Introduction

If you are familiar with word processing software such as Microsoft Word, you
will find working with text in Google Docs to be a similar experience. If you
are new to word processing, working with text in Google Docs is fairly easy to
learn. Over the next few pages, we will show you the basics of working with
text.

To insert text:
1. Locate the insertion point, which is a blinking
vertical line. In a blank document, this will be
near the top-left corner of the page. If the
document already has text, you can click in
different parts of the document to move the
insertion point.
2. When you begin typing, the text will appear next
to the insertion point.

To select text:
Before you can move or format text, you'll need to select it. To do this, click
and drag your mouse over the text, then release the mouse. A highlighted
box will appear over the selected text.
To delete text:
There are several ways to delete—or remove—text:

 To delete text to the left of the insertion point,

press the Backspace key on your keyboard.
 To delete text to the right of the insertion point,
press the Delete key on your keyboard.
 Select the text you want to remove, then press
the Delete key.

If you select text and start typing, the selected text will automatically be
deleted and replaced with the new text.

Copying, cutting, and pasting text

You may find that sometimes it's easier to copy and paste text that repeats
often in your document. Other times, there may be text you want to move
from one area of the document to another, in which case you'll need to cut
and paste or drag and drop the text.

The copy, cut, and paste commands are found in the Edit menu. Google Docs
also uses keyboard shortcuts—or a combination of keys—to perform a
variety of commands. We'll talk more about these shortcuts below.
To copy and paste text:
1. Select the text you want to copy.
 2. Press Ctrl+C (Windows) or Command+C (Mac) on
your keyboard to copy the text.
3. Place your insertion point where you want the text to
appear.

4. Press Ctrl+V (Windows) or Command+V (Mac) on

your keyboard to paste the text. The text will appear.

To cut and paste text:

1. Select the text you want to copy.

2. Press Ctrl+X (Windows) or Command+X (Mac)

on your keyboard to cut the text.
3. Place your insertion point where you want the text to appear.
 4. Press Ctrl+V (Windows) or Command+V (Mac) on your keyboard to
paste the text. The text will appear.

To drag and drop text:

1. Select the text you want to move to another
place in the document.

2. Click and drag the text to the location where

you want it to appear. The cursor will have an
insertion point under it to indicate you're moving
text.
 3. Release the mouse button, and the text will
move to the new location.

To insert special characters:

Google Docs offers a large collection of special characters. They are useful
when writing equations, and they can serve as decorative accents as well.

1. Place the insertion point where you want to

insert a special character.
2. Click Insert, then select Special characters.

3. The Insert Special Characters dialog box will

appear.
1. Use the drop-down arrows above the character
grid to browse groups of symbols. In our
example, we are browsing for musical symbols
to add to our document.
2. Click the desired symbol to insert it into your
document.
 3. The symbol will appear in your document.

Spell check and suggested spelling

By default, Google Docs will automatically check for misspelled words and
make suggested spellings. Words with spelling suggestions are underlined
in red.
To use suggested spelling:
1. Right-click an underlined word. A drop-down
menu with suggested spellings for the
misspelled word will appear. Select the correct
spelling from the list.

2. The correct spelling will appear in place of the

misspelled word in the document.

Occasionally, Google Docs will suggest spellings for a word it does not
recognize, like the name of a person or a company. If you are certain of the
spelling, you can add the word to the dictionary. Once you add a word to the
dictionary, Google Docs will keep the spelling of the word.
Using find and replace
When you're working with longer documents, it can be difficult and time-
consuming to locate a specific word or phrase within the document. Google
Docs can automatically search your document using the find feature, and it
even allows you to change words or phrases using the replace feature.

To find text:
1. Click Edit, then select Find and replace.
2. The Find and replace dialog box will appear.
3. Type the text you want to find in the Find field.
The number of times the word appears in the
text will appear in the Find field, and each
appearance will be highlighted throughout the
document.
4. If the word appears more than once, you can
click the Prev and Next arrows to jump to the
next appearance. When the word is selected,
the highlight will darken and pulsate briefly.
5. Click X to close the dialog box.
To replace text:
1. Click Edit, then select Find and
replace. The Find and replace dialog box will
appear.
2. Type the text you want to find in the Find field.
Type the text you want to replace it with in
the Replace with field.
3. Click Next or Prev and then Replace to replace
text. If you want to replace all occurrences of
the text within the document, click Replace all.

Formatting Text and Adding Hyperlinks

Introduction
To create and design quality documents, you need to know how to format
text. In addition to making your document more appealing, formatted
text can draw a reader's attention to specific parts of the document and help
communicate your message.

In this lesson, you'll learn how to format the font, size, and color, as well as
how to highlight text. In addition, you'll learn how to use the bold, italic,
and underline shortcut buttons, as well as how to add a hyperlink.

The Toolbar Shortcut menu

Google Docs offers a variety of text formatting options you can use to modify
the look and feel of your document. These options are located in
the Toolbar Shortcut menu. In the following lesson, you'll learn how these
options can help enhance your document's appearance.

To change the font:

1. Select the text you want to modify.
2. Click the Font drop-down arrow on the toolbar.
A font menu appears. The name of each font has
been formatted to look like the style it
describes.

3. Select the font you want to use. In our example,

we'll hover over Roboto and select Normal font.
 4. The selected text will change to the new font.

If you don't see the font you're looking for—or if you would like more fonts to
choose from—Google Docs allows you to add additional fonts to the Font
drop-down menu. Click More fonts from the Font drop-down menu to open
the Fonts dialog box.
To change font size:
1. Select the text you want to modify.

2. Click the Font size box from the toolbar. A drop-

down menu of font sizes appears.
3. Select the font size you want to use. In our
example, we'll change the font size to 24 to
make it larger.
 4. The text will change to the new font size.

To change text color:

1. Select the text you want to modify.
2. Click the Text color command from the toolbar.
A drop-down menu of text colors appears.

3. Select the circle of the text color you want to

use. In our example, we'll choose blue.
 4. The text will change to the new color.

To use the bold, italic, and underline buttons:

1. Select the text you want to modify.
2. Click the bold (B), italic (I), or underline (U)
button from the shortcut toolbar.
To change text alignment:
There are four alignment buttons in Google Docs that you can choose from
the Align drop-down menu.

 Left align: Aligns all selected text to the left

margin
 Center align: Aligns text an equal distance
from the left and right margins
 Right align: Aligns all selected text to the right
margin
 Justify: Text is equal on both sides and lines up
equally to the right and left margins; many
newspapers and magazines use full justification
1. Select the text you want to align.

2. Click the desired alignment button.

3. The text will realign.

Line and paragraph spacing
In Google Docs, line spacing is measured in lines. For example, when text
is double spaced, the line spacing is two lines high. You can reduce the line
spacing to fit more lines on the page, or you can increase it to improve
readability.

To format line spacing:

1. Select the text you want to format.

2. Click the Line spacing button, then select the

desired line spacing option from the drop-
down menu. You can also click Custom
spacing to fine-tune the spacing.
3. The line spacing will adjust in the document.
Paragraph spacing
Just as you can format spacing between lines in your document, you can
choose spacing options between each paragraph. Typically, extra spaces are
added between paragraphs, headings, or subheadings. Extra spacing
between paragraphs is another way to help to make a document easier to
read.

To format paragraph spacing:

1. Select the text you want to format.

2. Click the Line spacing button.

3. Select Add space before paragraph or Add
space after paragraph from the drop-down
menu. You can also click Custom spacing to
fine-tune the spacing.
 4. The paragraph spacing will adjust in the
document.

To remove paragraph spacing, click the line spacing button, then

select Remove space before paragraph or Remove space after paragraph.
Hyperlinks
A hyperlink is a link to a web address (or URL). If you want to include a web
address in your Google document, you can format it as a hyperlink for
someone to click. The hyperlink will then open the webpage in a new browser
window.

To insert a hyperlink:
Hyperlinks have two basic parts: the address (URL) of the webpage and
the display text. For example, the address could
be http://www.apple.com/ipad and the display text could be Apple
iPad. When you're creating a hyperlink in Google Docs, you'll be able to
choose both the address and the display text.
1. Select the text you want to make a hyperlink.
2. Click the Insert link button, or right-click the
selected text and click Link.

3. The Edit Link dialog box will appear. In

the Text field, the selected text will appear. You
can modify this text if you want.
4. Type the address you want to link to in
the Link field. Google Docs may automatically
fill in this field if the text you've selected looks
like a URL.

5. Click Apply. The text you selected will now be a

hyperlink.
 6. Click the link to view the URL.

If you want to change or remove the hyperlink, click the link and
select Change or Remove from the options that appear below the hyperlink.

INDENTS AND TABS

Introduction
A great way to draw attention to important areas within your document is to
add an indent or tab. There are several ways you can indent text in Google
Docs; however, it's important to use these tools appropriately and indent
correctly each time. This can save time and make the editing process go
smoothly.

In this lesson, you'll learn how to create tabs and indents using tab stops and
the Ruler. You'll also learn how to adjust indents using
the Increase indent and Decrease indent buttons.
Indenting text
In many types of documents, you may want to indent only the first line of
each paragraph. This helps to visually separate paragraphs from one
another.

To indent using the Tab key:

A quick and common way to indent is to use the Tab key. This will create a
first-line indent of a half-inch.

1. Place the insertion point at the very

beginning of the paragraph you want to indent.
2. Press the Tab key on the keyboard. The text in
the first line will move to the right by a half-
inch.
To indent using the Indent shortcut buttons:
If you want to indent all lines in a paragraph, you can use the Increase
indent and Decrease indent shortcut buttons.

1. Select the text you want to indent.

2. Click the Increase indent shortcut button

to increase the indent by increments of a half-
inch.

3. All lines of the paragraph will indent.

 4. Click the Decrease indent shortcut button
to decrease the indent by increments of a half-
inch.

You can also click Format from the toolbar. Then, hover over Align &
indent to locate the Increase indent and Decrease indent commands.

Customizing indents
You can use the three indent markers and the Ruler to create custom
indents that are larger or smaller than the Tab key's default half-inch indent.
When you move the indent markers, the Ruler provides a blue guide line to
help you see where the indent will appear.

 First Line Indent marker: Adjusts the first-line

indent of a paragraph

 Left Indent marker: Moves in unison with the

First Line Indent marker to indent all lines in the
paragraph

 Right Indent marker: Increases or decreases

the right indent by moving all lines of the
paragraph from the right margin
To customize indents with the Ruler:
1. Place the insertion point anywhere in the text
or paragraph you want to indent (you can select
one or more paragraphs).

2. Click and drag the desired indent marker. As the

marker moves, the blue guide line extends from
the Ruler.
 3. Release the mouse at the desired location. The
text will indent.

To indent the paragraph on the right side, click and drag the Right
Indent marker.
To add tab stops:
1. Select the paragraph or paragraphs where you
want to add tab stops. If you don't select any
paragraphs, the tab stops will apply to
the current paragraph and any new
paragraphs you type below it.

2. Click the location on the Ruler where you

want your text to appear. A drop-down menu
of tab stop selections will appear.
3. Select the desired tab stop. You can add as
many tab stops as you want.

4. Place the insertion point at the location where

you want to add the tab.

5. Press the Tab key on the keyboard. The text will

jump to the location of the next tab stop.
To remove the tab stop, click and drag it off of the Ruler.

HEADERS, FOOTERS AND PAGE BREAKS

Introduction
You can modify the layout of your document by utilizing
the header and footer sections and inserting page breaks. Headers and
footers usually contain additional information like page
number, date, document name, and footnotes. Page breaks and horizontal
lines create separation in the text and can increase readability.

In this lesson, you'll learn how to insert and edit headers,

footers, and footnotes, and you'll also learn how to insert page
breaks and horizontal lines.

Headers and footers

The header is a section of the document that appears in the top margin,
while the footer is a section of the document that appears in the bottom
margin. Text entered in the header or footer will appear on each page of the
document.

To insert a header or footer:

1. Click Insert, then hover over Headers &
footers. From the drop-down menu, you can
select either Header or Footer.
2. Depending on your selection, the insertion point
will relocate to either the top or bottom margin
of the page.
3. Type the desired text. When you're finished,
press the Esc key on your keyboard to close the
header or footer.
After you close the header or footer, it will still be visible, but it will be locked.
To edit it again, just click anywhere on the header or footer, and it will
become unlocked.

Formatting text in a header or footer

To format text in headers and footers, you can use many of the same
formatting options that are available to format text in the body of your
document. You can align the text, modify the font style and size, and
add bolding, italics, and underlining. Visit our lesson on Formatting
Text and Adding Hyperlinks to learn more about the formatting
options available in Google Docs.

To add page numbers to a header or footer:

Google Docs can automatically label each page with a page number and
place it in a header or footer. If you want to display the word Page as part of
the page number, you will need to type Page at the desired location in the
header.
1. Select the document's header or footer.
2. Place the insertion point where you want the
page number to appear. Type the word Page if
you want.

3. Click Insert and hover the mouse over Page

numbers, then select Top of page or Bottom
of page.
4. The page number will appear.
To display the page count:
Google Docs can also automatically display the page count—or how many
pages your document has—in the header or footer. If you want to add the
page count next to the page number, you will need to type the word "of" after
the page number.

1. Place the insertion point after the page

number, then type of.
2. Click Insert, then hover over Page numbers.
From the drop-down menu, select Page count.
3. The page count will appear in the document
after the page number.
Page breaks
Page breaks allow you to have more control over the layout of your
document. You might use a page break if you're writing a paper that has
a title page or a bibliography to ensure it starts on a new page.

To insert a page break:

1. Place the insertion point at the location where
you want the page break to appear.
2. Click Insert, then hover over Break. From the
drop-down menu, select Page break.
3. The page break will appear in the document.
To remove a page break, place the insertion point below the break and press
the Backspace key on your keyboard. You may need to press the key several
times to delete the break.