Instead of opening Google Docs directly in your browser, you can click on a shortcut on your taskbar or desktop and open the app that way.

To do this, open Google Chrome and go to docs.google.com.

If you want to create a shortcut to a specific document, open that file.

Then go to the setting menu in Chrome (the three horizontal lines at the top right of your browser), More Tools, and Create Application Shortcuts.

Once you click Create, the shortcut will be added and you can open it just like you would any app on your desktop.

Itll open in its own app window, which you can resize and work with as you do other app windows.

Even better: If you have your most important or most used files starred in Google Drive, you can click on the Starred menu to see those files in Chrome, then use the same Create Application Shortcuts option to pin this window to your taskbar.

A former IT admin and occasional web developer, she is also the author of LinkedIn in 30 Minutes, a Lifehacker writer, and the Mobile Office Technology expert at About.com.

On your Mac, choose Apple menu System Preferences, click Keyboard, then click Dictation.

Turn it on in the Dictation pane of Keyboard preferences to enable keyboard dictationwhere your words are sent to Apple servers to be analyzed using the latest language data and converted into text in real-time.

A feedback window gauges your speaking volume and provides basic dictation controls.

If you need to dictate text and control your Mac using your voice instead of a keyboard and trackpad, use Voice Control.

Note: When Voice Control is on, you cant use keyboard dictation.

Turn on keyboard dictation On your Mac, choose Apple menu System Preferences, click Keyboard, then click Dictation.

If asked if you want to improve Siri and Dictation, do one of the following: Share audio recordings: Click Share Audio Recordings to allow Apple to store audio of your Siri and dictation interactions from this Mac.

If you change your mind later and want to share or stop sharing audio recordings, select or deselect the Improve Siri Dictation checkbox in the Analytics Improvements section of Privacy preferences.

Note: You can remove the audio recordings from Apple servers whenever you likesee Delete Siri and dictation history.

To dictate using another language, click the Language pop-up menu, then choose your language and dialect.

Add an unlisted language: Choose Customize or Add Language, then select the languages you want to use.

Remove a language: Click the Language pop-up menu, choose Customize, then deselect the language you dont want to use.

Dictate text In an app on your Mac, place the insertion point where you want the dictated text to appear.

Press the dictation keyboard shortcut or choose Edit Start Dictation.

When the feedback window shows a microphone icon with a fluctuating loudness indicator, or you hear the tone that signals your Mac is ready for keyboard dictation, dictate your text.

Note: For best results, speak for no more than 40 seconds at a time.

To insert a punctuation mark or perform simple formatting tasks, do any of the following: Say the name of the punctuation mark, such as exclamation mark.

Say new line (equivalent to pressing the Return key once) or new paragraph (equivalent to pressing the Return key twice).

After you say new line, the dictated text appears when youre done dictating.

For a list of the commands you can use while dictating, see Commands for dictating text.

If you set up keyboard dictation for multiple languages and want to switch languages as you dictate, click the language in the feedback window, then choose the language you want.

For information about setting up keyboard dictation for multiple languages, see Turn on keyboard dictation, above.

Set a different keyboard dictation shortcut By default, you press the Fn (Function) key twice to start or stop keyboard dictation.

If you like, you can choose a different dictation keyboard shortcut.

Google Docs Applcation For Mac Desktop