Next time you need to create new Google documents, spreadsheets, or presentations, don’t waste time wading through Google Drive.
Instead, if you use Google’s Chrome browser, you can install a few Web apps for one-click access to Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides through the new tab page.
These are basically shortcuts that create new documents when you click on them. To install them, just visit the Chrome Web Store links for Docs, Sheets, and Slides, and click the “Add to Chrome” button for each one.
Google Docs used to have its own Web app in Chrome, but it transformed into Google Drive earlier this year when Google’s cloud-storage service launched.
Although the old Docs app was similar in function to the new Drive app, the name change may have caused some confusion.
It’d be nice to have a little more functionality in these new apps, such as a way to open recent documents, spreadsheets, or slides without going back to Google Drive’s main menu. As it stands, they really are just a quick way to generate new blank documents.
Google says the Docs, Sheets, and Slides shortcuts will be included by default in Chromebooks. The company has also created quick apps for Drawings, Forms, Script, and Fusion Tables.