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Text Basics

The document provides instructions for basic text formatting and editing functions in Google Docs, including how to insert, select, delete, copy, cut, paste, drag and drop, and format text. It also explains how to use spell check, add special characters, and find and replace text within a Google Docs document.

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Len Cummins
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35 views15 pages

Text Basics

The document provides instructions for basic text formatting and editing functions in Google Docs, including how to insert, select, delete, copy, cut, paste, drag and drop, and format text. It also explains how to use spell check, add special characters, and find and replace text within a Google Docs document.

Uploaded by

Len Cummins
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Google Docs – Text Basics

Introduction
If you are familiar with word processing software such as Microsoft Word, you will find
working with text in Google Docs to be a similar experience. If you are new to word
processing, working with text in Google Docs is fairly easy to learn. Over the next few
pages, we will show you the basics of working with text.

Click on this link which will take you to the video.


Video: Text Basics

To insert text:
1. Locate the insertion point, which is a blinking vertical line. In a blank
document, this will be near the top-left corner of the page. If the document
already has text, you can click in different parts of the document to move
the insertion point.
2. When you begin typing, the text will appear next to the insertion point.

To select text:
Before you can move or format text, you'll need to select it. To do this, click and drag
your mouse over the text, then release the mouse. A highlighted box will appear over
the selected text.
To delete text:
There are several ways to delete—or remove—text:

 To delete text to the left of the insertion point, press the Backspace key
on your keyboard.
 To delete text to the right of the insertion point, press the Delete key on
your keyboard.
 Select the text you want to remove, then press the Delete key.

If you select text and start typing, the selected text will automatically be deleted and
replaced with the new text.

Copying, cutting, and pasting text


You may find that sometimes it's easier to copy and paste text that repeats often in
your document. Other times, there may be text you want to move from one area of the
document to another, in which case you'll need to cut and paste or drag and drop the
text.

Typically, the copy, cut, and paste commands are found in the Edit menu of many word
processing applications. However, Google Docs uses keyboard shortcuts—or a
combination of keys—to perform these commands. If you try to select copy, cut, or
paste from the Edit menu in Google Docs, Google reminds you to use keyboard
shortcuts.
If you use Google Chrome as your web browser, you can download the free Chrome
Google Docs app from the Chrome Web Store. It will allow you to select copy, cut, and
paste from the Edit menu, as well as to right-click the mouse to copy, cut, and paste
text.

To copy and paste text:


1. Select the text you want to copy.

2. Press Ctrl+C (Windows) or Command+C (Mac) on your keyboard to copy


the text.
3. Place your insertion point where you want the text to appear.

4. Press Ctrl+V (Windows) or Command+V (Mac) on your keyboard to


paste the text. The text will appear.
To cut and paste text:
1. Select the text you want to copy.

2. Press Ctrl+X (Windows) or Command+X (Mac) on your keyboard to cut


the text.
3. Place your insertion point where you want the text to appear.
4. Press Ctrl+V (Windows) or Command+V (Mac) on your keyboard to
paste the text. The text will appear.
To drag and drop text:
1. Select the text you want to move to another place in the document.

2. Click and drag the text to the location where you want it to appear. The
cursor will have an insertion point under it to indicate you're moving text.

3. Release the mouse button, and the text will move to the new location.

To insert special characters:


Google Docs offers a large collection of special characters. They are useful when
writing equations, and they can serve as decorative accents as well.

1. Place the insertion point where you want to insert a special character.
2. Click Insert, then select Special characters.
3. The Insert Special Characters dialog box will appear.
4. Use the drop-down arrows above the character grid to browse groups of
symbols. In our example, we are browsing for musical symbols to add to

our document.
5. Click the desired symbol to insert it into your document.

6. The symbol will appear in your document.


Spell check and suggested spelling
By default, Google Docs will automatically check for misspelled words and make
suggested spellings. Words with spelling suggestions are underlined in red.

To use suggested spelling:


1. Right-click an underlined word. A drop-down menu with suggested
spellings for the misspelled word will appear. Select the correct spelling
from the list.
2. The correct spelling will appear in place of the misspelled word in the
document.

Occasionally, Google Docs will suggest spellings for a word it does not recognize, like
the name of a person or a company. If you are certain of the spelling, you can add the
word to the dictionary. Once you add a word to the dictionary, Google Docs will keep
the spelling of the word.
Using find and replace
When you're working with longer documents, it can be difficult and time consuming to
locate a specific word or phrase within the document. Google Docs can automatically
search your document using the find feature, and it even allows you to change words or
phrases using the replace feature.

To find text:
1. Click Edit, then select Find and replace.

2. The Find and replace dialog box will appear.


3. Type the text you want to find in the Find field. The number of times the
word appears in the text will appear in the Find field, and each
appearance will be highlighted throughout the document.
4. If the word appears more than once, you can click the Prev and Next
arrows to jump to the next appearance. When the word is selected, the
highlight will darken and pulsate briefly.

5. Click X to close the dialog box.


To replace text:
1. Click Edit, then select Find and replace. The Find and replace dialog
box will appear.
2. Type the text you want to find in the Find field. Type the text you want to
replace it with in the Replace with field.
3. Click Next or Prev and then Replace to replace text. If you want to
replace all occurrences of the text within the document, click Replace all.

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