10 tricks to make your Google Docs work easier and faster

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

We bring to your attention an adapted translation of Saikat Basu's article, which contains ten tips for working with Google Docs.

2006 marked a milestone in Google history: The Oxford English Dictionary adopted the word "google". The concept has become a household name. Since then, searching on the web means googling. The Good Corporation strongly influences our online behavior: we follow Gmail business etiquette, open a window to the world by launching Chrome every morning, and use Google Drive to be productive.

The reason for the popularity of "Google Docs" in the cloud principle of work. Of all Google Drive's tools, a text editor is the most essential for everyday tasks.

To make your Google Docs experience more productive, use the following ten guidelines.

Bonus: Add Google Docs to the Chrome App Launcher on your Windows or Mac taskbar. Two clicks - and you are in the "Documents".

Quick search

You can quickly and easily find a particular file or folder by entering a key phrase into the search bar at the top. The small arrow on the right will help you refine your search criteria:

• file type (folder, document, photo, PDF, and so on);
• open with Google Docs, Google Drawing, Google Sheets, any installed add-on;
• owner (me, not me, anyone).

Another thing that makes searching easier is to use the exact quote for the file you want to find. Google Drive will open the document and highlight the search phrase used. In addition, as with googling, you can use boolean operators like or to expand the scope of your search.

Press "/" to go to the search field.

For a complete list of Google Drive search options, see. Last but not least, don't forget to search your shopping cart.

Quick jump to the "hidden" commands menu

Google Docs is similar to other office suites. It may be simpler than Microsoft Word, but there are also many useful commands in the menu. Press Alt + / to go to menu search. Enter what you are looking for in the field that opens, and the function will start.

By searching through the menu, you can find other editing tools available in Google Docs.

From idea on Google Keep to draft on Google Docs

is a great service for creating and storing notes. Its best features are the ability to dictate notes and recognize text from photos. But did you know that you can turn a note into a document in one click?

Thanks to this export, you can edit and "polish" your ideas already in Google Docs. Indispensable for students and writing people - it saves a lot of time.

Analyzing your vocabulary with Word Cloud

Copywriters, bloggers, students, and educators can use a word cloud or tag cloud to quickly navigate the content of a document. It will also help you see which words you are overusing.

You can use a word cloud generator - for example, Tag Cloud Generator - on any document with 50 or more words. The free Google-Drive add-on can be found and installed from the Add-ons → Get Add-ons … menu.

You can use the word cloud through the same menu. It will be displayed in a small window on the right. If the document is not finished, you continue editing, then from time to time click the Refresh Cloud button to refresh the tag cloud.

Tag Cloud Generator also works on tables. The only drawback is that the panel displaying used words cannot be scaled.

Find and paste in one click

With the Research tool, you don't have to leave the document you're working in to google some information. After all, opening a new tab in the browser also takes time. This built-in tool allows you to find and insert information into the document or table in use. Open Tools → Research (Ctrl + Alt + Shift + I).

A search box will appear on the right. There you can put a link to a quote in one click by entering it manually or simply by highlighting it.

Available citation formats are MLA, APA, and Chicago.

Moreover, beautifully framed quotes are just one of the features of the Research Tool. You can also refer to statistics in tables. When using search, you can also personalize the SERP to show your Google+ posts, your emails, and so on. There are special filters for all this.

Quickly format text in different places

Google Docs has a Paint format tool that lets you create formatting templates and apply them to any section of text. Select a word, sentence or any other piece of text, edit it: set the size, font, and more. Then click Paint format. After that, you can apply the specified formatting parameters to another fragment, you just have to click on it.

"Pfft! It only works once! " - skeptics will say. If you need to apply the specified formatting parameters more than once, click on the Paint format icon twice. Press this button again to stop the magic from working.

Using royalty-free images

Google Docs includes a Google Images search that allows you to quickly find and insert an image into a document. But there are two other rich sources of images - LIFE and Stock Photos. Images from the LIFE archive have a license that gives the right to use the work even commercially, but it is necessary to indicate the authorship. In 2012, Google selected 5,000 new photos in the categories Nature, Weather, Animals, Sports, Food, Education, Technology, Music and others.

Google warns that images are only available for personal and commercial use inside Google Drive and must be used within the service's policy.

You can insert pictures using a URL. The image will be saved in your document and will be available even if the original is removed from the web.

Mentioning someone when commenting

Collaboration in Google Docs is based on commenting. That being said, there is a quick way to draw a person's attention to a particular comment. Highlight the required piece of text and click "add comment" (Insert → Comment). In the comment field that opens, enter "@" or "+" and start typing the name of the person you want.

Google Docs will automatically select a person from your Gmail contact list and inform her by email. If this person does not have permission to view this document, you need to give him access.

Shortcuts for mathematical formulas

Google Docs has a convenient math expression editor: Insert → Equation. With it, you can not only type mathematical expressions, but also conveniently work on them with colleagues.

Use shortcuts to speed up the process. For example, if you enter "alpha" followed by a space and a parenthesis, Google Docs converts that to α. You can also easily add superscript or subscript by entering "^" and "_" respectively. For fractions, enter "frac".

Complete list of shortcuts for math expressions. For more complex formulas, use the free g (math) Google Drive Chrome extension.

Other shortcuts to save time

Press "Ctrl + /" and you will see a large list of templates for quick document management. Many navigation keys are the same as Gmail. In addition, you can create your own shortcuts.

Go to Tools → Preferences → Automatic Substitution.

You can use this to automatically insert frequently used words, email addresses, abbreviations, or even words that you constantly misspell.

It is also necessary to check "Automatic link detection" and "Automatic list detection" in the settings dialog box.

Of course, you might argue that the fastest way to create a beautiful document is to use. But the described little tricks will help speed up the work with them.

Let us know in the comments what tricks you use in your daily work with Google Docs.