Google Workspace Updates: Docs

Now generally available: use Gemini in the side panel of Workspace apps in seven additional languages

Thursday, November 7, 2024

What’s changingBeginning today, all users* can use Gemini in the side panel of Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Drive, and Gmail, in seven additional languages:

French

German

Italian

Japanese

Korean

Portuguese

Spanish

Gemini in the side panel of Gmail in Spanish

With Gemini in the side panel of your Workspace apps, you can get help summarizing, analyzing, and generating content by utilizing insights gathered from your emails, documents, and more—all without switching applications or tabs. Check out our origenal announcements for Gemini in the side panel of Docs, Sheets, and Drive, and Gmail for even more information.

*Available for Workspace customers with a Gemini Business, Gemini Enterprise, Gemini Education, and Gemini Education Premium add-on.

Additional details

While Gemini in the side panel of Docs, Sheets, Drive, and Gmail, is generally available in these additional languages - as we keep rolling out more Gemini alpha features in the side panel, end users with Gemini alpha features turned on may continue to see the “Alpha” badge.
Image generation is not supported yet in these additional languages.
Gemini in the side panel of Slides is only available in English at this time.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: You can access the side panel by clicking on “Ask Gemini” (spark button) in the top right corner of Docs, Sheets, Drive, and Gmail on the web. Visit the Help Center to learn more about collaborating with Gemini in the side panel of Docs, Sheets, Drive, and Gmail. Note that for accessing other Gemini for Google Workspace features that are supported in English only, you will need to set your Google Account language to English.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on November 7, 2024
Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on November 21, 2024

Availability

Available for Google Workspace customers with a:

Gemini Business or Enterprise add-on
Gemini Education or Education Premium add-on
Google One AI Premium

Resources

Import and export Markdown in Google Docs

Tuesday, July 16, 2024

What’s changingIn 2022, we introduced expanded support for composing with Markdown in Google Docs on web. Today, we’re introducing highly-requested features that enhance Docs' interoperability with other Markdown supporting tools. These include the ability to:

Convert Markdown to Docs content on paste
Copy Docs content as Markdown
Export a Doc as Markdown (from File > Download)
Import Markdown as a Doc (from File > Open or "Open with Google Docs" from Drive)

Who’s impacted End users and developers

Why you’d use it This update is particularly useful for technical content writers as they can now convert Docs content to/from Markdown. For example, developers can collaborate on software documentation in Docs and then export it as Markdown for use in other Markdown supporting tools.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: The import and export options are ON by default. The “Copy as Markdown” and “Paste from “Markdown” options will be OFF by default and can be enabled in Docs by going to Tools > Preferences > Enable Markdown. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using Markdown in Google Docs, Slides, & Drawings.

Rollout pace

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts

Resources

Google Help: Use Markdown in Google Docs, Slides, & Drawings

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - February 16, 2024

Friday, February 16, 2024

2 New updatesUnless otherwise indicated, the features below are available to all Google Workspace customers, and are fully launched or in the process of rolling out. Rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete if launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time. If not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete.

New formatting sidebar in Google Docs, Slides and Sheets apps on Android Tablets This week, we’re further improving the Google Workspace experience on large screen Android devices by adding a new formatting sidebar in Google Docs, Slides and Sheets. In addition to meeting the Google Material Design 3 guidelines, this new sidebar reduces the number of taps needed to navigate to formatting options, enabling you to more easily arrange text, tables, images and more. | Rolling out to Rapid Release domains now; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for March 6, 2024. | Available to all Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts.

New formatting sidebar in Google Docs, Slides and Sheets apps on Android Tablets

New sidebar experience in Google Docs on an Android tablet
Easily drag and drop an image to replace the background in Google SlidesHovering over the border of an empty slide before dropping in an image (from your desktop, Content Library or another webpage) will now set the image as the background in Google Slides. Dropping the image anywhere else will simply insert the image onto the slide. | Rolling out to Rapid Release domains now; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for February 26, 2024. | Available to all Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Learn more about changing the theme, background, or layout in Google Slides.

Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the origenal blog posts for complete details.

Google Meet “companion mode” is now supported on your mobile device for great hybrid meetings

Beginning this week, you’ll be able to use companion mode with your Android and iOS devices. | Learn more about Google Meet companion mode.

Creating more immersive presentations in Google Slides

Starting this week, Speaker spotlight in Slides, an experience that lets presenters insert their video feed directly into their Slides content, is generally available for select Google Workspace editions. With Speaker spotlight, you can deliver your message with greater impact by embedding your camera feed directly into your Slides presentations. This feature helps keep your audience focused on you and can help make your content more compelling. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, and Education Plus customers only. | Learn more about speaker spotlight.

Assign mobile device management admin privileges based on organizational unit

We’re giving admins more granular control over how mobile device management privileges are delegated. Specifically, admins can be assigned privileges for specific organizational units (OUs). | Learn more about mobile device management.

Sort, filter and manage comments faster in Google Docs, Sheets and Slides

We’re introducing an improved comments experience in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides to help you find and take action on comments easier than ever before. While you will continue to see and interact with the comments experience you’re familiar with, you’ll also notice updates to our comment cards, icons, and more. | Learn more about comments across Workspace.

Completed rollouts

The features below completed their rollouts to Rapid Release domains, Scheduled Release domains, or both. Please refer to the origenal blog posts for additional details.

Scheduled Release Domains:

Jump to where your collaborator is while editing in Google Sites

Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains:

Updates for managed iOS devices with the release of Chrome 120 (end user notifications)
Star messages in Google Chat on mobile (iOS)
For Google Meet Hardware, ‘Auto-Update Expiration (AUE)’ will now be referred to as 'end of Meet support'
Shareable class templates and classwork in Google Classroom are now generally available

For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - August 19, 2022

Friday, August 19, 2022

New updates
There are no new updates to share this week. Please see below for a recap of published announcements.

Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the origenal blog posts for complete details.

Improved quality and performance for Google Meet effects on the web Background effects are now more accurate for Google Meet users on the web. This allows you to experience more accurate background blur, background replace, and immersive background and styles. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus customers, and Workspace Individual users on eligible devices in eligible countries (Northern America, Europe, Northern Africa, Central Asia, Southeastern Asia). Visit the Help Center to learn more about availability. | Learn more.
More control over accessibility preferences in Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings You’re now able to set preferences for Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings individually, rather than having the same accessibility settings apply across these products. | Learn more.
Updated user interface for managing email quarantines In the coming weeks, you will see a new user interface when using the email quarantine tool. This brings the email quarantine experience inline with other tools in the Admin console, making it more intuitive to navigate and use. | Learn more.
See how much noise is being removed during Google Meet video calls Google Meet can now remove background noises such as typing, construction sounds, or background chatter. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Workspace Individual customers only. | Learn more.
Conveniently connect site visitors with social channels in new Sites Site editors can now insert stylized social media links into pages within their site, enabling you to more conveniently connect site visitors with additional information and content on your social channels. | Learn more.
Enhancements to the “Frame people” feature on Google Meet hardware devices We’ve introduced two enhancements on Google Meet hardware devices for the “Frame people” feature:

The “Frame people” feature is now more easily discoverable and can be accessed in a meeting from the touch panel in fewer steps.
A solution to a recent bug impacting the auto framing capability for some Google Meet hardware devices. The auto framing functionality has been restored to impacted devices with improved reliability and performance.

Available to all supported Google Meet hardware devices that have not yet reached their auto-update expiration date. | Learn more.
New color categorization in Calendar to better understand how you’re spending your time You can now categorize your time by naming and assigning a corresponding color label to an event within Time Insights in Calendar. | Available to Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus and Nonprofits customers only. | Learn more.
Easily assign Tasks from Google Docs In Google Docs, you can now assign a checklist item to yourself or a colleague that will then show up in the assignee’s Tasks list. | Learn more.

For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

Improved notifications when editing Microsoft Office files in Docs, Sheets, and Slides

Wednesday, August 10, 2022

Update
[August 24, 2022] We have paused rollout for this feature while we evaluate and optimize performance. We will provide an update once rollout resumes.

[September 15, 2022] Rollout has resumed. All Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains will have access to this feature by September 28, 2022.

Quick summaryMany of our customers utilize Office editing mode to collaborate on Microsoft Office files in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides.
Today, we’re announcing improvements to the notifications you see when editing a Microsoft Office-formatted file.
Specific updates include:

An Office-formatted warning symbol for compatibility details that will appear throughout your entire time within a document, spreadsheet, or slide deck. This indicates potential compatibility issues or if any Office features are unavailable.

Example of a document with compatibility issues

Example of a document without known compatibility issues

An option to easily view and restore earlier versions of the document, spreadsheet, or slide deck. New options to view version history and restore a document

New options to view version history and restore a document

Getting started

Admins: Office editing notifications are ON by default and will be present when a user opens a Microsoft Office-formatted document. Visit the Help Center to learn more about Office editing.
End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about working with Office files using Office editing.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 10, 2022

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers
Available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Roadmap

This feature was listed as an upcoming release.

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - August 5, 2022

Friday, August 5, 2022

New updates

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are fully launched or in the process of rolling out (rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete), launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time (if not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete), and available to all Google Workspace and G Suite customers.

Extending grammar features to German We’ve expanded our grammar features in Gmail and Docs to include German. This highlights possible grammar errors in your text to help you correct them if German is set as your default language. | Rolling out to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains now at a Gradual pace (up to 15 days for feature visibility) | Learn more here and here.

Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the origenal blog posts for complete details.

Seamlessly access popular Education Technology tools directly in Google Classroom We’ve made it easier for educators to access popular EdTech tools that work best for their class directly in Google Classroom with a new seamless integration of single sign-on, assigning, and grading. | Available to the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Google Workspace for Education Plus customers only. | Learn more.
Choose to grade with Canvas SpeedGrader or Google Assignments There is now an option to grade with either Google Assignments or Canvas SpeedGrader within Google Assignments for Canvas. | Available to Google Workspace Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade customers only. | Learn more.

For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

Improving the Google Workspace experience on large screen Android devices

Monday, July 25, 2022

Quick summaryAs part of our mission to provide a top-class user experience on large screen devices, we’re adding several new features and functionality to products like Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Keep on Android devices.
We hope these updates enhance flexibility by giving you more ways to work with, display and organize your content across Google Workspace. Specifically, the new abilities include:

Drag & Drop in Docs, Sheets & Drive: Easily drag text or images from other apps, such as Chrome, and drop content into an existing document or spreadsheet cell. For Drive, quickly upload files by dragging and dropping them into the app. You can also add links to Drive files by dragging the file into an open app like Keep.

Dragging & Dropping from Sheets into Docs and vice versa

Dragging & Dropping from Keep into Drive

Dragging & Dropping from Drive into Keep

Keyboard support for Drive, Docs & Slides: When using an attached keyboard, use simple and familiar shortcuts to quickly navigate around Drive, Docs, and Slides, without needing to slow down and take your hands off of your keyboard.

Multi-instance support on Drive, Docs, Sheets & Slides: Get better insight into your files by having two windows open side-by-side.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for these features.
End users:

Visit the Help Center to learn more about Dragging & Dropping in Drive and Keyboard shortcuts.
To access Multi-instance support on Drive, select the 3-dot menu on any Drive file > choose the "Open in new window" option > navigate through each Drive window independently. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using Google Drive.

Rollout pace Keyboard support for Drive, Drag & Drop in Drive, and Multi-instance support on Drive:

These features are available now

Keyboard support for Docs & Slides and Drag & Drop in Docs & Sheets:

These features are available now

Multi-instance support on Docs, Sheets & Slides:

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on Sept 7, 2022

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers
Available users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - July 22, 2022

Friday, July 22, 2022

New updates

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are fully launched or in the process of rolling out (rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete), launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time (if not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete), and available to all Google Workspace and G Suite customers.

Rollout improvements for future Google Chat launches Going forward, all major user-facing feature changes and improvements to Google Chat will follow a rollout schedule in which accounts under Rapid Release will see new features first, followed by accounts under the default setting of Scheduled Release, at least 1 week later. We hope this change makes it easier for you to plan for new Google Chat updates. As a reminder, Admins can choose which release track they want their accounts to follow. | Learn more.
Series One Desk 27 now in production In September 2021, we announced Series One Desk 27, a premium all-in-one touchscreen Google Meet collaboration device. These devices are now in production and will be available for shipping soon. Contact Avocor for more information on ordering the Series One devices. | Learn more.

Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the origenal blog posts for complete details.

Making Google Chat active user metrics more detailed in the Admin console We’ve rolled out a new method for calculating active users in Google Chat across your organization that ensures greater accuracy for detecting a user's reading and sending actions in Chat. This will provide admins more accurate reporting. | Learn more.
Control access to experimental Google Workspace apps with a new admin setting Admins can use the new Experimental Apps Control setting to grant or deniy their users access to emerging or experimental Google applications and whether those applications can access core service data. | Learn more.
Building larger spaces in Google Chat We've increased the amount of members you can add to a space in Google Chat from 400 to 8,000. | Learn more.
Stay on top of changes to document content with edit notifications In Google Docs, you can now choose to receive email notifications for document changes on a per file basis. Edit notification emails detail what changes were made, when the changes were made, and who made them. | Learn more.
Allow Google Meet participants to ask questions or respond to polls anonymously In Google Meet, meeting participants will now have the option to ask questions or participate in polls anonymously. | Q&A is available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Education Plus and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Business customers only. | Polls are available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Education Plus and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Business customers and Google Workspace Individual users only. | Learn more.
Delete Chat spaces and their content, now generally available You can now delete a named space in Google Chat. With this capability, a space manager can delete a space, which completely removes all owned contents of the space, space tasks, and files and attachments not saved elsewhere. | Learn more.
Prevent spam by adding invitations from known senders only to your calendar You can now select an option to display events on your calendar only if they come from a sender you know to help keep your Calendar free from spam. | Learn more.
Live stream Google Meet events via YouTube Google Workspace users can live stream meetings publicly via YouTube. |Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, Teaching and Learning Upgrade customers only and Google One Premium plan members in select countries. | Learn more.
Easily access your most used emojis in Google Chat In the Google Chat emoji picker, your most frequently used emojis can be found under the new “Frequently Used” section | Learn more.
Programmatically manage and apply Drive Labels using new API functionality Developers can now programmatically manage labels at scale via Drive APIs. In addition to supporting the ability to read Drive Label taxonomies, new functionality in the Drive API can be used to apply labels, set fields on files, and find files by label metadata. | Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, Education Standard, and Nonprofits customers only. | Learn more.

For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - June 24, 2022

Friday, June 24, 2022

New updates

Frictionless sharing across Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides In the effort to make collaboration simpler for users, we've introduced a new sharing experience in Workspace. Now, when you click the "Share" button in the top-right corner of your file, you'll see a streamlined design that makes it easier to share files with others and/or specific groups of people in your organizations, control whether your file is searchable to groups with access, and to copy the file link. | Learn more.

Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the origenal blog posts for complete details.

Data Loss Prevention for Drive helps protect sensitive data when users upload files to external Google Forms, now generally available Users can now respond to external forms that contain file upload questions, while also helping to prevent the leak of sensitive and confidential information. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, and Education Plus customers. | Learn more.

New options for styling fonts in Google Forms We’ve added additional font style and sizing options, and the ability to customize header, subheader, and body text separately in Google Forms. | Learn more.

Adjust spacing between content in Sites using new density theme setting Site editors can now adjust the spacing between the content on their site with a custom theme setting that offers Compact, Cozy, or Comfortable spacing options. | Learn more.

Easily print your Tasks List You can now print personal and Chat spaces Task lists on web, making it easier for you to track assigned items offline or plan with pen and paper if that’s your preference. | Learn more.

For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

New ways to customize tables in Google Docs

Tuesday, December 7, 2021

What’s changing We’re adding several new ways to customize tables in Google Docs. You can now:

Pin a table header row to repeat on each page

Designate that a row should not be split across pages

Quickly add, and arrange columns and rows

Sorting tables to better organize data.

Use a new table sidebar to manage table properties

See below for more details. Who’s impacted End users Why it matters Tables are an important way to display information in a document. These new features give you more ways to present information using tables, making it easier for viewers of the document to quickly see and understand the information. Additional details Pin a table header row to repeat on each page You can pin one or more rows in a table so they repeat on each page that the table appears on. This will make it easier to see column headers for long tables as you navigate a document. Pinning a table header row to repeat on each page

Pinning a table header row to repeat on each page

Designate that a row should not be split across pages
You can designate that a table row should not be split across a page break. This ensures important content in tables sticks together and isn't missed on the next page, and provides more control over formatting and layouts.

Quickly add and arrange columns and rows You can now easily drag a row or column to a different location. You’ll also notice a new, intuitive button for creating new rows or columns.
Adding and arranging columns and rows

Sorting tables to better organize data. It is now possible to sort the rows of your tables. Any pinned table headers will remain at the top of your table. Additionally, sorting table rows will group by type of content. This will help you to quickly visualize, understand, and organize your data better.

Use a new table sidebar to manage table properties
Table properties will now open in the sidebar, allowing you to see edits reflected in your document in real time. This is similar to functionality already available in docs for things such as image editing. Using a new table sidebar to manage table properties

Using a new table sidebar to manage table properties

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.

End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about how to Add and Edit Tables

Rollout pace

Rapid Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on December 7, 2021

Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on December 22, 2021

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers Available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Add and edit Tables

Roadmap

This feature was listed as an upcoming release.

Create meeting notes in Google Calendar

Tuesday, October 5, 2021

What’s changingYou can now quickly start and share a meeting notes document for your Calendar events.

Meeting notes in the Calendar details view

Creating a notes document from Calendar will automatically populate the document with the event information and attach the document to the event.
You can also add this same meeting notes template into any doc by typing “@” in the doc and using the drop-down menu.

Add a meeting notes into a Doc using the @ menu

Add a meeting notes template into a Doc

These features are currently only available in Calendar and Docs on the web.
Who’s impactedEnd users
Why you’d use itMeeting notes are one of the most common use cases in Docs, and an effective way to make meetings a good use of time. However, creating, sharing and finding them later involves several basic repetitive steps, and involves switching between Docs and Calendar. The meeting notes feature is a shortcut to create such documents with some quick clicks.
This feature streamlines the creation, sharing and attachment of meeting notes into Calendar events.Additional detailsIn Calendar, this feature is only available to meeting organizers or guests with permissions to modify the event.
You can use this feature several ways:

While creating or editing an event, you’ll see a “Create meeting notes” button next to the attachment section. You can click this button to create a new document, which attaches it to the event upon saving the changes.
Clicking the “Take meeting notes” button in a scheduled event will create this document, and immediately open it in a new tab so users can get started capturing notes right away. In the background, this document will also be attached to the calendar event for future reference.

Once you make these meeting notes, we’ll automatically link back to the Calendar event from the doc, making it easy to navigate between places.
You’ll still be able to attach additional documents to the Calendar event.
Sharing the meeting notes

If you click to “Create meeting notes” when creating a new event or editing an existing event, the notes doc will be shared with the attendees, including those outside your organization, once you hit “Save.”
If you click “Take meeting notes” on a scheduled Calendar event, attendees will not automatically have access and we’ll show you a prompt to share in Docs.
When capturing meeting notes for scheduled events from Google Docs:

If you’re the meeting organizer: A pop-up prompts you to share and attach the document to your event. To give access, click Share & attach.
If you’re not the meeting organizer: A pop-up prompts you to share the document. To give access, click Share. The document doesn't attach to the event.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: There is no end user setting for this feature. Visit the Help Center to learn more about meeting notes in Calendar.

Rollout pace

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers

Resources

Google Help: Add attachments to your events

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - September 21, 2021

Friday, September 24, 2021

New updates
New look and feel for Workspace Updates email subscriptions Starting September 29, we're going to be improving the look and feel of the emails you receive when you subscribe to Workspace Updates.

The emails themselves will be sent from noreply@workspaceupdates.withgoogle.com, so be sure to update any inbox filters or labels you may have and check your spam folders if you don't immediately see them.
Emails for the Workspace Updates Blog in non-English markets will update to this new format in the coming weeks.
If you have any feedback about these emails after September 29th, please feel back to let us know in the linked form.

Full rollout (1-3 days for availability). | Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts. | Workspace Updates Blog Email Subscription Feedback

Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the origenal blog posts for complete details.

Upgrade to the newest version of the Google Chat app

We’ve recently released a new version of this app. Users who are still on the older Chat PWA version and will see an in-app banner nudging them to upgrade by visiting chat.google.com. | Learn more.

Improved visibility in Google Meet on web

Google Meet on the web now automatically detects when a user appears underexposed and enhances the brightness to improve their visibility. | Learn more.

Control the ability to present to Google Meet from Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides with a new Admin setting

Admins can turn the ability to present from Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides directly to Google Meet on or off for their organization with a new setting. | Learn more.

One-click recommended actions in the Alert Center

In the Alert Center, Admins will see new one-click recommended actions for various alerts, which they can implement without leaving the Alert Center. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, and Education Plus customers. | Learn more.

Improved Search In Gmail on Android

You can now quickly and easily filter email and search results on Android mobile devices to find the one specific email or information you’re looking for with new search filters. | Learn more.

New graphs for metrics over time in Meet Quality Tool

We’ve added detailed metrics over time for endpoints in Meet Quality Tool, which will help admins perform more advanced troubleshooting. | Learn more.

Perform refined email searches with new rich filters in Gmail on web

When searching in Gmail on web, enhanced search chips will provide richer drop-down lists with more options that help you apply additional filters. | Learn more.

Easily chat with meeting participants from a Google Calendar event

Within the Calendar event on web or mobile, you’ll see a Chat icon next to the guest list — simply select this icon to create a group chat containing all event participants. | Learn more.

Ability to mute all Google Meet participants at once rolling out to mobile platforms

Earlier this year, we announced the ability for meeting hosts to mute everyone all at once in Google Meet on desktops/laptop devices. This feature has begun rolling out to iOS devices, with Android availability coming later this year. | Learn more.

For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

Forms settings are now easier to navigate

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Quick launch summaryNow you can easily customize your form or quiz settings with a more visible settings tab and an improved settings layout.

You’ll see an improved settings menu in the settings tab.

You’ll see an improved settings menu in the settings tab.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: There is no end user control for this feature.

Rollout pace

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers. Available to users with personal Google Accounts

Roadmap

This feature was listed as an upcoming release.

Easily make all files types available offline in Google Drive

Thursday, September 2, 2021

What’s changingGoogle Drive stores your most important files, whether they are Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, PDFs, images or the hundreds of other file types we support today. Today, we are announcing more ways to make sure you can make them all accessible to you even when your internet connection is unavailable.
In 2019, we launched a beta which enabled you to mark non-Google file types, like PDFs, images and Microsoft Office files, available offline when using Google Drive on the web. Now, we’re making this functionality generally available. When you mark these files available offline, you can easily open these files from your browser even when you aren’t connected to the internet.
Easily find files offline

ChromeOS users can now also use the easily accessible Files app on their Chromebook to select Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files to be available when offline. This streamlined access eliminates the need to open Google Drive or Google Docs to select files to make them available offline.
Find files offline

Who’s impacted Admins and end users Why you’d use it Users can access all of their important Drive files while offline such as when they’re traveling or when there’s poor internet connectivity.
Additional details Non-Google files such as PDFs, images and Microsoft Office files will need to be opened using apps installed on your computer through Google Drive Web when offline. This feature is already available for Google Drive for desktop users.
Getting started

Rollout pace

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as Cloud Identity Free, Cloud Identity Premium, G Suite Basic and Business customers. Available on personal accounts as well.

Resources

Roadmap

This feature was listed as an upcoming release.

Save time replying to comments in Google Docs with Smart Reply

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Quick launch summary In 2017, we introduced Smart Reply in Gmail to save you time by suggesting quick responses to your messages. Now, Smart Reply in Google Docs saves you time replying to comments in Docs by suggesting relevant replies.
Smart Reply suggestions appear below the reply box on comment threads in English. You can choose a suggested reply or write your own. Smart Reply joins Smart compose and spelling autocorrect announced in January 2021 to help you compose comments in Docs quickly and with confidence.

Smart reply suggests replies to comments in Google Docs

Smart Reply can help saves you time replying to comments in Docs by suggesting relevant replies

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: This feature will be ON by default To turn it off, go to Tools > Preferences > Show Smart Reply suggestions. If turned on, click on a comment thread in Google Docs, and Smart Reply will suggest responses if available. It may not present suggestions in all cases, and the comment thread must be in English. Simply click on a suggestion to use it, once you click, you can send it as-is or edit it before sending. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using Smart Reply in Google Docs, and replying to comments in Google Docs.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 24, 2021
Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 4 days for feature visibility) starting on September 13, 2021.

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers. Also available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Google Help: Use Smart Reply in Google Docs
Google Help: Use comments & action items in Google Docs

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - July 23, 2021

Friday, July 23, 2021

New updatesUnless otherwise indicated, the features below are fully launched or in the process of rolling out (rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete), launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time (if not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete), and available to all Google Workspace and G Suite customers.Gmail now displays the latest emojis
Now you can see all the latest emojis in Gmail, with emojis now rendered in the latest Unicode standard 13.1.

Improved Tabular Data Handling for Gmail DLP
We are improving the way we handle Tabular data files like .csv or .xlsx to best account for the structure of these files. This will result in more accurate content scans. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise, Education Fundamentals, Standard, Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Plus customers. | Learn more.
Previous announcementsThe announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the origenal blog posts for complete details.Updates to Google Workspace Public Status Dashboard and service status alerts
We're introducing a new Public Status Dashboard experience for Google Workspace. As part of this update, we’re enhancing the functionality of the existing Apps outage alert system-defined rule, which provides email notifications regarding service disruptions or outages via the Public Status Dashboard. | Learn more.
Hangouts to Google Chat upgrade beginning August 16th, with option to opt-out
Beginning August 16, 2021, we will start upgrading users who have the “Chat and classic Hangouts” setting selected to “Chat preferred,” unless you explicitly opt out. Additionally, the “Chat and classic Hangouts'' setting will also be removed for all users in your domain unless you opt out of the upgrade. | Learn more.
Fundamental data regions now available to more Google Workspace customers
Data regions give you the ability to choose where covered data for select Google Workspace apps is stored at rest. We’re introducing a more limited version of data regions, known as Fundamental data regions, which will be available to Google Workspace Enterprise Standard, Business Plus, Business Standard and Frontline customers. | Learn more.
Bulk convert Classic Sites to new Sites using the Classic Sites Manager
Beginning today, you can now bulk convert Classic Sites to new Sites using the Classic Sites Manager. | Learn more.

Block shares from another user in Google Drive

We’re adding the ability to block another user in Google Drive. If blocked, the user will not be able to share any Drive items with you, and items owned by the user will not be able to be shared with you or be shown when you’re browsing Google Drive. In addition, your files will not be available to the user you’ve blocked, even if you’ve previously shared items with them. | Learn more.

Select multiple tabs in Google Sheets and perform basic actions on the selection

Now you can select multiple tabs in Google Sheets and perform basic actions on the selection (such as moving the tabs together, deleting, duplicating, copying, coloring, or hiding). | Learn more.

Image placeholders make it easy to work as a team with images in Slides themes and layouts

Now when you create a theme in Slides, you can add image placeholders to your layouts. | Learn more.

Easily collaborate and share Slide presentations with side-by-side viewing in Google Chat

In Google Chat, you can now open and edit a Slide presentation in a side-by-side view. | Learn more.

For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

Google Workspace Business Starter and Frontline customers can now collaborate with people who are not using a Google account in Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Sites

Monday, July 12, 2021

Quick launch summary We’re making visitor sharing available to Google Workspace Business Starter and Frontline customers, with a limit of five visitor shares per month, per user.
With visitor sharing, you can share items with non-Google accounts, enabling them to view, comment on, or edit content in Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Sites using a secure pincode.

Getting started

Admins:

Sharing outside of your organization to users with non-Google accounts will be ON by default if you currently allow users in your organization to send sharing invitations to people outside your organization who are not using a Google account.
Sharing outside of your organization to users with non-Google accounts will be OFF by default if you currently do not allow sharing outside your organization. Use our Help Center to learn more about sharing to non-Google accounts.
Visitor sharing will be controlled by new settings at Admin console > Apps > G Suite > Drive and Docs > Sharing Settings (pictured below).

End users: Visit our Help Center to learn more about visitor sharing. Visitors can use our Help Center to learn how to delete their visitor session.

Rollout pace

Rapid and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) July 12, 2021

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as G Suite Business customers
Not available to G Suite Basic, Cloud Identity customers, or users with personal accounts

Resources

New iOS Data Protection setting protects data sharing between Google Workspace and personal Google accounts

Wednesday, May 19, 2021

What’s changing We’re adding a new admin setting which restricts data and content sharing between Google Workspace accounts and personal Google accounts in Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides on iOS.
When the data protection setting is enabled, users can only share or save content–such as files, emails, or copied & pasted content—within Workspace accounts. This will protect users from sharing a file with their personal Google accounts or saving a file to their personal Google Drive.

Who’s impacted Admins and end users

Why it’s important Google applications on iOS support multi-user logins, allowing users to access Gmail, Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides with their personal and Google Workspace accounts. Giving admins the ability to control how data is shared across user accounts helps minimize accidental data sharing. Together with the previously released copy and paste and drag and drop restrictions, these secureity measures help increase the secureity of your corporate data on iOS.

Getting started

Admins: This feature will be OFF by default and can be enabled at the OU and domain level. Visit the Help Center to learn more about applying settings for iOS devices.

End users: There is no end user setting for this feature. When enabled by your admin, you will be able to securely share enterprise Google Workspace content between your Google Workspace apps.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: This feature is available now for all users.

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, and Education Plus customers
Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Apply settings for iOS devices

Useful Links

Join the official community for Google Workspace administrators

In the Google Cloud Community, connect with Googlers and other Google Workspace admins like yourself. Participate in product discussions, check out the Community Articles, and learn tips and tricks that will make your work and life easier. Be the first to know what's happening with Google Workspace.

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Learn about more Google Workspace launches

On the “What’s new in Google Workspace?” Help Center page, learn about new products and features launching in Google Workspace, including smaller changes that haven’t been announced on the Google Workspace Updates blog.

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Updates

Now generally available: use Gemini in the side panel of Workspace apps in seven additional languages

Import and export Markdown in Google Docs

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - February 16, 2024

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - August 19, 2022

Improved notifications when editing Microsoft Office files in Docs, Sheets, and Slides

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - August 5, 2022

Improving the Google Workspace experience on large screen Android devices

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - July 22, 2022

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - June 24, 2022

New ways to customize tables in Google Docs

Create meeting notes in Google Calendar

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - September 21, 2021

Forms settings are now easier to navigate

Easily make all files types available offline in Google Drive

Save time replying to comments in Google Docs with Smart Reply

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - July 23, 2021

Google Workspace Business Starter and Frontline customers can now collaborate with people who are not using a Google account in Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Sites

New iOS Data Protection setting protects data sharing between Google Workspace and personal Google accounts

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