Part of what’s great about Google Docs is its familiarity. It looks and feels so similar to Microsoft Office, LibreOffice and other offline word processors that you can jump in and start working with very little culture shock. Similarly, Google Sheets looks enough like Excel that you can skip over any sort of training and start being productive right away.
However, if you think of Google’s apps merely as free alternatives to the traditional desktop office suite, you’ll miss out on some unique features, many of which take advantage of the online model. Here are some of our favourite features and tricks that will help you get the best from Google Docs and Sheets.
PAGELESS VIEW
When word processors first became mainstream in the 1980s, it was a fair assumption that most things you typed would end up being printed out for sharing and consumption. That’s certainly not true any more – so there’s no need for many documents to be divided into pages.
To remove the virtual page breaks, open the File menu, click Page setup and switch to Pageless mode. Your page breaks will disappear, as will the page edges, giving your text room to breathe at the centre of the screen. You can also change the background colour to something other than white if you find that too glaring, or if you’re working at night and want to reduce your blue light exposure.
TALK, DON’T TYPE
Google Docs has a built-in voice-to-text processor, allowing you to dictate your documents as if you were talking to a virtual secretary. However, it only works if you’re using Docs through Chrome, not any other browser, even if that browser is Chromium-based. You can activate it by pressing Ctrl+Shift+S, or by picking it from the Tools menu.
This story is from the December 2022 edition of PC Pro.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the December 2022 edition of PC Pro.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Robobutlers may never happen, but robot care workers are on their way
Do you hate loading the dishwasher enough to pay someone to do it remotely? Nicole Kobie wonders about the weird future of home robots
Technical debt
Cutting corners now means more work down the road - but Steve Cassidy asks whether that's always a bad thing
Zyxel ZyWALL ATP500
Zyxel delivers tough gateway security and advanced threat protection at a very appealing price
CREATIVE WORKSTATIONS
Intel and AMD both offer compelling CPU choices for workstations, giving us ten machines with the widest variety of specifications we've seen for years
ANDROID PHONES FROM £219
As this roundup of four affordable contenders shows, there's no need to spend a fortune on a phone
Amazon Echo Pop
If you want a compact Alexa smart speaker, the Pop is now the cheapest choice - but what does it really add?
Getac X600
A powerful alternative to the Panasonic Toughbook 40, with the bonus of optional Nvidia graphics
Amazon Fire Max 11
With its 2K screen and sleek design, this is Amazon's best tablet yet-but FireOS remains a hindrance
Google Pixel Fold
The Pixel Fold delivers with a thin and durable design, a wide front display, smart software and great cameras
Welcome to the Fediverse
Have commercial social networks had their day? Darien Graham-Smith looks at the free, community-run apps that could usurp Twitter, Reddit and the Meta empire