How to Use Custom Building Blocks in Google Docs
Google Docs are as much about collaboration as they are about efficiency. Custom building blocks in Google Docs help you speed up your document creation by saving and reusing components you use most often. This primer should help you understand how to use them better as they are rolled out across Google Workplace and Education accounts.
What Are Custom Building Blocks in Google Docs?
Think of Google Docs as an empty canvas. Custom building blocks are like snippets it’s possible to insert in any document without creating them from scratch every time. They are boilerplates for any document content type; you can think of them as mini-templates.
For instance, if the same checklist is often used in Google Docs to review a process, you can save it as a custom building block. Then, in the next document, insert the building block with a single click. So, custom building blocks save time for you and the organization.
TheGoogle Workspace announcementmentions a few common scenarios for using them:
You might create a project kickoff template to track milestones and tasks, a product launch checklist, or even a block of code or text commonly used within your organization.
You can even save an entire document as a custom building block and insert it like a template for another document. Custom building blocks are a significant time-saving feature that’s a big part of theSmart Canvas in Google Drive.
Note:Custom building blocks are available for onlyGoogle Workspaceand Education accounts. They are still unavailable for personal Google accounts.
To speed up your document creation, you can save and insert a custom building block within seconds. Open the right Google Docs and use either of the two steps to make your first building block.
Create a Custom Building Block
Select the text, code, table, or other content you want as a building block.
Alternatively, you can use the “@ menu” in Google Docs:
Custom building blocks are stored in a folder named “Custom Building Blocks” in your Google Drive. you could re-organize, edit, and delete the blocks from here. You can also manage your collection of blocks from the menu:Insert > Building Blocks > Custom building block > Manage custom blocks.
Insert a Custom Building Block
To quickly re-use a custom building block, use any of the two methods at the right place in an open document.
What Are Some Uses for Building Blocks in Your Document?
Here are some ways to think about using building blocks in Google Docs:
Plan and Manage Your Custom Building Blocks
As custom building blocks are like re-usable modules in Google Workspace, you and your team should consider them strategically. It starts by creating a standard set of building blocks for the entire team, naming them correctly with precise descriptions. It’s also essential to occasionally update and spring clean the collection to avoid a clutter of these reusable content blocks. Along with generative AI in Google Docs, this feature should help you tremendously at work.
With Google Workspace, you can quickly transform your business to achieve team transparency and a cloud-based solution to boost productivity.
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