Hidden Google Docs feature will turn you into a productivity machine
Google is adding Markdown support to Docs – a big win for developers
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Googlehas announced it isadding Markdown supporttoGoogle Docs, a big win for the community of people that absolutely love the popular markup language.
For those unfamiliar, Markdown, created byJohn Gruber, is a lightweight language specifically designed to make marking up (adding formatting elements) a plaintextdocumenteasier.
“Using Markdown is different than using a WYSIWYG editor. In an application likeMicrosoftWord, you click buttons to format words and phrases, and the changes are visible immediately,” thedocumentationexplains. “Markdown isn’t like that. When you create a Markdown-formatted file, you add Markdown syntax to the text to indicate which words and phrases should look different.”
As Google Docs is a richtext editor, Markdown has not previously been supported - until now.
## How will Markdown work?
Google’s implementation of Markdown isn’t entirely new. Docs has supported a limited version of Markdown for a while, but the latest update seriously expands the scope.
Using Docs' autocorrect feature, Google will now automatically recognize Markdown formatting. For example, if you type “# Google”, it will be made into a heading without having to do anything else.
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To activate the feature, head to Tools > Preferences and check “Automatically detect Markdown”. Google says the feature is rolling out more broadly, so don’t stress if it isn’t available quite yet.
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Markdown support is also off by default, which makes sense, because “normal” users would likely get very confused when formatting is added seemingly at random. But for those in the know, it’s there.
Max Slater-Robins has been writing about technology for nearly a decade at various outlets, covering the rise of the technology giants, trends in enterprise and SaaS companies, and much more besides. Originally from Suffolk, he currently lives in London and likes a good night out and walks in the countryside.
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