The following code sample shows how you might insert a series of text strings at
specified index locations in the body of a document. The example uses three
target offsets (25, 50, and 75) and inserts a ten-character string at each
location.
Each insertion increments all the higher-numbered indexes by the size of the
inserted text. The example precalculates the result of these index changes so
that subsequent insertions happen at the new, corrected offset. Thus to insert
at the original target offsets of 25, 50, and 75, the actual insertion indexes
are:
First insertion adds 10 characters at offset 25.
Second insertion adds 10 characters at offset 50+10=60.
Third insertion adds 10 characters at offset 75+10+10=95.
Delete text
To delete text from a document, first construct aRangethat defines
the range of text to delete. Then use thedocuments.batchUpdatemethod and
include aDeleteContentRangeRequest.
The following code sample shows how you might delete the text between index 10
and index 24 in the body of a document.
Simplify matters by writing backwards. As with insertions, deleting
text alters the indexes of all the text "below" in the segment. Again,writing
backwardscan simplify your handling of indexes.
Move text
To move text, you delete it in one location and then insert it elsewhere.
Deleting content doesn't give you a copy of it (there's no equivalent concept of
a clipboard) so you must extract the contents of the range first so you can use
in your insert text request.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-28 UTC."],[],[],null,["# Insert, delete, and move text\n\nThe Google Docs API lets you insert or delete text in a document. Moving text\ninvolves both operations, preceded by a `get` of the content.\n\nYou can insert or delete text in any of a document\n[tab](/workspace/docs/api/how-tos/tabs)'s segments (body, header, footer, or\nfootnote).\n\nInsert text\n-----------\n\nTo insert text into a document, use the\n[`documents.batchUpdate`](/workspace/docs/api/reference/rest/v1/documents/batchUpdate)\nmethod and include an\n[`InsertTextRequest`](/workspace/docs/api/reference/rest/v1/documents/request#inserttextrequest)\nwith the text and location as the payload.\n\nThe following code sample shows how you might insert a series of text strings at\nspecified index locations in the body of a document. The example uses three\ntarget offsets (25, 50, and 75) and inserts a ten-character string at each\nlocation.\n**Note:** Indexes are measured in UTF-16 code units. For more information, see [Start and end indexes](/workspace/docs/api/concepts/structure#indexes). \n\n### Java\n\n\n```java\nList\u003cRequest\u003e requests = new ArrayList\u003c\u003e();\nrequests.add(new Request().setInsertText(new InsertTextRequest()\n .setText(text1)\n .setLocation(new Location().setIndex(25).setTabId(TAB_ID))));\n\nrequests.add(new Request().setInsertText(new InsertTextRequest()\n .setText(text2)\n .setLocation(new Location().setIndex(50).setTabId(TAB_ID))));\n\nrequests.add(new Request().setInsertText(new InsertTextRequest()\n .setText(text3)\n .setLocation(new Location().setIndex(75).setTabId(TAB_ID))));\n\nBatchUpdateDocumentRequest body = new BatchUpdateDocumentRequest().setRequests(requests);\nBatchUpdateDocumentResponse response = docsService.documents()\n .batchUpdate(DOCUMENT_ID, body).execute();\n```\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n### PHP\n\n\n```php\n$requests = array();\n$requests[] = new Google_Service_Docs_Request(array(\n 'insertText' =\u003e array(\n 'text' =\u003e $text1,\n 'location' =\u003e array(\n 'index' =\u003e 25,\n 'tabId' =\u003e TAB_ID,\n ),\n ),\n 'insertText' =\u003e array(\n 'text' =\u003e $text2,\n 'location' =\u003e array(\n 'index' =\u003e 50,\n 'tabId' =\u003e TAB_ID,\n ),\n ),\n 'insertText' =\u003e array(\n 'text' =\u003e $text3,\n 'location' =\u003e array(\n 'index' =\u003e 75,\n 'tabId' =\u003e TAB_ID,\n ),\n ),\n));\n\n$batchUpdateRequest = new Google_Service_Docs_BatchUpdateDocumentRequest(array(\n 'requests' =\u003e $requests\n));\n\n$response = $service-\u003edocuments-\u003ebatchUpdate($documentId, $batchUpdateRequest);\n```\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n### Python\n\n\n```python\nrequests = [\n {\n 'insertText': {\n 'location': {\n 'index': 25,\n 'tabId': TAB_ID\n },\n 'text': text1\n }\n },\n {\n 'insertText': {\n 'location': {\n 'index': 50,\n 'tabId': TAB_ID\n },\n 'text': text2\n }\n },\n {\n 'insertText': {\n 'location': {\n 'index': 75,\n 'tabId': TAB_ID\n },\n 'text': text3\n }\n },\n]\n\nresult = service.documents().batchUpdate(\n documentId=DOCUMENT_ID, body={'requests': requests}).execute()\n```\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\nEach insertion increments all the higher-numbered indexes by the size of the\ninserted text. The example precalculates the result of these index changes so\nthat subsequent insertions happen at the new, corrected offset. Thus to insert\nat the original target offsets of 25, 50, and 75, the actual insertion indexes\nare:\n\n- First insertion adds 10 characters at offset 25.\n- Second insertion adds 10 characters at offset 50+10=60.\n- Third insertion adds 10 characters at offset 75+10+10=95.\n\n| **Simplify matters by writing backwards.** To avoid having to precalculate these offset changes, order your insertions to \"write backwards\": do the insertion at the highest-numbered index first, working your way towards the beginning with each insertion. This ordering makes sure that each write's offsets are unaffected by the preceding ones.\n\nDelete text\n-----------\n\nTo delete text from a document, first construct a\n[`Range`](/workspace/docs/api/reference/rest/v1/documents#range) that defines\nthe range of text to delete. Then use the `documents.batchUpdate` method and\ninclude a\n[`DeleteContentRangeRequest`](/workspace/docs/api/reference/rest/v1/documents/request#deletecontentrangerequest).\n| Be sure you understand the [rules and behavior](/workspace/docs/api/concepts/rules-behavior#delete-text) associated with deleting text.\n\nThe following code sample shows how you might delete the text between index 10\nand index 24 in the body of a document. \n\n### Java\n\n\n```java\nList\u003cRequest\u003e requests = new ArrayList\u003c\u003e();\nrequests.add(new Request().setDeleteContentRange(\n new DeleteContentRangeRequest()\n .setRange(new Range()\n .setStartIndex(10)\n .setEndIndex(24)\n .setTabId(TAB_ID))\n ));\n\nBatchUpdateDocumentRequest body = new BatchUpdateDocumentRequest().setRequests(requests);\nBatchUpdateDocumentResponse response = docsService.documents()\n .batchUpdate(DOCUMENT_ID, body).execute();\n```\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n### PHP\n\n\n```php\n$requests = array();\n$requests[] = new Google_Service_Docs_Request(array(\n 'deleteContentRange' =\u003e array(\n 'range' =\u003e array(\n 'startIndex' =\u003e 10,\n 'endIndex' =\u003e 24,\n 'tabId' =\u003e TAB_ID\n ),\n ),\n));\n\n$batchUpdateRequest = new Google_Service_Docs_BatchUpdateDocumentRequest(array(\n 'requests' =\u003e $requests\n));\n\n$response = $service-\u003edocuments-\u003ebatchUpdate($documentId, $batchUpdateRequest);\n```\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n### Python\n\n\n```python\nrequests = [\n {\n 'deleteContentRange': {\n 'range': {\n 'startIndex': 10,\n 'endIndex': 24,\n 'tabId': TAB_ID\n }\n\n }\n\n },\n]\nresult = service.documents().batchUpdate(\n documentId=DOCUMENT_ID, body={'requests': requests}).execute()\n```\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n**Simplify matters by writing backwards.** As with insertions, deleting\ntext alters the indexes of all the text \"below\" in the segment. Again, [writing\nbackwards](#write_backwards) can simplify your handling of indexes.\n\nMove text\n---------\n\nTo move text, you delete it in one location and then insert it elsewhere.\nDeleting content doesn't give you a copy of it (there's no equivalent concept of\na clipboard) so you must extract the contents of the range first so you can use\nin your insert text request.\n\nRelated topics\n--------------\n\n- [Create and manage documents](/workspace/docs/api/how-tos/documents)\n- [Merge text into a document](/workspace/docs/api/how-tos/merge)\n- [Structure of a Google Docs document](/workspace/docs/api/concepts/structure)"]]
