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About this lesson

How to install add-ons and use them within Google Docs.

Exercise files

The exercises below will open in a new tab. When signed in to your Google account, go to File --> Make a copy to get an editable copy of the file.

Google Docs Add-ons
Link Google Docs Add-ons Solution
Link

Quick reference

Add-ons

Add-ons are programs that are not built by Google, but which can be added to Google Apps to perform many jobs that Google Apps can’t do on their own.

When to use

When you want to do something that Google Apps can’t do by default.

Instructions

Add add-ons

  • Click “Add-ons”
  • Click “Get add-ons”
  • Search for the type of add-on you want, or search for the name of a specific add-on
  • To see an overview of the add-on as well as reviews and ratings, click on the picture or name of the add-on
  • Click the “+” button
  • Read the information the app wants access to
  • If acceptable, click “Allow”

NOTE: The “+” button will say “Free” if the add-on is free, or show the price of the add-on.

Use add-ons

  • Click “Add-ons”
  • Click the name of the add-on
  • Click to use the add-on (will change depending on the add-on)

Remove add-ons

  • Click “Add-ons”
  • Click “Manage add-ons”
  • Next to the name of the add-on, click “Manage”
  • Click “Remove”
  • 00:05 Google Drive gives us the ability to add additional features and
  • 00:09 additional functionality through the use of Add-Ons.
  • 00:12 Add-ons are new features or different features that are not currently
  • 00:17 available within the default Google Document environment.
  • 00:22 Select the Add-ons menu and here you will see first,
  • 00:25 a list of any current Add-ons that you may have.
  • 00:29 Here you see I have a Thesaurus Add-on and
  • 00:32 I have a few different options here that are specific to this Add-on.
  • 00:36 Next, I have the ability to get new Add-ons.
  • 00:40 And lastly, we can manage any existing Add-ons.
  • 00:43 We'll come back to this in just a moment to see how we can
  • 00:46 remove an Add-on from Google Documents.
  • 00:49 So first, let's select Get add-ons.
  • 00:52 Here, we see a full library
  • 00:55 of all the different Add-ons that we can add to Google Documents.
  • 01:00 Now, you may wanna take your time and search and
  • 01:02 browse through the various options that are available here.
  • 01:06 You may find new ways to add charts and
  • 01:09 graphs and make interesting images and graphics within your document.
  • 01:14 In this example, I'm gonna choose this one called the Highlight Tool.
  • 01:18 If you hover over any of the Add-on, it will give you a brief description of what
  • 01:23 that Add-on does, and it will also let you know if it is a free Add-on or
  • 01:28 if you will need to pay to use it.
  • 01:30 So in this case, I'm gonna select the Highlight Tool and select Free.
  • 01:36 It's gonna ask me which Google account I would like to use for this Add-on.
  • 01:40 And then it may ask you certain permission questions just to make sure that you
  • 01:45 are comfortable with sharing this information with this particular Add-on.
  • 01:50 I'm gonna select ALLOW, and then it may take a few seconds for
  • 01:54 the Add-on to be included in your Google Document.
  • 01:58 Once it has been added, you will get a summary piece of text information
  • 02:03 telling you a little bit about the add-on which you have just included.
  • 02:07 So, in this case, if I want to try out the highlight tool,
  • 02:11 I go up to Add-ons and I gotta hover over the highlight tool.
  • 02:14 And in this case, I'm gonna select Start.
  • 02:18 And in most cases, Add-ons will appear in a new
  • 02:23 area on the right-hand side of your screen.
  • 02:26 So here you can see I have a few different colors and the way that this Add-on
  • 02:30 works is I can just highlight the text that I want, and then select that color.
  • 02:35 Maybe I want to highlight this last line here and I'm going to select Red.
  • 02:40 Of course, this is just a very simple example of this particular Add-on.
  • 02:45 And, again, you can use multiple Add-ons at once.
  • 02:49 Let's take a look now, at how we can remove an Add-on.
  • 02:53 Once again we want to go up to the Add-ons menu, and we're gonna go to the bottom and
  • 02:58 select Manage Add-ons.
  • 03:01 Here you will see a full list of all the Add-ons
  • 03:03 which you have included within your Google Documents.
  • 03:07 And let's say I no longer need this bottom one here.
  • 03:11 I'm gonna select Manage > Remove.
  • 03:16 And now, this particular Add-on is no longer included.
  • 03:20 If I'd like to bring it back, I can simply select the Free button here, and
  • 03:24 it will reinstall it here within my Google Documents.
  • 03:28 So you may wish to explore the wealth of Add-ons available to
  • 03:33 you to help you enhance your experience here within Google Documents.

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