Google just enabled an awesome new feature in Google Docs

By Fionna Agomuoh May 25, 2022

Google Docs includes a new feature as of Wednesday which will allow you to highlight more than one selection of text at once in order to perform formatting functions on text more efficiently.

Google detailed on its Workspace Updates blog that users will be able to delete, copy, paste, and add other formatting to multiple sections of text at once

“This will make formatting and editing documents faster by eliminating the need to make repetitive changes, and increasing your overall productivity,” Google said on the blog.

The update is immediate and requires no action to start using it. However, it might take up to fifteen days for it to become available across the ecosystem.

The feature is available to all Google Workspace users, meaning it will likely be most commonly used in programs such as Google Docs and Google Sheets. It is also available for G Suite Basic and Business users, Google said. It is also compatible across operating systems, including Mac, Windows, and Chrome OS.

To use the feature on a Mac, select Ctrl + ⌘ + Shift + Left/right arrow after highlighting their first text selection.
To use the feature on Windows, select Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Left/right arrow after highlighting their first text selection.
To use the feature on Chrome OS, select Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Left/right arrow after highlighting their first text selection.

After this, you can add your desired formatting as you normally would.

The multiple text selections isn’t the only new feature in Google Docs. The tech company hosted the keynote for its Google I/O developers conference two weeks ago, where it showcased a host of new innovations. One interesting update is an auto-generated TL;DR summary for Google Docs.

The feature uses machine learning and natural language processing that is already used in similar features found in services such as Google Meet and Google Chat.

The actual TL;DR summary feature is also expected as an update to Google Chat in the coming months.

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Fionna Agomuoh is a technology journalist with over a decade of experience writing about various consumer electronics topics…

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