When you are drafting a project proposal or meeting agenda in Google Docs, you often need to reference specific people (like project managers or external clients). Instead of typing out their full name, email address, and job title manually, you can use a powerful Google Workspace integration called “Smart Chips” to instantly embed a rich, interactive contact card directly into the flow of your sentence.
What is a Smart Chip?
A Smart Chip is a dynamic, clickable piece of text. When you embed a “People Chip,” Google Docs connects directly to your Google Contacts and Google Workspace directory. Instead of plain text, the person’s name becomes a shaded bubble. When another user hovers their mouse over that bubble, a detailed contact card instantly pops up, displaying the person’s profile picture, email address, job title, and a shortcut to instantly schedule a Google Calendar meeting with them.
How to Insert a People Chip
Inserting a Smart Chip is incredibly fast and does not require you to open any complex menus or dialogue boxes.
- Open your Google Docs document.
- Place your cursor exactly where you want the person’s name to appear in the sentence.
- Type the @ (at) symbol on your keyboard.
The exact millisecond you type the @ symbol, a hidden dropdown menu will instantly appear hovering over your cursor.
- Begin typing the person’s first name or email address directly after the @ symbol (e.g., @sarah).
- The dropdown menu will instantly search your Google Contacts and display matching profiles.
- Use your mouse to click on the correct person (or use the arrow keys and press Enter).
The Sharing Prompt
Google Docs will instantly insert the rich contact bubble into your text. However, there is a crucial security feature to keep in mind.
If you embed a People Chip for a colleague, but you have not actually given that colleague permission to view the document you are currently typing, Google Docs will immediately alert you. A small pop-up will appear giving you the option to instantly share the file with them, ensuring they can actually read the proposal they were just tagged in.