helps keep long writing projects organized.
This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps.
