Google Docs Low Vision: Shortcuts Tips and Tricks

Hi, my name is Vikki Vaughan, and in today’s workshop we’ll check out some cool tips and tricks that make Google Docs even more fun to use.

Who doesn’t like a shortcut, right? If you’ve watched other workshops in this series, you know I’m a big fan. I’m not the only one, as the folks at Google have included loads of keyboard shortcuts in each of the Google Suite. Let’s have a look!

One of my favorite shortcuts creates a new document. Starting from our Chrome browser, we type “Doc dot New” in our address bar.

When we press Enter, it opens a new Google Document. This same trick works for the other applications in the Google Suite. Sheet dot New opens a new Google spreadsheet, Slide dot New creates a new Google presentation, and Forms dot New creates a new Google form.

One more neat trick: if we’re in Google Drive, Shift plus T, for Tango, launches a new blank document in a new tab.

Once we’ve created a document, we might want to use a font size that's easier to see than the default 12-point size. Thankfully, Google has included handy tools to enlarge the font to the size that works best for us. A super quick way to enlarge the entire document is located here in our toolbar. Once we’ve opened our document, we select the Zoom tool and either down arrow or select the desired size with our mouse pointer, and then press Enter. We have seven sizes to choose from so it’s easy to try several sizes to find the one that best fits our needs.

We can also enlarge our font by selecting our text with Control plus A, as in All, then using the keyboard shortcut, Control plus Shift plus Period. By holding down the first two keys, Control and Shift, then tapping the period key, we increase the font size in increments of one.

To decrease the font size, we use the shortcut, Control plus Shift plus Comma.

One of my favorite Google Doc shortcuts actually takes us to more shortcuts. For those times when we need a reminder, Control plus Forward Slash brings up a list of the most frequently used shortcuts. They are grouped into categories, which we see listed on the left.

When we select one of the categories, such as Menus, the focus moves to those shortcuts in our list on the right.

For a more complete listing of Google Docs shortcuts, let’s select the link entitled “View All in Help Center” in the lower left corner of this window. It opens a new tab in our browser, and here we see an extensive list of shortcuts.

As we move down the page, we find the shortcuts are grouped according to our operating system, such as PC Computer, Mac, and Chrome. Let’s select this down caret to expand the PC shortcuts. Once again, our list is grouped according to category, such as Text Formatting, Images and Drawing, and Menus. We move up or down our page by using our arrow keys or scrolling with our mouse.

There are also times when we need a little help locating menu commands. Google Docs has a cool shortcut for searching our Menu for just the right command. Pressing Alt plus Forward Slash, brings up a search tool which helps us find our desired command.

We’ll give it a try. Let’s say we want to bold our title. First, we select the title by placing our text cursor at the beginning of the line, then press Control plus Shift plus Down Arrow.

Then we use our Search Menu shortcut, Alt plus Forward Slash. Let’s type “bold” into the edit field and our command appears, followed by the keyboard shortcut of Control plus B.

We press Enter and our selected text is now bolded. It’s nice to know that we can not only locate, but easily execute menu commands with this handy tool.

Occasionally, we need to move text from one place to another. Google Docs has a time-saver tip that allows us to skip cutting and pasting our text. We simply place our cursor anywhere inside the paragraph we wish to reposition, hold down the Alt and Shift keys together, then use our arrow keys to move the paragraph to its new location. Pretty cool, right?

There’s a navigation trick in Google Docs that I just love. The Show Documents Outline helps us organize our documents to make them easier to get around. To open the View Menu, we use the shortcut, Alt plus V, for Victor. Then, we down arrow to Show Document Outline. When we press the Enter key, we place a checkmark next to this option. Google Docs creates an outline in the left pane of our screen.

We can select a heading in the left pane and the focus jumps right to that spot in our document in the right pane. That’s a lot faster than scrolling through our document.

Google Docs makes it super easy to research a topic without ever leaving our document. Let’s head back to our Pharmacy List to check it out. When we press the keyboard shortcut Control plus Alt plus Shift plus I, for India, we open Google’s Explore Tool. The Explore window opens on the right side of our screen and allows us to search the web for information about a topic in our document.

Our Explore tool shows several items from our pharmacy list to explore. When I select “shaving cream,” I see search results that include places to buy shaving cream, reviews of the best shaving creams, as well as a definition. I can also select images or search my Google Drive for more information about shaving cream. If I find something I like, I can use this button to add it as a footnote. Now, that’s pretty amazing, isn’t it!

When we’ve finished with the Explore tool, we select the X in the corner to close it.

There’s another neat tool that can help for those times when we’re not confident of a word’s meaning. We place our cursor on the word and press Control plus Shift plus Y, as in Yankee, to open the Dictionary tool. Google Docs automatically brings up the definition in the right pane so there’s no need to look any further.

When we’re ready to proceed, we simply close the window by selecting the X in the right corner.

Now at the risk of sounding like a broken record, Google Docs has another amazing tool that’s just too good not to share. It can translate entire documents into other languages. We simply open the Tools menu with Alt plus T, press T for Translate, and a new window appears. If you prefer, you can also use your down arrow or mouse pointer to select Translate.

Here in our window, we see the title of our new document, such as “Translated copy of Pharmacy List.” Next, we select the drop-down list, and then select our preferred language. Last step: let’s select the Translate button with our mouse pointer. Voila, a new tab opens in our browser with our translated Google Doc. That’s pretty cool, isn’t it?

For Microsoft Word users who want to try Google Docs, not to worry. Most of Google Docs shortcuts will be familiar to those of us who use Microsoft Word. Good examples are the shortcuts for Copy, Cut, and Paste. They are exactly the same, as are many other Google Doc shortcuts. Now that certainly makes it easier to move from one to the other. No new commands to learn. I encourage you to give it a try!

In today’s workshop, we explored tips and tricks in Google Docs. I’m Vikki Vaughan, and I thank you for joining me.