How to Insert Matrix in Google Docs – Quick Steps

1. Open your Google Docs document.
2. Click where you want the matrix.
3. Go to “Insert” Tab >> Go to Equation >> choose “Insert equation.”
4. Use the provided matrix template >>Fill in your matrix values.
5. Click outside the equation box to exit.
6. Your matrix is now seamlessly inserted into your Google Docs document!

Matrices are used in Mathematics and allied areas to represent a set of values. They usually come in handy while simplifying complex equations. But are you wondering how to insert matrices in Google Docs? Google Docs is a widely used word processor, but sadly there is no direct method of inserting a matrix in Google Docs. However, we can make use of many other Google Docs tools to get the same result.

So, in this article, we will explore 3 different methods in which we can insert a matrix in Google Docs.

How to Make a Matrix in Google Docs by Using Equations

Note: You must use this method to insert a matrix in Google Docs only when your matrix contains two rows.

Step 1: Go to Insert and Select Equations

Go to the “Insert” tab and click on the Equation option.

insert equation

Step 2: Click on “Mathematical operators” and select “Square brackets”

In the equation ribbon that opens, go to the Maths operation drop-down and click on the square brackets to insert them.

square brakcets

Step 3: Go to “Mathematical operators” and select “xba”

If the matrix contains only 1 row, you can simply type the values with spaces:

matrix with one row

But for getting two rows, you must place the cursor inside the matrix and then select the x^b_a equation from the Maths operation drop-down.

select xba equation

Step 4: Enter the numbers

To add the first column, click on the right arrow on your keyboard so that the cursor moves to the subscript. Type the first value. Then insert the second Value

insert the second value

Once that’s done, press Enter. You will see that the cursor changes to cover the entire length of the matrix:

entire length

Step 5: Press the Spacebar

First press space so that the cursor looks like this:

cursor after space

Now, you can repeat the step 4 to add more columns in the matrix:

add all the values

How to Make a Matrix in Google Docs Using Tables

Using equations to insert a matrix in Google Docs is quite easy. However, they are quite limited in the way that they only allow us to add 2 columns to the matrix. Thus, in order to add as many columns and rows as you desire, you can use tables to insert matrix in Google Docs.

Step 1: Go to Insert and Select Table

Go to the “Insert” tab and insert a table.

Tip: Insert only one row and keep the number of columns two extra than the number of columns you want in the matrix.

insert table

Step 2: Select the table size

Since we are creating a 4 x 3 matrix here, we need 3 columns plus 2 more. So, we will insert a 5 by 1 table.

insert table

Step 3: Add the numbers

Insert the values in the table using the enter key in this manner:

add all the values

Step 4: Increase the width of the table border

Click anywhere inside the table and go to Table options by clicking on the three dots in the top-right corner.

table options

In the side pane that opens, click on the Color drop-down and select thickness from the Table border drop-down

table-border

Step 5: Compress the columns

Hover over each column border and once it changes to an arrowhead, drag the border to bring the matrix close together.

compress table

Step 6: Remove the inner borders

To get a matrix structure, you must now remove the column borders highlighted below:

remove highlighted borders

To remove a border, simply click on it, and choose 0pt from the Column Border menu in the ribbon.

change border width

And there you have your matrix:

result

Note: Although this might appear a time consuming method, you only have to do it once. For inserting more matrices, simply copy paste the matrix and change values. You can even enter more rows and columns in the matrix after copy pasting it.

copy paste

How to Make a Matrix in Google Docs by Using a Free Add-on

Step 1: Go to the Google Workspace marketplace

Follow this link to go to the Google Workspace Marketplace.

Google marketplace

Step 2: Search for the Hypatia and create an extension

Search for Hypatia create (an extension) and click on the first extension that shows up.

Search for the extension

Step 3: Install the extension

Click on the “Install” option to start the installation. Sign in and give permission to allow the download like you normally do.

install the extension

Step 4: Go to the Insert option

Go to the Google Docs file and open the Hypatia create extension drop-down from the Extension tab. Choose the Insert/Edit Math option from the drop-down.

insert/edit math

Step 5: Search for the matrix

In the dialog box that opens, click on the search icon present at the bottom right corner and search for matrix.

Search for the matrix

Step 6: Insert the matrix

Scroll to see the available matrices and click on the one you wish to insert and click “Insert“.

choose and insert the matrix

Step 7: Add values

In the dialog box itself, you can add the values of the matrix. Use the arrow keys to move between the different indices.

add the values

Step 8: Click Insert

Once you are satisfied with the matrix, insert it in the Google Docs using the Insert option present at the bottom right corner.

insert the matrix

And here you have your matrix:

resultant matrix

Conclusion

In conclusion, we looked at the different methods in which we can add matrices in Google Docs. Although you can copy and paste a matrix from Google or some other place into your Google Doc, it is not easy to find them as text online. You will see that the matrices are often inserted on the web as an image. So, rather than taking the pain of editing images, you can simply create a matrix of your own using the methods we discussed in this post. It’s just a matter of creating a few matrices and you can then copy-paste the structure for further matrices.

How To Insert Matrix In Google Docs – FAQs

How to write a matrix in Google Docs?

To write a matrix in Google Docs, you can use tables or take help of equations in Google Docs. You can also use an add-on like Hypatia create.

How to insert a 3 x 3 matrix in Google Docs?

Simply use an extension like Hypatia create or make use of tables by selectiong a table of your choice and then compressing it and changing inner border colours.

Insert 4 x 3 matrix in Google Docs.

Simply use an extension like Hypatia create or make use of tables to create a 4 x 3 matrix. First Select Tables > Change size > Compress Size > Change Inner Borders.

How do you make a Google Matrix?

To make a Google matrix, one must generate a matrix H, that represents the relations between pages. Using this, we generate the G matrix.

How is a matrix used in Google?

A matrix in Google is used to find out the ranking of pages in a web graph. This works on the basis of the number of links present to and from a page.