Writing Assistant Overview
Learn how to use the AI-powered Writing Assistant to polish, rephrase, and generate text directly in your Google Workspace™ applications.
The Writing Assistant is an AI text box in the add-on sidebar. You type or paste text, pick an action, and copy the result. It works on the text in its own box, not on your document selection. To change text that is selected in your document, use the Selection Conversions tools on the same screen.
It is available in the sidebar of Google Docs™, Sheets™, Slides™, and Forms™.
Open the Writing Assistant#
- Open
Extensions>Text To Table Converter>⚡ Launch Sidebar, then open Writing Tools. - Scroll to the Writing Assistant group.
- Type or paste your text into the box, pick an action, and read the result below it.
In Docs, Sheets, and Slides you can also use Extensions > Text To Table Converter > Writing Assistant > Open Writing Assistant in Sidebar.... In Forms, use Launch Sidebar.
Gmail™, Google Drive™, and Google Calendar™: the add-on card there has no Writing Assistant. It lists Workspace Tools such as Polish Text, Translate Text, and Summarize Text, which open in your browser.
Actions#
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Prompt | Follows the instruction you write in the box, for example "Write a short article about opening a coffee shop in New York." |
| Polish | Improves clarity and flow and fixes grammar and spelling. |
| Translate | Translates the text into the language chosen below the box. |
| Fix Grammar & Spelling | Corrects mistakes without changing your style. |
| Less AI | Rewrites stiff or machine-sounding text so it reads more naturally. |
| Summarize | Writes a short summary of the main ideas. |
| Shorten | Makes the text more concise and keeps its meaning. |
| Draft Email | Turns notes into an email with a subject line. |
| Draft Post | Turns notes into a social media post. |
Tone#
Pick a tone in Select a Tone before running an action: Keep Current, Neutral, Professional, Concise, Casual, Persuasive, or Not AI. The tone is ignored by Translate and Prompt.
Translate in the Same Step#
Choose an output language in the dropdown below the box to get the result in that language. For example, polish a German text and get the polished version in English. Choose Keep Original Language to keep the input language. The dropdown offers English, German, Spanish, French, Hindi, Japanese, Ukrainian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Afrikaans.
Refine the Result#
After a result appears, a follow-up box lets you describe one revision, such as "make it friendlier". Use Undo to go back to the previous result, or Reset to start over. Click Copy to take the result into your document.
AI usage: Each run uses one AI request. The free plan includes 25 AI requests every 30 days; Pro is unlimited. AI Permission in Settings must allow AI.
Pasting Markdown into Google Docs#
Tip: Using Markdown Formatting: When you ask the AI to generate content like an article or a list, it will often respond in Markdown format to include headings, bold text, lists, and more. To preserve this formatting when you paste it into Google Docs™, you first need to enable a setting: 1. In your Google Doc, go to the top menu and select
Tools>Preferences. 2. In the pop-up window, ensure the box for "Automatically detect Markdown" is checked, then click OK. Once the setting is enabled, follow these steps to paste your content: 1. Click the Copy button in the Writing Assistant to copy the Markdown text. 2. In your document, right-click with your mouse where you want the text to appear. 3. Select "Paste from Markdown" from the context menu. 4. Your text will be inserted instantly with all the formatting preserved.