# Google Docs is getting extra Markdown assist

Google is including Markdown assist to Google Docs on the internet, letting you format your doc utilizing textual content shortcuts relatively than keyboard ones. In a blog post announcing the feature, Google says it’s doing this by way of its autocorrect characteristic, so it can routinely format the textual content for you after you sort it in Markdown format. For instance, in the event you sort “# Google Docs is getting more Markdown support” it’ll routinely get transformed to a stage one heading.

Google says that Docs already supported a couple of Markdown autocorrections for bulleted and numbered lists, and checkboxes. It’s including a lot wider assist, although — now you can use Markdown so as to add headings, daring and italicize textual content (or do each), strikethrough (although it’s carried out utilizing a – on both facet of your content material, relatively than the normal ~), and hyperlinks. That’s a removed from complete implementation of Markdown, however at the least it covers most of what I personally use the language for.

To activate the characteristic, go to Tools > Preferences, and verify the “Automatically detect Markdown” field. If you don’t see it, it might not be rolled out in your account but — Google says it might take “longer than 15 days” for the characteristic to point out up for everybody (personally, I needed to strive three totally different Google accounts earlier than I discovered one which had it).

If you’re used to writing in Markdown in different purposes, Google Docs’ implementation might be going to take some getting used to (even ignoring the seemingly non-standard strikethrough syntax and absent choices). Rather than exhibiting you your marks in plain textual content, it makes use of them to routinely apply formatting after which removes them. That’s totally different from how most different textual content editors show Markdown by default — often, you’ll nonetheless be capable of see the marks, with the editor additionally including some sort of formatting to offer you an thought of the way it’ll look whenever you publish.

Whether you want this method or not might be a private choice. Google’s implementation in all probability received’t attraction very a lot to the individuals who use Markdown to get full management of their textual content (with out having to hassle with HTML’s annoying closing tags). But for anybody who simply desires the flexibility to make use of Markdown as a shortcut to formatting, and doesn’t care about fussing round with plaintext, Google’s manner may very well be comparatively approachable — as a substitute of choosing textual content and urgent Command / Control + L to insert a hyperlink, you may simply sort a couple of brackets and parentheses.

(It’s additionally in all probability value noting that this implementation is far friendlier for whenever you share a doc with a coworker who doesn’t know what Markdown is.)

Google says the characteristic is off by default — in all probability a good selection, because it’s simple to think about lots of people getting confused if typing a pound check in entrance of one thing routinely switched it to be a header — and that it’s coming to “Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customer,” alongside private accounts. Now in the event you’ll excuse me, I believe it’s time to start out a marketing campaign to get Google so as to add a Vim mode to Docs, because it’s moving into the behavior of including enjoyable nerdy options.