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Tips for authoring & editing
- Use shortcuts to create new files
- Add text with your voice
- Share “Make a copy” links to your files
- Email your collaborators
- Insert smart chips & building blocks
Track file updates & comments
- See who changed what
- Check or revert to earlier versions
- Get notifications of file activity in Chat or Gmail
- Get notified about spreadsheet changes
- Find and act on comments
- Show resolved comments (non-Google files)
Tips for authoring & editing
Use shortcuts to create new files
Constantly creating new files to make edits using Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms? Skip the multiple clicks and use a shortcut URL instead.
Add text with your voice
Chrome Browser only, microphones required
You can type and edit by speaking in Google Docs or in Google Slides speaker notes. Anything you say turns into text.
- On the go? Speak your notes, edits, and feedback to add them to documents.
- Use voice commands to change font styles, add tables, insert links, and more.
Voice typing. A microphone box appears.
Dictate speaker notes
Share “Make a copy” links to your files
Want to let people make copies of your Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, or Forms files with a single click? Just make a simple change in the link you share.
- Create templates for files, such as Docs proposals, Sheets project plans, Slides pitch decks, and more. Your teammates can quickly copy them to keep your organization’s branding consistent.
- Allow colleagues to create personal copies of your files—such as presentations, reports, or designs they like—so they can adjust it for their own purposes.
Email your collaborators
Not available if you use Office Editing for Docs, Sheets, & Slides
Email collaborators right from a Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides file. If you’re working on a shared drive file, you can email all members of the shared drive at once.
- Ask questions about a file.
- Follow up on a conversation that’s too long for comments.
- Add a copy of a file directly to an email.
Insert smart chips & building blocks
- Other users with Gmail or Workspace email addresses
- Other Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides files
- Dates or Google Calendar events
- Places and map directions
Where there’s a smart chip in your document, you and other users can hover or click on a chip to get more information.
You can also insert placeholder chips, time trackers, and dropdowns, and use building blocks to track projects, files, and more.
Track file updates & comments
See who changed what
Not available if you use Office Editing for Docs, Sheets, & Slides
If you’re collaborating with several people on a single file, it can be difficult to pinpoint who made certain changes and when. Keep track of changes in shared files by identifying changes and who made them.
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Check or revert to earlier versions
In the past, you might have kept multiple drafts of your files in case you needed to refer or switch to earlier versions. Google Drive keeps all your drafts in one file. You can easily view or restore earlier versions.
- View, delete, download, or revert to previous versions any time
- Access any version of your file anytime, from any device
- Refer back to existing comments in a previous version
- Keep your folders clean—there’s no need to keep multiple drafts of your files anymore
Get notifications of file activity in Chat or Gmail
In Google Chat and Gmail, you can use apps to connect with services. To get notifications in Chat about activity in your Drive, use the Google Drive app.
Get notified about spreadsheet changes
If you need to know immediately when someone changes your spreadsheet, set up an email notification.
You’ll know exactly what’s changed and who to ask for details.
Find and act on comments
Use the Activity tab in Drive to find and act on unresolved comments that are assigned to you.
Show resolved comments (non-Google files)
With Google Drive, you can show or hide any resolved comments on Microsoft Office and Adobe PDF files, images, and other files, directly in Drive preview.
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