Google Docs adding collapsible headings and custom building blocks

Following its big redesign, Google Docs is expanding its Smart Canvas effort with user-created building blocks and collapsible headings.

Google Docs on the web will now let you minimize and expand headings to make it “easier to consume content by enabling you to hide portions of larger documents more easily.”

Editors can set whether the default behavior for headers should be expanded or collapsed, while users with “view and comment access are able to expand and collapse content when they have the document open, and when they close the document their expand/collapse changes will not be saved.” 

This has been a “highly requested feature” to make content “more digestible” and collapsible Google Docs headings be available for both Workspace and personal Google Accounts over the coming weeks. 

Meanwhile, Workspace users are getting the ability to create custom building blocks in Google Docs that can include text, tables, and chips. They will be able to save and insert these reusable grouping in other documents. 

For example, you might create a project kickoff template to track milestones and tasks, a product launch checklist, or even a block of code or text that’s commonly used within your organization. Rather than reworking the out-of-the-box building blocks to meet your specific needs or searching for a template that you frequently copy/paste into a new Doc, you can save that snippet or the entire document as a custom building block, and easily insert the content into other documents. 

Custom blocks can be assigned a name and optional description. They will appear at the bottom of the @-menu and when searching:

• To create custom building blocks, select any part of a document that you have access to copy from > right click and select “Save as custom building block” > name the block and click save. 
• To insert the custom building block in a document, type “@” and the name of your block > hit enter or scroll down to “building blocks” > select the name of your building block. 

Custom building blocks are rolling out over the coming weeks:

• Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus customers and Nonprofits 
• Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Frontline, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers 
• Not available to users with personal Google Accounts