Google has announced a new feature in its Docs aimed at making it easier for people to draft emails using its word processor. It’s part of Google’s “Smart Canvas” initiative, which aims to seamlessly connect the search giant’s productivity software such as Meet, Docs and Gmail.
As with other Smart Canvas features of Google Docs, email draft templates can be accessed with the @ symbol before selecting “Email Drafts” from the context menu. Emails can then be drafted directly in the editor, including defining recipients, subject lines, and body. When it’s ready to send, click the Gmail icon on the left to instantly open the email service and deliver the message.
The feature appears to be most useful for emails that require multiple people to participate, allowing multiple people to collaborate on editing in Google Docs and make comments and suggestions. Of course, even before there was nothing to stop copying and pasting text between two Google services, the whole point of Smart Canvas is to make switching between products like this more seamless, and operating the editor is like operating a mail client.
Google said the email draft feature, which was teased last month, will be available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as anyone on the traditional G Suite Basic and Business plans. It’s now gradually rolling out to fast-release domains but will start showing up to most users from next week.