Nearly six months after introducing voice typing to Google Docs, the company has moved on to adding voice commands, which allow you to edit and format documents with just your voice.
The extensive list of commands includes almost everything you could possibly do in a document, including adjusting text, adding bulleted lists or tables, and moving large chunks of text. (There are some limitations, such as the ability to add special characters.)
Otherwise, functionally, it’s very similar to Nuance and other dictation software. You can say things like “delete last paragraph” or “insert 10-row, 3-column table.” Behind the scenes, the feature is powered by the same natural language processing engine used by Google Now, so you can say things like “make it bigger” to increase the font size.
[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0rPu_pl0D8″ width=”640″ height=”380″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7o0qA4L4So[/su_youtube]
Learning all the voice commands – there are thousands of combinations – could take some time, but it will be a useful tool for those who prefer a hands-free experience.
The new voice commands are now available in Google Docs for Chrome. You can find the new feature in the “Tools” menu under voice typing. Try it in English, but you may have a little trouble finding the right voice commands to get your work done. Enjoy!
