You might find it useful to extract only the text from a document. This is helpful if you're passing the text to another API service. All the text in a document is contained across its tabs in text runs of paragraph elements .
Extracting all the text in a document involves traversing the tabs tree
hierarchy and calling the get
method of the documents
resource. The get
method includes the includeTabsContent
query parameter to configure whether DocumentTab
contents are provided in the response. For more information, see Work with
Tabs
.
Text can appear in three types of the document tab's structural elements :
- Paragraph
- Table of Contents
- Tables
Tables can be nested inside another table. Therefore, to extract all the text in a document, you must visit each nested structural element.
For a full description of the document body, see Structure of a Google Docs document .
Extract text code sample
The following Google Docs API code sample shows how to use recursion to visit each structural element in all tabs of a document and prints the text.
Java
// Copyright 2019 Google LLC // // Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); // you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. // You may obtain a copy of the License at // // http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 // // Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software // distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, // WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and // limitations under the License. import com.google.api.client.auth.oauth2.Credential ; import com.google.api.client.extensions.java6.auth.oauth2.AuthorizationCodeInstalledApp ; import com.google.api.client.extensions.jetty.auth.oauth2.LocalServerReceiver ; import com.google.api.client.googleapis.auth.oauth2.GoogleAuthorizationCodeFlow ; import com.google.api.client.googleapis.auth.oauth2.GoogleClientSecrets ; import com.google.api.client.googleapis.javanet.GoogleNetHttpTransport ; import com.google.api.client.http.javanet.NetHttpTransport ; import com.google.api.client.json.JsonFactory ; import com.google.api.client.json.jackson2.JacksonFactory ; import com.google.api.client.util.store.FileDataStoreFactory ; import com.google.api.services.docs.v1.Docs ; import com.google.api.services.docs.v1.DocsScopes ; import com.google.api.services.docs.v1.model.Document ; import com.google.api.services.docs.v1.model.DocumentTab ; import com.google.api.services.docs.v1.model.ParagraphElement ; import com.google.api.services.docs.v1.model.StructuralElement ; import com.google.api.services.docs.v1.model.Tab ; import com.google.api.services.docs.v1.model.TableCell ; import com.google.api.services.docs.v1.model.TableRow ; import com.google.api.services.docs.v1.model.TextRun ; import java.io.IOException ; import java.io.InputStream ; import java.io.InputStreamReader ; import java.security.GeneralSecurityException ; import java.util.ArrayList ; import java.util.Collections ; import java.util.List ; public class ExtractText { private static final String APPLICATION_NAME = "Google Docs API Extract Guide" ; private static final JsonFactory JSON_FACTORY = JacksonFactory . getDefaultInstance (); private static final String TOKENS_DIRECTORY_PATH = "tokens" ; private static final String DOCUMENT_ID = " YOUR_DOCUMENT_ID " ; /** * Global instance of the scopes required by this quickstart. If modifying these scopes, delete * your previously saved tokens/ folder. */ private static final ListSCOPES = Collections . singletonList ( DocsScopes . DOCUMENTS_READONLY ); private static final String CREDENTIALS_FILE_PATH = "/credentials.json" ; /** * Creates an authorized Credential object. * * @param HTTP_TRANSPORT The network HTTP Transport. * @return An authorized Credential object. * @throws IOException If the credentials.json file cannot be found. */ private static Credential getCredentials ( final NetHttpTransport HTTP_TRANSPORT ) throws IOException { // Load client secrets. InputStream in = ExtractText . class . getResourceAsStream ( CREDENTIALS_FILE_PATH ); GoogleClientSecrets clientSecrets = GoogleClientSecrets . load ( JSON_FACTORY , new InputStreamReader ( in )); // Build flow and trigger user authorization request. GoogleAuthorizationCodeFlow flow = new GoogleAuthorizationCodeFlow . Builder ( HTTP_TRANSPORT , JSON_FACTORY , clientSecrets , SCOPES ) . setDataStoreFactory ( new FileDataStoreFactory ( new java . io . File ( TOKENS_DIRECTORY_PATH ))) . setAccessType ( "offline" ) . build (); LocalServerReceiver receiver = new LocalServerReceiver . Builder (). setPort ( 8888 ). build (); return new AuthorizationCodeInstalledApp ( flow , receiver ). authorize ( "user" ); } /** * Adds the provided tab to the list of all tabs, and recurses through and * adds all child tabs. */ private void addCurrentAndChildTabs ( Tab tab , List allTabs ) { allTabs . add ( tab ); for ( Tab tab : tab . getChildTabs ()) { addCurrentAndChildTabs ( tab , allTabs ); } } /** * Returns a flat list of all tabs in the document in the order they would * appear in the UI (top-down ordering). Includes all child tabs. */ private List getAllTabs ( Document doc ) { List allTabs = new ArrayList <> (); // Iterate over all tabs and recursively add any child tabs to generate a // flat list of Tabs. for ( Tab tab : doc . getTabs ()) { addCurrentAndChildTabs ( tab , allTabs ); } return allTabs ; } /** * Returns the text in the given ParagraphElement. * * @param element a ParagraphElement from a Google Doc */ private static String readParagraphElement ( ParagraphElement element ) { TextRun run = element . getTextRun (); if ( run == null || run . getContent () == null ) { // The TextRun can be null if there is an inline object. return "" ; } return run . getContent (); } /** * Recurses through a list of Structural Elements to read a document's text where text may be in * nested elements. * * @param elements a list of Structural Elements */ private static String readStructuralElements ( List elements ) { StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder (); for ( StructuralElement element : elements ) { if ( element . getParagraph () != null ) { for ( ParagraphElement paragraphElement : element . getParagraph (). getElements ()) { sb . append ( readParagraphElement ( paragraphElement )); } } else if ( element . getTable () != null ) { // The text in table cells are in nested Structural Elements and tables may be // nested. for ( TableRow row : element . getTable (). getTableRows ()) { for ( TableCell cell : row . getTableCells ()) { sb . append ( readStructuralElements ( cell . getContent ())); } } } else if ( element . getTableOfContents () != null ) { // The text in the TOC is also in a Structural Element. sb . append ( readStructuralElements ( element . getTableOfContents (). getContent ())); } } return sb . toString (); } public static void main ( String ... args ) throws IOException , GeneralSecurityException { // Build a new authorized API client service. final NetHttpTransport HTTP_TRANSPORT = GoogleNetHttpTransport . newTrustedTransport (); Docs service = new Docs . Builder ( HTTP_TRANSPORT , JSON_FACTORY , getCredentials ( HTTP_TRANSPORT )) . setApplicationName ( APPLICATION_NAME ) . build (); // Fetch the document with all of the tabs populated, including any nested // child tabs. Document doc = service . documents (). get ( DOCUMENT_ID ). setIncludeTabsContent ( true ). execute (); List allTabs = getAllTabs ( doc ); // Print the text from each tab in the document. for ( Tab tab : allTabs ) { // Get the DocumentTab from the generic Tab. DocumentTab documentTab = tab . getDocumentTab (); System . out . println ( readStructuralElements ( documentTab . getBody (). getContent ())); } } }
Python
# Copyright 2026 Google LLC # # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. # You may obtain a copy of the License at # # http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 # # Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software # distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and # limitations under the License. """ Recursively extracts the text from a Google Doc. """ import os.path import googleapiclient.discovery as discovery from google.auth.transport.requests import Request from google.oauth2.credentials import Credentials from google_auth_oauthlib.flow import InstalledAppFlow from googleapiclient.errors import HttpError # If modifying these scopes, delete the file token.json. SCOPES = 'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.readonly' DISCOVERY_DOC = 'https://docs.googleapis.com/$discovery/rest?version=v1' DOCUMENT_ID = ' YOUR_DOCUMENT_ID ' def get_credentials (): """Gets valid user credentials from storage. If nothing has been stored, or if the stored credentials are invalid, the OAuth 2.0 flow is completed to obtain the new credentials. Returns: Credentials, the obtained credential. """ creds = None # The file token.json stores the user's access and refresh tokens, and is # created automatically when the authorization flow completes for the first # time. if os . path . exists ( 'token.json' ): creds = Credentials . from_authorized_user_file ( 'token.json' , SCOPES ) # If there are no (valid) credentials available, let the user log in. if not creds or not creds . valid : if creds and creds . expired and creds . refresh_token : creds . refresh ( Request ()) else : flow = InstalledAppFlow . from_client_secrets_file ( 'credentials.json' , SCOPES ) creds = flow . run_local_server ( port = 0 ) # Save the credentials for the next run with open ( 'token.json' , 'w' ) as token : token . write ( creds . to_json ()) return creds def add_current_and_child_tabs ( tab , all_tabs ): """Adds the provided tab to the list of all tabs, and recurses through and adds all child tabs. Args: tab: a Tab from a Google Doc. all_tabs: a list of all tabs in the document. """ all_tabs . append ( tab ) for tab in tab . get ( 'childTabs' ): add_current_and_child_tabs ( tab , all_tabs ) def get_all_tabs ( doc ): """Returns a flat list of all tabs in the document in the order they would appear in the UI (top-down ordering). Includes all child tabs. Args: doc: a document. """ all_tabs = [] # Iterate over all tabs and recursively add any child tabs to generate a # flat list of Tabs. for tab in doc . get ( 'tabs' ): add_current_and_child_tabs ( tab , all_tabs ) return all_tabs def read_paragraph_element ( element ): """Returns the text in the given ParagraphElement. Args: element: a ParagraphElement from a Google Doc. """ text_run = element . get ( 'textRun' ) if not text_run : return '' return text_run . get ( 'content' ) def read_structural_elements ( elements ): """Recurses through a list of Structural Elements to read a document's text where text may be in nested elements. Args: elements: a list of Structural Elements. """ text = '' for value in elements : if 'paragraph' in value : elements = value . get ( 'paragraph' ) . get ( 'elements' ) for elem in elements : text += read_paragraph_element ( elem ) elif 'table' in value : # The text in table cells are in nested Structural Elements and tables may # be nested. table = value . get ( 'table' ) for row in table . get ( 'tableRows' ): cells = row . get ( 'tableCells' ) for cell in cells : text += read_structural_elements ( cell . get ( 'content' )) elif 'tableOfContents' in value : # The text in the TOC is also in a Structural Element. toc = value . get ( 'tableOfContents' ) text += read_structural_elements ( toc . get ( 'content' )) return text def main (): """Uses the Docs API to print out the text of a document.""" creds = get_credentials () try : docs_service = discovery . build ( 'docs' , 'v1' , credentials = creds , discoveryServiceUrl = DISCOVERY_DOC ) # Fetch the document with all of the tabs populated, including any nested # child tabs. doc = ( docs_service . documents () . get ( documentId = DOCUMENT_ID , includeTabsContent = True ) . execute () ) all_tabs = get_all_tabs ( doc ) # Print the text from each tab in the document. for tab in all_tabs : # Get the DocumentTab from the generic Tab. document_tab = tab . get ( 'documentTab' ) doc_content = document_tab . get ( 'body' ) . get ( 'content' ) print ( read_structural_elements ( doc_content )) except HttpError as error : # TODO(developer) - Handle errors from docs API. print ( f 'An error occurred: { error } ' ) if __name__ == '__main__' : main ()
