Google’s suite of desktop productivity applications comprises Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides. All three of this work-oriented software aren’t as old as Microsoft’s family of frontrunning programs, but they’re still solid proponents of the whole ecosystem that Google Workspace has. The developer has a firm habit of updating its proprietary applications consistently, not to mention adding new features every once in a while.
Repeating this evergreen cycle is the latest Google Docs template feature. Google announced in a blog post that they’re currently working to improve Docs and imbue it with a brand new attribute. This new functionality will allow end-users to create an email draft on Gmail from right within Docs, making it easy to follow up the process when you visit your account.
You’re simply looking at a collaboration functionality that aims to bring users together and make their Workspace more convenient. Let’s look at how the new feature is set to work.
Working mechanism of the new Google Docs feature
In Google Docs, collaborating with other people on a specific document is commonplace. However, when you have to send someone an email in that shared document, you have to get their email address, hop on to Gmail in a separate tab, and finish the process with a couple of extra steps. This can be reasonably time-taking, not to mention the momentum it would break when you’re busy working.
The Google Workspace team has catered to just this scenario by implementing a full-blown method to send an email from right within the Google Docs file. Furthermore, the best part is that other people sharing the document can also work on the message body to leave notes and comments.
The feature has been incorporated in the “@” menu and is called “Email draft.” Also, it falls within the “Building Blocks” subsection of the “@” menu. Therefore, you can access it by typing “@” in your Google Docs text editor, scrolling down to “Building Blocks,” and then selecting “Email draft.”
Email draft feature in Google Docs
Doing that will open up the “Email draft” interface, allowing you to enter the names of the email recipients, the subject, and the body of the email. As soon as you’re done writing all of that and entering the recipients and the subject, you can click on the designated Gmail logo to make another window pop up on the screen.
Composing a draft email within Docs
This window will be from the Gmail client, allowing you to make the email go through the other side quickly. That’s about it for the basic working mechanism of the new “Email draft” feature.
Sending the drafted email
When can I start using the Email draft feature on my end?
You may as well be able to use the new Email draft feature right now, given that it already has rolled out to your end. New features such as these spread out across the domain gradually, and it’s typical for that to take about 15 days to complete. For “Email draft,” the rollout has already commenced on 15 March, so keep checking your Google Docs app for the visibility of the new tool.
In addition, do make sure that you’re a Google Workspace customer to be able to receive this feature. Unfortunately, basic users who are using the free version of Docs won’t be able to get their hands on the functionality in question. If you were a legacy G Suite customer back in the relevant time, and you’ve now upgraded to Workspace, you’re also eligible to have this feature on your side.
Conclusion
The ecosystem of Google continues to evolve with an array of updates and feature additions, such as the most recent “Email draft” tool that we’ve talked about in this write-up. Developers remain hard at work to make processes more seamless to work on and share, especially with Google’s suite of desktop productivity applications.
The “Email draft” feature will allow users to create an email draft eponymously and work on it from within the browser. It would be possible to get other people to collaborate on the email and then send it through from the Google Docs document painlessly. We must say a pretty nifty addition to the skillset of Google’s famous text editor. Do wait a couple of days if you cannot see the feature on your end for now. Good luck!
