Gmail’s best feature just came to Google Docs: How to try it

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By Kate Kozuch
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Google Docs might make you break up with Microsoft Word

Gmail’s best feature just came to Google Docs.
(Image credit: Future)

Gmail’s best powers are coming to Google Docs. Google Docs has long been the leading alternative to Microsoft Word, but its new predictive typing feature could bury the classic word processor once and for all.

Smart Compose, the predictive typing feature currently available for Gmail, is rolling out to G Suite subscribers. Soon Google Docs will help users get work done faster by guessing what you might like to type next.

First introduced in 2018, Smart Compose for Gmail uses contextual clues from your email (ie. the subject line or to whom you're sending the message) to auto-suggest words and phrases as you type your email. It learns from your typing habits and can have you shredding through your inbox in no time.

Of course, you can disable the feature if predictive typing isn’t your thing. The same goes for autocorrect, which is also arriving to Google Docs users. Go to Tools > Preferences and uncheck “Automatically correct spelling” to deactivate it.

Although autocorrect can be pester-some at times, Smart Compose is pretty great (in a slightly dystopian way) at knowing what I want to type before I type it. Plus it could finally make writer’s block a thing of the past.

Smart Compose and autocorrect for Google Docs is rolling out to users. If you can't see it yet, don't worry. These features should arrive in coming weeks.

Kate Kozuch
Kate Kozuch

Kate Kozuch is the managing editor of social and video at Tom’s Guide. She covers smartwatches, TVs and audio devices, too. Kate appears on Fox News to talk tech trends and runs the Tom's Guide TikTok account, which you should be following. When she’s not filming tech videos, you can find her taking up a new sport, mastering the NYT Crossword or channeling her inner celebrity chef.