Tag Archives: Editors

Better line spacing support for branding in Google Docs and Slides

Quick launch summary

You can now set custom line spacing to be less than one in Google Docs and Google Slides. This allows for more detailed control of line spacing so you can better control the appearance of your fonts. Our users have told us this is a critical need for meeting brand guidelines or creating documentation that requires visual polish. Additionally, this will help preserve formatting when importing and exporting files in legacy formats.



To customize your line spacing, go to Format > Line Spacing > Custom Spacing.

Availability

Rollout details


G Suite editions

  • Available to all G Suite editions


On/off by default?

  • This feature will be ON by default.


Stay up to date with G Suite launches

Form Notifications add-on now available in the G Suite Marketplace

Quick launch summary 

The Form Notifications add-on is now available on the G Suite Marketplace. You can use the add-on to receive an email notification once your Google Form has received a set number of responses, or you can use it to send an automated follow-up email to any user who completes your form. To learn more, see this article in our Help Center.


Availability 

Rollout details 
  • This add-on is available now in the G Suite Marketplace. 

G Suite editions 
  • Available to all G Suite editions

Stay up to date with G Suite launches

Display the word count as you type in Google Docs

Quick launch summary

Users often need to see the word count in the documents they write. Instead of going to Tools > Word Count each time you want to view this information, now, you can simply select Tools > Word count > Display word count while typing to continuously display it in the lower left corner of your doc:




We’ve heard that displaying this information is helpful to users working on docs that require minimum or maximum word count.

If you click on the word count box, you can also view more information, like the page count, character count (with and without spaces). To see the word count of a specific section of text, simply highlight that section in your doc. To learn more, see our Help Center.

Availability

Rollout details
G Suite editions
  • Available to all G Suite editions
On/off by default?
  • This feature will be available by default and can be accessed by going to Tools > Word count > Display word count in Google Docs.

Stay up to date with G Suite launches

Google Drive apps and Editor add-ons moving from Chrome Web Store to G Suite Marketplace

What’s changing

In the coming weeks, we’ll move all Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms add-ons and Google Drive apps from the Chrome Web Store to the G Suite Marketplace. See our Cloud Blog for more details on this change. If an add-on’s developer hasn’t taken action to migrate their listing, new users won’t be able to install it. We’re calling these add-ons “unmigrated add-ons.”


Who’s impacted

Admins and end users

Why it matters

Existing users of unmigrated add-ons will continue to be able to use them. However, if they uninstall Editor add-ons or Drive apps, they won’t be able to reinstall them. Moreover, if an existing user creates a template with one of these add-ons, any users who don’t already have the add-on installed won’t be able to use the add-on within the template.

How to get started


  • Admins and end users: No action is required. To check whether an add-on has been migrated, search for it in the G Suite Marketplace. 
  • Developers: Drive apps and Editor Add-ons must have a G Suite Marketplace listing prior to September 9, 2019. For more information on how to migrate your add-ons, see here for Drive developers and here for Editors developers.

Helpful links



Availability

Rollout details

  • Rapid Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 28, 2019
  • Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 28, 2019

G Suite editions

  • All G Suite editions


Stay up to date with G Suite launches

Switch to a blank screen and set advanced time options for presentations in Google Slides

Quick launch summary 

We’re adding two new features in Slides Present mode to help you better control and customize your presentations:

Keyboard shortcuts to switch to a blank screen 
Using new keyboard shortcuts, you’ll now be able to change to an all white or black screen while presenting. This can be helpful when you want to pause a presentation to answer a question or further a discussion without any material on screen.


While presenting, press “B” to turn your screen black or “W” to turn your screen white. You can resume presenting by using any other keyboard or mouse action. To see more keyboard shortcuts for Google Slides, see this article in our Help Center.

Looping and auto advance time options for presentations 
New options allow you to set auto advance time in present mode and presentation looping. You can access these options by clicking Settings (gear icon) in the presentation navigation bar. Your settings will be applied once you hit play and begin your presentation.


With these settings, you can easily set your presentation to loop, which is useful when presenting at a conference or for displaying information on a kiosk. To learn more about presenting in Slides, see our Help Center.

Availability 

Rollout details 

G Suite editions 
  • Available to all G Suite editions 

On/off by default? 
  • These features will be ON by default. 

Stay up to date with G Suite launches

Improving real-time collaboration in Google Docs for assistive technology users

Quick launch summary 

It’s now easier for users of assistive technologies, like screen readers and Braille displays, to keep track of real-time updates made by collaborators in a document. With live edits, you can view a periodically updated summary of collaborator changes in a convenient sidebar. In Google Docs we believe that collaboration works best when it works for everyone.

New edits made by collaborators appear in the live edits sidebar.


To see live edits, open the Accessibility settings by going to Tools > Accessibility settings and check “Turn on screen reader support.” Then, select “Show live edits” from the Accessibility menu. To learn more, see this article in our Help Center.

Helpful links

Availability

Rollout details

G Suite editions
  • Available to all G Suite editions.

On/off by default? 
  • This feature will be available by default and can be enabled in the settings of Google Docs.


Stay up to date with G Suite launches

New fonts intended to help improve reading speed now available in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides

Quick launch summary

The Google Fonts team has teamed up with Thomas Jockin to create a series of fonts that are aimed at improving reading speed. To learn more about the research behind this initiative, see here for more details.



These fonts take into account typographical factors, such as size and spacing, that the font developers hope will improve reading speed. This can be particularly helpful for educators who want to leverage new tools that can improve reading among their students, especially those who are sensitive to visual crowding.

We now offer eight different Lexend font families that have varied widths and spacing, so users can choose the font style that’s best for their reading speed.

To access these fonts in Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides:

  • From the Font menu in the toolbar, select “More fonts”.
  • Then, search for Lexend and select the fonts to add them to your saved fonts. These will now appear in the “My fonts” list and in the Font menu in the toolbar. 

Availability

Rollout details

  • These fonts are already available to both Rapid and Scheduled domains.

G Suite editions

  • Available to all G Suite editions

On/off by default?

  • These fonts will be available by default.


Stay up to date with G Suite launches

Additional tools for enhanced reporting in Google Sheets

What’s changing

We’re adding three new tools to help you generate more compelling reports and better display data in Google Sheets:

  • Slicers
  • Scorecard Charts
  • Themes

Earlier this year we announced several new features for objects in Sheets. Together, these new features make for a more impactful reporting experience in Sheets.


Using Slicers, Scorecard Charts, and Themes together to enhance reporting.

Who’s impacted

End users

Why you’d use them

You can use these tools to filter, display key data, and customize the look and feel of your spreadsheets, making it easier and faster to generate more engaging and informative reports.

How to get started


  • Admins: No action required.
  • End users: See below for how to use each new tool in Sheets.

Additional details

Slicers:
Slicers are a new way of filtering for reports or dashboards by condition and by values. To learn more about using Slicers in Sheets, see our Help Center.

Scorecard charts:
Scorecard charts is a new way to call out key metrics, such as KPIs or a key stat, within your sheet. You’ll have the option to show your stat in comparison to another number, for instance illustrating percentage increase or decrease over time. See our Help Center for more information on how to insert a Scorecard chart in Sheets.

Themes:
You can now quickly alter the look and feel of an entire spreadsheet—including charts, pivot tables, and cells—to ensure a consistent look and feel for your spreadsheets. To apply a preset theme, select Format > Theme and choose an option, or to create a custom theme, select Customize in the top right.

Helpful links



Availability

Rollout details

G Suite editions

  • Available to all G Suite editions.

On/off by default?

  • These features will be ON by default.

Stay up to date with G Suite launches

More controls and customizations for headers and footers in Google Docs

Quick launch summary 

We’re giving you more options to control and customize headers and footers in Google Docs. 

Previously, you could set a single header or single footer for your entire document, with an option to make it different on the first page only. Now you can also define a specific header or footer for each section of your document, or use different headers and footers on odd and even page numbers.

To use different headers or footers per page, see this article in the Help Center. 

Helpful links 



Availability 

Rollout details


G Suite editions

  • Available to all G Suite editions 

On/off by default? 

  • This feature will be ON by default.


Stay up to date with G Suite launches

Improving active account awareness when opening files with multiple sign-ins

Quick launch summary 

We’re making it easier for you to identify which Google account is active when opening and contributing to Docs, Sheets, and Slides files.

When you’re logged into multiple accounts, like switching between your work and personal accounts, it can sometimes be confusing to determine which account is active when opening and collaborating on a Doc, Sheet, or Slide. We’re introducing a new dialogue that better indicates which account is active, and gives you the option to quickly change accounts.

This will help eliminate confusion and ensure you’re using the correct account when contributing to content.


Availability 

Rollout details 


G Suite editions 

  • Available to all G Suite editions 

On/off by default? 

  • This feature will be ON by default. 

Stay up to date with G Suite launches