Google Releases New Updates For Docs And Slides

Working collectively on the same document with a team can be challenging, whether it be tracking live changes or making sure everyone has the most updated version. Google wants to help you get on the same page.

The search engine giant is alleviating these concerns with a new update to Google Docs that fine tunes its processes even more. Here’s a breakdown of the changes:

  • Name versions of a document, sheet or slide will now be trackable. Assigning different names based on your team’s progress is an important tool, and now you can organize and track any kind of changes in one place under “version history” found in the file menu.
  • You can now see clean versions of your documents, meaning all comments or suggested edits can be wiped from the screen. You’ll find the option in the tool menu.
  • Accept or reject all edit suggestions at once. This means you don’t have to spend time reviewing every single comma splice. You’ll find this in the tool menu as well.
  • One of the best new features, you can now suggest changes in a document from your Android, iPhone or iPad device. Press the three dots menu in the bottom right of your Doc screen to enable suggestions on the go.

New templates are also coming to Google Docs. Lots of teams use templates to make work easier and more efficient, and now some templates will come with built-in add-ons. You can also create your own add-on, such as an invoice template that pulls information from your CRM system.

Templates allow you to customize your workflow. At launch, there are five templates in the general gallery, including an NDA template from LegalZoom and DocuSign. Google also worked with Lucidchart, PandaDoc, EasyBib and Supermetrics while creating templates.

Finally, Google will now integrate their Cloud Search with documents and slides via their explore feature. This is being offered to G Suite Business and Enterprise customers. Cloud Search will use machine learning to surface the important information and help you work efficiently. To try it out, open the explore tab in Google Docs and type what you are looking for. The search will bring you important details from across your suite of apps.