How to insert shapes in Google Docs

How to insert shapes in Google Docs? At first, you might wonder why you need to use Google Docs instead of your usual document creator – after all, they are all pretty much the same.

For plain text documents, this might be true. But, as soon as you need to start adding shapes, Google Docs wins hands down.

It’s a fact that inserting shapes in Google Docs it’s much easier than say, doing the same in Word, and throughout this article, you’ll learn how to do it. But first, let’s look at why we prefer Google Docs.

Why use Google Docs over Word?
How to insert shapes in Google Docs
1. How to insert shapes to Google Docs from your Google Drive
2. How to insert shapes in Google Docs with text alignment
Wrap Up

Why use Google Docs over Word?

Even for the ones that are into technology, there is something incredibly frustrating about positioning the shapes and images in Microsoft Word.

More often than not, you can adjust and drag your shape by just a fraction, and your text changes format. It’s not as simple to add text next to the shape.

The other great advantage is that your work on Google Docs is automatically saved every few minutes. As your Google Doc is saved in your Google Drive, you will have access from any device with internet access.

Changes can be seen live from any other device that you log into with your Google account, which is much more convenient than having a doc on your computer hard drive.

Sharing is also much simpler. Once you have granted permission to another user, he can sign into the Google Doc and can collaborate on your work.

Before we start adding text and importing shapes, we will begin by looking at how to add simple shapes to our Docs.

How to insert shapes in Google Docs

To begin, open a new Google Doc. At the top, you have the option “Insert”. Click it and choose “Drawing”, followed by “+New”;

This will open your Drawing board with a menu. The last four icons are used to add Lines, Shapes, Text boxes, and Images. Choose “Shapes”. There are 4 more options and it’s best to click on each one to see all that you can create;

Once you have created your shape, you can change the color, size, border color, and thickness. When you have finished, click on “Save and Close”;

Your image will now appear on your Google Doc. By clicking on the image, you have the option to edit it. That will open the drawing board again. The other options are to align the image with text, which we will look at a little further on.

How to insert shapes to Google Docs from your Google Drive

If you have already created some drawings in your Google Drive, you can insert them directly into your Google Doc. To create shapes in Google Drive, sign in to your Google Drive and click “New”.

Under the option “More”, you can click on Google Drawings and a new drawing board will open.

From “Insert and Drawing”, click on “From Drive” instead of “New”. A new window will open with all of the drawings that you have saved. Choose the drawing and click insert.