The URL Hijacking Feature
Google Docs is deeply integrated with the broader web. When you paste a raw URL into a document (e.g., https://digitash.com) and press the Spacebar, Docs doesn’t just turn it into a clickable blue link. Often, it will attempt to read the metadata of that website and automatically replace your raw URL with the actual Title of the webpage (e.g., “Digitash – Technology Tutorials”). This feature is designed to make documents look cleaner and more readable for casual users.
However, if you are writing technical documentation, compiling a bibliography, creating an API reference, or drafting a list of strict server addresses, this automatic conversion is incredibly destructive. You specifically pasted the raw URL because the reader *needs* to see the exact text of the link, not a vague webpage title. Having the word processor silently overwrite your precise data with a website title forces you to hit Undo repeatedly or manually retype the URL. If you demand that URLs remain exactly as you pasted them, you must disable this automatic formatting.
How to Stop Automatic Link Titles
You can prevent Google Docs from converting your URLs into titles via the Preferences menu.
- Open your document in Google Docs.
- Look at the top toolbar and click on the Tools menu.
- Scroll down the dropdown list and select Preferences.
- In the Preferences window, ensure you are on the General tab.
- Look down the list of checkboxes for the option labelled Automatically detect links.
- Click the checkbox to remove the checkmark.
- Click the blue OK button to save your changes.
Google Docs will no longer intercept your pasted URLs. The text will remain exactly as you entered it, and it will not be automatically converted into a clickable link or replaced with a webpage title. (Note: If you still want the raw text to be clickable without the title changing, you will have to manually highlight the URL and press Ctrl + K to apply the hyperlink).