Summarize or Shorten Text

The Text To Table Converter Add-On helps you refine your content with powerful AI tools. You can condense long documents into key points or make your writing more direct and impactful, all within Google Docs™, Google Slides™, and Google Sheets™.

It's important to understand the difference between the two functions:

• Summarize: Creates a short, new text that captures the main ideas of a longer passage.
• Shorten: Rewrites your existing text to be more concise by removing filler words and rephrasing sentences, while keeping the original meaning.

Summarizing Text#

Use this feature when you need to quickly understand the core message of a long piece of text.

1. Select the Text

Highlight the paragraph or section you want to summarize.

Example Text to Summarize:

Emily enjoys the quiet moments of her morning, holding a warm latte just the way she likes it. Smooth espresso, creamy oat milk, and a touch of cinnamon make each sip perfect. She loves how the oat milk adds a gentle sweetness that balances the coffee.

2. Choose Summarize

Use either:

• Sidebar: Extensions > Text To Table Converter > ⚡ Launch Sidebar, then open Writing Tools > Selection Conversions > Summarize
• Menu: Extensions > Text To Table Converter > Selection Conversions > Summarize & Shorten > Summarize

3. Review the Summary

A concise summary of your selected text will be inserted below the original.

Resulting Summary:

Emily enjoys her morning latte, which is made with espresso, creamy oat milk, and cinnamon.

Shortening Text#

Use this feature to make your writing more direct, clear, and less wordy.

1. Select the Text

Highlight the sentences you want to make more concise.

Example Text to Shorten:

It is an undeniable fact that the coffee served at this particular café is, for all intents and purposes, considered to be of a very high quality by most of the customers who visit.

2. Choose Shorten

Use either:

• Sidebar: Extensions > Text To Table Converter > ⚡ Launch Sidebar, then open Writing Tools > Selection Conversions > Shorten
• Menu: Extensions > Text To Table Converter > Selection Conversions > Summarize & Shorten > Shorten

3. Review the Shortened Text

The rewritten, more concise version of your text will be inserted below the original.

Resulting Shortened Text:

The coffee at this café is considered high quality by most customers.

Using with Tables#

Both Summarize and Shorten can also be applied to text within tables. The add-on processes the text in each cell and creates a new table with the same structure. In Google Docs™, the new table is added at the end of the document. In Google Slides™, it is placed at the top-left of the slide, on top of other content. In Google Sheets™, the result goes to a new worksheet named Processed Text. Your original table is not changed.