If you've ever spent more time getting a new document to look the part vs actually writing it, this one's for you!
Most of us have a handful of go-to documents we've built up over the years. A proposal we like the look of, a project overview, an internal report. And every time we need to create something new in the same format, we either copy the file and overwrite the content (and inevitably miss something), or we start from scratch and try to remember how we styled the original.
There's a new Gemini feature in Google Docs that fixes this. You can point Gemini at one of your existing documents, ask it to draft something completely new, and it'll match the format of the original.
How to match the format of an existing document
This feature only works when you’re starting with a fresh document.
Open a new document. (The quickest way is to type docs.new into a fresh tab and hit enter.)
In the Gemini panel at the bottom of the screen, click Match doc format.
Choose the document you want it to copy the format of. This is just the structure and styling.
Write a prompt for the new document. Pro tip: Provide another file for the actual content by using the @ symbol.
In my example, the formatted document I’m providing is an agency brief. In my prompt I’m providing notes about a new product. Gemini will take the notes to draft the new agency brief using the format of the previous one.
Here are some other ideas:
"Create a competitor analysis report focused on [competitor name]"
"Write a project overview for our Q2 marketing campaign"
"Draft a policy document about our new remote working approach"
Hit submit. Gemini will go and create the new document — matching the format of the one you chose, but filled with the new content you asked for.
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Dean
