Google Docs tips and tricks that will make your life easier

You can directly send emails via Gmail without leaving Google Docs.

This is a really useful trick if your work involves sending emails. To create and send emails from Google Docs, just click on ‘Insert’ on the top of the screen, head over to ‘Building Blocks’ and click on ‘Email Draft’ and you will see a screen similar to Gmail compose window. It is interesting to note that the text you type in Docs will be sent as part of the email body and not as an attachment.

2. Search for links using Google Docs

Whenever users want to hyperlink a part of the text, they usually copy the link from the address bar and paste it into the hyperlink box. This might be pretty time-consuming if you want to insert many links. To save on time, you can let Google Docs do all the hard work. Just highlight the text you want to hyperlink and Docs will suggest a link of URLs. The feature is pretty handy if you happen to refer to brands or websites.

3. Insert images directly from Google Search

On the right side, you can see the Google Images panel that lets you search for photos without leaving Docs.

The majority of users often end up downloading images from Google Search and end up uploading them to Google Docs. If you happen to be in the same boat, you can simply search for images on Google by clicking the ‘Insert’ drop-down menu and choosing the ‘Search the web’ option under the ‘Image’ section. Keep in mind that some of these images might be copyright protected.

4. Voice typing

If you are someone who uses the Voice typing feature a lot, you will be delighted to know that Google Docs has a built-in speech-to-text tool. It can be found under Tools drop-down menu. If you are lazy, just use the CTRL + SHIFT + S shortcut. Keep in mind that the feature is only available for Chrome users.

5. Easily insert special characters

Here’s the Google Docs Insert Special Characters menu.

Whenever users want to use special characters, they tend to copy them from website or text. But at times, copying isn’t simply possible. Thankfully, Google Docs has a huge list of special characters that you can access by heading over to the ‘Special Characters’ button under the ‘Insert’ menu.

6. Download documents in various formats

While Google Docs saves files in .docx by default, there are options to download documents in formats like .pdf, .txt, .epub and many more. It can be found in the ‘Download’ option under the ‘File’ menu.

7. Install extensions

Workspace Marketplace is Google Docs’ own extension marketplace.

Similar to extensions for internet browsers, Google Docs has a wide range of extensions available that will help you increase productivity. Just click on the Extensions drop-down menu and you will find the ‘Get Add-ons’ button under the Add-Ons menu.

8. Integration with Google Meet

Earlier this year, Google started rolling Meet integration for Google Docs users. This lets users easily join a meeting or initiate video calls right from within the app. To do so, just find the Meet button on the top of the page and you will have the option to start a meeting or join one.

9. Customised shortcuts

Google Docs lets you create custom shortcuts in addition to pre-defined ones.

Regular Google Docs users might be aware of the default keyboard shortcuts. That said, Google Docs lets you create your own shortcuts. To do so, just head over to the ‘Automatic Substitution’ option found under ‘Preferences’ in the ‘Tools’ menu.

10. Save to Google Keep

Did you know you can select text and save it to Keep as notes? Doing so is really simple. Just choose the text you want to save as a note and right-click. You will see an option that says ‘Save to Keep’. Click on it and the selected text will be automatically saved as a note in Google Keep.

We hope these simple tips and tricks help you increase your overall productivity and made life easier.