Insert images and tables

You can insert images and tables anywhere in a document. Images can come from your device or from Drive. Tables start as a 3×3 grid and you can grow them from there.

Insert an image

On a wide screen

1. Place your cursor where you want the image to appear.
2. Click the Insert image button in the toolbar (the image icon with a plus symbol).
3. The Insert image dialog opens. Choose where to get the image from:
   • Click Upload from device to pick a file from your computer.
   • Or browse your Drive and click a file, then click Select.
4. The image appears in the document at the cursor position.

You can also drag an image file from your computer and drop it straight onto the document.

From the Insert menu

This works on any screen.

1. Place your cursor where you want the image.
2. Click Insert in the toolbar.
3. Choose Image.
4. The Insert image dialog opens. Choose Upload from device to pick a file, or browse Drive and click Select.

Paste an image

If you have an image on the clipboard (copied from another app or from elsewhere in the document), paste it with Ctrl+V (or ⌘V on Mac). The image is inserted at the cursor.

Resize and position an image

Click an image to select it. Resize handles appear at the edges. Drag a handle to change the width. The height adjusts to keep the proportions. To resize with the keyboard, select the image and hold Shift while you press an arrow key: Right or Up makes it wider, Left or Down makes it narrower. To place the cursor before or after an image that sits on its own line, click in the empty space to its left or right.

On a wide screen, selecting an image also opens the Image panel on the right side of the editor. From there you can:

• Width: type the image's width in pixels and press Enter. The height follows, and the image stays between 100 pixels and the width of the text (half of it for a floating image).
• Style: set the image to sit on its own line (the default), float to the left, or float to the right with text wrapping around it.
• Align: when the image is on its own line, choose left, center, or right alignment.
• Alt: add alternative text, which is used by screen readers and shown if the image fails to load.
• Cap: add a caption that appears beneath the image.
• Replace image: swap the image for a different file from your device or Drive, keeping the same position in the document.

Replace image is also under Format → Image, which works on any screen, a phone included. The Image item is greyed out until you select an image.

Download an image

Right-click an image and choose Download original image. You get the image file at its full size and in its own format. This works with view access too.

The same menu has Add comment, to comment on the image itself. See Comment and discuss.

Insert a table

1. Place your cursor where you want the table.
2. Click Insert in the toolbar.
3. Choose Table. A 3×3 table with a header row is inserted straight away.

Edit a table

Click inside the table. The Table panel opens on the right side of the editor (on a wide screen).

The same actions are under Format → Table, which works on any screen, a phone included: Insert row above, Insert row below, Insert column left, Insert column right, Delete row, Delete column, Delete table, Distribute columns, Merge cells, Unmerge cells, and Toggle header row. The Table item is greyed out until your cursor is in a table.

Add or remove columns

Under Columns, click Before or After to add a column on either side of the one your cursor is in. Click Delete column to remove the current column.

Resize columns

Point at the border between two columns until the cursor changes, then drag it left or right. One column gets wider and the one beside it narrower, so the table keeps its width. To make the whole table wider or narrower, drag its right edge; it stops at the edge of the page's text, or of the list item or table cell it sits in. Dragging needs a mouse or trackpad; on a touchscreen the columns keep their widths.

Click Distribute columns under Columns to give every column the same width.

Add or remove rows

Under Rows, click Before or After to add a row above or below the current one. Click Delete row to remove the current row.

Merge and unmerge cells

Select two or more cells, then click Merge under Cells to join them into one. Click Unmerge to divide a merged cell back into its original cells.

Toggle the header row

Click Toggle header row to switch the first row between a styled header row and a normal row.

Delete the table

Click Delete table at the bottom of the Table panel to remove the entire table from the document.