I’m looking for a way to create dropdown menus directly in Google Docs without having to use Google Sheets. In Microsoft Word, there’s a feature called Content Controls that lets you add dropdown lists right in your document. You can set up predefined options and users can pick from them.
I only need this for a few lines in my document, so switching to Google Sheets seems like overkill. Plus, I have complex formatting like linked table of contents, custom headers and footers on different pages, and other document elements that would be really hard to recreate in a spreadsheet format.
Is there a built-in feature in Google Docs that can do this? Or maybe an add-on that provides similar dropdown functionality? I want to keep everything in the document format rather than having to manage separate sheets or losing my current formatting.
Google Docs doesn’t have this feature, which is ridiculous since it’s basic functionality in Word. I’ve dealt with this limitation for three years since my workplace switched to Google Workspace. The best workaround is creating a text field with instructions like “(select: option1, option2, option3)” but that’s not enforceable and looks unprofessional. I’ve tried several marketplace add-ons but they break formatting or make you rebuild sections from scratch. With your complex formatting needs, I’d stick with Word for documents requiring dropdown controls. Google’s team focuses on collaboration over advanced document features, so don’t expect this gap filled anytime soon.
nope, google docs doesn’t have this built in - super annoying. i’ve been asking for this feature forever but google ignores it. try using hyperlinks to jump between sections as a workaround. not perfect, but it keeps everything in one doc without messing up your formatting.
Google Docs doesn’t have dropdown functionality like Word’s Content Controls. I hit this same wall when moving documents from Word to Google Workspace last year. The best workaround I found was embedding Google Forms, but that messes with formatting and workflow. There are third-party add-ons in the Google Workspace Marketplace that try to fill this gap, but none match Word’s content controls. I tried ‘Form Publisher’ and ‘Document Studio’ - both needed tons of setup and didn’t play nice with existing formatting. With complex formatting like yours, you’ll need to decide if dropdowns are worth the headaches. Google might fix this eventually, but they haven’t announced when.