Styles for Google Docs

Get an additional set of headings, titles, and normal text styles from this tool for your documents. Just pick a style in the sidebar and use it for any part of your text to make it look pretty. Create your own sets of headings from scratch or edit any default ones.

• Before you start
• How to work with Styles for Google Docs
  • Start the add-on
  • Create your own style sets or choose among the default ones
  • Preview Google Docs styles
  • Edit Google Docs styles
  • Apply a style to the selected paragraphs
  • Apply a style set to the entire document
• Related pages

Before you start

For the add-on to see your headings when you apply the entire style to your whole Google document, make sure to identify your titles, headings and subtitles properly beforehand. Headings marked as normal text won't be formatted as headings. They will get the formatting of the normal text.

You can identify them quickly using the Styles add-on as well.

Or select your headings, click Normal text on the Google Docs toolbar, and apply a required heading format.

How to work with Styles for Google Docs

Start the add-on

Open your document in Google Docs and go to Extensions > Styles > Start:

This will open the sidebar with the Google Docs styles:

Create your own style sets or choose among the default ones

At the top, you'll find controls to add your patterns and see a list of sets pre-supplied by Ablebits:

1. There are 20 Google Docs styles available in the add-on, all divided into 4 groups depending on how they look:
   • formal
   • practical
   • classic
   • elegant

   as well as one common group with all sets.

   There's one more group to look for: Custom. It will appear once you create your own style sets (whether from scratch or by modifying default ones):
   

2. If the default styles do not meet your requests, you are free to create your own sets. There are 3 ways to do that:
   • Click the first square with a plus icon to add the style from your document to the add-on. You'll be able to adjust its elements before saving and apply to any other document in future.
   • Or hover your mouse over it and you'll see a small icon with three dots at its upper right corner. As an alternative, it will also offer to create a new style from scratch:
     
   • Or simply right-click the tile to access the same two settings from the context menu.
     Tip. You can create new styles and edit existing ones in such a way that they fit any type of text in your Docs. For example, if you use quotes a lot or definitions play a big role in your texts, you can devote entire elements within the Google Docs style just for them:
     
3. Click on any tile and then on the same three dots at the upper right corner to access some extra options:
   
   • The first one applies the selected style to your whole document.
   • Pick Edit style to change headings in Google Docs, fonts, alignment, etc.
   • Duplicate style so you could adjust it without overwriting the original one.
   • Reset to default will undo all modifications you've ever made to the predefined style. It will be returned to its original form.
     Note. This setting is available only for the styles supplied by Ablebits. For your custom styles you'll see the Delete style option instead:
     
   • Save changes, on the contrary, will keep them.
4. Look through all Google Docs styles from the selected group using these page indicators.
5. The arrow icon will minimize or expand the area with all style tiles.

Preview Google Docs styles

Whatever Google Docs style you select in the add-on, you will instantly see its full-size preview in the lower part of the tool:

1. The red triangle will hint that some modifications have been made to the style. The add-on will prompt you to save them before moving on to other sets.
2. See what each heading, title & subtitle, and normal text from the selected style will look like in your document. You can also manage each element & apply it to your selected text with just a click.
3. If the standard set of Google Docs headings is not enough, add more elements with this option. The new element will be added right away, offering you to name it first:
   
   Tip. Hit Enter on your keyboard to confirm the label.
4. Here you will find a few ways to handle each style element individually:

   

   • Put your mouse cursor in the paragraph you want to format in the document and click Apply style to paragraph. The entire paragraph will change accordingly.
   • Update from selection works the opposite way. It borrows the format of the selected text in the document and applies it to your style element in the add-on.
   • Use Rename style element to customize the element label.
   • To modify the look, go for Edit style element.
   • Or Delete style element if you no longer need it.

Edit Google Docs styles

Google Docs Styles add-on lets you not only create your own style sets but also tailor the pre-supplied ones. Whatever you do, you will see the editor as a separate window with all the options around a small preview:

1. At the top, you will find the name of the set. Click on it to change and hit Enter to confirm a new label. Or hit Esc to cancel renaming.
2. Check this box to select all style elements and format them all in one go.
3. Show checkboxes with this setting to easily select multiple style elements for customization.
   Tip. If the checkboxes are hidden, you can still pick several elements by pressing and holding the Ctrl key (or Cmd on Mac) on your keyboard.
4. The selected elements are marked with the yellow line in the preview area so you could spot them easily among other text.
   Tip. You can select the required elements by clicking on them right in this preview area.
5. Switch between different heading types for the element from this drop-down menu:
   
   Tip. You can also right-click the element itself to access some extra possibilities:
   

   • Rename to change your element label.
   • Duplicate to make its copy if you need a similar element but with small adjustments.
   • Delete to remove an unwanted element from the style.
   Note. Each style set can contain several elements of the same type (e.g. a couple of titles, a few subtitles, etc.) in case you'd like to have a choice 🙂 However, when you apply the whole style to a document, only the format of the first instance will be applied. You can rearrange reoccurring headings within a style set quickly using drag-n-drop.
6. Whenever the available types are not enough, you can add more.

   They can fit any type of text in your Docs. For example, if you use quotes a lot or definitions play a big role in your texts, you can devote entire elements within the Google Docs style just for them:
   

   Note. Each style set can contain several elements of the same type (e.g. a couple of titles, a few subtitles, etc.) in case you'd like to have a choice 🙂 However, when you apply the whole style to a document, only the format of the first instances will be applied. You can rearrange reoccurring headings within a style set quickly using drag-n-drop.
7. Here you can modify the looks of the selected elements: their font, font size & color, text formatting & alignment. The real-time preview will instantly show how it all appears in the document.
8. You can always revert your changes using the Clear formatting option.
9. Use Zoom to alter the size of the preview.
   Tip. By default, it is 75%. For the real size of your document set up 100%.
10. Spacing and indentation are also adjustable for each element. Set up line spacing (spaces between the lines within one paragraph), space before/after each paragraph, first line indent, left & right indentations.

When you're ready, click Save to keep the changes.

To avoid overwriting the original set, choose Save as instead. You'll be able to give a name to this new pattern and it will appear in the Custom group.

Apply a new style to the selected paragraphs

It is very easy to apply any formatting from the set to your text:

1. Place the cursor in the paragraph you want to format in your document or select several paragraphs to change.
2. Click on the required element, e.g. Heading 1, Title, or Normal text, in the sidebar.
   Tip. You can use a standard option in Google Docs to apply the new format to all similar styles, e.g. to all headings:

   1. Right-click the text with the style you want to alter in the document, e.g. Heading 1.
   2. Pick Format options > Select all matching text. This way you automatically select all occurrences of Heading 1.
   3. Click any style in the sidebar that you want to apply to all the selected paragraphs.
   Tip. The add-on will keep bookmarks & links in your document.

Apply a style set to the entire document

If your Google document has its structure with titles and headings, you can make it look polished in just one click.

1. Pick one of the designed style sets in the list.
   Tip. You will see preview below the list in the sidebar.
2. Click on the Apply style button.

All styles in the document will change accordingly.

Related pages

• Doc Tools for Google Docs
• Explore your files in Google Docs
• Table Styles for Google Sheets