Google has added (to Google Docs) a new feature that gives workspace users the ability to select multiple sections of text at once while formatting. “You can now make multiple text selections at once, and apply actions such as delete, copy, paste, or format to all selections,” the company stated in a blog post.
It’s now possible to apply the same effect to three different words (or phrases) in a paragraph by simply selecting all of the text at once and applying your desired changes. This new addition will make formatting and editing documents faster by eliminating the need to make repetitive changes, increasing your overall productivity.
How it works on Google Docs
It’s very easy to select more than one piece of text. Just select the first piece of text as you normally would, and then press the Command key or Control key, depending on whether you’re using a Mac or Windows computer. Continue holding it down and select the additional text you desire. Once you’ve selected everything, you can release your grip and modify the formatting using the toolbar.
If you have a lot of text to format, this feature will be easier than using the format painter tool, which lets you highlight text and copy its formatting to another. This tool saves you from setting each parameter individually, but it may still require a lot of clicking depending on how much text you’re formatting.
There are many ways to use this feature beyond just formatting, such as cutting and moving paragraphs, or adding a comment that is relevant to multiple sentences. It’s simple when you use multi-select.
In some cases, it’s better to avoid using the feature altogether. For instance, if you’re trying to change every header in your document, you’d be better off changing the style rather than manually selecting each header. You can do this selecting style (in the style section) and then click “Update [style] to match”
Even though multi-select might not be the most useful tool in every case, it’s great that Google has made it available as an option. This is especially true considering that there are some desktop app word processors that do not appear to have this feature.
According to a blog post, the feature is being gradually rolled out to everyone’s accounts and should be available within the next 15 days. That is, for those who have not yet received it. It will be available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers.
