If you use Google Docs a lot, you know how long your documents can get. And when too much information gets stuffed into a single Google Doc, it can easily become unreadable.
That's where Google Docs' Summary feature comes in. You can add a short summary description to any of your Google Docs, which is a great way to emphasize the most important information. And if the Doc is detailed enough, Google might even write the summary for you.
How to add a summary to your Google Docs
This feature is only available on the Google Docs website. If you use the mobile app, you can't set summaries or view them.
1. Click View in the toolbar at the top of the screen, then click Show outline. If it already has a checkmark next to it, close this menu and click the small square to the left of the page instead.
2. Click the small plus sign icon next to Summary.
3. In the box that opens, type your summary. There's no length limit.
If there's enough already written in your Doc, the box will already be filled with an automatically generated summary in gray text. Press Tab to accept this summary — you can edit it afterwards if you want.
From now on, whenever someone opens your Google Doc on their computer, they'll see your summary sitting to the left of the page.
