Google has rolled out an update to Google Docs, improving import and export support for the popular Markdown format.

Markdown is markup language that allows users to easily format plain text. The format is popular among writers, researchers, developers, content creators, and more, thanks to a variety of benefits. The Markdown Guide highlights some of the most popular reasons users opt for Markdown:

• Markdown is portable. Files containing Markdown-formatted text can be opened using virtually any application. If you decide you don’t like the Markdown application you’re currently using, you can import your Markdown files into another Markdown application. That’s in stark contrast to word processing applications like Microsoft Word that lock your content into a proprietary file format.
• Markdown is platform independent. You can create Markdown-formatted text on any device running any operating system.
• Markdown is future proof. Even if the application you’re using stops working at some point in the future, you’ll still be able to read your Markdown-formatted text using a text editing application. This is an important consideration when it comes to books, university theses, and other milestone documents that need to be preserved indefinitely.

Google says it is significantly improving Docs’ Markdown support:

In 2022, we introduced expanded support for composing with Markdown in Google Docs on web. Today, we’re introducing highly-requested features that enhance Docs’ interoperability with other Markdown supporting tools. These include the ability to:

• Convert Markdown to Docs content on paste
• Copy Docs content as Markdown
• Export a Doc as Markdown (from File > Download)
• Import Markdown as a Doc (from File > Open or “Open with Google Docs” from Drive)

This update is particularly useful for technical content writers as they can now convert Docs content to/from Markdown. For example, developers can collaborate on software documentation in Docs and then export it as Markdown for use in other Markdown supporting tools.

Google says the import/export options are enabled by default, while the “Copy as Markdown” and “Paste from Markdown” are off by default and will need to be enabled.