The 8 Best Google Drive Add-ons for 2023

Grab a little extra help for Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets

Google Drive is quite the tool, allowing you to create, edit, and share files and other documents from nearly any device in nearly any location. For Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, you can make them even better with add-ons. Here are some of the best Google add-ons to help you get the most out of these programs.

To download add-ons, open any file in one of those three programs, then search the toolbar at the top for Add-ons.

01
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Reuse Text Snippets Quickly and Easily: Doc Builder for Google Docs

google docs add on doc builder

If you find yourself reusing certain portions of text repeatedly, and you want a quicker way to find those snippets when creating documents, Doc Builder is the add-on you need. It creates a sidebar where you can quickly navigate through saved portions of text and insert them directly into your documents.

If you write many similar types of documents that use similar verbiage, like contracts or pitches, Doc Builder will save you a ton of time and help prevent costly mistakes when reusing portions of your documentation.

02
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Easily Match Text From Different Applications: Text Cleaner for Google Docs

google docs add on text cleaner

It can be extremely difficult in a bare-bones word processor like Google Docs to pull text from different sources and have it all match up. Copying and pasting can pull in different fonts, background colors, HTML codes, and other unwanted information that throws the organization and flow of your document completely out the window. Text Cleaner fixes all that by letting you choose what formatting elements you want to keep and which you want to eliminate. Using simple checkboxes, you can clean up your entire document, or just specific highlighted portions.

03
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Makes Repetitive Actions a Snap: Slides Toolbox for Google Slides

google slides add on slides toolbox

Slides Toolbox helps cut down on lots of repetitive editing tasks you might do across your Google Slides presentations. It's a huge time-saver that's perfect for actions that have several small steps. Some useful things the Slides Toolbox contains are:

  • Table of Contents: Automatically creates a Table of Contents slide that links to each other slide in your presentation.
  • Export Slides: Save your entire presentation, or each individual slide, as a single image.
  • Set Font Size, Casing, etc: Quickly and easily manipulate all the text in your presentation.
  • Download Outline Text: Export all the text in your presentation to a single text file.
04
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Adds Interaction to Your Presentations: Pear Deck for Google Slides

google slides add on pear deck

This add-on is a bit specialized, but it solves one of the biggest issues of Slides presentations: lack of interactivity. Pear Deck gives several options to add interactive slides to a presentation, including multiple-choice questions, slides where you drag elements to place them where they need to go, and data collection slides.

It's a perfect way for teachers to give students something to do besides click through a presentation, and it can be used to easily collect data and add interactivity during meetings and work sessions.

05
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A Godsend for Those Who Write in Other Languages: Easy Accents for Google Slides

google slides add on easy accents

If you don't already know the keyboard shortcuts for adding accents into a Slides presentation, it can be tedious and time-consuming. If you frequently find yourself creating presentations with words from other languages, Easy Accents is a must-have.

There are a ton of available languages to choose from, and all accented letters will appear so you can easily choose and insert them into your presentation. No more trying to draw accented letters into Google's "Add Special Character" box; just grab Easy Accents and never worry about it again.

06
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Translate Over 100 Languages: Translate My Sheet for Google Sheets

google sheets add on translate my sheet

Use the power of Google's massive algorithm to translate your sheet to more than 100 languages with Translate My Sheet. You can select certain ranges or convert the entire thing, and it's simple and easy to use. This isn't a complex or fancy app, but it does exactly what you need it to and it does it well.

07
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Allows for Custom, Eye-Catching Data Tables: Table Styles for Google Sheets

google sheets add on table styles

Creating tables can be one of the most finicky and frustrating aspects of working with Google Sheets, and Table Styles cuts back on the time and stress they can cause. There are several different styles for you to pick from, and you can also easily manipulate them to create your own templates.

Add custom colors and graphics, then save your custom table styles so you can always go back to them and reuse them in the future. Table Styles is intuitive and an absolute must for branding and business.

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Eliminates All the Data You Don't Need: Crop Sheet for Google Sheets

google sheets add on crop sheet

Spreadsheets can get a bit out of control, and there's often a lot of information we either don't need to show or don't want others to see. That's where Crop Sheet comes in. Simple and effective, Crop Sheet is an add-on that seems like it should be an option in the base program. You can either crop specific data on the sheet or a selection of cells.

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