Google Docs update helps you collaborate on drafting and composing emails

@Stephen Schenck can you check on this email draft real quick?

Last month, Google introduced a couple of features to Docs, including a new pageless format and automatically generated summaries. The company also teased upcoming capabilities such as a new Docs email draft template and a Google Maps smart chip for previewing Maps links — and it looks like the former is now going live.

The tech giant announced that its email draft template that has been in the works for some time is now arriving for users. The feature is meant to make it easier than ever to collaborate on an email. While there aren’t many use cases for individuals, the same can’t be said of enterprises. When composing an email to a client or your boss, you can now quickly request input from your colleagues without a hassle.

Using it is easy too. Simply type "@email draft" in a Google Docs document to bring up the template (with many other functions also available in this @ menu). Alternatively, you can navigate to Insert > Building Blocks > Email draft to access it. The interface will give you the usual To, Cc, Bcc, Subject, and Body fields you would find in Gmail’s native view. If you wish to mention someone to ask for help, again, just type "@" followed by the person’s name — you don’t need to remember their email address. Once you’re ready to send, simply click the Gmail button beside the email draft template, and it will automatically populate a Gmail compose window with all your text as it appears in Docs.

The new feature is already rolling out to Google Workspace, legacy G Suite Basic, and G Suite Business customers. However, it won't be fully available for everyone until the first week of April.

The new email draft template is a part of Google's Smart Canvas initiative. We’ve previously seen the pageless format that removes page breaks, margins, and gray backgrounds we’ve become used to in favor of an entirely white canvas. The format should make it easier to work on documents with large images, wide tables, detailed comments, or any that are simply not meant to be printed. That said, we’re still waiting for the Google Maps smart chip feature that Google promised last month.

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