Class Tab

  • A tab is a structural element within a Google Docs document, allowing for organization and navigation within the document's content.

  • You can retrieve all first-level tabs or a specific tab using its ID with the DocumentApp class.

  • The Tab class provides methods for accessing tab properties like title, type, index, and child tabs, as well as retrieving the tab contents as a DocumentTab.

  • Most Tab methods require authorization with scopes such as https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly or https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.

  • You can use the getType() method to determine the tab type before casting to a specific tab type like DocumentTab for further interaction.
Tab

A tab within a Google Docs document. 

// Get all of the first-level tabs (tabs that are not nested within a parent
// tab) in the document.
// TODO(developer): Replace the ID with your own.
const tabs = DocumentApp.openById('123abc').getTabs();

// Get a specific tab based on the tab ID.
// TODO(developer): Replace the IDs with your own.
const tab = DocumentApp.openById('123abc').getTab('123abc');

Methods

MethodReturn typeBrief description
asDocumentTab()DocumentTabRetrieves the tab contents as a DocumentTab.
getChildTabs()Tab[]Retrieves the child tabs nested within this tab.
getId()StringRetrieves the ID of the tab.
getIndex()IntegerRetrieves the 0-based index of the tab within the parent.
getTitle()StringRetrieves the title of the tab.
getType()TabTypeRetrieves the type of tab.

Detailed documentation

asDocumentTab()

Retrieves the tab contents as a DocumentTab.

Return

DocumentTab — The tab as a DocumentTab.

getChildTabs()

Retrieves the child tabs nested within this tab.

Return

Tab[] — The child tabs nested within this tab.

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

getId()

Retrieves the ID of the tab.

Return

String — The ID of the tab.

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

getIndex()

Retrieves the 0-based index of the tab within the parent.

Return

Integer — The index of the tab within the parent.

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

getTitle()

Retrieves the title of the tab.

Return

String — The title of the tab.

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

getType()

Retrieves the type of tab.

Use this method to determine the content type of this Tab before casting to the more specific type using asDocumentTab(). 

const tab = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getActiveTab();
// Use getType() to determine the tab's type before casting.
if (tab.getType() === DocumentApp.TabType.DOCUMENT_TAB) {
  // It's a document tab, write some text to it.
  tab.asDocumentTab().setText('Hello World!');
} else {
  // There are currently no types other than DOCUMENT_TAB.
}

Return

TabType — The tab's type.

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents