11 Google Docs features that you probably didn't know

Templates

There are well-designed templates on Google Docs. You can use the template gallery on the Google Docs homepage for any purpose such as writing your resume, crafting a business letter, drafting a project proposal, formalizing meeting notes or designing a brochure. There are templates for almost all needs, and under each category, there are multiple template choices as well.

Clear Formatting

On copy pasting text from another location to Google Docs, you might have faced issues related to formatting. Instead of editing the pasted text manually, you can use the Clear Formatting option. To do so, you need to highlight the pasted text in a different format and navigate to Format → Clear Formatting in the toolbar. That's it. The offending text will appear in line with the rest of the content in the document.

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Research/Explore Tool

If you are writing in Google Docs and you are in need of online research, then the research tool will definitely be a boon. It lets you research and refer to details and images online without having to leave the document. Eventually, there is no need to switch between the tabs. You can access this feature from Tools → Research/Explore. Then right click on a word and choose Research or Explore.

Footnotes

These are easy and quick things to add to the documents, but not many people use the feature. To add a footnote to your document, all you need to do is just place the cursor in that specific part of the document where you want the footnote to be inserted. Then navigate to Insert → Footnote and type the footnote. Once you are done, just click on the document to save the note.

Suggesting Mode

Google Docs has the ability to suggest changes that you can make to your document without making the changes automatically. It works similar to Comments in Microsoft Word. To enable the Suggesting mode, you need to switch from the Editing mode to this one by clicking on the pencil icon at the top right corner of the document. Once the Suggesting mode is enabled, anything that you type, delete or change will be displayed in colored marks along with details on the right.

Revision History

With Google Docs, you can get to see the changes made by you and others to the documents. The Revision History also lets you go to back to the earlier version of the document. To get the revision history, you need to go to File → View Revision History. The panel on the right will show the changes along with the time and user who changed it.

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Voice Typing

If you are using Google Chrome and have a microphone that functions properly, you can type in Google Docs using your voice. You can add punctuation marks by voicing out the name such as "comma", "question mark", etc. You can start a new paragraph by saying "new paragraph". To start voice typing, click on Tools → Voice Typing and start talking. It is as simple as that.

Comments

If you have have a document shared with many people and want to leave a message along with your changes, you can leave a comment in the document itself. The comments on Google Docs can be used as a conversation thread as you can reply to the comments and carry on a detailed conversation over there. Also, you can close the thread once you are done. The comments can be edited or deleted whenever you want to.

Create Custom Shortcuts

Google Docs already has many shortcuts that are useful, but you can create your own custom shortcuts as well. To do so, you need to go to Tools → Preferences → Automatic Substition.

Image Editing

Did you know that you can edit images within Google Docs. Well, you need to first insert an image and then edit it using the toolbar at the top. You can crop the images, mask them, add borders, and more within the platform.

Dictionary

What if you want to know the meaning of a word that you have written on Google Docs. Well, you can get this with the inbuilt dictionary in the platform. Just right click on the specific word and choose Define to get the Research tool that will look up for that word on the internet from within the document.