Tag Archives: Google Docs

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – March 15, 2024

4 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.



Banner alerts for Google Drive item capacity limits in shared drives 

To give users more visibility when shared drives in their domain are approaching the item capacity limit (400,000 items), we’re introducing banner alerts that identify current shared drive capacity. These banners will be visible when less than 20% capacity is left and will appear only for users who have edit access to add content to the specific shared drive. | Rolling out to Rapid Release domains now; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for April 3, 2024. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Essentials Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Education Plus, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Nonprofits. | Learn more about item capacity limits in shared drives.


Input numbers into slider controls across Google Docs, Slides and Drawings
We’ve added a number input next to all slider controls used for image and shape adjustments in Google Docs, Slides and Drawings. With this update, we hope it is easier for you to make adjustments more precisely. | Rolling out to Rapid Release domains now; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for April 2, 2024. | Available to Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Learn more about cropping and adjusting images.

Updated version history limits for Apps Script projects
Earlier this year, we announced that you can create and save up to 200 versions for newly created scripts. We’ve expanded this limit to all scripts. If needed, you can permanently delete multiple script versions at the same time from the project history page using the new “Bulk delete” feature. | This is available now to all Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Learn more using our developer documentation on working with Apps Script versions.


Google Meet-certified Logitech Rally Bar Huddle room kits are now available
Logitech Rally Bar Huddle room kits for Google Meet are now available for purchase. These kits are optimized for small spaces that can accommodate 3 to 5 people. The device can be used as a meeting room appliance, in USB mode connected to a meeting room PC, or connected via laptop. | This is available now to all Google Workspace customers with Google Meet hardware devices. | Visit Logitech’s website for more information on purchasing a room kit.

Google Meet-certified Logitech Rally Bar Huddle room kits are now available



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.


Application load failures are now captured for the Google Meet hardware devices 
Admins can now see when the Google Meet app fails to load for a device. | Learn more about application load failures.


Create fully customized email campaigns using new layout editor tool 
Starting this week, even more users across Google Workspace editions can now create customized email layouts using a new email layout editor that is accessible from the compose screen in Gmail or Google Drive. In the layout editor, you can create a new email layout from scratch or select from a predefined set of email templates, which include images, text elements and buttons. | Available to Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, Education Plus and Workspace Individual subscribers only. | Learn more about customizable email campaigns.


Select App Access Controls can now be applied at the organizational unit 
Google Workspace Admins can now configure a number of App Access Control (AAC) policies at the Organizational Unit (OU) level. | Learn more about App Access Controls.


Import data from other messaging platforms using the Google Chat API is now generally available
Google Workspace developers registered in our Workspace Developer Preview program have been able to import user data from other messaging platforms into Google Chat using the Google Chat APIs. This functionality is now generally available to all Workspace developers and admins. | Learn more about importing data using the Chat API.


Subtly enhance your appearance with portrait touch-up when using Google Meet on the web
In October 2023, we introduced portrait touch-up for Google Meet on mobile devices. We’re extending this functionality to Google Meet on the web. Portrait touch-up can be used to lightly touch up your appearance before or during a meeting, helping you feel more comfortable and confident in your appearance during video calls. | Available to Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, Teaching & Learning Upgrade, Google One and Google Workspace Individual subscribers only. | Learn more about subtly enhancing your appearance with portrait touch-up. 


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).  

 




Set client-side encryption as the default mode for new emails, events, and files on mobile

What’s changing 

Admins can now set client-side encryption (CSE) to be on by default on Android and iOS for: 
  • Newly drafted Gmail messages and replies 
  • Newly created Google Calendar events 
  • Newly uploaded Google Drive files

Client-side encryption in Gmail


Admins can now set client-side encryption as the default mode for users on both web and mobile that regularly handle sensitive data. This allows organizations the flexibility to meet their compliance and regulatory requirements and reduce the burden on change management programs. Each new email, event and uploaded file on mobile is automatically client-side encrypted with customer managed keys meaning the user is compliant with their org’s policy from the outset. For organizations with strict regulatory or sovereignty requirements, this can help them close compliance gaps by defaulting users to the preferred mode for handling sensitive data while on the go. 

For more information, check out our original announcement.

Getting started


Rollout pace


Availability

  • Google Workspace Assured Controls is available as an add-on to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus customers only. For more information, contact your Google account representative.

Resources


New ways to annotate Google Docs

What’s changing

We’re excited to announce a new feature, markups in Google Docs, which gives you more flexibility when providing feedback in a document. The new markups experience lets you add handwritten annotations to documents with a stylus or your finger when using an Android device. 

Markups can be useful in numerous scenarios, such as: 
  • Colleagues giving each other handwritten feedback on diagrams, charts, reports or proposals. 
  • Educators giving students feedback on their essays, reports, short stories and more. 
  • A homeowner providing ideas or updates on construction plans from their contractor. 
In order to add annotations, you must use an Android device. From there, you can: 
  • Enter the markups mode and annotate using pen or highlighter tools 
  • Hide/show markups 
  • Erase markups 
  • Insert suggested markups 
Markups on Android


On iOS devices, you can: 
  • View a document with markups 
  • Delete markups 
  • Hide/show markups 
markups on iOS

On desktop, you can: 
  • View a document with markups 
  • Delete markups 
  • Hide/show markups 
markups on desktop

Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: To turn on markups, open a document > select the markups tool from the contextual toolbar > draw with your finger or stylus. 

Rollout pace 


Availability 

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

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

What’s changing

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

You can explore new and familiar ways to interact with comments by going to View > Comments and selecting: 
  • Show all comments: opens up a full-length view to deep dive into multiple comments more easily in Docs, Sheets or Slides. Now you can use updated search and filter functionality to focus on the most relevant comments. You will also notice a curated ‘For you’ list, which surfaces all the comments you need to take action on. 
  • Expand comments (in Google Docs and Slides): shows comments next to the document or presentation content so you can review comments and content together. 
  • Minimize comments (in Google Docs and Sheets): reduces comments to icons so you can have a more focused view of your work in Docs and Sheets. This setting provides a quick preview with high level information about who is commenting when you hover over the minimized icons. 
  • Hide comments: hides comments from view when you want to focus solely on the content in Docs, Sheets or Slides. 
manage comments faster in Google Docs, Sheets and Slides

Who’s impacted 


End users 


Why you’d use it 

With this update, you can now find and organize comments more easily, enabling seamless collaboration with others on Google Docs, Sheets and Slides. 

Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: This feature will be ON by default and cannot be disabled. To open the full-length panel, go to View > Comments > Show all comments. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using comments, action items, & emoji reactions 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

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

Resources 

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

What’s changing

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

You can explore new and familiar ways to interact with comments by going to View > Comments and selecting: 
  • Show all comments: opens up a full-length view to deep dive into multiple comments more easily in Docs, Sheets or Slides. Now you can use updated search and filter functionality to focus on the most relevant comments. You will also notice a curated ‘For you’ list, which surfaces all the comments you need to take action on. 
  • Expand comments (in Google Docs and Slides): shows comments next to the document or presentation content so you can review comments and content together. 
  • Minimize comments (in Google Docs and Sheets): reduces comments to icons so you can have a more focused view of your work in Docs and Sheets. This setting provides a quick preview with high level information about who is commenting when you hover over the minimized icons. 
  • Hide comments: hides comments from view when you want to focus solely on the content in Docs, Sheets or Slides. 
manage comments faster in Google Docs, Sheets and Slides

Who’s impacted 


End users 


Why you’d use it 

With this update, you can now find and organize comments more easily, enabling seamless collaboration with others on Google Docs, Sheets and Slides. 

Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: This feature will be ON by default and cannot be disabled. To open the full-length panel, go to View > Comments > Show all comments. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using comments, action items, & emoji reactions 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

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

Resources 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – February 2, 2024

3 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.


New ways to work with filters in Connected Sheets for Looker and Connected Sheets for BigQuery 
  • With Looker: Connected Sheets for Looker users will now be able to see whether Looker-defined filters, always_filters and conditionally_filters, are applied in their Google Sheets. | Rolling out to Rapid Release domains and Scheduled Release domains now. | Available to all Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Learn more about always_filter and conditionally_filter in Looker. 
  • With BigQuery: Connected Sheets for BigQuery users can now right-click any value in the Connected Sheets preview and filter rows in the preview on that specific value. As a result, a new query will be sent to BigQuery to re-fetch the preview. This new option provides an additional way to easily explore data in the Connected Sheets preview for BigQuery. | This is now available to all Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Learn more about sorting & filtering BigQuery data in Google Sheets.

Latest improvement for page setup in Google Docs 
We’re introducing a new menu item within the Format option that enables you to easily switch between pageless and pages mode in Google Docs. | Rollout to Rapid Release domains is complete; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for February 5, 2024. | Available to all Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Learn more about changing a document’s page setup. 
Latest improvement for page setup in Google Docs


Developers can now choose which calendar events to be notified about 
Developers using the Calendar API can now subscribe to specific changes in users’ calendars — this includes event types such as working location, out-of-office, or focus time. This update reduces the amount of notifications down to those that are most relevant to the developer. | Use our Developer Documentation for more information about subscribing to alerts for specific calendar event changes. | Rolling out now to Rapid Release domains and Scheduled Release domains. | The Calendar API is available to all Google Workspace customers, however Calendar features may vary across Google Workspace editions.



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.


For Google Meet Hardware, ‘Auto-Update Expiration (AUE)’ will now be referred to as 'end of Meet support' 
We’re making changes to the terminology that refers to when a Meet hardware device is no longer supported. | This update impacts all Google Workspace customers with Meet hardware devices. | Learn more about 'end of Meet support'.

Local data storage exports your organization's Workspace data into the geographic location of your choice, launching in beta 
We’re introducing Google Workspace’s new feature, local data storage. This feature allows admins to export their organization’s Workspace data into the geographic location or locations of their choice. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus customers with Assured Controls add-on only. | Learn more about the local data storage exports beta.

Improving the Google Calendar appointment scheduling experience with new features 
We’re improving upon the current appointment scheduling experience with four new features. | Co-hosts, secondary calendars and delegate access features are 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 only. Check Calendars for availability feature is available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Education Plus, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Nonprofits, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts only. | Learn more about the appointment scheduling features. 

Shareable class templates and classwork in Google Classroom are now generally available 
Last year, we announced a Google Classroom beta that simplifies lesson planning with shareable class templates and classwork. We’re excited to announce that this is now globally available for Google Workspace for Education Plus customers in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese. | Available to Education Plus only. | Learn more about shareable class materials. 

Pin chat messages in Google Meet 
You can now pin messages to the top of the meeting chat. Pinned messages will appear for all users, even if they join the meeting after the message was initially sent. | Learn more about messaging pinning.


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).  

Use comments & action items on your client-side encrypted Google Docs

What’s changing 

You can now collaborate with others on client-side encrypted Google Docs to add, edit, reply, filter, or delete comments. You can also assign action items to yourself or others. This added functionality helps bring parity to unencrypted docs while also ensuring your data is behind encryption keys you control, including the identity provider used to access those keys. 


This feature is available as an open beta, which means you can use it without enrolling in a specific beta program. While this feature is available for Google Docs initially, with support coming for Google Sheets and Slides in the future.




Additional details

Note that when sharing encrypted files, you can only assign “viewer” or “editor” permissions — the “comment only” permission is not supported.


Comments are saved each time the document is autosaved. If you restore the document to a previous version, the comments added to the document in that version are also restored.

Getting started

Rollout pace



Availability

  • Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard and Education Plus customers

Resources


Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – January 12, 2024

4 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.


Version history limits for Apps Script projects 
For all new scripts, you’ll be able to create and save up to 200 versions of your script. If needed, you can permanently delete a script version from the project history page. | This is available now to all Google Workspace customers. | Learn more using our developer documentation on working with Apps Script versions. 


Share a link to a specific time in a Google Drive video 
We’re adding new functionality to the Drive sharing button that lets you share timestamped links to specific parts of a video. On web, simply navigate to drive.google.com > find and open a video file > play the video (you can pause the playback before performing the following steps) > select the dropdown on the “Share” button in the top-right corner > select “Copy link to this time” > send the link. | Rolling out now to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains. | Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts. | Learn more about copying a specific time in the video. 
Share a link to a specific time in a Google Drive video

Introducing dropdown options on the sharing button in Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drawings We’re adding a new feature that ensures a seamless sharing experience across Workspace. In Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drawings, you will now see a dropdown on the Share button that surfaces quick actions, such as pending access requests and the “Copy link” option. | Rolling out now to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains. | Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts. 
dropdown options on the sharing button

Using functions in Connected Sheets for BigQuery 
Today, Connected Sheets for BigQuery supports 23 Sheets functions, such as AVERAGE and XLOOKUP. However, all of these functions behave somewhat differently than their native counterparts. Thus, to help Connected Sheets users write better functions, we now display context-aware Help Center content in Sheets. The ‘formula help’ shows descriptions for Connected Sheets functions when writing a formula that would query BigQuery, and otherwise shows descriptions of native Sheets functions. | This is available now to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts. | Learn more about the XLOOKUP function.
Using functions in Connected Sheets for BigQuery


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.


Updates to metrics in Google Drive Apps Reports and Reports API 
We’re making some updates to the Google Drive metrics in the Admin Console Apps reports and the Reports API. As a result of these improvements, admins who analyze metrics will have more reporting clarity and can better understand activity trends within their domain. | Learn more about metrics in Drive Apps Reports and Reports API. 

Easily share Google Drive files to Google Calendar meeting attendees 
We’re introducing the option to share any file with all meeting participants on a Google Calendar invite via the sharing dialog within a file. | Learn more about sharing Drive files to Calendar. 

Google Meet is now available on Logitech Android appliances 
Google Meet is now supported on Logitech’s Rally Bar and Rally Bar Mini Android-based appliances for collaboration rooms and spaces of just about any size. After initial setup, admins can easily enroll, manage, and monitor these devices using the Google admin console. Google Meet on Logitech Android-based devices is supported on CollabOS v1.11 as a video conferencing provider | Learn more about Meet on Logitech Android appliances. 

Google Meet hardware devices from Poly now support interoperability with Cisco Webex and Zoom 
We’re expanding the existing interoperability between Google Meet, Cisco Webex, and Zoom to include Android-based Meet hardware devices from Poly. Specifically, these devices include: Poly Studio X30, X50, X52, and X70. | Learn more about support interoperability with Cisco Webex and Zoom.

Extending Trusted Types to Gmail
We’re excited to announce the expansion of Trusted Types to Gmail. This will provide a defense against DOM XSS and further enhances our advanced data protection controls to keep users and data safe across more of the apps they use everyday. | Learn more about Trusted Types.


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). 

Easy access to people, documents, building blocks and more in Google Docs

What’s changing 

Building upon the recently introduced row of buttons at the top of your newly created Google Docs, we’re adding more ways to quickly find and insert relevant content directly into your document with an additional way to open the @-menu. This is another feature that boosts productivity and saves time by bringing smart canvas features to the forefront of your workflow.

When moving to a blank line within your Doc, you will see an “@” button with the option to select, search and insert smart chips, such as people, dates, timers, file chips, building blocks, calendar events, groups and more. 
Easy access to people, documents, building blocks and more in Google Docs


Getting started 


Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources 

Easily fill in smart chips in Google Docs using placeholder chips

What’s changing

To build on our innovations in smart canvas that help you simplify workflows and complete common tasks with easy-to-use prompts in Google Docs, we’re introducing placeholder chips. 

When crafting content in Docs, a replaceable chip for people, dates, files, events, and places can be inserted and quickly filled in by collaborators. Upon hovering or clicking on a chip, a search menu opens and includes results filtered to the chip type. Placeholder chips are particularly useful in building blocks, custom building blocks, tables, and more. 
Easily fill in smart chips in Google Docs using placeholder chips


Getting started 


Rollout pace 


Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources