GoogleDocs Tips

You can create documents, presentations, and spreadsheets at GoogleDocs and access those documents from any web browser on any computer. Very handy! The following tips will help in using GoogleDocs to create documents and in using the word count, spellcheck, and dictionary options for editing and proofreading.

Create. Start by using the Create a new Document option:

Since you will be cutting and pasting from your GoogleDocument into some kind of other format (email, blog or webpage), DO NOT do any formatting in GoogleDocs! No links, no text formatting - just type, check your word count, and spellcheck. You can do all the formatting in  your blog or webpage later.

Word Count. The word count is under the Tools menu - be careful not to get the word count mixed up with the character count! There is also a keyboard shortcut to get to the word count even more quickly:

Spellcheck. You can toggle the spellchecker suggestions on and off under the View menu; by default the spellcheck suggestions feature is turned on. This means that misspelled words are underlined in red and you can right-click on the word to see suggested spellings.

Dictionary. There is also a built-in dictionary you can use to look up a word. Using a dictionary is important because most of the spelling mistakes that people make are not outright errors, but homonyms, words that sound the same but which are spelled differently. The only way to be sure is to check in the dictionary! To look up a word in a Google Doc, use the Tool: Define option. The little "book" icon indicates that you are doing a dictionary search; you can also use this window for other kinds of web-based research. So, highlight the word you want to look up, and click Tool: Define.

I hope this information helps you to make the best use of Google Docs. If you have questions not answered here, please let me know!

(More GrammarCatz.)