Google has added a new feature to its word processing software, Docs, that it hopes will make collaborating on important business emails easier than ever.

The office software will now offer a new email template that allows users to draft messages in Google Docs but also see how they would be portrayed as a Gmail email before sending.

Typing @email in the web version of Google Docs will now launch the new template, complete with subject lines, sender and cc fields, and body text box.

Google Docs and Gmail

Once launched, you can tag other Google Workspace users through their email addresses or user names, giving them the chance to review your work and collaborate on the message.

When finished, just click on the email button next to your draft message to see the text transformed into a Gmail compose window, where all the fields will be automatically populated based on your draft text.

Google Docs and Gmail email draft

(Image credit: Google)

The company said in its blog post that the feature has already begun rolling out to Google Docs web users, with the process due to be completed over the next few weeks.

The integration will be enabled by default, and is available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers.

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The feature looks to be part of Google's ongoing campaign to make online collaboration a smoother experience as more and more employees embrace hybrid working.

The company revealed its smart canvas initiative in 2021, helping tie together its range of workplace apps such as Gmail, Docs, Sheets and Slides.

Since then, it has also introduced automatically generated summaries in Google Docs, which provide a brief overview of the main points in a document. 

Google has also launched “smart chips“, where users can use @-mentions to tag for peoples, files and meetings, along with inserting additional items such as images, tables and templates.

This was expanded recently after the company launched additional smart chips or clickable objects that pull relevant information directly into the collaboration canvas. For instance, the new maps smart chip allows you to easily preview a Google Maps link directly in Docs.

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