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Use Gemini in the side panel of Workspace apps in four more languages

What’s changing

Beginning today, Gemini in the side panel of Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Drive, and Gmail can be used in four additional languages: 
  • Greek 
  • Catalan 
  • Indonesian 
  • Malay 

With Gemini in the side panel of your Workspace apps, you can get help summarizing, brainstorming, and generating content by utilizing insights gathered from your emails, documents, and more—all without switching applications or tabs. Check out our original announcements for Gemini in the side panel of Docs, Sheets, and Drive, and Gmail for even more information. Image generation is supported in these languages as well. 


Additional details 

  • Users may see the “Alpha” badge as we bring more features into Gemini in the side panel of Google Workspace.
  • Image generation of people is not supported in these additional languages at this time.

Getting started 


Rollout pace


Availability 

Gemini in the side panel of Docs, Sheets, Drive is 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* 
Gemini in the side panel of Gmail is available to Google Workspace:
  • Business Starter, Standard and Plus 
  • Enterprise Starter, 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 

View invited meeting participants on Google Meet hardware

What’s changing

You can now see participants who were invited to the meeting but have yet to join the call right on Google Meet hardware. These participants can be found under the “Also invited” heading. Additionally, you’ll also be able to see the RSVP status of everyone on the invite, including “optional” attendees. This feature makes it easier for you to start meetings more efficiently by quickly determining who has not joined or who has declined.

Viewing the guest list in the people panel on a Series One Desk 27 device


Viewing the guest list on a Meet hardware touch controller





Additional Details

  • Guest lists are hidden for events with more than 50 guests.
  • Invited groups and their participants are not displayed on guest lists.

Getting Started

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: On Google Meet hardware devices for eligible Google Workspace editions, this feature will be available by default for Meet calls with a Calendar event. Visit the Help Center to learn more about viewing the Calendar guest list in Google Meet.


Rollout pace

  • Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on March 10, 2025
  • Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on March 17, 2025

Availability 

Available on Google Meet hardware devices for Google Workspace:
  • Enterprise Standard and Plus
  • Business Starter, Standard, and Plus
  • Education Fundamentals, Standard, Plus and the Teaching & Learning add-on
  • Nonprofits

Resources


Create files and folders using Gemini in the side panel of Google Drive

What’s changing 

Since rolling out Gemini in the side panel of Google Drive, users have been able to summarize one or multiple documents, get quick facts about a project, interact with the Gemini side panel while viewing PDFs, and we most recently added folder support. 

Today, we’re excited to expand Gemini in Drive capabilities by introducing the ability to create new Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and folders in your Drive. As part of this update, we’re introducing support for two new types of prompts using Gemini in the side panel.
  • “Create a new folder” (with or without specifying what to name it) 
  • “Create a new Google Doc, Sheet or Slide” (with or without specifying what to name it) 
create new Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and folders in your Drive using Gemini


Who’s impacted 

End users 


Why you’d use it 

This new capability will help you streamline your file and folder creation journeys without needing to leave the side panel to create new Docs, Sheets, Slides and folders. By typing in one of the supported prompts, Gemini will create the new, titled file or folder and provide you with a link. 


Getting started 

Rollout pace 


Availability 

Available for Google Workspace: 
  • Business Standard and Plus 
  • Enterprise Standard and Plus 
  • Customers with the Gemini Education or Gemini Education Premium add-on 
  • Google One AI Premium 
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 

Quickly add events to Google Calendar based on your emails with Gemini in Gmail

What’s changing

In addition to asking Gemini in Gmail to perform calendar related actions or answer questions about your calendar, you can now add an event to your calendar directly from an email. 

With this update, Gemini will automatically detect calendar related content in your email and an “Add to calendar” button will appear. Upon clicking this option, the side panel in Gmail will open to confirm the event has been added to your calendar. 

"Add to Calendar" button in Gmail



Getting started

  • Admins: To access Gemini in the side panel of Workspace apps, users need to have smart features and personalization turned on. Admins can turn on default personalization setting for their users in the Admin console. 
  • End users: 
    • This feature is only available in English and on web at this time. 
    •  The "Add to calendar" button will not appear for emails with already extracted events (like restaurants, flights, etc.). 
    • A calendar event created via the “Add to calendar” button will not include other guests. 
    • Visit the Help Center to learn more about collaborating with Gemini in Gmail. 

Rollout pace 


Availability 

Available for Google Workspace: 
  • Business Starter, Standard, and Plus 
  • Enterprise Starter, Standard, and Plus 
  • Customers with the Gemini Education or Gemini Education Premium add-on 
  • Google One AI Premium 
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 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – March 7, 2025

2 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.



Advanced formatting for tables in Google Sheets
Following the improvements made to tables in Google Sheets in August and September, we’re excited to introduce advanced formatting for tables. Now, users have access to a new table formatting sub menu that allows them to toggle on and off gridlines, alternating colors, condense view, and include a table footer. | Rolling out to Rapid Release domains now; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for March 31, 2025. | Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about using tables in Google Sheets.
Advanced formatting for tables in Google Sheets

“Extensions” in Gemini are now “apps” and we’ve upgraded the model powering apps to 2.0 Flash
There are two updates for the Gemini app on web and mobile: 
  • “Extensions” in the Gemini app are now referred to as “apps”. Although there are no changes to functionality, please be mindful of this update. Gemini can connect to Google Workspace apps, like Drive or Gmail, to help provide more contextual and relevant responses to your prompts and allow you to take certain actions. 
  • The model powering apps in Gemini upgraded to 2.0 Flash Thinking (experimental). Built on the foundation of 2.0 Flash, this model delivers improved performance and better advanced reasoning capabilities with efficiency and speed. 
Rollout to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains is complete. | Available to all Google Workspace users accessing the Gemini app or Gemini Advanced. | Admins can visit the Help Center to learn more about turning Workspace extensions on or off for their organization, and end users should use this Help Center article to learn more about using apps connected to Gemini with a work or school Google Account.




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.


Improving Google Calendar's interoperability with Microsoft Outlook
Calendar now reliably processes calendaring emails sent using the Microsoft-specific format for rich text emails called Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format (TNEF). | Learn more about Calendar's interoperability with Microsoft Outlook.

Introducing the Salesforce for Gemini extension in Gmail
You can now install the Salesforce extension for Gemini in Google Workspace, which will allow you to get information from Salesforce and create leads and contacts directly from Gemini in the side panel of Gmail. | Learn more about the Salesforce for Gemini extension in Gmail.

Use Gemini in the side panel of Google Slides in seven new languages 
You can now use Gemini in the side panel of Google Slides, which includes the ability to generate images, in the following seven new languages: French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish. | Learn more about using Gemini in Slides in new languages.

Enhancements for custom and AI-generated backgrounds in Google Meet
We introduced two improvements for creating custom background images with Gemini in Google Meet. | Learn more about backgrounds in Meet. 


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).       

    Enhancements for custom and AI-generated backgrounds in Google Meet

    What’s changing

    We’re introducing two improvements for creating custom background images with Gemini in Google Meet:

    • First, we’ve upgraded the image generation model, which will significantly improve the visual appeal and quality of generated backgrounds, while also better representing user requests.
    • Next, we’ve added several new preset styles to help you get started creating your own backgrounds. Specifically, you’ll see options for the following:
      • Professional office
      • Bookshelf
      • Stylish living room
      • Cozy living room
      • Tropical beach
      • Fantasy castle
      • Sci-fi spaceship


    Getting started


    Rollout pace

    Availability

    Available for Google Workspace:
    • Business Standard and Plus
    • Enterprise Standard and Plus
    • Also available 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*
    • AI Meetings and Messages*

    *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

    Use Gemini in the side panel of Google Slides in seven new languages

    What’s changing

    Beginning today, you can use Gemini in the side panel of Google Slides, which includes the ability to generate images, in the following seven new languages: 
    • French 
    • German 
    • Italian 
    • Japanese 
    • Korean 
    • Portuguese 
    • Spanish 
    With Gemini in the side panel of your Workspace apps, you can get help summarizing, brainstorming, and generating content by utilizing insights gathered from your emails, documents, and more—all without switching applications or tabs. Check out our original announcements for Gemini in the side panel of Slides, Docs, Sheets, and Drive, and Gmail for even more information. 


    Additional details 

    • Users may see the “Alpha” badge as we bring more features into Gemini in the side panel of Google Workspace. 
    • Image generation of people is not supported in these additional languages at this time. 

    Getting started 

    • Admins: The default setting for Gemini features in Workspace services is on. See how you can manage access to AI features in Workspace services. 
    • End users: 
      • Gemini in the side panel will work according to the language you set in your Google account (myaccount.google.com/language). If you’re accessing other Gemini for Google Workspace features that are supported in English only, you will need to set your Google Account language to English. 
      • You can access the side panel by clicking on “Ask Gemini” (spark button) in the top right corner of Slides on the web. Visit the Help Center to learn more about collaborating with Gemini in the side panel of Slides. 

    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

    Introducing the Salesforce for Gemini extension in Gmail

    What’s changing

    Previously, we announced third party extensions for Salesforce and AI in Workspace. Beginning today, you can install the Salesforce extension for Gemini in Google Workspace, which will allow you to get information from Salesforce and create leads and contacts directly from Gemini in the side panel of Gmail. 

    You can ask Gemini for help with Salesforce tasks directly from an email or your inbox. This includes things like “Create a lead in Salesforce”, “Create a contact in Salesforce” or “Show me the [Name] account in Salesforce” and more. 

    You can also take more complex actions, like “Research a lead’s company” which will return a relevant summary of information. Or you can pull information directly from Salesforce into Gmail by using the “Take action on this sales inquiry” to generate a sales brief based on an email message or thread. 

    tracking a salesforce lead using gemini in gmail

    Who’s impacted 

    Admins and end users 

    Why you’d use it 

    The Salesforce extension for Gemini in Google Workspace enhances CRM interaction by connecting you directly to Salesforce data without the need to switch between Gmail and Salesforce. You can ask questions and receive immediate answers, and generate valuable insights, helping to uncover potential opportunities. Further, features like email summarization, quick actions to add leads, and suggested responses let you focus more on selling and less on searching for information and more time building stronger customer relationships. 


    Additional details 

    The extension is currently only available in English and when using Gmail in a browser. 


    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 
    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 

    Improving Google Calendar’s interoperability with Microsoft Outlook

    What’s changing

    We recently announced an improved syncing experience from Google Calendar to third-party calendars, like Microsoft Outlook, that allows event guests to enjoy a more reliable syncing experience with less calendar emails in their inbox. 


    Building upon this, we’re excited to announce that Calendar now reliably processes calendaring emails sent using the Microsoft-specific format for rich text emails called Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format (TNEF). As a result, Calendar users and organizations that routinely collaborate with internal and external Outlook users will now benefit from a more reliable experience when receiving invitations and RSVPs from Outlook users. 


    Getting started 

    • Admins and end users: There is no admin controls or end user setting for this feature. 

    Rollout pace 


    Availability 

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

    Resources 

    Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – February 28, 2025

    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.



    Summaries in Google Chat home now available for direct messages and read conversations 
    Last year, we introduced the ability for Gemini in Google Chat to help you catch up on unread conversations in the Chat home view with summaries. In addition to being available for group conversations, spaces, or threads from home, we’re excited to announce summaries in home are now available for: 
    • Direct messages 
    • Read conversations. Prior to today, you could only review summaries for unread conversations. Now, you can review summaries regardless of read state. 
    Upon navigating to a conversation in home, click the “Summarize” button to see a bulleted synopsis of the message content. This enables you to review recent activity across all active conversations to determine where best to focus your time and attention. | Rollout to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains is complete. | Available to Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about summaries in home.


    Adding real-time Markdown styling and code formatting support in Google Chat 
    Users can change the appearance of their Google Chat messages using the format menu or markdown, and today we’re excited to introduce support for real-time markdown styling and code formatting. With this update, markdown will be converted in the compose bar to formatted text as a user types, rather than being converted only once the message is sent. In addition, we’re adding support for code and code block in the compose bar. | 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 using markdown formatting in Google Chat.

    Markdown formatting as you type in the compose bar
    Markdown formatting as you type in the compose bar




    Extending file upload to Gemini app users
    We’re excited to announce that users of the Gemini app can now upload a variety of files from Google Drive or locally from their device into the Gemini app: 
    • Document files: DOC, DOCX, PDF, RTF, DOT, DOTX, HWP, HWPX 
    • Documents created in Google Docs 
    • Plain text files: TXT 
    • Presentation files: PPTX 
    • Presentations created with Google Slides
    Rollout to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains is complete. | Available to all Google Workspace users 18+ accessing the Gemini app. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about uploading & analyzing files in Gemini Apps. 



    Google Vids introduces new looping animations feature 
    We’re introducing a feature that enables users to add looping animations to text, stickers, and other shapes in their videos. Looping animations play continuously between enter and exit animations, allowing users to add extra emphasis or style to callouts, supers, and other elements in their videos, which can help increase viewer engagement. | Rolling out now to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains. | Available to Business Standard and Plus, Enterprise Standard and Plus, Essentials, Enterprise Essentials and Enterprise Essentials Plus and Education Plus. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about Google Vids.

    looping animations in Vids



    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.


    Enhancing video navigation and accessibility with Google Drive video transcripts 
    Last year, we announced that users can automatically generate captions for any video uploaded to Google Drive, improving the accessibility of videos and saving users the effort of manually creating captions. To build upon this feature and make information discovery, referencing, and productivity with video content much more efficient, we’re excited to introduce video transcripts. | Learn more about video transcripts.

    Google Voice now supports call delegation
    Admins can assign delegates to handle other users' calls. When assigned, delegates can: 1) Answer calls on the delegator’s behalf, 2) Place calls on the delegator’s behalf, including transferring the call to the delegator once connected , 3) Transfer calls selectively to the delegator and 4) Listen to voicemail messages and view voicemail transcripts. | Learn more about call delegation.

    Transferring your personal Google Voice number to a Google Workspace business account just got easier
    We're pleased to introduce a significantly improved experience for transferring a personal Google Voice number to a Google Workspace account. | Learn more about transferring your personal number to a Workspace business account. 

    New Google Drive Inventory Reporting enhancements provide even richer insights into file permissions
    We've enhanced Drive Inventory Reporting to include more detailed permission information for files and folders in My Drive. | Learn more about Drive Inventory Reporting.

    Expanding SIP Link for Google Voice to new countries
    We've launched Voice to new countries by expanding SIP Link availability. | Learn more about SIP Link.

    Integrating HubSpot with Google Chat
    Many utilize HubSpot, an AI-powered customer platform, to perform marketing, sales, customer service, content management, operations, and commerce tasks. This week, we’re excited to introduce an integration with HubSpot that enables users to see notifications and updates from HubSpot directly in Chat. | Learn more about the HubSpot integration.

    Google Vids is expanding its AI voiceovers with new options
    Users can now choose from a wider range of AI voices for their videos with the introduction of new options. | Learn more about new AI voiceovers in Vids.


    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).