How To Use Google Docs: A Beginner’s Guide

Everything you need to know in one place

If you’ve never used Google Docs before, you’re missing out on one of the most feature-filled, convenient cloud-based word processors you could ever want.

Google Docs lets you edit documents just as you would in Microsoft Word, using your browser while online or offline, as well as on your mobile devices using the Google Docs mobile app.

There are a lot of useful features to learn about. So if you’re interested in learning how to use Google Docs, we’ll cover both basic tips as well as some of the more advanced features you may not know about.

When you first visit theGoogle Docs page, if you aren’t yet logged into your Google account, you’ll need to pick a Google account to use.

If you don’t see an account to use, then selectUse another account. If you don’t have a Google account yet, thensign up for one.

Once signed in, you’ll see a Blank icon at the left side of the top ribbon. Select this to get started with creating a new document from scratch.

Note that the top ribbon also contains useful Google Docs templates you can use so you don’t have to start from scratch. To see the entire template gallery, selectTemplate galleryat the upper right corner of this ribbon.

This will take you to the entire library of Google Docs templates that are available for you to use. These include resumes, letters,meeting notes, newsletters, legal documents, and more.

If you select any of these templates, it’ll open a new document for you using that template. This can save a lot of time if you know what you want to create but aren’t sure how to get started.

Formatting Text in Google Docs

Formatting text in Google Docs is as simple as it is in Microsoft Word. Unlike Word, the icon ribbon at the top doesn’t change depending on the menu you’ve selected.

In the ribbon you’ll see options to perform all of the following formatting options:

There are a few very useful formatting options that aren’t apparent just from glancing at the ribbon.

There will be times when you want to draw a line across text. This could be for any number of reasons. However, you’ll notice that strikethrough isn’t an option in the ribbon.

To perform a strikethrough in Google Docs, highlight the text you want to strikethrough. Then select theFormatmenu, selectText, and selectStrikethrough.

Now you’ll notice that the text you’ve highlighted has a line drawn through it.

You may have noticed that in the same menu above, there is an option to format the text as eithersuperscript or subscript.

Using these two features takes one extra step. For example, if you want to write an exponent, like X to the power of 2 in a document, you’ll need to type X2, and then first highlight the 2 so that you can format it.

Now select theFormatmenu, selectText, and then chooseSuperscript.

You’ll see that now the “2” is formatted as an exponent (superscript).

If you wanted the 2 to be formatted at the bottom (subscript), then you would need to chooseSubscriptfrom theFormat>Textmenu.

It’s simple to use, but does require some additional clicking in the menus to achieve it.

Formatting Documents in Google Docs

In addition to the ribbon bar options to indent or left/right align blocks of text and adjust line spacing, there are a few other useful features available to help you with formatting your documents in Google Docs.

First, what if you don’t like the margins in the template you chose? Changing the margins in a document using Google Docs is simple.

To access the page margins settings, selectFileandPage setup.

In the Page setup window, you can change any of the following formatting options for your document.

SelectOKwhen you’re done and the page formatting will take effect immediately.

One paragraph formatting option people often struggle with in Google Docs is the first line or the hanging indent. First line indent is where only the first line of the paragraph is intended. Hanging indent is where the first line is the only onenotindented.

The reason this is difficult is because if you select either the first line or the entire paragraph and use the indent icon in the ribbon, it’ll indent the entire paragraph.

To get a first line or hanging indent in Google Docs:

The setting will default to 0.5 inches. Adjust this if you like, and selectApply. This will apply your settings to the selected paragraph.

The example below is a hanging indent.

The last formatting feature that isn’t always easy to understand or use is page numbering. It’s another Google Docs feature hidden in the menu system.

To number your Google Docs pages (and format numbering), select theInsertmenu, and selectPage numbers. This will show you a small pop-up window with simple options for formatting your page numbers.

The four options here are:

If you don’t like any of these options, selectMore options.

The next window will let you position exactly where you want page numbering to go.

SelectApplywhen you’re done to apply your page numbering selections.

Other Useful Google Docs Features

There are a few other important Google Docs features you should know about if you’re just getting started. These will help you get more use out of Google Docs.

Curious how many words you’ve written so far? Just selectToolsand selectWord count. This will show you total pages, word count, character count, and character count without spacing.

If you enableDisplay word count while typing, and selectOK, you’ll see a total word count for your document updated in real-time at the lower left corner of the screen.

You can download your document in a variety of formats. SelectFileandDownloadto see all of the formats.

You can select any of these to get a copy of your document as a Word document, a PDF document, plain text, HTML, and more.

Quickly find and replace any words or phrases in your document with new words or phrases by using the Google Docs Find and Replace feature.

To use Find and Replace in Google Docs, select theEditmenu and selectFind and replace. This will open the Find and Replace window.

You can make the search case sensitive by enablingMatch case. Select theNextbutton to find the next occurrence of your search word, and selectReplaceto enable the replacement.

If you trust that you won’t make any mistakes, you can selectReplace allto to just make all of the replacements at once.

If you’ve created a large document with many pages and sections, it can be useful to include a table of contents at the top of your document.

To do this, just place your cursor at the top of the document. Select theInsertmenu, and selectTable of contents.

You can select from two formats, the standard numbered table of contents, or a series of links to each of the headers in your document.

A few other features in Google Docs you may want to check out includes:

Ryan has been writing how-to and other technology-based articles online since 2007. He has a BSc degree in Electrical Engineering and he’s worked 13 years in automation engineering, 5 years in IT, and now is an Apps Engineer.Read Ryan’s Full Bio

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How To Use Google Docs: A Beginner’s Guide#

The Google Docs Login#

Formatting Text in Google Docs#

Formatting Documents in Google Docs#

Other Useful Google Docs Features#