The Evolving File Name
Google Docs features a clever but sometimes frustrating auto-titling mechanism for new, unnamed documents. When you create a new document, the title in the top left corner defaults to “Untitled document.” If you begin typing your content without manually changing that title first, Google Docs will automatically grab the first sentence or heading you type and make it the document’s official title. While this saves time for quick notes, it can be highly problematic if your first line is a generic date, a recipient’s name in a letter, or a rough draft idea, resulting in a Google Drive folder full of confusingly named files.
Preventing the Auto-Title Behavior
Unlike many other formatting features, Google Docs does not have a specific “turn off auto-titling” checkbox in its preferences. However, you can stop Google Docs from automatically changing the document title by establishing a strict workflow habit.
Because the auto-titling script only triggers if the file is explicitly named “Untitled document” (or its localized equivalent), the absolute best way to prevent the system from hijacking your first sentence is to name the file immediately upon creation. Before you type a single word into the body of the document, click on the text “Untitled document” in the top-left corner of the interface. Type your desired, permanent filename and hit Enter. Once you have manually assigned a name—even if it is just a temporary placeholder word like “Draft”—Google Docs considers the title locked and will absolutely never attempt to change it automatically again, regardless of what you type or format as a heading in the document body.