The Mathematical Formatting
Google Docs is designed to make common typing tasks easier by using an extensive autocorrect dictionary. One of its most aggressive features involves common mathematical fractions. If you type the number 1, followed by a forward slash (/), followed by a 2 (1/2), and press the spacebar, Google Docs will immediately intercept those characters and automatically replace them with a single, specialized typographical symbol (½). While this looks cleaner in a recipe, it is incredibly frustrating if you are writing a technical manual or coding documentation where you specifically need the raw ASCII numbers and the slash character to remain exactly as typed.
Disabling Symbol Substitution
To maintain strict control over your text output and stop Google Docs from automatically correcting your typed fractions into specialized symbols, you must remove the specific rules from the Preferences menu.
Go to the main menu bar at the top of the Google Docs interface and click on Tools. From the drop-down menu, select Preferences. In the dialogue box that appears, click on the Substitutions tab at the top. You will see a long, two-column list showing what you type on the left and what Docs replaces it with on the right. Scroll down this list until you find the entries for the fractions (typically 1/2, 1/4, and 3/4). Simply click the blue checkmark box next to each fraction entry to disable that specific substitution rule (or click the small ‘X’ on the far right to delete the rule entirely). Click OK. Docs will now leave your typed numbers alone.