Gemini: Direct File Editing in Chat

Google activates file editing at the heart of Gemini conversations. All users have access starting today, with broad format support and contextual controls, while mobile compatibility remains limited to PDFs.

Before direct integration, detours through Workspace and competitors

Until now, Gemini-supported editing went through integrations in Workspace applications, such as the Gemini bar in Google Docs. Meanwhile, Anthropic has been offering document and presentation generation and editing within Claude discussions since earlier this year. Google had already added file generation and downloading in Gemini earlier this year.

Gemini now edits various files without leaving the conversation

Gemini now supports the generation, preview, and editing of PDFs, Google Docs, Google Sheets, presentations, Markdown files, TXT files, and code directly in chat. These editing functions are available starting today for all users. Files can be modified without leaving the application.

Usage: full screen, contextual highlighting, and platform limitations

The preview and editing of PDFs work on both web and mobile, while other formats are currently accessible only in the web version. Documents can be opened in full screen for editing. Users can highlight text to query Gemini or request modifications, such as selecting a table and asking for its transformation into a graph.