Google Docs rolling out 'purple underline' style suggestions

September 2024 · 2 minute read

In addition to Smart Compose, grammar corrections, and spelling autocorrect, Google Docs is now rolling out writing suggestions that feature a purple underline to help with tone, style, and word choice.

Google Docs will mark the following “stylistic and writing ” suggestions with a purple underline:

This joins the red squiggly line for misspellings and blue underlines on grammar errors. Selecting an underline (with your cursor) will provide a brief description with the ability to implement the change, ignore, send feedback, or open settings. 

They appear as you type to “help guide you when there are opportunities to avoid repeated or unnecessary words, helping diversify your writing and ensuring you’re using the most effective word for the situation.” 

You’ll see suggestions when there are opportunities to structure a sentence with an active voice or when a sentence can be more concise, helping to make your writing more impactful. Potentially discriminatory or inappropriate language will be flagged, along with suggestions on how to make your writing more inclusive and appropriate for your audience. 

The goal is to “elevate your writing style and make more dynamic, clear, inclusive, and concise documents.” These purple underlines/corrections will be enabled by default but can be turned off one-by-one in Tools > Stylistic suggestions on the web. Education administrators will get the ability to disable entirely.

This Google Docs features is rolling out over the coming weeks, and availability is as follows:

Tone and Style 

Word Warnings 

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