How to Use Google Gemini in Google Docs

Google Gemini is built into Google Docs as a side panel. It can draft new text from a prompt, rewrite a selected passage and summarize the document without switching tabs. To use it you need a Google Workspace plan that includes Gemini, or a personal Google account on the Google One AI Premium plan. A tool like fenbs can hold your approved briefs, style rules and review decisions outside any one session, so you do not have to retype them each time you open Docs.

The steps below cover access, the main workflows and how to make each session consistent.

How to open Gemini in Google Docs

1. Open any Google Doc in a desktop browser.
2. Click the Gemini icon in the top-right corner of the toolbar. If it is not there, look under Extensions in the menu bar. If neither appears, your account may not include Gemini — check your plan at myaccount.google.com or ask your Workspace administrator.
3. The side panel opens on the right. Type a prompt or choose one of the suggested actions to begin.

The side panel is a browser feature. It does not appear in the Google Docs phone app. For current mobile capabilities, check the Google Docs help center↗ (opens in a new tab).

What the Gemini side panel can do

• Draft a new section from a prompt you type in the panel.
• Rewrite selected text to change tone, length or structure.
• Summarize the whole document or a specific section.
• Answer questions about the content already in the document.
• Suggest the next sentence or paragraph at the cursor with "Help me write".

The panel reads the open document. It does not search the web or pull from other Drive files during a standard Docs session. If you need Gemini to work across multiple sources, Gemini Notebook is built for that.

Drafting a section from a brief

The most direct use is to draft a section you have already outlined. In the side panel, describe the content, the tone and the intended reader. For example: "Write a two-paragraph introduction for a proposal to a retail client. Tone is confident but not salesy. The proposal is about a new e-commerce platform." Insert the result, then edit it to match your own voice.

Gemini does not carry context between sessions. A brief or style guide you typed yesterday is gone today. If you have standing writing rules or a client's preferences, you paste them in each time — unless they live somewhere you can reach quickly. Keeping approved briefs and house style as Decisions and rules in fenbs means any session starts from the same agreed point.

Revising and improving existing text

Select the text you want to change, then describe the revision in the side panel. "Make this shorter", "change the tone to formal" and "rewrite as a bulleted list" all produce usable results. Gemini shows the revised version alongside the original so you can compare before inserting.

For a longer document, revise section by section rather than asking Gemini to rewrite everything at once. A focused prompt gives a more predictable result and makes it easier to catch changes you did not intend.

If your team has agreed on a house style — particular words to avoid, a preferred sentence length, a rule about active voice — save it as a Decision in fenbs. Before your next Docs session, open fenbs, copy the rule and paste it at the top of your prompt. That one step keeps revisions consistent without re-explaining the standard each time.

Summarizing and asking questions about the document

Open the side panel without selecting text and ask a question about the document: "What are the three main recommendations?" or "Summarize the background section in two sentences." This is useful when you are reviewing a long document before a meeting or picking up a draft someone else started.

Gemini reads what is in the current document. It does not access your other Drive files or the web during a standard Docs session. For research that draws from several sources, Gemini Gems and Gemini Notebook offer more structured ways to organize material.

What Gemini in Docs does not do

Gemini in Docs does not remember instructions between sessions, track decisions across a project or update a shared record your colleagues can check. For a single document, it is a practical drafting and revision tool. For a team where several people or AI apps work on connected pieces of writing, a shared record outside any one document saves the repeated re-explaining.

For a team where several people or AI apps work on connected pieces of writing, keeping a shared record of decisions and rules outside any one document saves the repeated re-explaining across sessions.

How to do this with fenbs

1. Create a free account and open your personal kanban board.
2. Add a project for the content type or client you write for most often.
3. Write your standing writing rules in Decisions and rules: tone, audience, things to avoid and anything a reviewer has approved.
4. Add reusable prompts to Skills and prompts — an opener brief, a revision instruction or a summary template.
5. Before starting a session in the Gemini side panel, open fenbs, read the relevant rules and paste any reusable prompt into the panel. Gemini in Docs does not connect to fenbs over MCP directly; you copy the text manually. If you use Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or another supported app, those sessions read the fenbs context automatically — see Integrations.

For a look at how Gemini compares to other AI writing assistants, the Gemini vs ChatGPT guide covers the main differences. If you want other options for working in Docs, ChatGPT for Google Docs, Claude editing in Google Docs and the AI writer for Google Docs guide cover the alternatives.