Google Docs has added greater visibility of non-printing characters to its co-op tool, including spaces, tabs, and breaks, making it easier for users to distinguish between them.
The feature, now available after an announcement (opens in a new tab) in a Google Workspace Updates weblog post, also includes line, paragraph, section, page, and column markers, and can be turned on in the View menu of Google. Document view of Documents.
The feature is available to any and all Google Workspace service customers and old G Suite service customers, as well as those with personal Google accounts.
Google Docs catches up
As reported by The Verge (opens in a new tab), while markers for non-printable characters may seem like a basic and required feature (opens in a new tab), users, until now, have had to have the addition of third parties. -ons. plugins like "View" (opens in a new tab) for related functionality.
However, it should be noted that I am writing this article in Google Docs in my Google Workspace account and I currently do not have access to the "Show non-printing characters" menu option here, not even in my personal Google account. , so it may take a while for the feature to appear for everyone.
This is generally standard practice for Google. In its announcement, the tech giant told users to expect a phased rollout of fifteen days from January XNUMX, XNUMX for organizations that signed up for its rapid release path for feature releases, and fifteen days from January XNUMX, XNUMX for organizations at planned launch. track.
While some users aren't overly concerned about a lag, those like, for example, who use Google's free word processor to create copy that contains links and want those links to be free of errant spaces, might be disappointed. .