Tag Archives: Google Chat

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

What’s changing

In continuing our effort to make Google Chat your home for team collaboration, we’re excited to introduce a fast and flexible way to connect: huddles. 

Powered by Google Meet, huddles let you start an audio-first meeting, making real-time collaboration easier than ever. Once the huddle has started, you can resize or drag the window, add video, or share your screen for a fuller meeting experience while multitasking in Chat. 

Huddles provide a seamless collaboration experience across Chat and Meet, and can be useful in a variety of scenarios, such as two colleagues syncing quickly to discuss a project they’ve been messaging about in their Chat stream. 
starting a huddle in google chat

Who’s impacted 

End users 


Why you’d use it 

Huddles help to reduce meeting fatigue for hybrid workers, and eliminates the need for lengthy discussions over email or in Chat. Instead of jumping out of the conversation and into a meeting, huddles integrates directly and smoothly into the Chat experience. The format of huddles also supports multi-tasking while in Chat as you can easily resize or share your screen. 


Additional details

The Meet video button that’s currently in the compose bar of Chat is moving to the Chat header, giving you multiple options such as the ability to call, start a huddle, or share a Meet link through a single entry point. 


Getting started 

  • Admins: If Meet is turned OFF for users in your domain, they will not be able to create Huddles, but they can join Huddles. Visit the Help Center to learn more about turning on Meet meetings and calls for your organization. 
  • End users:
    • Huddles are available in direct messages, group messages and spaces. 
    • To start a huddle in Chat, click the Video icon in the top right corner of your chat message > select Start a huddle. 
      • Huddles start audio only as default but you can turn video on at any moment. 
    • When you’re requested to join a huddle, you will see a chat chip in your message thread that says [user] has started a huddle, click “Join” to enter the huddle. You will also see the huddles toggle in the Chat header for that conversation. 
    • Visit the Help Center to learn more about huddles in Google Chat. 

Rollout pace 

  • Rapid Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on November 27, 2024, with expected completion by December 20, 2025 
  • Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on January 6, 2025 

Availability 


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

Resources 

Easily find and navigate your Google Chat conversations by organizing them into custom sections

What’s changing

As we continue to enhance the user experience in Google Chat over the last year, we’re excited to announce that users can now organize Chat conversations into custom sections. A highly requested feature, custom sections are useful for scenarios in which users want similar conversations about a topic or project to be in the same location in the left-hand menu of Chat. 

To make a custom section, go to the direct messages or spaces section in Chat > hover over the three dot menu > select Create new section > name the custom section > hit enter. You can add conversations from a direct message or space to a custom section by: 
  • Dragging and dropping it in from another section 
  • Hovering over a conversation > clicking the three dot menu > selecting Move conversation > Move to [Name of the custom section] 
making a custom section in google chat

Previously the direct messages and spaces sections in the left-hand menu were independent, individually-scrollable lists. With this update, users can navigate specific sections of their conversations by scrolling across all of their sections as one unified conversation list, view top conversations across each section, and find older conversations within each section by expanding via “Show all.” 

find older conversations within each section by expanding via “Show all.”

For each section, users can also: 
  • Modify the size (height) of each section 
  • Reorder a section in the left-hand menu based on preference by moving it up or down 
  • Toggle an unread button ON (or OFF) to instantly find new messages within each section that need their attention 
  • Start a new direct message or space message from the three dot menu next to the unread toggle 
Toggling to show unreads on web

In addition, users will now be able to find their Chat apps more quickly with a new dedicated Apps section. 

dedicated Apps section

Who’s impacted 

End users 

Why you’d use it 

This complete revamp of the left navigation experience on Chat will help users find messages more easily based on their own organizational preferences. 

Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: 
    • By default, the conversation list is organized by direct messages, spaces, and apps, with each section set to show active conversations only. 
    • While the new Chat experience is visible on mobile, users can only create and manage sections on the desktop version of chat.google.com or Chat in Gmail. 
    • Visit the Help Center to learn how to use Google Chat. 

Rollout pace 

  • Rapid Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on November 21, 2024, with expected completion in early January 2025 
  • Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on January 6, 2025 

Availability 

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

Resources 

Add multiple multimedia files to a single message in Google Chat

What’s changing

Users can currently send & share files such as images, PDFs and videos in Google Chat messages and use the Shared tab to access all conversation-related artifacts including files, links and media. However, only one image can be uploaded in a single Chat message on web at a time. 


To improve upon this functionality, provide a highly-requested feature, and match the mobile experience, we’re excited to announce that users can now upload and send up to 20 multimedia files (photos and videos) in one Chat message. Dragging and dropping multimedia files into the compose bar from your desktop is also supported. 

Adding multiple multimedia files to a single message


Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: An error message will show if a user exceeds size limits or uploads unsupported file combinations. Visit the Help Center to learn more about sending & sharing files in Google Chat messages. 

Rollout pace

  • Rapid Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on November 19, 2024, with expected completion by December 3, 2024
  • Scheduled Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on December 12, 2024 

Availability 

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

Easily respond to comments and access requests without leaving Google Chat with the auto-installed Google Drive Chat app

What’s changing

Starting this week, the previously introduced Google Drive Chat app will be automatically installed and send you notifications about recent activity in Google Drive documents, such as new comments and share requests. Directly in Chat, you can now: 
  • Reply to or resolve comments in Docs, Sheets and Slides, which includes the ability to mention your colleagues easily while replying. 
  • Choose the appropriate access level (e.g. viewer, commenter, editor) for share requests. 
  • See when you’ve been mentioned in Docs, Sheets or Slides using Chat’s “Mentions” shortcut. 
  • Easily block a sender or report abuse from the Drive Chat app’s notifications when they come from a user outside of your organization. 
While this new app will be automatically installed, you can easily manage notifications, mute or uninstall the app at any time by going to the three dot overflow menu. 
responding to a comment using Drive Chat app


Getting started 


Rollout pace 


Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers and Workspace Individual Subscribers 

Resources 

Respond to conversations without leaving the home view in Google Chat

What’s changing

Following the recent announcement of summaries in home and other features that help you find what you need much faster using home, we’re introducing the split pane in the home view. 

Using the split pane, you can now respond directly to a space, group or direct message without ever navigating away from the home view in Chat. 

replying in google chat home


Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: 
    • To reply in the split pane view, simply click on a message and the split pane will open with the conversation. You can click on the expand icon in the conversation header if you wish to view that particular conversation in full screen. You can also toggle the split pane mode in the home header if you wish to completely enable/disable opening conversations in the split pane. 
    • Visit the Help Center to learn more about replying to Chat messages in home with the split pane view. 

Rollout pace 


Availability

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers and Workspace Individual Subscribers 

Resources 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – November 8, 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.




Import data into group chats using the Google Chat API 
In September, we introduced a feature through the Google Workspace Developer Preview Program that enables developers to create group chats in import mode using the spaces.create method when migrating to Google Chat from other messaging platforms. This week, we’re excited to announce that this is now generally available for Google Workspace developers. | Roll out to Rapid Release domains and Scheduled Release domains is complete. | Available to all Google Workspace customers. | Learn more about import mode. 


Search for and reuse pre-defined queries from BigQuery in Connected Sheets
Currently, users can define saved queries in BigQuery Studio and notebooks, but they cannot reuse those queries in Connected Sheets without copy/pasting them. This week, we’re excited to announce that users can now search for and reuse pre-defined queries directly from BigQuery to load Connected Sheets data. To do so, go to Connection Settings > Edit connection > Saved queries and query editor and search for your query by project. | Rolling out now to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains at an extended rollout pace (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility), with expectation completion by December 6, 2024. | Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about writing & editing a query and getting started with BigQuery data in Google Sheets. 

Search for and reuse pre-defined queries from BigQuery in Connected Sheets


Launching to beta: Import sensitive Microsoft Word documents as client-side encrypted Google Docs. 
Beginning this week, eligible customers can import and convert sensitive Microsoft Word files into Google Docs with client-side encryption. When collaborating with external and internal stakeholders, you may find yourself working across both Google Docs and Microsoft Word. This update keeps your work moving by layering interoperability on top of the confidentiality benefits of client-side encryption: customers are in direct control of their encryption keys and the identity service that they choose to authenticate for those keys. Eligible Google Workspace admins can use this form to request access to the beta. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Education Standard customers. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about client-side encryption. More specific instructions will be shared once you’re accepted into the beta. 


Select Google Chat settings can now be applied at the group level 
Admins can now apply the following Google Chat settings at the group level: 
While these settings can also be configured at the Organizational Unit (OU) level, this update provides more granular control for admins. This is critical for our customers, who frequently request more flexibility in how they apply settings, giving them more flexibility on how to configure settings based on the various needs of their users. | Roll out to Rapid Release domains and Scheduled Release domains is complete. | Available to all Google Workspace customers.


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.


View in-meeting chat messages in Google Meet live streams 
Starting this week, when you’re viewing a Google Meet live stream, you will be able to see chat messages that are sent by participants who have joined via the meeting link. | Learn more about in-meeting chat messages in Meet live streams. 


Now generally available: use Gemini in the side panel of Workspace apps in seven additional languages 
Beginning this week, select users can use Gemini in the side panel of Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Drive, and Gmail, in seven additional languages: French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish. | Learn more about additional Gemini languages. 


Announcing general availability of Google Vids: Our new AI-powered video creation app for work to help tell stories across your organization 
Earlier this year, we announced Google Vids, the newest productivity app in our suite of Google Workspace products. Vids is an AI-powered video creation app for work designed to help teams in customer service, learning and development, project ops and marketing tell more engaging stories at work through video. This week, we’re excited to announce the general availability of Google Vids for select Workspace editions. | Learn more about Vids. 


Google Vids is now available for Google Workspace for Education, providing easy video creation for teaching and learning 
Earlier this year, we announced Google Vids would soon empower educators and students to easily create and collaborate with video. This week, we’re excited to announce the general availability of Google Vids for Education Plus and Gemini for Workspace customers. | Learn more about Vids for EDU.


Introducing a refreshed library of high-quality Google Slides templates that elevate your presentations
We’re introducing a new collection of modern, professionally designed templates in Google Slides to help users build presentations much faster. These new templates cater to a wide range of use cases that provide users with the perfect starting point for their presentations. | Learn more about Slides templates.


Expanding access to the Gemini app for teen students in education
Google Workspace for Education admins can now turn on the Gemini app with added data protection as an additional service for their teen users (ages 13+ or the applicable age in your country) in the following languages and countries. | Learn more about the Gemini app for teen students in education.


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: 

Paused rollouts

We have paused the rollout for this feature while we evaluate performance and quality. We will provide an update with new rollout information as soon as possible.

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

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – November 1, 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.

Apply black & white filter to Google Drive scans on Android devices 
In August, we announced that you can now save files scanned in the Google Drive Android app as a .JPEG. This week, we’re excited to introduce an additional scanning option that gives you the ability to apply a black & white filter on your document scans. This new filter helps enhance texts and other important elements, ensuring they are sharply defined when compared to the background region. | Rolling out now to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains. | Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about scanning files with your mobile device.
Apply black & white filter to Google Drive scans on Android devices

AI Classification now supports Field Selection for Model Training 
When AI Classification first launched, Labels eligible for model training needed to have a single field of either a badge or option-list field type, and Labels with multiple fields were ineligible. Now, customers that use AI Classification will be able to select which badge or option list field they would like to train a model for after identifying the target label. Once trained and enabled, the AI model will automatically apply the label and will only populate the selected field. | Roll out to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains is complete. | Available to customers with the AI Security add-on, Gemini Enterprise add-on, and Gemini Education Premium. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about Label Google Drive files automatically using AI classification. 


Reducing noise from unfollowed threads in Google Chat
In order to make it easier to identify which unread threads are most relevant to you, we’re reducing the noise by removing visual cues from threads that you do not follow in Google Chat. Starting this week, new activity, such as unread messages from threads you do not follow, will no longer bold and appear at the top of your conversation lists. | Rolling out now to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains on web and mobile at an extended rollout pace (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility). | Available to all Google Workspace customers. 


Introducing a better filter by condition experience for tables in Google Sheets 
Tables in Google Sheets will now provide users with a smarter filter by condition experience. Sheets offers 21 options for users to filter by condition, such as “Date is” or “Text ends with”. However, we know there are scenarios in which certain filters might not be applicable based on the type of data in a spreadsheet. Based on the set column type, users will now only see relevant filter by condition options. For example, if your column type is set to number, the filter options will be number-based only. | Roll out to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains is complete. | Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about sorting & filtering your data.
Introducing a better filter by condition experience for tables in Google Sheets



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.


Refine emails faster with updates to the “Polish” shortcut in Gmail 
We’re expanding the Help me write shortcut to web and introducing a Polish shortcut on web and mobile that helps you refine emails even faster. | Learn more about email shortcuts in Gmail. 

Google Classroom now supports exporting missing and excused grades to select Student Information Systems (SIS)
Teachers can now include missing and excused grades when exporting grades to their Student Information Systems (SIS). | Learn more about exporting missing and excused grades to select Student Information Systems (SIS). 

New density setting in Google Chat 
To give users more control over how they see information in Google Chat, we’re introducing a new setting that allows you to control the visual density of screen elements. Choose between “Comfortable” or “Compact” on chat.google.com. | Learn more about density settings in Chat.

Context Aware Access insights and recommendations are now generally available
We’re making it easier to apply context-aware access (CAA) policies with new insights and recommendations. We’ll proactively surface potential security gaps and suggest pre-built CAA levels which admins can deploy to remediate the security gaps. | Learn more Context Aware Access insights.

FedRAMP High authorization for Gemini for Workspace 
As recently announced, we submitted our package to obtain FedRAMP High authorization for Gemini for Workspace, including the Gemini app. A FedRAMP High certification assures federal agencies in the United States that a cloud service provides the highest level of protection for their most sensitive data, enabling them to confidently leverage cloud technologies for critical operations. | Learn more about FedRAMP High authorization for Gemini.

Gemini in the side panel of Google Chat is now available
We’re expanding Gemini in Chat to help users collaborate more effectively in their spaces, group messages and direct messages. | Learn more about Gemini in the side panel of Chat. 

Data classifications labels for Gmail are now available in open beta
In addition to Google Drive, we’re expanding data classification labels to now include Gmail. Classification labels are used to classify and audit content according to organizational guidelines (“Sensitive”, “Confidential”, etc.) and apply policies, such as data loss prevention (DLP) rules, to protect sensitive information in email messages. Classification labels will be available when using Gmail on the web – support for Gmail on mobile devices will be introduced in the coming months. | Learn more about the beta for data classifications labels for Gmail.


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).       


    Gemini in the side panel of Google Chat is now available

    What’s changing

    For the last few months, users with the Gemini for Google Workspace add-ons and Gemini Education add-ons have used Gemini in the side panel of Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive to assist them with summarizing, analyzing, and generating content through insights gathered from their emails, documents, and more. Earlier this month, Gemini add-on subscribers began using Gemini in Google Chat for summaries of unread conversations in the home view. 

    Today, we’re expanding Gemini in Chat to help users collaborate more effectively in their spaces, group messages and direct messages. With Gemini in the side panel of Chat, you can: 
    • Summarize a space or conversation. Examples include asking Gemini the following: 
      • "Summarize this conversation."
      • "What are the key takeaways in this conversation?” 
      • After an initial summary is generated, you can ask for a longer summary, "Give me a detailed summary of [topic] discussed in this space." 
    • Generate a list of action items from that space or conversation, such as: 
      • "What are the action items in this conversation?” 
      • “Are there any action items for me in this conversation?" 
      • “Summarize [person's] action items in this space” 
    • Answer specific questions about that space or conversation by asking: 
      • “What did [person] say about the timeline extension in this space?” 
      • “What’s the decision on the project discussed in this conversation?" 
    gemini in the side panel of chat

    Who’s impacted 

    End users 


    Why you’d use it 

    Gemini in the side panel of Chat enables you to better collaborate with your team by helping you quickly catch up on missed conversations, capture action items, or search for key details that are easy to miss in a fast-moving space. 


    Additional details 

    At this time, Gemini in the side panel of Chat can summarize and analyze messages in the conversation that you are currently viewing. It will not summarize or analyze context across your entire Chat conversation history, your Gmail inbox or your Drive files. 


    Getting started 


    Rollout pace 


    Availability 

    Available for Google Workspace customers with a: 
    • Gemini Business and Enterprise add-on 
    • Gemini Education and Education Premium add-on 

    Resources 

    New density setting in Google Chat

    What’s changing 

    To give users more control over how they see information in Google Chat, we’re introducing a new setting that allows you to control the visual density of screen elements. Choose between “Comfortable” or “Compact” on chat.google.com. 

    • Comfortable mode, the default setting, reflects Chat’s modernized design, in line with Google Material Design 3, and clearly differentiates message bubbles.
    • Compact mode is for users who prefer to see more information at a time with less scrolling. With this option, you’ll notice: 
      • Message bubbles that are aligned in the same direction for both sender and recipient 
      • Wider message bubbles 
      • Padding in the left bar, conversation list, and home. 
    density settings in Chat

    Getting started

    • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
    • End users: 
      • To modify density settings, go to chat.google.com > Settings > Density > Compact. Users can revert this to the default at any time by going to chat.google.com > Settings > Density > Comfortable. 
      • Those who use Compact density setting in Gmail will also see Chat in Gmail in compact mode. Users can adjust their Gmail and Chat-in-Gmail density settings by going to Gmail > Settings > Density. 
      • Visit the Help Center to learn more about using Compact mode in Google Chat.

    Rollout pace 

    Availability 

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

    Resources 

    Preview summaries of unread conversations in the Google Chat home view with the help of Gemini

    What’s changing 

    We’re excited to announce Gemini in Google Chat can now help you catch up on unread conversations in the Chat home view with summaries. 

    Upon navigating to an unread conversation in home, click the “Summarize” button to see a quick, bulleted synopsis of the message content. This enables you to quickly review recent activity across all active conversations to determine where best to focus your time and attention. 

    Summarize conversations in Google Chat on web

    Who’s impacted 

    End users 


    Why it matters

    Since introducing a more streamlined user experience in Chat to help you find what you need much faster, we’re adding more ways to help you prioritize the most important conversations. This new summaries in home feature does just that by helping you catch up more quickly. 

    Summarize conversations in Google Chat on mobile

    Additional details 

    Summaries in the home view are available for any group conversation, space, or thread in home that contain unread messages. 


    Getting started 

    Rollout pace 

    Web,  Android & iOS:

    Availability

    Available for Google Workspace customers with these add-ons:
    • Gemini Business, Enterprise, Education, Education Premium 
    • AI Meetings & Messaging 

    Resources