This official feed from the Google Workspace team provides essential information about new features and improvements for Google Workspace customers.
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What’s changing 

For those who prefer to listen to document content, we’re excited to introduce the ability to create audio versions of your documents using Gemini in Google Docs. 

Whether you want to hear your content out loud, absorb information better while reading, or help catch errors in your writing, audio versions of your documents provide you with clear, natural-sounding voices that read your documents aloud. You also have the option to customize your audio experience with a variety of voices and playback speeds to match your personal preferences. 

This new feature includes capabilities for both authors and readers to listen to documents. More specifically:

Readers can access the Listen to this tab option, available in the Tools > Audio menu, to quickly listen to the contents of the current tab. 


Authors can add Audio buttons, available in the Insert > Audio buttons menu, which inserts a play button directly into documents so readers can easily listen to the current tab with a single click. Once added to the document, authors can change the label, color, and size of the button. 


Who’s impacted 

End users 

Why you’d use it 


This new audio feature in Docs helps you engage with your content in fresh ways and can improve accessibility of your documents. Additional details This feature is only available in English and on desktop at this time. 

Getting started 


Rollout pace 


Availability 

Available to Google Workspace: 
  • Business Standard and Plus 
  • Enterprise Standard and Plus 
  • Customers with the Gemini Education or Gemini Education Premium add-on 
  • Customers with the Gemini Business or Gemini Enterprise add-on* 
  • Google AI Pro and Ultra 
*As of January 15, 2025, we’re no longer offering the Gemini Business and Gemini Enterprise add-ons for sale. Please refer to this announcement for more details. 

Resources 

Read More

Building upon the ability to generate images using Gemini in Google Docs on web, we’re excited to announce you can now generate images in Docs on your Android mobile device. Once you select the image, you can then save it, copy it, or insert it into a document. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using Gemini in Google Docs.


Rollout Pace

Rapid and Scheduled release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 14 days for feature visibility) staring on August 8, 2025. 

Availability

Available to Business Standard and Plus; Enterprise Standard and Plus; Google AI Pro and Ultra, customers with the Gemini Education or Gemini Education Premium add-on, and anyone who previously purchased a Gemini Business or Gemini Enterprise add-on. 


Read More

What’s changing

We’re excited to bring the power of Gemini in Docs to your iOS devices so that you can more effectively understand, summarize, and ask questions about documents on mobile. Gemini in Docs on iOS is available in 20+ languages. 

Gemini in the Google Docs app on an iPhone

Gemini in the Google Docs app on an iPhone
Who’s impacted 

End users 

Why you’d use it

Gemini is included in Google Workspace business plans, allowing you to easily work on-the-go without switching apps or downloading a separate AI solution. Now you can use Gemini in Docs on iOS devices to: 
  • Get the gist of a long research report with an AI generated summary that you can read on your phone while commuting 
  • Ask Gemini questions about a specific detail buried in a budget document so that you can find the answers you need before a meeting 
  • Quickly create the first draft of a launch plan with a simple prompt after a team brainstorm while the details are fresh in your mind 

Additional details 

Certain features, such as Help me write, Help me create, and image generation are not available on mobile at this time. 

Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: 
    • Access Gemini by tapping on the spark icon on the top app bar. You can then navigate through different actions such as, “summarize this document,” or “suggest improvements” options, or submit a prompt of your own. 
    • This feature is only available on iOS tablets and phones running iOS 16+. 
    • Visit the Help Center to learn more about collaborating with Gemini in Google Docs. 

Rollout pace

Availability 

Available to Google Workspace: 
  • Business Standard and Plus 
  • Enterprise Standard and Plus 
  • Customers with the Gemini Education or Gemini Education Premium add-on 
  • Customers with the Gemini Business or Gemini Enterprise add-on* 
*As of January 15, 2025, we’re no longer offering the Gemini Business and Gemini Enterprise add-ons for sale. Please refer to this announcement for more details. 

Resources

Read More

Update

[July 8, 2025]: We have updated the Rollout section with the latest timelines -- please see below for more information.


What’s changing

Currently, when you’re using the Gemini app, you can use Gems, custom AI experts that can help you complete specific goals, tasks, and workflows based on your input. You can also take advantage of pre-made Gems as well, like writing editor, coding partner, sales pitch ideator, and more. 

Today, we’re bringing the power of Gems directly into the side panel of Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, Drive, and Gmail.

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users

Why you’d use them

Gems can help you further leverage the power of Gemini in a way that’s customized to your needs more efficiently by minimizing repetitive prompting. You can now take advantage of Gems directly from the side panel of several Google Workspace apps. This includes your custom Gems or pre-made gems. Without needing to switch between applications, you can use Gems in the side panel to:

  • Leverage a copywriting Gem to create posts and content tailored to your target audience, pre-loaded into the Gem.
  • Create a Gem that helps with sales interactions that is grounded on information for a specific company, prospect, or industry. 
  • Leverage an "assistant gem" tailored to your job role to help provide more relevant summaries for you and content for internal communications.
  • Leverage a Gem designed to help pressure test content from a certain persona (e.x C-Suite or CEO) to help you create the most compelling message.

Additional details

If you don't see a Gem that meets your needs, or want to customize a Gem for a specific task, you can create your own at gemini.google.com/gems/create. Both custom and premade Gems will appear in the side panel across all supported Workspace applications, and can leverage many Workspace capabilities including @ mentioning, accessing files and folders in your corpus, and more. Visit the Help Center for more information on working with Gems.

Getting started

  • Admins: There are no admin controls for Gems or Gemini in the side panel of supported Google Workspace apps.

  • End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about using Gems. You can access the Gemini in the side panel by clicking on “Ask Gemini” (spark button) in the top right corner of Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive on the web. Visit the Help Center to learn more about collaborating with Gemini in Google Drive, as well as Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides, and Gmail.

Rollout pace


Availability

  • Available for Google Workspace customers who can access Gemini in the side panel of Workspace apps and Gems in the Gemini app.

Resources


Read More

8 New updates

Unless 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.

Providing support for Microsoft Office embedded files in Google Drive 
To ensure users have a seamless experience when working with Microsoft Office files, we’re excited to announce that users can now open Microsoft Office files that contain embedded PDFs in Google Drive. | Rolling out now to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains. | Available to Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about working with Microsoft Office files. 

Use Imagen 4 to generate images in Google Docs, Slides and Vids in multiple languages 
Users can now utilize our highest quality image generation model, Imagen 4, which delivers: 
  • Outstanding text rendering and prompt adherence 
  • Higher overall image quality across all styles 
  • Multilingual prompt support in these 20+ languages 
Rolling out now to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains. | Available to Google Workspace Business and Enterprise users with access to Gemini in Docs and Slides, and users with access to Gemini in Vids. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about collaborating with Gemini Slides, Vids and Docs.
using spanish to generate visual content in Vids
View the most relevant search results in Gmail
Over the years, we’ve implemented updates to help you find exactly what you’re looking for with less effort when searching in Gmail. In March, we announced a smarter search feature powered by AI to quickly show users the most relevant results, and today we’re excited to extend this to businesses. Now, instead of just showing emails in chronological order based on keywords, Gmail search results will factor in elements like recency, most-clicked emails and frequent contacts. With this update, the emails you’re looking for are far more likely to be at the top of your search results — saving you valuable time and helping you find important information more easily. You can also select between “most relevant” and “most recent” results. | Rollout to Rapid Release 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 the search in Gmail.
View the most relevant search results in Gmail

    A search view before and after. Now, search results are sorted by relevance instead of in chronological order to help you find your intended result, faster.

    Automated meeting recording, transcripts and notes available in seven additional languages
    Currently, when an Admin pre-configures meeting recordings, meeting transcripts, or “Take notes for me” in Meet as ON by default for newly created meetings, the artifacts are generated in English. Today, we’re expanding the language availability to include:
    • French
    • German
    • Italian
    • Japanese
    • Korean
    • Portuguese
    • Spanish
    The meeting artifacts will automatically be generated in the meeting host’s language if it is supported. | Rolling out now to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains. | Meeting recordings and transcripts are available to Google Workspace Business Plus; Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus; Enterprise Standard, Plus; Education Plus, and the Teaching and Learning add-on. “Take notes for me” is available to Business Standard and Business Plus; Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus; the Gemini Education and Education Premium add-on and those customers who previously purchased a Gemini Business, Gemini Enterprise or AI Meetings & Messages add-on. | Admins visit the Help Center to learn more about choosing automatic meeting artifact settings for your organization. | End users visit the Help Center to learn more about recording a meeting, using meeting Transcripts, and taking notes with Gemini in Meet. Meeting hosts and co-hosts can edit these settings in the Calendar invite, as well as turn these artifacts off during the meeting.

    Studio lighting in Google Meet is now available on all devices 
    We’re pleased to announce that studio lighting in Google Meet is now available on all devices. Using machine learning, Gemini in Meet will simulate studio-quality lighting and adjust light position and brightness in your video feed, so you're perfectly lit for your meeting. | Available now. | Rollout to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains is complete. | Available for Google Workspace Business Standard and Plus, and Enterprise Standard and Plus. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about improving your video experience. 

    Video file uploads are now available to Google Workspace users in the Gemini mobile app 
    You can now upload videos stored on your mobile device to provide more context to your prompts in the Gemini mobile app. You can ask Gemini to summarize the video, ask Gemini specific questions about the video and more. | Rollout to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains is complete. | Available to all Google Workspace users with access to the Gemini app. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about how to upload and analyze files in the Gemini Apps. 

    Boost productivity with scheduled actions in Gemini 
    You can now use scheduled actions in Gemini to create personalized updates, set reminders, or complete routine tasks in a chat or based on existing prompts. You can set these actions to your preferred frequency, be it a single reminder, or daily or weekly updates. Some ways you can use scheduled actions are: 
    • Daily summaries of your calendar, to-do list, and unread emails for the day ahead. 
    • Daily news briefings: deliver a concise, easy-to-digest summary of the day’s top news stories or a specific topic. 
    • Competitive landscape monitoring: Monitor online news, press releases, social media content, and more based on a specific industry. 
    • Weekly vocabulary builders: Receive a curated list of new vocabulary words, complete with definitions and example sentences, tailored to your learning level. 
    Rollout to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains is complete. | Available with a qualifying edition of Google Workspace for Gemini on the web and mobile and in all supported languages. This feature is only available for users 18+ at this time. | Admins: For Gemini to access data from apps like Gmail, Calendar, and Drive, Workspace apps in Gemini must be turned ON. | End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about scheduling actions in Gemini.

    Google Drive log events now include search related information 
    We’re expanding Drive log events in the security investigation tool to include search events. This includes information on resources returned from a search, the query the user entered, and more. Admins can use this information to help assess whether there is normal search behavior or whether the behavior was anomalous and indicating potential data exfiltration. This information can also be queried via API – check out our API documentation for more information. | Rollout to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains is complete. | Available for Google Workspace Business Starter, Standard, and Plus; Enterprise Starter, Standard, and Plus; Education Fundamentals, Standard, and Plus; Frontline Starter and Standard. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about Drive log events and the security investigation tool.
    Google Drive log events now include search related information

    Previous announcements

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

    Adding granular control options for who can respond to existing Google Forms 
    In addition to being available on newly created forms, we’re excited to announce that starting today this option is now available on existing forms. As a result, form creators can upgrade existing or old forms to have more granular controls over who can respond to them. | Learn more about controls for existing forms. 

    Google Classroom now supports exporting grades and importing data with STLink SIS 
    Google Classroom teachers can now export and import select information via the new integration with Bubblecon STLink, a South Korean third-party student information system (SIS) that provides an innovative edtech platform. | Learn more about Bubblecon STLink. 

    Changes to "Who can manage" and "Who can view" members in Google Groups starting September 15, 2025 
    There are upcoming changes to permissions in Google Groups which will be implemented starting September 15, 2025. | Learn more about changes to Google Groups.

    Generate data with Gemini in Google Sheets
    Currently, you can utilize Gemini in Google Sheets to generate charts and valuable insights, and this week, we’re excited to bring AI directly into the cells of your spreadsheet with the power of AI function. | Learn more about AI function in Sheets.

    See summaries of even more file types directly in Google Chat
    Earlier this year, we introduced the ability for users to easily summarize Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets files shared within a Google Chat conversation. Today, we’re excited to expand this feature to PDF, Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), CSV, txt, and zip files shared as Drive links in Chat. | Learn more about summaries in Chat.

    Updates to the GitHub app for Google Chat 
    We're announcing additional updates and functionality that improve upon the overall experience using the GitHub app for Google Chat. | Learn more about GitHub app for Google Chat.

    Gemini Add-ons will no longer appear under subscriptions in the Admin console for Workspace Business and Enterprise customers
    In January 2025, we announced our plan to bring premium AI features directly to our Business and Enterprise offerings, helping our customers and their users boost productivity, creativity, and innovation, transforming how they work. We also stopped charging for Gemini add-ons that you may have purchased previously for your Business and Enterprise offerings after January 31, 2025. | Learn more about add-on subscriptions.

    Introducing Google AI Ultra for Business: Providing Access to Advanced AI Features and Next-Gen tools
    We’re pleased to introduce Google AI Ultra for Business, a new Workspace add-on that provides the highest access to AI features and models and access to next-generation AI tools. | Learn more about Google AI Ultra for Business.

    Introducing more granular controls for multi-party approvals for sensitive admin actions
    Last year, we introduced multi-party approval (MPA), a security feature that requires an admin to approve certain sensitive actions initiated by another admin. Today, we’re enhancing this feature by giving admins more granular controls. | Learn more about granular controls for multi-party approvals.

    Completed rollouts

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

    Rapid Release Domains: 
    Scheduled 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).
    Read More

    What’s changing

    We’re excited to bring the power of Gemini in Docs to your Android devices so that you can understand, summarize, and ask questions about documents on mobile. As a result, you can use Gemini to surface insights and key points on-the-go. Plus, Gemini in Docs on Android is available in 20+ languages.
    Gemini in the Google Docs app on an Android phone

    Who’s impacted 

    End users 

    Why you’d use it 

    Gemini is included in Google Workspace business plans, allowing you to easily work on-the-go without switching apps or downloading a separate AI solution. Now you can use Gemini in Docs on Android devices to: 
    • Get the gist of a long research report with an AI generated summary that you can read on your phone while commuting 
    • Ask Gemini questions about a specific detail buried in a budget document so that you know the answer going into your meeting 
    • Quickly create the first draft of a launch plan with a simple prompt after a team brainstorm while the details are fresh in your mind 

    Additional details 

    Certain features, such as Help me write, Help me create, and image generation are not available on mobile at this time. 

    Getting started

    • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
    • End users: 
      • Access Gemini by tapping on the spark icon on the top app bar. You can then navigate through different actions such as, “summarize this document,” or “suggest improvements” options, or submit a prompt of your own.
      • This feature is only available on Android tablets and phones running Android 8+ 
      • Visit the Help Center to learn more about collaborating with Gemini in Google Docs.

    Rollout pace 

    Availability

    Available to Google Workspace: 
    • Business Standard and Plus 
    • Enterprise Standard and Plus 
    • Customers with the Gemini Education or Gemini Education Premium add-on 
    Anyone who previously purchased these add-ons will also receive this feature: 
    • Gemini Business* 
    • Gemini Enterprise* 
    *As of January 15, 2025, we’re no longer offering the Gemini Business and Gemini Enterprise add-ons for sale. Please refer to this announcement for more details.

    Resources 

    Read More

    What’s changing 

    You can now see suggestions when viewing a client-side encrypted Google Doc. Those with edit access will be able to interact with suggestions, including adding, editing, accepting, and rejecting suggestions. This update adds to existing functionality for client-side encrypted docs, which includes comments and action items. Further, this added functionality helps brings user experience parity to encrypted documents while ensuring your data is behind encryption keys you control, including the identity provider used to access those keys

    Suggestions in a client-side encrypted doc


    Getting started

    Rollout pace

    Availability

    Available to Google Workspace 
    • Enterprise Plus
    • Education Standard and Plus
    • Frontline Plus

    Resources


    Read More

    What’s changing 

    Launching in beta, you can now view and edit client-side encrypted Microsoft Word files in Google Docs. Any changes made are saved in the original Word format. This update makes it easy for you to leverage Google Workspace with the tools and formats you already use while preserving confidentiality of your sensitive data with client-side encryption. 


    Eligible Google Workspace admins can use this form to request access to the beta. We’ll share more specific instructions once you’re accepted into the beta.

    In Google Docs, navigate to File > Open.



    Additional details

    Note that with this release:
    • You can only view and edit .docx Word file types. Additional Word file types are not supported.
    • The maximum file size is 20MB.
    • As we continue to improve Office editing in encrypted Google Docs, you may encounter incompatibilities for certain features. Some features may not be displayed and may not be editable, but will be preserved in the document and viewable in Microsoft Office.
    • Other features may be lost or altered in the latest version of the file when it is edited in Google Docs. You will see a notification within the document if editing will cause any features to be lost.


    Getting started

    Rollout pace

    • The feature will be available immediately once you're accepted into the beta.

    Availability

    Available to Google Workspace 
    • Enterprise Plus
    • Education Standard and Plus
    • Frontline Plus


    Read More

    6 New updates

    Unless 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.


    Easily connect to BigQuery data using Saved Queries in Connected Sheets 
    We’re launching direct access to the BigQuery saved queries feature directly from Connected Sheets. Users can now quickly and easily create a new Connected Sheet by selecting a previously saved query under any project they have access to. | Rolling out now to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains. | Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Learn more about analyzing & refreshing BigQuery data in Google Sheets using Connected Sheets, getting started with BigQuery data in Google Sheets and writing & editing a query.

    Scan documents easier using Google Drive on Android devices 
    To improve upon the scanning experience in the Google Drive app on Android devices, we’re increasing the size and updating the style of the scan buttons. To scan something, open the Drive app on your Android device > scan a document > edit scan (if desired) > upload to Drive. | Rollout to Rapid Release domains is complete; Rolling out now to Scheduled Release domains, with expected completion by June 30, 2025. | Available to Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about scanning documents with Google Drive.

    Scan documents easier using Google Drive on Android devices

    Chat apps can now create spaces with their own identity using the Google Chat API
    Last year, we introduced a feature through the Google Workspace Developer Preview Program that enables Chat apps to create spaces and memberships - using application identity - via the Google Chat API. This update further enhances Chat apps for real-time collaboration and allows for even more sophisticated and autonomous Chat apps by eliminating the need to create spaces and memberships on behalf of a user. This week, we’re excited to announce that this is now generally available for Google Workspace developers. | Rolling out now to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains. | Available to all Google Workspace customers. | Visit the Developer blog to see an example and learn more about what this means for developers. You can also visit our developer documentation to explore how to authenticate and authorize Chat apps, and learn how to create spaces and add space members using application identity.
    Chat apps can now create spaces with their own identity using the Google Chat API
    Export Gemini responses to a Google Doc or Sheet from Gemini in the side panel of Google Drive
    Users can collaborate with Gemini in Google Drive to perform various tasks, such as extracting data, drafting proposals, creating study guides and more. We’re excited to build upon this by giving users the ability to convert Gemini’s response directly into a Sheet or a Doc. After asking Gemini a question, click the ‘Export to Doc’ or ‘Export to Sheet’ button, and you’ll have an artifact that you can continue working on or share with others. | Rolling out now to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains. | Available to Business Standard and Plus; Enterprise Standard and Plus; Google One AI Premium; Customers with the Gemini Education or Gemini Education Premium add-on, and anyone who previously purchased a Gemini Business or Gemini Enterprise add-on. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about collaborating with Gemini in Google Drive.
    Export Gemini responses to a Google Doc or Sheet from the Gemini side panel in Google Drive

    Create even more interactive YouTube assignments in Google Classroom
    In 2024, we added AI-suggested questions that educators can easily attach to the video based on its content to save educators time. Today, we’re excited to announce that we’re expanding the collection of YouTube videos that have AI-suggested questions available. As a result, educators can create even more interactive YouTube assignments in Classroom more quickly and efficiently, with the help of Gemini. Before assigning the interactive video activity, educators will be able to edit the suggested questions ahead of attaching the YouTube video to the assignment. | Rollout to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains is complete. | Available for Google Workspace Education Plus and the Teaching and Learning add-on. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about interactive questions for YouTube videos in Google Classroom.

    Your users can now express interest in upgrading their Google Workspace subscription 
    We’re introducing a simple way for Workspace end users to request an upgraded edition of Google Workspace from their admins. To send this request, Workspace end users will see a path to request an upgraded Workspace edition including additional Gemini features when they interact with Gemini, such as with the Gemini icon displayed across Workspace apps. This interaction will provide an end user a path to complete a request form for an upgraded Workspace edition. Super admins will receive this request by email, and from there they can choose to upgrade their Workspace subscription directly in the Admin console. | Admins can disable these requests at any time in the Admin console by going to Account > Account Settings > Gemini for Google Workspace, and deselecting the ‘User-requested upgrades’ setting — use this article in our Help Center for more information. | Please note this is only available for customers in the US and India with fewer than 300 licenses. | Rolling out now to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains. | Learn more about Gemini for Workspace, including our recent Gemini for Workspace announcements.

    Previous announcements

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

    Use Gemini in Drive to interact with folders in 20+ additional languages
    Last year, we added folder support to Gemini in the side panel of Google Drive. This week, we’re excited to announce this experience is now available in 20+ languages. | Learn more about language availability for Gemini in Drive. 

    Use Gemini in Google Sheets to quickly add dropdowns, pivot tables, filters, and more 
    Analyzing and manipulating data in spreadsheets can be complex and time-consuming, even for experienced users. This week, we're introducing powerful new editing options within Gemini in Sheets that are designed to help everyone accomplish more, faster. | Learn more about Gemini in Sheets. 

    Google Workspace apps for Gmail, Google Drive, Google Docs, Calendar, Keep, and Tasks are now generally available for the Gemini app 
    Earlier this year, we launched Google Workspace apps (formerly known as "extensions") in Gemini in open beta. When enabled, Gemini can reference and incorporate data from these apps to generate even more informed and relevant responses, bringing Gemini’s capabilities more seamlessly into your daily workflows, helping enhance productivity. Workspace apps are available for: Calendar, Docs, Drive, Gmail, Keep, Tasks. | Learn more about Workspace apps in the Gemini app. 

    Extract and categorize data in AppSheet with the power of Gemini 
    At Google Cloud Next 2025, we introduced Gemini in AppSheet solutions for AppSheet Enterprise Plus users. Now you can automatically extract key information from uploaded photos, parse through complex PDFs, or even categorize, route and prioritize incoming requests based on their content – all seamlessly within your existing AppSheet apps. The new AI Task (Preview) feature, powered by Gemini, makes this a reality. | Learn more about Gemini in AppSheet. 

    Upcoming Changes to Microsoft Exchange Migrations 
    Beginning May 31, 2025, the legacy Data Migration Service will no longer support migrating email, calendar, and contact data from Microsoft Exchange on-premises servers (e.g., Exchange 2010, 2013, or 2016). Admins will not be able to start new migrations after May 31, 2025 – migrations that are in progress will continue until completion. | Learn more about changes to Microsoft Exchange Migrations.

    Completed rollouts

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

    Rapid Release Domains: 
    Scheduled 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).
    Read More

    What’s changing

    Earlier this year, we launched Google Workspace apps (formerly known as "extensions") in Gemini in open beta. When enabled, Gemini can reference and incorporate data from these apps to generate even more informed and relevant responses, bringing Gemini’s capabilities more seamlessly into your daily workflows, helping enhance productivity. Workspace apps are available for:

    • Calendar
    • Docs
    • Drive
    • Gmail
    • Keep
    • Tasks

    Beginning today, we’re pleased to announce that extensions for these apps are now generally available.

    Who’s impacted

    Admins and end users

    Why you’d use them

    When enabled, Gemini can interact with other Google apps and services to provide more contextual and relevant responses to your prompts and take certain actions across apps. For example, you can:

    • Gmail: ask what dates were proposed in the email about the team offsite.
    • Drive: find the document about the website clean-up project and summarize the proposal in a few bullet points.
    • Docs: reference a Doc that outlines your target audiences while performing customer research in parallel. 
    • Calendar: create an event based on specific details or based on the conversation with the Gemini app, find events for a specific day or date range, modify events in Calendar.
    • Tasks: add reminders and tasks, including those based on your conversations with Gemini, or view and update a list of your tasks.
    • Keep: create notes and lists, add items to an existing list, find content from your notes and lists, and reference your notes and lists in conversion with Gemini.

    Additional details

    • Context aware access support:
      • Like all Google apps, context-access aware policies can be applied to the Gemini app. Note that at the moment, CAA policies can only be applied to Gemini on the web, they cannot be applied on mobile.
      • If these policies are not met, users will not be allowed to access Gemini.
      • If a user meets the Gemini app specific CAA policies, they can interact with Gemini. If a prompt requires access to Workspace data, CAA policies will determine if a user has access to the requested data. For example, if a user asks Gemini "What are my unread emails?", they will see the requested content if they have access or they’ll receive an error message.

    • If your prompt includes multiple actions that require separate apps or services, but one or more of the required services are not enabled, neither of the actions will be completed. For example, if you prompt Gemini to create an event on your calendar and a reminder for that event but the Tasks extension is not enabled, the event will not be added to your calendar and you will not get a reminder.

    • Google Workspace extensions are not available to Google Workspace users accessing Gemini as an additional Google service. 

    • Google Workspace extensions are only available to users 13+.

    • All prompts, responses, or content the Gemini app gets via apps (fka extensions), is not reviewed by anyone to improve AI models, not used to train AI models, and not shared with other users or institutions.

    • Note that Google Workspace Education Fundamentals users do not have access to Drive or Docs in the Gemini app. They can access Gmail, Calendar, Keep, and Tasks.

    Getting started

    • Admins: Access to Workspace apps is controlled by the new “Allow access to Workspace apps after Beta (upcoming general availability)” setting. Access is ON by default unless you previously took action on the setting leading into general availability. Visit the Help Center for more information on turning Workspace apps in Gemini on or off.

    • End users: If enabled by your admin, connecting Google Workspace allows users to summarize, get quick answers, and find information from Calendar, Keep and Tasks in addition to Gmail, Docs, and Drive directly in Gemini. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using Google Workspace extensions.

    Rollout pace



    Availability

    Available for Google Workspace:
    • Business Starter, Standard, Plus
    • Enterprise Starter, Standard, Plus
    • Education Fundamentals, Standard, and Plus
    • Frontline Starter and Standard
    • Essentials, Enterprise Essentials, and Enterprise Essentials Plus
    • Nonprofits

    Available for Google Workspace customers with these add-ons:
    • Gemini Business*
    • Gemini Enterprise*
    • Gemini Education
    • Gemini Education Premium
    *As of January 15, 2025, we’re no longer offering the Gemini Business and Gemini Enterprise add-ons for sale. Please refer to this announcement for more details.

    Availability

    Read More

    What’s changing

    Today we’re launching Out-of-Domain file-level warnings, now publicly available to all Google Workspace users. Specifically, a badge will be displayed on Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files when the file is owned by or shared with someone outside of your domain. You'll also see a pop-up with more details and the option to report the externally owned file for abuse. 

    An image showing a Google Doc with the word "External" displayed in a small yellow badge next to the document title. The badge has been clicked, and a pop-up window appears with more information stating that “This document is owned by someone outside your organization. Be cautious about sharing sensitive information
    Image of "External" badge displayed in Google Docs


    This feature helps users identify potentially risky files and avoid phishing scams when working with files shared from outside your organization.


    Additional details

    • Known Limitations:
      • For externally shared content, the badge will not be displayed if any internal Google Groups have access to the document, even if these groups have external members.
      • If any service accounts have access to the document, the External badge will be displayed, even if the service account is owned internally.


    Getting started

    Screenshot of the Google Workspace Admin console, navigated to Sharing settings. At the bottom of the page, a new section labeled "Highlight external files" is highlighted. The checkbox is checked, and the description reads: "Mark external files shared or owned externally as “external” to flag that content may be viewable outside your organization.
     Image of the Google Workspace Admin console, Sharing settings, showing the "Highlight external files" option enabled


    Rollout pace


    Availability

    • Available for all Google Workspace customers, as well as Cloud Identity customers

    Resources

    Read More

    What’s changing

    In 2022, we introduced a smart canvas feature that enables you to format and display code in Google Docs with code blocks. 

    We’re adding support for additional code languages to give even more users the ability to easily visualize code, making more code readable and collaboration much easier. Starting today, users can now format code blocks in the following additional programming languages: 
    • C# 
    • Go 
    • Kotlin 
    • PHP 
    • Rust 
    • TypeScript 
    • HTML 
    • CSS 
    • XML 
    • JSON 
    • Protobuf 
    • Textproto 
    • SQL 
    • Bash/Shell 
    additional Docs code blocks programming languages


    Getting started 

    • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
    • End users: To format and display code in a Doc, select Insert > Building blocks > Code blocks > choose your programming language or search @ > Code blocks > choose your programming language. Visit the Help Center to learn more about inserting smart chips & building blocks in your Google Doc. 

    Rollout pace 

    Availability 

    Available for Google Workspace: 
    • Business Standard and Plus 
    • Enterprise Starter, Standard and Plus 
    • Enterprise Essentials Plus 
    • Education Standard and Plus 

    Resources 

    Read More

    Useful Links

    Join the official community for Google Workspace administrators

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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.

    Learn about our customers

    Discover how a diverse range of organizations, from small businesses and nimble startups to globally recognized Fortune 500 corporations, leverage the collaborative power of Google Workspace. Explore examples of how teams of are streamlining workflows and driving productivity by utilizing Google-Workspace.