Key Takeaways:
- Google Docs does not include a default feature that allows you to convert text into a code block.
- You can, however, create a code block in Google Docs by using some features manually or with the help of add-ons.
- Developers and project managers who produce technical documentation will benefit from creating code blocks.
When you copy code written in various programming languages such as Python, Java, C++, HTML, and on into Google Docs, it loses its coloring and formatting. It’s tough to read the code without syntax highlight. It lacks code indentation, text format, syntax error highlighting, and misspelling. So, one must know the correct technique to create a code block in Google Docs.
A code block is a set of lines of code usually presented on a computer screen in the form of a list. They often use white spaces and other formatting to make them more readable. While making a technical document, you will feel the need to create a code block in Google Docs. For example, you use the code block when writing about programming languages and highlight the code.
How To Create Code Block In Google Docs
Whether you are an IT professional, instructor, or anyone from the IT or computer science field, you need to add a block of code to your Google document. Then, you can share your code in cloud-based documents without making your code lost in with other text.
Code formatting is necessary to complete your code snippet highlighted in the document. You can add a code block in Google Docs using various ways.
Note: Google Docs does not have an inbuilt feature to compile code.
1. Create Code Block In Google Docs Manually
Manually, you can create code blocks on Google Docs if you use other text editors to write your code. All you got to do is write the code in a text editor like Atom, Visual Studio Code, or any other editor and copy-paste it into Google Docs. There is no built-in feature to create the code block. Using the Google Docs tools, you can create the code block.
You must follow specific steps to create the code block using the built-in Google Docs Tools.
Step 1: Open Google Docs. Now, open the document to insert the code snippet. Next, click the Insert menu from the toolbar.
Step 2: Select Table from the drop-down list and choose (1×1), i.e., 1 table cell.
Step 3: In the cell now visible in your document, you can give the custom background color you like to highlight the code. For that, click on the Background color icon and choose the color of your choice.
Step 4: Copy and paste the code into the cell from the editor where you type your code.
Step 5: You can change the font of the code to make it look different from the other text. Select the text and choose any monospace font. That gives your code a good syntax look and feel.
You can change the color of the curly braces and choose different color codes for syntax. Then, use Google Docs format options to format the text. Manually inserting a code block in Google Docs can be tedious. However, if you want to keep it elegant and clean code, you can use this method. You can add code of any programming language like HTML code, C++, C#, etc.
2. Use Google Docs Add-on To Create Code Block
Adding the Google Docs add-on is simple. With the add-ons, you can easily create a code block in Google Docs. First, let’s understand how to install and use the add-ons.
Step 1: Click on the Add-ons menu on the menu bar.
Step 2: Click on the Get add-ons button.
Step 3: Google Workspace Marketplace window will prompt. Type the add-on in the search bar and click on the add-on you want.
Step 4: Click on the Install button.
Step 5: A prompt will appear seeking permission to continue. Click continue.
Step 6: It will ask you to sign in to your Google account.
Step 7: Click the Allow button to give the add-on permission and start the installation.
Step 8: Click on the Done button to finish the installation process.
To use the add-on, you need to follow these steps:
Step 1: You must click on the Add-ons menu from the toolbar in your document.
Step 2: From the drop-down option, click on the “Add-on” option
Step 3: An add-on sidebar will appear.
You can now use it to insert actual code in Docs along with code lines.
3. Add-Ons To Create Google Docs Code Blocks
There are some quick add-ons for creating blocks of code in Google Docs. Using the add-ons makes the compilation of code simpler. Google Workspace Marketplace has three add-ons to help you create a code block in Google Docs.
1. Code Blocks
Code Blocks is one of the most used add-ons for syntax highlighting. It has various features, which makes it a favorite among users. Code Blocks can highlight the syntax in one click. There are custom styles for every programming language. It can detect the language of the code automatically, or you can choose it manually. There are a lot of color themes to choose from the options. You can select either to format the code inline or in blocks. Finally, you can preview the changes before reflecting them in the document. Code Blocks add-on works great with special characters.
There is a new version of the Code Blocks named Code Blocks II. Both are great doc tools to create a code block.
Get Code Blocks
2. Kodify
Kodify is another add-on for Google Docs to highlight the syntax. For example, when you need to create a code block in Google Docs, you can add a backtick(`) around the code syntax. Then by using the Kodify add-on, click on the Apply Style button. Kodify is an easy-to-use free add-on. Kodify is an average add-on that works well but has fewer features than code blocks.
Get Kodify
3. Codes Highlight
Code Highlight helps you create the code block in Google Docs and Google Slide. You need to buy a license to use this add-on option. The Add-on formats in over 30 different themes to choose from and support over 100 programming languages. Functionally, the add-on works very well.
Get Code Highlight
You keep the text cleaner by using the code blocks in your documentation.
4. Use Online Tools To Create Code Block In Google Docs
The third method to insert a code block in Google Docs uses an online highlight tool. Many online tools are available on the internet with the core feature of highlighting excerpts of code.
First, you can copy your code on the website and highlight the syntax. Then, you can copy and paste the embed code into the one-cell table, and your code block is ready.
To create a table and insert the code, use the following steps:
Step 1: Open the Google Docs document to insert the code snippet. Click the Insert menu from the toolbar.
Step 2: Select Table from the drop-down list and choose (1×1), i.e., 1 table cell.
Step 3: In the cell now visible in your document, you can give the background color you like to highlight the code. For that, click on the Background color icon and choose the color of your choice.
Step 4: From the online tool, copy the formatted code snippet.
Step 5:Copy and paste the embed code into the cell. Finally, your code block is ready.
After adding the code block you can start writing the text from a new paragraph. Some websites like Highlight Hohli, Pine Tools, and Code Beautify have good online tools that help you highlight the syntax.
How To Remove Code Block From Google Docs
If you do not want the code block, you can unformat the code block. Follow the following steps to unformat the code block in Google Docs.
Step 1: Select the entire code you want to remove the formatting from your document.
Step 2: Click on the Format menu from the menu bar.
Step 3: Click on the Clear formatting option. The formatting of the code will be undone and appear as normal text.
Step 4: If the code block is in a table cell, cut-paste the code out from the cell. To delete the table, place the cursor in the table’s cell. Then, click on the Format menu from the menu bar.
Step 5: Select the Table option. Click on the Delete Table option. The table is now deleted from the document.
You can insert code with syntax highlight and create a block for them if needed.
Final Thoughts
Whether you’re working on an academic project or a work-related task, you can now easily create a code block in Google Docs. In Google Docs, you can highlight code with some inbuilt formatting tools. In fact, there are at least a few Docs add-ons that allow you to highlight syntax in other programming and markup languages. You may also use various web tools to insert source code with highlighting in Google Docs.
You can add a code block to any Google Drive cloud-based documents apps. Also, if you want to format code in your file, you can now comfortably format inline code and create a code block. All the add-ons mentioned in the article support almost every programming language. Some of them have automatic language detection to make your work easy. In addition, there is a wide variety of formatting options to choose from. Writing code documentation in Google Docs is made easy using these methods.
