Google Docs adds a feature we were under the impression that was already present: printing characters

Google is adding a function that will be added to Google Docs that lets you look up non-printing characters, such as tabs, spaces and a variety of break types it announced in an announcement on Monday on its blog. The feature is available within the View menu, will aid in editing documents simpler by showing the format it is using instead of relying only on what you discern whether something is tabs or a lot of spaces. It could also prove efficient when attempting to correct a mistake in formatting.

Prior to this, users been forced to use third-party extensions to Google Docs to see the characters that don’t print. While this isn’t a feature that many users will much use of (more on this later) There was certainly need for it. A request made on Google’s IssueTracker was voted on by more than 80 people from users who claimed to be affected by the difficulty in seeing the characters. Others also posted passionate comments: “My team agrees that this is a huge issue in Google Docs,” wrote one user in the year 2019. Another user was asking “How is this information not accessible already? ?” less than a week since.

On the other hand I, along with a few of my colleagues were shocked to discover that the app was missing this feature up until recently. Evidently, no one knew of the need or considered checking for it — and, yes it does seem strange in retrospect considering that we’re all writers. we probably believed it was present.

I was also shocked at the fact that Google Docs didn’t have it considering that I learned about characters that didn’t print in a computer class at the elementary school class. Microsoft Word has been able to show them nearly the entire time I’ve lived. (One of my colleagues mentioned how his grandparents had this feature as a child and it made him think it was the way electronic documents work.)

But, it’s more timely than not and I’m sure there are a few Google Docs users that are extremely excited about this announcement. The blog article states that the new feature will be accessible to all educational, corporate and personal accounts and will be fully operational on the 7th of February.