Google on Wednesday introduced a number of collaborative features to its office productivity tools. The latest versions of Google Docs, Sheets and Slides will include new editing functionality that will enable office teams to work together in real-time on the most up-to-date versions of their files.
The new features will ensure that every collaborator is working on the same document, explained Birkan Icacan, product manager for Google Docs.
The latest update not only brings more customization and brand-new templates, but it also brings a bunch of useful editing features:
Name previous versions of a Doc, Sheet or Slide- You can now assign custom names to previous versions of your document, helping you organize every draft before a document is actually final. You can organize and track your team’s changes in one place under “Version history” (formerly known as “Revision history”) on the web. Select File > Version history > Name current version. For even quicker recall, there’s an option to select “Only show named versions” in Docs, Sheets or Slides.
Preview “clean versions” of Docs: To see what your Doc looks like without comments or suggested edits. Select Tools > Review suggested edits > Preview accept all OR Preview reject all.
Accept or reject all edit suggestions at once in your Doc: You don’t have to go through each suggestion one by one. Simply select Tools > Review suggested edits > Accept all OR Reject all.
Suggest changes in a Doc even on a mobile device: Click the three dots menu in the bottom right of your Doc screen to suggest edits on-the-go. Turn on the “Suggest changes” toggle and start typing in “suggestion mode.”
Google has introduced new templates for Docs and Sheets, which should help save time on the formatting of documents. Included are new built-in add-ons that allow for greater customization, and tools specific to a particular workflow.
Google provided five new examples in the general template gallery: a new mutual nondisclosure agreement from LegalZoom and DocuSign; as well as templates from Lucidchart, PandaDoc, EasyBib and Supermetrics.