∙ Announced in May 2021, the Docs pageless layout was available only to Google Workspace users.
∙ I have confirmed with Google team that the feature will now come to all Google users, both Workspace and Gmail-based.
Pageless mode is a mysterious Google Docs feature everyone is talking about, but few have been actually able to see it working.
The good news is that the feature is now rolling out to all Google users, including the ones who use Google for free with their Gmail account.
Here is a full story:
▸ The pageless mode was announced back in May 2021 together with smart canvas. The new features turned the classic-looking Google Docs into a way more innovative workspace, resembling Notion.
▸ Pageless mode lets you get rid of the print layout, with page breaks, margins, headers, and footers. In the era of the documents being created and shared 100% in the digital environment, you don’t need a print preview, do you?
▸ At that time, it was clear that the pageless mode was coming only to Google Workspace paid subscribers – companies using Google products (such as Gmail or Docs) with custom domains.
▸ A few weeks later, in June 2021, Google announced basic Workspace features were coming to all users. And “all users” are those who use Google for free and log in to their account with @gmail.com email address. Many smart canvas features are already available, such as calling popular functions by typing “@.”
▸ Then, in February 2022, Google announced the pageless mode – again. But, as Workspace features are now available to Gmail-based personal accounts as well, I hoped to see it in my Google Docs. Especially that the blog post was saying: “Pageless format in Docs rolls out today and will be generally available.”
▸ I contacted Google team on Twitter for confirmation. And, yes, they said the pageless mode comes without any edition restriction.
▸ Obviously, the new features will be rolled out to paid Google Workspace customers first, so if you use Google Docs for free, you will have to wait a few days or even weeks.
▸ I have found a little feature that proves the pageless mode is coming. Click on the “View” tab in the toolbar. Is there a dimmed “Text width” option? This option is used only with the pageless mode. You can set up the width of the document – a very handy feature if you use a wide monitor.
▸ To find out whether the pageless mode is already enabled in your account, open any Google Docs document, then click on ‘File” in the toolbar, then “Page setup.” You should see a large “Pageless” tab in the top right of the settings window. See it explained by Tom Mullaney on YouTube.
▸ Pageless layout is not a default mode. Once it comes, you will have to change existing documents one by one, but you can save this mode as a default one.
▸ More tips to come once I see the pageless mode in my account. Especially that I wanted to make Docs more like Notion, which I stopped using.
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