Google Workspace Updates: January 2023

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - January 27, 2023

Friday, January 27, 2023

2 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.

Rollout update for the new Gmail user interface

Beginning today, the new Gmail user interface is rolling out for scheduled release domains, with anticipated completion by February 3, 2023. This will become the standard experience for Gmail, with no option to revert to the original UI. For more information, see our previous announcement.

Display space names when granting access to files

When sharing a Google Drive file to a space in Google Chat, you will now see the space name and associated image if you are a member of the space. If you are not a member of the space, but would still like to share a file to that space, the space name will show as “Private Space.”

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.

Check availability across multiple calendars when using appointment schedules on Google Calendar

We’ve introduced the ability to check and see a visual preview of multiple calendars when setting up your appointment schedules. Your booking page will show you as unavailable when you’re busy based on the calendars you choose. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Education Plus, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Nonprofits customers only. | Learn more.

Easily share access to presented content in Google Meet with all attendees

We’ve made two improvements which will make file sharing in Google Meet even easier. First, you can now share access to the content you’re presenting in a meeting with attendees, including everyone on the Calendar guest list, directly from Meet. Second, whenever you paste a link into the meeting chat, you’ll be prompted with the file access dialog — from here you can adjust access as needed and choose to attach the file to the calendar event. | Learn more.

Improved membership management for spaces

We’ve introduced a new fullscreen experience for managing members in a space that replaces the current "View members" and “Add people and apps” options in Google Chat. | Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Frontline customers only. | Learn more.

Completed rollouts

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

Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains:

New in-meeting reactions for Google Meet (Web)
New beta to move folders from My Drive to shared drives now available (Update to user roles)
New built-in interoperability between Google Meet and Zoom (Admin setting & Meet interop on Zoom Rooms)
[Weekly Recap] Set and share personal pronouns across Google Workspace products
For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

Improved membership management for spaces

Thursday, January 26, 2023

What’s changingWe’re introducing a new fullscreen experience for managing members in a space that replaces the current "View members" and “Add people and apps” options in Google Chat.

Upon clicking the new “Manage members” option, you can view a list of those added and invited to the space, in addition to space settings. From there you can add or remove members and update settings. In addition, you can manage Chat apps or integrations by using a newly added “Apps & integrations” option in the space menu.

Who’s impacted

End users

Why you’d use it

This simplification makes the process of viewing and organizing space membership much easier.

Additional details

This update is currently available on web only and will become available on mobile later this quarter.

Getting started

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

To manage members of a space, click the space header and then select “Manage Members” to view, add or remove members from the member list.
You can change the access setting of a space by selecting the “Space settings” option below “Manage Members”
Visit the Help Center to learn more about adding or removing people from a space or group and getting started with apps in Google Chat.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on January 26, 2023
Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on February 13, 2023

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Frontline customers
Not available to Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers
Not available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Easily share access to presented content in Google Meet with all attendees

Wednesday, January 25, 2023

What’s changingWe’ve made two improvements which will make file sharing in Google Meet even easier:First, you can now share access to the content you’re presenting in a meeting with attendees, including everyone on the Calendar guest list, directly from Meet. While presenting, you can share the file from the floating action menu or via the suggestion in the Meet Chat.

Meeting attendees will see a notification when you’ve shared a file, and a link to the file will be automatically shared in the meeting chat.

Second, whenever you paste a link into the meeting chat, you’ll be prompted with the file access dialog — from here you can adjust access as needed and choose to attach the file to the calendar event.

Who’s impacted

End users

Why it’s important

By allowing sharing directly from Meet, you can seamlessly share presented content without having to switch into another window to grant access, which can be disruptive. This makes it easier for meeting attendees to follow along with your presentation, find and reference your material later on, and continue working on action items from the meeting.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: These updates will be available by default. Visit the Help Center to learn more about presenting during a video meeting.

Rollout pace

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

Google Workspace Admin Help: Present during a video meeting

Check availability across multiple calendars when using appointment schedules on Google Calendar

Tuesday, January 24, 2023

What’s changingThe appointment scheduling tool is a feature that allows people to share their availability via a booking page that can be used by colleagues, external stakeholders, clients, and partners to schedule a meeting. With the current appointment scheduling experience, you are unable to review multiple calendars for conflicts when exposing appointment times to others.
As a result, we’re introducing the ability to check and see a visual preview of multiple calendars when setting up your appointment schedules. Your booking page will show you as unavailable when you’re busy based on the calendars you choose.

Who’s impacted End users

Why you’d use it This update will prevent scheduling conflicts by checking your availability across multiple calendars, enabling others to set up meeting times that best fit your schedule.

Additional details In addition to your primary calendar, you can check availability from all of your calendars added to Google Calendar on the web, such as calendars you own, calendars you have edit and manage rights to, and subscribed calendars.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: Visit the Help Center to learn how to set up an appointment schedule and how to customize your appointment availability.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on January 24, 2023
Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on February 7, 2023

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Education Plus, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Nonprofits customers
Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Frontline, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers
Not available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Google Help: Learn about appointment schedules on Google Calendar
Google Help: How to set up an appointment schedule
Google Help: How to customize your appointment availability

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - January 20, 2023

Friday, January 20, 2023

Google Vault support for client-side encrypted emails

Vault now supports retention, search, and export of client-side encrypted emails. Note that admins can't preview the email body and attachments, including inline images — they’ll only be able to see the subject line, sender, and receiver.

Google Workspace already uses the latest cryptographic standards to encrypt all data at rest and in transit between our customers and Google facilities. Client-side encryption helps strengthen the confidentiality of your data while helping to address a broad range of data sovereignty and compliance needs. Visit the Help Center for more information on client-side encryption and our original announcement regarding client-side encryption for Gmail.

Admins can use the Help Center to learn more about client-side encryption and encrypted emails in Vault. End users can use the Help Center to learn more about setting up client-side encryption for Gmail.

Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Education Standard customers only.

Set and share personal pronouns across Google Workspace products

Google Workspace admins can now give their users the option to set their pronouns and choose who can see them from their Google Account at aboutme.google.com.

This is opt-in only and can be enabled for all users or a subset of them (such as for a specific ___location or department). Admins can use this Help Center article to learn more about enabling this feature for their users.

User-defined pronouns will appear in personal information cards displayed when hovering over or clicking someone’s profile photo across Workspace apps like Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Chat, and Drive. Support for pronouns in Google Meet will roll out in the coming months. Pronouns will also appear in Google Contacts, accessed by clicking “Open detailed view” from the personal information cards. If enabled by their admin, end users can use this Help Center article to learn more about changing their pronouns in their Google Account settings.

If enabled by the admin, users can set pronouns from aboutme.google.com and specify who they are visible to.

Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers only.

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.

New beta to move folders from My Drive to shared drives now available Following the announcement of an improved admin experience for moving folders from My Drive to shared drives, we’ve introduced a beta that will allow end users to move folders from My Drive into shared drives. | Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Nonprofits, and legacy G Suite Business customers only. | Learn more.

New built-in interoperability between Google Meet and Zoom As previously announced in October, we’re introducing video conferencing device interoperability for Google Meet with Zoom, which will allow you to join Zoom Meetings from Google Meet hardware devices and join Google Meet meetings from Zoom Rooms. | Zoom interop on Google Meet hardware is available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers with Google Meet hardware. | Learn more.

Completed rollouts

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

Rapid Release Domains:

[Weekly Recap] Easily share files in Google Meet chat on web
View speaker notes while presenting Google Slides in Google Meet

Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains:

Updated experience for exporting your organization’s data (Google Workspace Enterprise Plus only)
Increasing efficiency through better meeting room management with room release (Admin setting)
[Weekly Recap] Find apps and app commands in Chat with a new Integration Menu
Beta Application for New beta to move folders from My Drive to shared drives now available
For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

New built-in interoperability between Google Meet and Zoom

Thursday, January 19, 2023

What’s changingAs previously announced in October, we’re introducing video conferencing device interoperability for Google Meet with Zoom, which will allow you to:

Join Zoom Meetings from Google Meet hardware devices

Join Google Meet meetings from Zoom Rooms

Please note that Zoom interoperability supports core video conferencing features. Some advanced features, such as polls, wired present, and dual-screen support may not be available when using Meet hardware to join Zoom Meetings and vice versa.

Left: Zoom Meetings on Google Meet hardware. Right: Google Meet on Zoom Rooms

We hope this latest update makes it even easier for our customers and their users to connect and collaborate with people outside of the Google Meet ecosystem.

Additional details

There is no additional cost associated with using this new built-in interoperability feature on supported devices.

Scheduled join and join via meeting code will be supported, as will the ability to configure no-knock joining (lobby bypass) in either direction.

Similar built-in interoperability is already available between Google Meet and Cisco Webex on each platform’s respective devices. And Pexip continues to enable joining Meet meetings from the widest range of third-party video conferencing hardware, including older devices that may not support built-in interoperability. Use this Help Center article to learn more about Pexip.

Getting started

Zoom interop on Google Meet hardware

Admins:

Zoom interop on Google Meet hardware will be available on devices by default and can be disabled in the Workspace Admin console at the OU level at Devices > Google Meet hardware > Settings > Device Settings > Built-in interoperability.
Note: This admin setting can be configured before the feature begins rolling out, therefore you will be able to toggle this off before January 25, 2023.

To configure no-knock join for Zoom Meetings from Meet hardware, generate a token in the Zoom Admin at Account Management > Account Settings > Meeting > Allow my organization's 3rd party conference room systems to join my Zoom meetings as an authorized user and paste it in the Google Workspace Admin at Devices > Google Meet hardware > Settings > Service settings > Built-in interoperability direct access.

End users: When enabled by your admin, you can join a Zoom meeting from a Google Meet hardware device by:

Joining an ad-hoc meeting by tapping "Join or start a meeting" on your touch controller and selecting Zoom from the dropdown options.
Joining a scheduled meeting by adding a room to an event with Zoom meeting details.

Note: Calendar events that originate outside of Google Calendar must be duplicated and populated with room details manually, or have their Zoom join details copy and pasted into the description field of a new Calendar event.

Visit the Help Center to learn more about Google Meet interoperability.

Meet interop on Zoom Rooms

Admins: Meet interop on Zoom Rooms will be off by default and can be enabled from the Zoom Admin at Room Management > Zoom Rooms > Meeting > Support Google Meet web client meeting on Zoom Rooms. For more information, visit the Zoom Support page.

To configure no-knock join for Meet meetings from Zoom Rooms, generate a token in the Workspace Admin console at Apps > Google Workspace > Settings for Google Meet > Interoperability tokens and paste it in the Zoom Admin in the Google Meet Interop Token field located at Room Management > Zoom Rooms > Support Google Meet web client meeting on Zoom Rooms.

End users: When enabled by your admin, you can join a Meet meeting from a Zoom Room by:

Joining an ad-hoc meeting from your Zoom Room Controller by entering a Google Meet meeting code
Joining a scheduled meeting by adding a room to an event with Google Meet details
Visit the Zoom Support page for more information.

Rollout pace

Zoom interop on Meet hardware

Admin Setting

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to one week for feature visibility) beginning on January 19, 2023

End User Availability (on Devices)

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) beginning on January 26, 2023

Meet interop on Zoom Rooms

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Available immediately on January 26, 2023

Availability

Zoom interop on Google Meet hardware is available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers with Google Meet hardware. All currently supported Google Meet hardware devices that have not yet reached their auto-update expiration date will receive the feature.
Meet interop on Zoom Rooms is available to all Zoom Rooms customers on a supported Zoom Rooms device or appliance. Note that your device may not fully support the feature until its manufacturer has pushed the latest Zoom Rooms software update to its devices.
Please refer to the Zoom Support page to see the most up-to-date list on supported devices and platforms.

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Meet interoperability FAQs
Google Workspace Admin Help: Allow Meet hardware to join third-party video conferencing services
Google Workspace Admin Help: Allow third-party devices to join Meet video meetings
Google Help: Use Meet hardware to join a Zoom meeting
Google Help: Join a Meet video meeting from a third-party system
Google Workspace Updates Blog: New built-in interoperability between Google Meet and Cisco Webex

New beta to move folders from My Drive to shared drives now available

Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Update [March 6, 2023]: This beta is now closed and will no longer be accepting new applicants.

What’s changingFollowing the announcement of an improved admin experience for moving folders from My Drive to shared drives, we’re introducing a beta that will allow end users to move folders from My Drive into shared drives.

Who’s impactedAdmins and end users

Why it matters Extending the capability for end users to move folders from My Drive into shared drives increases the flexibility of sharing and helps to avoid permission escalations.

Additional details We’re also updating My Drive and shared drive roles to create a more seamless experience when it comes to members and access levels. Currently, when an admin moves a folder from My Drive into a shared drive, all folder Editors are converted to Contributors by default. Starting today, when an admin or an end-user (opted into this beta), moves a folder from My Drive into a shared drive, Editors will be converted into Content managers. This update will lead to the retention of users' ability to organize content and share folders.

Getting started

Admins:

If accepted into the beta, visit the Help Center to learn more about moving files & folders into shared drives.
Visit the Help Center to learn more about sharing permissions or user roles.

End users: Once the beta is enabled by your admin, move a folder by selecting a folder in your My Drive and clicking on "Move to" in the folder menu (toolbar). Visit the Help Center to learn more about moving files & folders into shared drives.

[WSU Blog] Folder Move-In: End-user support

Rollout pace Update to user roles:

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on January 18, 2023

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Nonprofits, and legacy G Suite Business customers
Not available to Google Workspace Business Starter, Frontline, and legacy G Suite Basic customers
Not available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Google Vault support for client-side encrypted emails

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

What’s changing Vault now supports retention, search, and export of client-side encrypted emails. Note that admins can't preview the email body and attachments, including inline images — they’ll only be able to see the subject line, sender, and receiver.

Google Workspace already uses the latest cryptographic standards to encrypt all data at rest and in transit between our customers and Google facilities. Client-side encryption helps strengthen the confidentiality of your data while helping to address a broad range of data sovereignty and compliance needs. Visit the Help Center for more information on client-side encryption and our original announcement regarding client-side encryption for Gmail.

Getting started

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on January 17, 2023

Availability

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

Resources

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - January 13, 2023

Friday, January 13, 2023

1 New update
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.

Find apps and app commands in Chat with a new Integration Menu We’re making it easier to discover and use Chat apps with a new Integration Menu. Simply click the (+) button next to the compose bar in a Chat message to see installed apps. You can also browse the slash commands that the apps support and execute them. On the web, the Integration Menu includes a search functionality that allows you to browse new apps. | Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Frontline, and legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers only.

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.

New option to view non-printing characters in Google Docs You can now choose to display non-printing characters in order to see how a document is laid out. | Learn more.
Improvements to voice features in Google Docs and Slides We’ve improved the features that enable you to type and edit by speaking in Google Docs or in Google Slides speaker notes, and present slides with automatic captions to display a speaker's words in real time. | Learn more.
Manage all Google Workspace API activity from a single ___location Within the Google Cloud Console, you can now view and manage all Google Workspace API activity. Here, you’ll find a centralized view of which APIs are currently running and their associated requests. | Learn more.
Increasing efficiency through better meeting room management with room release Room release, an existing feature that releases booked meeting rooms when all but one attendee declines the invitation will now be ON by default. There will be a transition period, from January 11 - March 6, 2023, where admins can opt out structured meeting rooms or user groups from this room release setting. | Available to Google Workspace Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and legacy G Suite Business customers only. | Learn more.
New in-meeting reactions for Google Meet You can now use emojis to share in-meeting reactions in Google Meet on Web, Meet Hardware devices, and iOS, with Android coming soon. | Learn more.
Introducing simpler conversation creation in Google Chat The process to create conversations in Chat will be much simpler by combining the flow for creating one-on-one conversations and group conversations. | Learn more.
View speaker notes while presenting Google Slides in Google MeetIn October of 2022, we introduced the ability to present Google Slides directly in Google Meet. To build upon this, you can now view your speaker notes within Google Meet. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Education Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Nonprofits customers only. | Learn more.

Completed rollouts

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

Scheduled Release Domains:
Easily format and display code in Google Docs
Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains:
[Weekly Recap] Improvements for using Miro in Google Meet
More filter effects available for Google Meet (Mobile)
Manage all Google Workspace API activity from a single ___location
For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

View speaker notes while presenting Google Slides in Google Meet

Thursday, January 12, 2023

What’s changingIn October of 2022, we introduced the ability to present Google Slides directly in Google Meet. To build upon this, you can now view your speaker notes within Google Meet.
Simply click the new speaker notes button in the Slides controls bar in Meet to display your speaker notes within the call. Present with greater confidence and engage with your audience without having to context switch between notes and slides.

Getting started

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

Select "Present a Tab" in Meet > choose a Google Slide presentation > click the speaker notes button in the controls at the bottom corner of the presentation.
Visit the Help Center to learn more about controlling Slides presentations in Google Meet.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on January 10, 2023
Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on January 30, 2023

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Education Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Nonprofits customers
Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Education Fundamentals, Frontline, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers
Not available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Introducing simpler conversation creation in Google Chat

Wednesday, January 11, 2023

What’s changingCurrently, when starting a new Google Chat conversation on the web, you are prompted to select “Start group conversation” before typing the name(s) of who you’d like to chat with.

Starting today, the process to create conversations in Chat will be much simpler by combining the flow for creating one-on-one conversations and group conversations. We’re removing the “Start group conversation” option, and enabling you to create conversations with the desired number of recipients right away by simply typing the names of the recipient(s).

Who’s impacted End users
Why it matters With this update, users can create Chat conversations in one consistent and intuitive way, whether with one person or a group.

Additional details There will be no changes to the process for creating new spaces, browsing spaces, or sending messages to existing spaces.

Getting started

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

Open Google Chat on web > select “New chat” > type the names or emails of chat recipients > select from suggestions shown or hit Enter. Once you’ve included everyone you want in the conversation, click “Start chat” or hit Enter again.

Tip: To start a conversation with one person directly, you can click the “Start chat” icon next to their name or use the keyboard shortcut Cmd [icon]+Enter (MacOS) or Ctrl+Enter (Windows, Linux, ChromeOS).

Rollout pace

Availability

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

New in-meeting reactions for Google Meet

Wednesday, January 11, 2023

What’s changingYou can now use emojis to share in-meeting reactions in Google Meet on Web, Meet Hardware devices, and iOS, with Android coming soon. These reactions will show as a small badge in the sender’s video tile and floating up the left side of the screen. When there are multiple user engagements, you’ll see a burst of emojis on the left side of your screen.

Reactions on web

Reactions on mobile

To share a reaction, select the smile icon in the control bar to get the reaction bar. You can hover on this bar to select the skin tone of your choice, which will then be applied to all emojis subject to change color.

Who’s impacted

Admin and end users

Why you’d use it

In-meeting reactions provide a lightweight, non-disruptive way to engage and participate in meetings without interrupting the speaker. Further, with options to select skin tones that best represent your identity, you can participate authentically.

We hope these features make it easier for you, your colleagues, and stakeholders to stay better connected and engaged, whether they’re working from home, the office, or anywhere in between.

Getting started

Admins:

Reactions will be ON by default and can be turned off in the Admin console. Visit the Help Center to learn more about managing this feature.

End users:

Rollout pace

Rapid Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on January 16, 2023
Scheduled Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility starting on January 23, 2023
Users with personal Google accounts: Full rollout (1-3 days for feature visibility) starting on January 11, 2023

Availability

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

Resources

Roadmap

This feature was listed as an upcoming release.

Increasing efficiency through better meeting room management with room release

Wednesday, January 11, 2023

What’s changingIn this hybrid work environment, there’s an increased need to better optimize meeting rooms in order to foster greater collaboration.
Room release, an existing feature that releases booked meeting rooms when all but one attendee declines the invitation will now be ON by default. This update improves upon the opportunity for admins and their colleagues to have better context for ___location planning, meeting room management, and attendee accommodations.
There will be a transition period, from January 11 - March 6, 2023, where admins can opt out structured meeting rooms or user groups from this room release setting. See the “Getting started” section below for more details.

Who’s impacted Admins

Why you’d use it This feature makes meeting room management, especially in a hybrid work environment, more efficient by releasing rooms when most attendees are unavailable.

Additional details We’re introducing a global setting to turn room release ON/OFF for all rooms in a ___domain, and an opt-out setting for each individual room resource. This will not be activated until the end of the transition period.
The legacy setting that enables or disables room release will be renamed to "Legacy Calendar-based room release" and will only be available during the transition period.
If you wish to maintain your organization’s current setup and keep only a limited number of rooms enabled for room release, the steps below can be taken to apply the legacy setting values to the new setting:

In the Admin Console, go to Buildings and resources > Manage resources
Click “Add a filter” and select the filters “Legacy Calendar-based room release: “Off” and “Exempt from room release: Off”

Click on the checkbox at the top of the Resources list to select all the resources.

Click the “Edit” dropdown on the right-hand side and select “Edit room release exemption: On”

If you have more than 200 resources, repeat until the applied filters show no more resources.

If you want to modify the behavior of the room release feature before the end of the transition period, you should modify the “Legacy Calendar-based room release” setting for the appropriate rooms. This can be done in the Admin Console by follow these steps:

Navigate to Buildings and resources > manage resources
Select one or multiple resources for which you’d like to modify the room release behavior.
Click the “Edit” dropdown on the right-hand side and select “Edit legacy Calendar-based room release”

Getting started

Admins:

For companies with structured meeting rooms set up, admins will see the option to turn this setting ON or OFF in the Admin Console starting January 11, 2023.
Starting March 6, 2023, this feature will be ON by default for companies with structured meeting rooms set up in the Admin Console.
To individually exempt certain or all structured meeting rooms from this room release feature, go to Buildings and resources > Manage resources > click on the desired room. Then navigate to the room settings section > turn ON "Exempt from room release"

By March 6, 2023 the rooms will no longer be released.

To opt out user groups from this setting, go to Buildings and resources > room settings > click "EDIT GROUP" next to "Exempt user groups from room release" > add the desired groups.
Meeting rooms are not released when the room holds 20+ people or when the meeting is longer than 4 hours.
Visit the Help Center to learn more about releasing unused Google Calendar meeting rooms.

End users: There is no end user setting for this feature. Visit the Help Center to learn more about responding to event invitations.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on January 11, 2023

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, as well as legacy G Suite Business customers
Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Nonprofits, Frontline customers as well as legacy G Suite Basic customers
Not available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Manage all Google Workspace API activity from a single ___location

Wednesday, January 11, 2023

What’s changingWithin the Google Cloud Console, you can now view and manage all Google Workspace API activity. Here, you’ll find a centralized view of which APIs are currently running and their associated requests. You can also easily perform common actions such as:

Monitoring aggregated metrics for APIs, including traffic, errors, and latency.

Viewing and adjusting quotas as needed.

Managing API credentials.

Finding other available APIs, tutorials and documentation.

This unified experience will eliminate the need to search for APIs manually, making it easier to manage your existing projects and build out your API ecosystem with new integrations.

Getting started

Admins and Developers: From the navigation menu in the Google Cloud console, navigate to View all products > Other Google Products > Google Workspace. Visit the Help Center to learn more about enhancing Google Workspace Apps.

Rollout pace

This feature is available now.

Resources

Improvements to voice features in Google Docs and Slides

Monday, January 9, 2023

Update
[February 2, 2023] We have paused rollout for this feature while we evaluate performance and quality. We will provide an update once rollout resumes.

What’s changingWe’re improving the features that enable you to:

Type and edit by speaking in Google Docs or in Google Slides speaker notes.
Present slides with automatic captions to display a speaker's words in real time.

These enhancements will help reduce transcription errors and minimize lost audio during transcription. The improvements also include expanded availability to most major browsers. Additionally, captions in Slides will now contain automatically generated punctuation.

Who’s impacted End users

Why it’s important We hope this launch leads to more inclusive and accessible user interactions within Docs and Slides.

Getting started

Rollout pace

Rapid Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on January 9, 2023
Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on Feb 6, 2023

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

New option to view non-printing characters in Google Docs

Monday, January 9, 2023

Update
[March 6, 2023] Rollout has resumed. All Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains will have access to this feature by March 10, 2023.

[February 9, 2023] We have paused rollout for this feature while we evaluate performance and quality. We will provide an update once rollout resumes.

What’s changingWhen viewing or editing a Google Doc, non-printing characters such as line breaks, section breaks, tabs, and spaces are not visible. Starting today, you can choose to display non-printing characters in order to see how a document is laid out. When turned on, you will see symbols or text to represent the following:

Paragraph/Hard break
Line/Soft break
Section break
Page break
Column break
Tab
Space

Who’s impacted End users

Why it’s important This feature provides a visual representation of what controls the formatting in a document, allowing you to make appropriate edits much easier.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: To display non-printing characters in a Doc, go to View > “Show non-printing characters.” Visit the Help Center to learn more about viewing document outlines, summaries, rulers, and non-printing characters.

Rollout pace

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

Google Help: View document outlines, summaries, rulers, and non-printing characters

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - January 6, 2023

Friday, January 6, 2023

There are no new updates or previous announcements this week. Please see below for rollout progress for previously announced features.

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:

Easily format and display code in Google Docs

Note: Rollout will be completed on Monday, January 9.

Scheduled Release Domains:

Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains:

Get enhanced spam protection through automatic labeling of suspected spam calls in Google Voice

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

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 - January 27, 2023

Improved membership management for spaces

Easily share access to presented content in Google Meet with all attendees

Check availability across multiple calendars when using appointment schedules on Google Calendar

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - January 20, 2023

New built-in interoperability between Google Meet and Zoom

New beta to move folders from My Drive to shared drives now available

Google Vault support for client-side encrypted emails

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - January 13, 2023

View speaker notes while presenting Google Slides in Google Meet

Introducing simpler conversation creation in Google Chat

New in-meeting reactions for Google Meet

Increasing efficiency through better meeting room management with room release

Manage all Google Workspace API activity from a single ___location

Improvements to voice features in Google Docs and Slides

New option to view non-printing characters in Google Docs

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - January 6, 2023

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Useful Links

Join the official community for Google Workspace administrators

Learn about more Google Workspace launches