Google Docs has plenty of handy tips and tricks to make your life easier, but some can be tricky to use. However, it's worth learning these, especially if you're using a Chromebook (and the must-have Chromebook accessories make the job easier), as Google Docs will be your go-to for text editing. While many are easy to learn, inserting a text box is not intuitive, as Google Docs treats these as images and are formatted appropriately.

We walk you through the steps for inserting a text box in Google Docs and how to format it without your document becoming a mess of jumbled text.

How to add a text box to your Google Docs document

You can only insert a text box on the desktop version of Google Docs. However, the text box appears in documents opened in the Google Docs app and can be formatted in a limited manner.

Here's how to insert a text box in Google Docs. In the next section, we walk you through formatting techniques to ensure your text box looks the way you want.

1. Open Google Docs from your web browser.
2. Open a document or click Blank in the upper-left corner of your screen to create a new one.
3. Click Insert.
4. Click Drawing from the drop-down menu.
5. Click New from the drop-down menu to open the Drawing window.

   

6. Select the text box option at the top of the Drawing window.

   

7. Click the checkered area to create a text box.

   

8. Enter text in the text box.
9. Click Save and Close.

   

The text box is inserted in the document at your cursor location.

How to format a text box in Google Docs

Google Docs treats text boxes like images. This means that resizing the text box transforms it in the same way as an image, which can lead to strange-looking text.

A text box that has been stretched vertically

This doesn't mean you can't edit it, but you must go back to the Drawing window. To edit an existing text box, double-click the text box or select it and click Edit from the pop-up menu to return to the Drawing window.

You can edit the border size and color, font, line spacing, lists, and more from the Drawing window. You can also add images alongside the text box, which is handy if you want to add a caption to an image without worrying about alignment.

However, you don't need to head to the Drawing window to perform some handy tasks. The pop-up window that appears when you select a text box allows you to change text-wrapping rules and fine-tune the text box size. If you adjust the size, select the Lock aspect ratio checkbox to prevent unwanted text warping.

Now you know all the steps to create and format text boxes in Google Docs. However, there's another way to make them with a lot more functionality, the Google Drawing app.

How to create text boxes from the Google Drawing app

The Google Drawings app is a dedicated version of the integrated Drawing tool in Google Docs. It's handy if you're creating a more advanced drawing with multiple text boxes (such as a flowchart).

To open Google Drawings, head to Google Drive. Click New in the upper-left corner of your screen, then More at the bottom of the menu. Select Google Drawings.

This dedicated app has a few more tools to play with (click Format and Arrange at the top of your screen to view them). These drawings are automatically saved to Google Drive, so when you're ready to add it to your Google Doc, follow the same steps for creating a text box, but click From Drive instead of New from the Insert drop-down menu.

Google Docs' Drawing tool does more than text boxes

The drawing window offers more options than simply creating and designing text boxes. If you're eager to learn more about what you can do with the drawings tool, check out our guide on how to create an illustration in Google Docs.