When it first came on the scene, word processing software was little more thn an online typewriter. Over the years, document applications have become less intuitive and increasingly complex. And although Google Docs is one of the easier platforms to navigate and learn, it still comes with layers of nuance which can cause even a seasoned writer to pull out their hair if they are not familiar with the software. Here are some of the more maddening quirks associated with Google Docs – along with the tips to solve your frustration.

  • Issue #1 – Editing Headaches: Documents in progress are often the result of many hours of work and research, and represent ideas that you may or may not remeber should they disappear. What do you do if one of your team members edits out something important? Your imediate thought may be the Undo Command feature, but that only works if it was you who made the editing mistake – and it just happened. If you have made hundreds of edits, navigated away from the page and returned, or someone else made the change without your knowledge, Undo likely cannot help you.You may think you could revert to an autosave, but those versions only happen sporadically and may not have saved the version you are looking for. The best practice is to manually save your document whenever you reach a milestone, or you are going to make changes you may wish to reverse. To manually force a saved version, open the File menu, click “Version history,” then select “Name current version.” Give the version a name that will allow you to quickly recall its status – ie “before Bob” or “Need Data Table.” Once you save the version with a descriptive name, you can always easily find it within the main Version History menu.
  • Issue #2 – Upper Case Chaos: Often when you paste test from another source, such as an email or a website, into the Google Docs platform, it shows up in ALL CAPS. Instead of retyping everything, just highlight the problematic text, open the Format menu, then click on “Text” and “Capitalization.” Although tricky to find, this handy tool provides a single step to change into all lowercase, all uppercase, or title case. This works well if you need to go through the document and capitalize section headings or titles as well.
  • Issue #3 – Overriding AutoFormat: Google Docs automatically performs some formatting actions that although sometimes helpful, it can also get annoying to have your intent changed without your approval. Some autocorrect examples include changing all the quotation marks from the standard straight-quote style into curly-quote style, and it will automatically add a hyperlink onto any web address you enter. docs will also change the standard three-character ellipses (…) into single-character ellipses (…) and alters certain abbreviations (like c/o) into their single-character Unicode symbol equivalents (like ℅). If you do’nt wish these changes to take place, click the Tools menu and select “Preferences.” There, you’ll find a list of options for basic text substitution habits and can disable those you find bothersome.
  • Issue #4 – Call Off the Grammar Police: Docs will highlight any issues with your grammar, which can be very helpful. However, depending on your deliberate writing style, the straight-laced perfect version may not be what you intended. If you are tired of Docs calling out your grammar and style, you can disable the red squiggly lines. You can disable Docs’ grammar suggestions on an as-needed basis.Open the Tools menu, click “Spelling and Grammar”, and then deactivate grammar and/or spelling suggestions. You can also use the “Personal dictionary” tool (in the same menu) to add specific words and phrases you often use into Docs’ vocabulary list.
  • Issue #5 – Bullet Point Frustration: Making lists and adding bullet points are great for driving home important points in your document. There are basic options under “Bullets & numbering,” in the format menu, but the default options are fairly sparse. however, most people don’t realize that you can nearly almost any symbol of your choosing as your bullet list indicator. One of the reasons no one seems to know about this option is it only exists after your list has been created. In order to use your own symbol, first create a bullet list within a document. Next, place your cursor on the list, open up the Format menu and click “Bullets & numbering”. Now you can select the “List options” and then “More bullets” to select from a wide range of bullet symbol styles.

Google Docs can make document sharing, editing and collaboration a breeze – use these tips to make it even easier to create everything you need.

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