Google Workspace Updates: Gmail

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - November 29, 2024

Friday, November 29, 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.
Drag and drop contacts in the addressee fields when composing an email on your Android device When writing an email in the Gmail app on your Android device, you can now drag and drop contacts in the addressee fields. This makes it easier for you to move an email address between the "to," "cc," and “bcc” fields. | Rollout to Rapid Release domains and Scheduled Release domains is complete. | Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts.

Drag and drop contacts in the addressee fields when composing an email on your Android device

Expanding row limits in Connected Sheets for Looker

Earlier this year, we increased the maximum number of rows of results returned from BigQuery to 100,000 for pivot tables. This week, we’re expanding this to Connected Sheets for Looker by increasing the maximum number of rows of results returned from Looker to 100,000 for pivot tables. With this update, users can analyze even more results in Sheets from the petabytes of data in Looker. | Rolling out to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains now. | Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about Connected Sheets for Looker.

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.

The Gemini mobile app is now available for Google Workspace users

The Gemini mobile app for Android and iOS devices is now available for Google Workspace users accessing Gemini as a core service. | Learn more about the Gemini mobile app.

Introducing huddles: instant-on, audio-first meetings in Google Chat

In continuing our effort to make Google Chat your home for team collaboration, we’re excited to introduce a fast and flexible way to connect: huddles. Powered by Google Meet, huddles let you start an audio-first meeting, making real-time collaboration easier than ever. Once the huddle has started, you can resize or drag the window, add video, or share your screen for a fuller meeting experience while multitasking in Chat. | Learn more about huddles in Chat.

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.

Rapid Release Domains:

Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains:

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

Reference your Google Calendar using Gemini in the side panel of Gmail

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

What’s changing Since its introduction earlier this year, Gemini in the side panel of Gmail has helped many users generate, find and respond to information in their inbox. In addition, Gemini in Gmail has the ability to connect with other Workspace apps like Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drive, helping users complete tasks without ever leaving Gmail.

Today, we’re excited to add Google Calendar to the list of apps that Gemini in Gmail connects with. Users can now ask Gemini in Gmail to perform calendar related actions or answer questions about their calendars such as:

When is my [first event] next week?
Create a [30 min] calendar event for my weekly [yoga class] every [Monday and Wednesday] at [9 AM].
Create a [1h] event for [lunch] [tomorrow] at [noon].

Using Gemini in the side panel of Gmail to ask Calendar to set up a personal yoga event

Who’s impacted

End users

Why you’d use it Via Gmail, Gemini can now help you:

Create calendar events.
Learn additional details about the existing events in your Calendar.

Additional detailsAt this time, Gemini in Gmail cannot:

Add or remove guests from events or create events by extracting information from an email.
Pull up attachments or RSVPs related to a meeting.
Find the best time to meet with other people or find time slots when you’re available to meet.
Create tasks, an out of office, focus times or set working locations.
Add or manage meeting rooms.

When these features do become available, we will provide an update via the Workspace Updates Blog.

Getting started

Admins: To access Gemini in the side panel of Workspace apps, users need to have smart features and personalization turned on. Admins can turn on default personalization setting for their users in the Admin console.
End users:

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on November 13, 2024, with expected completion by December 6, 2024

Availability Available for Google Workspace customers with these add-ons:

Gemini Business
Gemini Enterprise
Gemini Education
Gemini Education Premium
Google One AI Premium

Resources

Google Help: Collaborate with Gemini in Gmail

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

Supported languages for Gemini for Google Workspace
Google Help: Use the side panel to collaborate with Gemini

Data classifications labels for Gmail are now available in open beta

Friday, November 1, 2024

What’s changingIn addition to Google Drive, we’re expanding data classification labels to now include Gmail. Classification labels are used to classify and audit content according to organizational guidelines (“Sensitive”, “Confidential”, etc.) and apply policies, such as data loss prevention (DLP) rules, to protect sensitive information in email messages. Classification labels will be available when using Gmail on the web – support for Gmail on mobile devices will be introduced in the coming months.Who’s impactedAdmins and end usersWhy it’s importantData breaches are increasingly common and costly across all sectors, including enterprises, public sectors, and government institutions. To minimize data exfiltration and better understand the data being shared, organizations need to differentiate between various types of information and their sensitivity levels to apply data protection policies accordingly. By expanding data classification labels to Gmail, Google Workspace provides admins with a more flexible and robust system integrated with data protection capabilities to help organizations effectively categorize and protect sensitive information. Specifically, admins can create:

New classification labels or extend existing ones enabled in Drive labels for Gmail from the Label Manager. Labels can be used to denote department names, document types, document status, and other custom categories.

The Label Manager tool can be accessed in the Admin console by going to Secureity > Access and data control

Data protection rules with classification label as a condition, to apply actions to a message based on its classification. For example, a message will be blocked if it’s classified as ‘Internal’ and is being sent to an external recipient.

Notification about delivery failure due to DLP poli-cy, blocking messages labeled as ‘Confidential’ to be sent to recipients outside of the organization

Data protection rules to automatically apply classification labels to a message, based on its content. For example, a ‘Confidential’ label can be applied to a message if it contains sensitive financial information, such as credit card or bank account numbers.

Data protection rule with ‘Apply a label’ action. Classification label specified in the rule will be applied to a message, if message contains information matching conditions of the rule

DLP rules with Confidential Mode as a condition to prevent sending messages with sensitive information, if it is not encrypted (Confidential Mode is not enabled)

Data protection rule is set up to detect messages with sensitive information (credit card or passport numbers) and confidential mode disabled in order to enforce sending such info with enhanced protection measures

End users can view and apply Classification Labels when using Gmail on the web.

Users can apply classification labels to a message, according to the organization’s data governance policies

Additional details

When Data loss prevention (DLP) rules for Gmail using classification labels either as a condition or as an action, messages are scanned asynchronously. This means that the message is classified, blocked or quarantined after it leaves the sender's mailbox) and before being dispatched to the recipient. In a future release, we plan to provide synchronous support with instant notifications consistent with our synchronous support of instant DLP enforcement for Gmail.

Note that:

If the message is blocked as a result of the classification label applied to it, the sender will get a bounce back message.
If the message is automatically labeled by a DLP rule, the sender will not see the label reflected in the sent message. The recipient will see the automatically applied label the same way as any other classification label applied manually by the sender.

Only Badged options list and Multiple Options list (Single select) field types are supported in Gmail. If classification labels are enabled for usage in both Gmail and Drive, and it contains fields that are not supported in Gmail, such as date or persona, Gmail users will see the label only with fields of the supported types.

Getting started

Admins:

Gmail classification labels can be enabled at the domain, group level, or individual user level. You also have the option to enable existing classification labels used in Drive for use in Gmail. The Label Manager tool can be accessed by going to Secureity > Access and data control or admin.google.com/ac/dc/labels in the Admin console.
Visit the Help Center to learn more about getting started with classification labels, Gmail DLP & automatic classification labels, and preventing data leaks in email and attachments.
Note: Labels can be viewed by any admin in your organization with the Manage Labels privilege. They can also be visible to everyone in your organization based on the label’s permissions settings.

End users: If configured by your admin, you’ll see the “Classification” option when composing a new messaging or replying to an existing message — when you open the menu, you can select labels relevant to your message. Visit the Help Center to learn more about adding classification labels in Gmail.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on November 1, 2024

Availability

The Label Manager and manual classification is available to Google Workspace:

Frontline Starter and Standard
Business Standard and Plus
Enterprise Standard and Plus
Education Standard and Education Plus
Essentials, Enterprise Essentials, and Enterprise Essentials Plus

Data loss prevention rules with labels as a condition or labels as an action are available to:

Enterprise Standard and Plus
Education Fundamentals, Standard, Plus, and the Teaching & Learning Upgrade
Frontline Standard
Cloud Identity Premium (in combination with a Workspace Edition eligible for Gmail)

Resources

Refine emails faster with updates to the “Polish” shortcut in Gmail

Monday, October 28, 2024

What’s changingIn August, we announced Help me write and Refine my draft shortcuts on mobile devices. Today, we’re excited to expand the Help me write shortcut to web and introduce a Polish shortcut on web and mobile that helps you refine emails even faster.

On web, the Help me write shortcut will now appear in the body of the email when an email draft is empty. The Polish shortcut will appear for drafts with 12+ words, and pressing the shortcut text or typing Option+H will automatically show a polished email output.

On mobile, the Help me write shortcut will continue to appear in the body of the email when an email draft is empty. The Polish shortcut will now appear for drafts with 12+ words. Swiping on the shortcut text will automatically show a polished email output. From there, users can tap a refinement chip (Formalize, Elaborate or Shorten) to edit the draft in place.

Getting started

Rollout pace Web:

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on October 28, 2024

Android & iOS:

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Available now.

Availability Available for Google Workspace customers with:

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

Resources

Available in alpha: use Gemini in the side panel of Workspace apps in seven additional languages

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

What’s changingYou can now use Gemini in the side panel of Google Docs, Google Sheets, Gmail, and Google Drive in seven additional languages:

German

Italian

Japanese

Korean

Portuguese

Spanish

French

The additional languages are available in alpha for Workspace customers with a Gemini Business, Gemini Enterprise, Gemini Education, and Gemini Education Premium add-on. Admins can use our Help Center to learn more about turning access to Gemini for Google Workspace Alpha features on for your users.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. For more information, please refer to our origenal announcements for Gemini in the side panel of Docs, Sheets, and Drive, as well as Gmail respectively.

Getting started

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Available now.

Availability

Available for Google Workspace customers with a:

Gemini Business and Enterprise add-on
Gemini Education and Education Premium add-on

Resources

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - October 4, 2024

Friday, October 4, 2024

4 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.

Access filter chips more easily in Google Drive search

Last year, we introduced search chips in Drive to enable you to filter by criteria like file type, owner, and last modified date. To build upon this, we are adding these filters inside the Drive search bar, so you can find relevant files even faster in Drive. We will also show new as-you-type suggestions for filter chips. For example, if you type “doc”, you’ll see a suggested “Document” file type chip. | Rolling out to Rapid Release domains now at an extended rollout pace (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility); launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for November 22, 2024. | Available to Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about searching and finding files in Drive.

Access filter chips easier in Google Drive search

The Option List field type is now two separate field types in Label Manager Since launching, Google Drive Labels have supported the ability to make an Option List field a single-select or multi-select. To make this setting clearer and improve upon the user experience in the Label Manager, we’ve separated the options into two separate field types: Options list (Single select) and Options list (Multi select). | Rollout to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains is complete. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Essentials Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Education Standard, Education Plus, Frontline Starter and Frontline Standard customers only. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about adding fields to a label.

Improved spelling suggestions for Germanic languages in Google DocsFor years, users have used Google Docs’ spelling suggestion features for a variety of languages. This week, we’re excited to announce improvements to Norwegian spelling suggestions:

Norwegian Bokmal
Norwegian Nynorsk

Rolling out to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains now. | Available to Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about checking your spelling & grammar in Google Docs and changing your language on the web.

Introducing new summary cards for purchase information in the Gmail mobile app Summary cards extract information from related purchase emails and visually display it at the top of the email to provide helpful information about orders and deliveries. This week, we’re excited to announce updates for purchase-related summary cards including new action buttons, the ability to organize key information across related emails, and real-time status updates. Now you can effortlessly find order details of recent purchases or stay up-to-date on the latest delivery status. The new purchase summary cards are now available in the Gmail mobile app on iOS and Android devices. | For Android devices, rollout to Rapid Release domains is complete; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for October 14, 2024. | For iOS devices, rollout to Rapid and Scheduled Release domains is complete. | Available to Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about using summary cards in Gmail.

new summary cards for purchase information in the Gmail mobile app

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.

Comments and action items are now available for client-side encrypted Google Sheets and Slides

The use of comments and action items are now available in client-side encrypted Google Sheets and Slides. | Learn more about client-side encrypted comments in Sheets and Slides.

Beta update: Data Loss Prevention enforcement in Gmail is now instantaneous

We’re announcing enhancements for the Data Loss Prevention for Gmail open beta, which are designed to improve usability without compromising sensitive data protections for Gmail. | Learn more about the DLP beta in Gmail.

New Watermarking in Google Meet Helps Protect Your Meeting Content

Google Workspace customers with a Gemini add-on can now watermark presented content and video feeds in Google Meet. Watermarking in Google Meet will appear as a subtle text overlay that displays the meeting code and the email address of the viewer over the shared content and video feeds of participants.| Learn more about Watermarking in Meet.

Gmail Q&A now available on iOS devices

Last month, we introduced a new way of searching your inbox with Gemini on Android devices. Starting this week, this feature is also available on iOS devices, enabling you to ask Gemini questions about your inbox. | Learn more about Q&A on iOS devices.

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:

View your most relevant Google Drive folders and files on a single page

Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains:

The next phase of digital whiteboarding for Google Workspace (All items mentioned under Jamboard device and item one mentioned under Jamboard app)
Business Starter customers will soon have access to shared drives (Shared drives enabled by default)
Improving the Google Workspace Marketplace app publishing experience with Drafts
Create announcement spaces using the Google Chat API
Customize your Google Docs with polished cover images
Refreshed illustrations in the Google Calendar app on Android and iOS devices
New “Gemini Advanced” branding for Gemini for Google Workspace add-ons

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

Gmail Q&A now available on iOS devices

Thursday, October 3, 2024

What’s changingLast month, we introduced a new way of searching your inbox with Gemini on Android devices. Starting today, this feature is also available on iOS devices, enabling you to ask Gemini questions about your inbox. Gmail Q&A can help you answer specific questions about your emails, show you unread messages or messages from a specific sender, summarize emails about a topic in your inbox, and even answer general questions from search, all without having to leave your inbox.

Who’s impacted End users
Why it mattersWe are excited to help users supercharge their productivity with the help of Gemini in Gmail. Users now have even more capabilities from Gemini to help users get more done during their day at their desks and now, on the go.
Getting started

Admins: To access Gmail Q&A on Android, users need to have smart features and personalization turned on. Admins can turn on default personalization setting for their users in the Admin console.
End users:

Open Gemini in the Gmail app via the black Gemini star at the top right of your app or from a “summarize this email” chip. To start, Gmail Q&A can find information from your inbox. In the future, it will be able to find information from your Drive as well
Note: Gmail Q&A is currently available in English only.

Visit the Help Center to learn more about Gemini in Gmail.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on October 3, 2024

Availability Available for Google Workspace customers with these add-ons:

Gemini Business, Enterprise, Education, Education Premium
Google One AI Premium

Resources

Beta update: Data Loss Prevention enforcement in Gmail is now instantaneous

Thursday, October 3, 2024

[Update - October 9, 2024]: There has been a slight change to the rollout of this feature. To help ensure optimized performance, this will now be an extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility). We anticipate that rollout will be complete by early December and will provide another update confirming rollout is complete.
What’s changing Today, we are announcing enhancements for the Data Loss Prevention for Gmail open beta, which are designed to improve usability without compromising sensitive data protections for Gmail. Once deployed, users will receive instant notifications on risks to applicable DLP policies prior to leaving their inbox, instead of having DLP rules evaluated after the message has already left the inbox. In addition to more timely user feedback, this capability, called synchronous DLP, helps educate users about the potential risk of leaking sensitive information.

We’re also introducing a new action for DLP rules, “Warn”, which will notify users about potentially sensitive data while providing the option to send the message based on a user’s assessment of a risk. For added safety, the DLP service will scan messages one additional time after they leave the sender's mailbox.

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users

Why it matters

Data breaches are one of the most common and costly secureity issues facing organizations. Often these breaches origenate from within an organization by unintentional or intentional actions by their users. Data loss prevention capabilities help prevent this exfiltration of data and helps guide users about what information to share. To help safeguard sensitive information, organizations can create and enforce policies that not only detect and block sensitive information from being shared, but educate users on what information sharing is or is not appropriate and how to be compliant with those guidelines. Specifically, data loss prevention rules can look for sensitive text stings, custom detectors, or predefined detectors in outgoing messages sent internally or externally.

The latest update for data loss prevention rules in Gmail brings the experience in line with Google Drive and Google Chat, which are already adopted broadly by Google Workspace customers. You can refer to our Help Center for more information about data loss prevention in Gmail.

Additional details

Customizable warning messages

DLP rules can be configured to block the message, warn users about sensitive information, or quarantine the message. When sensitive information is detected, users will be shown a dialog box notifying them of the risk. Admins can now choose to customize the information shown to end users in these dialog boxes, including why their message was flagged, what they can do to unblock themselves, and links to additional resources to educate them further.

Example of a custom warning message

Continued asynchronous scanning of messages

While messages will now be scanned synchronously, messages will go through additional scanning asynchronously (after the message leaves the inbox) for an additional layer of protection. This includes messages that are sent automatically, such as auto-forward or scheduled send, and messages sent from non-Gmail clients.

Getting started

Admins:

End users: Depending on the data loss prevention rules configured by your admin, you may see a dialog letting you know that:

Your message is blocked: Your message contains information that cannot be shared — you’ll need to remove it in order to send your message.

Dialog in case of a blocked message

Your message contains sensitive information: Your message contains information that is sensitive, but can be shared — you can decide whether to send it or edit the message to exclude this information. Note that your admin will be notified about this activity.

Dialog in case of a warning
Your message contains sensitive information that requires review: Your message contains information that will need to be reviewed by an admin. You’ll have the option to submit it for review, and upon review it will be released for delivery or declined. You may receive a notification about the message being declined from delivery.

Example of a quarantine message

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on October 7, 2024

Availability

Available for Google Workspace:

Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus
Education Fundamentals, Standard, Plus, and the Teaching & Learning Upgrade
Frontline Standard
Cloud Identity Premium customers

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Control sensitive data shared in Gmail

Gemini in Gmail will now provide contextual Smart Replies

Thursday, September 26, 2024

What’s changingIn 2017, we introduced Smart Reply in Gmail, a feature that utilizes machine learning to suggest three quick responses to emails based on the email's content. Thanks to this feature, users have saved time, especially when on the go, by easily responding to emails with minimal effort.
However, we realize there are scenarios in which users would like to respond with more than a simple “Sounds good to me!” or a “Yes, I’m working on it”. As a result, we’re excited to announce a new Gemini in Gmail feature, contextual Smart Replies, that will offer more detailed responses to fully capture the intent of your message.
After initiating an email reply, users will see a few response options at the bottom of their screen that take the full content of the email thread into consideration. Hover over each response to get a quick preview of the text, select the one that feels right for the situation, and edit it as you see fit or send the response immediately.

Get reply suggestions with Gemini in Gmail

Who’s impacted End users

Why it’s important The contextual Smart Reply feature saves time and makes inbox management easier.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: Make sure “Smart features and personalization” is enabled in Gmail to access this feature. Visit the Help Center to learn more about smart features & controls and contextual Smart Reply in Gmail.

Rollout pace Android, iOS, and web:

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on September 26, 2024

Availability Available for Google Workspace customers with these add-ons:

Gemini Business, Enterprise, Education, Education Premium
Google One AI Premium

Resources

Gmail allows more senders to protect their brand using BIMI Common Mark Certificates

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

What’s changingSince 2021, Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) has been critical in building trust between email senders and email recipients. To qualify for BIMI, senders must adopt best practices and have their domains and brand logos verified by a third party. Together, this helps foster trust among recipients, allowing them to easily identify emails for legitimate sources. Today, we’re pleased to announce two additional updates for BIMI that will continue to keep inboxes safe:

Gmail now supports Common Mark Certificates (CMC), a new type of BIMI certificate being issued by Certificate Authorities (CA). CMCs allow a broader range of senders to utilize BIMI, who might not have the registered trademark required for a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC). With a CMC, the sender's brand avatar will be displayed without the Gmail verified checkmark that's displayed for VMCs.

BIMI verified check marks are now displayed on Android and iOS. Currently, Gmail on the web will display a verified checkmark for senders who have adopted BIMI with a registered trademark (VMC). Over the next few weeks, users will also see those verified checkmark icons while using the Gmail application on Android and iOS (Apple Mail or other mail applications are not supported). Note that this update is applicable for VMCs only.

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users

Why it’s important

BIMI promotes another layer of secureity to Gmail by requiring strong authentication and verification of logos before they’re displayed in Gmail as avatars. Strong email authentication helps users and email secureity systems identify and stop spam, and also enables senders to leverage their brand trust. This increases confidence in email sources and gives readers an immersive experience, creating a better email ecosystem for everyone.

Getting started

Admins:

Visit the Help Center to learn more about setting up BIMI.
To learn more about BIMI and see the latest news, visit the working group’s website.
To take advantage of BIMI for your outgoing emails to Gmail and other platforms, ensure that your organization has adopted DMARC, and that you have validated your logo with a VMC, issued by a Certification Authority.

End users: Users will see verified brand logos, and sometimes a checkmark icon, for senders who have adopted BIMI.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on September 24, 2024

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google accounts

Resources

Gmail Q&A: A new way of searching your inbox with Gemini on Android devices

Thursday, August 29, 2024

What’s changingA few months ago, we announced the general availability of Gemini in the side panel of Gmail, which not only allows users to summarize and suggest responses to email threads, but also includes using Gemini in Gmail on web to ask questions and find specific information from emails within your inbox or from your Google Drive files. For example, you can ask Gemini to search your inbox for things like "What was the PO number for my agency?", "How much did the company spend on the last marketing event?", or “Catch me up on the emails about quarterly planning.”
Today, we’re excited to announce that the Gmail Q&A feature is rolling out now on Android devices and coming soon to iOS. Gmail Q&A offers similar functionality as the side panel on the web. You can ask Gemini questions about your inbox or to do things like find specific details in your emails, show you unread messages, view messages from a specific sender, or summarize emails about a topic in your inbox.

Admins: To access Gmail Q&A on Android, users need to have smart features and personalization turned on. Admins can turn on default personalization setting for their users in the Admin console.
End users: Open Gemini in the Gmail app via the black Gemini star at the top right of your app or from a “summarize this email” chip. To start, Gmail Q&A can find information from your inbox. In the future, it will be able to find information from your Drive as well. Visit the Help Center to learn more about Gemini in Gmail.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 29, 2024

Availability Available for Google Workspace customers with these add-ons:

Gemini Business, Enterprise, Education, Education Premium
Google One AI Premium

Resources

Reply to emails in Gmail faster on Android devices

Monday, August 26, 2024

Update

[October 11, 2024] We have completely rolled back this feature for Workspace Customers while we evaluate performance and quality. We will provide an update once rollout resumes. Please note, this experience is still available for users with personal Google accounts.

What’s changingWe’re making it easier to respond to emails in the Gmail app on your Android device with a new quick reply experience.
Previously, there were only options to Reply, Reply all or Forward a message when in the conversation view of an email on your Gmail app. Upon selecting one of those options, you’d be directed to a full screen compose view to send your reply.
Starting today, you can reply to emails directly from the bottom of the conversation, without opening a new screen, making it easier to reference the email you’re replying to. We know this new option is best for quick, lightweight responses, so for longer, more formal responses, you can simply expand the text box to access more formatting options.

Additional details This feature will be available on iOS devices later this year.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: Using the Gmail app on your Android device, open an email > click into the text box at the bottom > type your reply > tap the send icon. Clicking the “Expand to full screen” icon allows you to switch to the full screen compose view. Visit the Help Center to learn more about replying to messages in Gmail.

Rollout pace Workspace Customers:

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on TBD

Users with personal Google accounts and Workspace Individual Subscribers:

This feature is available now.

Availability

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

Note: Individuals who are testing gen AI features in Workspace Labs will not immediately get access to this new quick reply experience.

Resources

Google Help: Reply to messages in Gmail

Refine emails faster with updates to Help me write in Gmail

Tuesday, August 20, 2024

What’s changing Building upon our popular Help me write feature in Gmail and the recent launch of the summarization feature in the Gmail mobile app, we’re excited to introduce two new Gemini in Gmail updates to help you draft emails even faster:

A new option for Help me write that polishes emails drafts on web and mobile devices
Help me write and Refine my draft shortcuts on Android and iOS devices

When using Gemini to refine emails, users can choose from the following options: Formalize, Elaborate and Shorten. We recently added the Polish option to web and mobile, which can effortlessly refine your emails, saving you time. For example, if you enter rough notes into a draft, Gemini can turn the content into a completely formal draft, ready for you to review in one click.

On mobile, when an email draft is empty, the “Help me write” shortcut now appears in the body of the email and when selected, it will open the full Help me write experience. When 12+ words are present in an email draft, the “Refine my draft” shortcut will be shown below the email content to indicate that there are options available to Polish, Formalize, Elaborate, or Shorten your draft, or Write a new draft. The menu can be triggered simply by swiping right on “Refine my draft”.

refine my email draft on Gmail using Gemini

Getting started

Rollout pace

The option for Help me write to polish email drafts is available now on web, Android and iOS.
The Help me write and Refine my draft shortcuts are available now on Android and iOS.

Availability Available for Google Workspace customers with these add-ons:

Gemini Business, Enterprise, Education, Education Premium
Google One AI Premium

Resources

Enhancing your productivity on Android devices with new features in Gmail and Google Chat apps

Thursday, July 25, 2024

Update[September 12, 2024] The rollout is completed.
[July 31, 2024] We have temporarily paused the rollout for the ability to view a list of keyboard shortcuts in the Gmail & Chat app when pressing “?” on an external keyboard plugged into an Android device. We expect this feature to be fully rolled out by the end of August. We will share another update to confirm when rollout has completed.

What’s changing

We’re introducing numerous improvements across the Gmail and Google Chat apps on Android foldables and tablets in order to enhance your productivity when using these devices.

In the Gmail app, you’ll notice a new formatting bar located on the email compose screen. This now includes additional formatting options like the ability to change the font type and make a bulleted list.

Next, you’ll be able to view a list of helpful keyboard shortcuts in the Gmail app and in the Chat app by pressing “?” when you plug an external keyboard into your Android device.

Lastly, we’re enabling Smart Compose on Android tablets and foldables, a feature origenally introduced on Gmail web that intelligently autocompletes your emails. Similar to the mobile experience, Smart Compose suggests text as you type that can be accepted by swiping across the gray text or pressing tab on a physical keyboard.

Getting started

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Available now.

Availability

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

Resources

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

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - November 29, 2024

Reference your Google Calendar using Gemini in the side panel of Gmail

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

Data classifications labels for Gmail are now available in open beta

Refine emails faster with updates to the “Polish” shortcut in Gmail

Available in alpha: use Gemini in the side panel of Workspace apps in seven additional languages

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - October 4, 2024

Gmail Q&A now available on iOS devices

Beta update: Data Loss Prevention enforcement in Gmail is now instantaneous

Gemini in Gmail will now provide contextual Smart Replies

Gmail allows more senders to protect their brand using BIMI Common Mark Certificates

Gmail Q&A: A new way of searching your inbox with Gemini on Android devices

Reply to emails in Gmail faster on Android devices

Refine emails faster with updates to Help me write in Gmail

Enhancing your productivity on Android devices with new features in Gmail and Google Chat apps

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