Google has released a new feature for Docs that will make it easier to break down information into different sections — and, later, find and access it. It’s adding tabs to Docs so you can “create content in a way that you can quickly find what you’re looking for.”
Instead of creating multiple Doc files or just using headings to organize information, you can write whatever you need in individual tabs, which will be much faster to parse than one long document. Tabs can also make collaborating with classmates or coworkers less cluttered.
In its announcement, Google gave several examples of how tabs can help people. “A project manager,” the company wrote, “can create a tab for budget, roles and responsibilities, goals, and important dates so their work team can stay on track.”
Apart from Google’s examples, we can see the feature is also useful for writers, who can use separate tabs for their outlines, character profiles, plot plans, scenario descriptions, and other important notes.
Document tabs will be on the left-hand side of the Google Docs interface. You can create multiple sub-tabs under each tab if you want to further break down the information that goes into that section.
If you edit the name of a tab, you’ll also be able to set an emoji to best represent the topic, which will replace the default text icon. The new feature has already started rolling out and will be available to all Google Workspace users as well as everyone with personal Gmail accounts over the next 15 days.