Beneath their surface, word processors like Google Docs contain a wealth of hidden features that make it easier to write large documents and collaborate with multiple people.
- Write in Markdown in Google Docs
Google Docs supports some of the Markdown syntax. This provides a simple way to format documents using simple text symbols, making them easy to read and write, while also allowing you to convert them into richer formats. If you're skilled with Markdown, it can help you draft documents faster by quickly formatting your text with italics, bold, strikethrough, and links. To enable it, go to Tools > Preferences > Automatically detect Markdown.
- Improve navigation with line numbers
With the help of “humble line number”, you and your collaborators can easily refer to and locate exact locations in complex and lengthy documents. They can also help you take precise notes as you can link them to line numbers. However, note that line numbers only work in Pages format and not in Pageless view.
Enable them by going to Tools > Line numbers. In the line numbers sidebar, select Show line numbers.
- Use alternative text to make documents more accessible
Images help your document, but they can't be "seen" by screen readers. Adding alt text to your images helps people who use screen readers understand what the image is depicting.
To add alt text, right-click an image and select Alt Text. In the Image options sidebar, describe the image briefly. Don't include the phrases "image of" or "picture of," just focus on the information the image shows.
4.Use the Translate Document feature to practice reading and writing in another language
Google Docs isn't going to replace a language course anytime soon, but it uses the same magic of Google Translate to translate a document into any language. You can share translated documents with colleagues and use them to practice writing in a foreign language.
Open your document. Go to Tools > Translate document. In the window that appears, select your language and Google Docs will create a copy in the foreign language.
Remember, you can also use Google Sheets for language translation.
- Force the recipient to create a copy of the Google Doc
You may encounter situations where you want to share a document but want the collaborator to make edits on their own copy of the original. Docs doesn't have an official method to force a copy, but there is a really neat trick that works.
Click “Share” in the top right corner of the document. Change the link settings to make it available to anyone with the link and select “Editor” from the drop-down menu next to it. Then, copy the link and paste it into the email or message you’re using to share the document. Before you hit the send button, edit the end of the link by replacing the word “edit” and anything after it with template/preview.
When the recipient opens the document to edit it, they will have their own copy. The “template/preview” URL suffix allows them to see the document content before they start editing it (by selecting the Use Template button in the preview).
- Embed a document in an email
No need to send a large document to a colleague as an attachment. Send it directly from Google Docs to the recipient's inbox as an embedded document. This makes document distribution easier and reduces the number of attachments everyone has to review.
Go to File > Email > Email this file. Type a message in the field provided. Then, select the checkbox for Don't attach. Include content in the email.
- Collaborate on an email
Gmail offers a collaborative inbox for Google Workspace accounts, but there's another way to collaborate on an email for free that uses Google Docs. In a Google Doc, insert an email building block from Insert > Building blocks > Email draft. Alternatively, type “@email” into the document and press Enter. You can also go to File > Email draft.
Write your email and fill in the fields. Then click Preview in Gmail in the top left of the draft. When you're done, click Send.
Source of information: lifehacker.com
