Tag Archives: Google Docs

New document tabs in Google Docs provide a better way to organize your documents

What’s changing

We’re excited to introduce document tabs in Google Docs, a new feature to help you organize longer documents, centralize information, and make collaboration easier. 


You can now use tabs to draft and build content in a way that makes it possible for you to find what you’re looking for quickly and stay on task. Plus, readers can navigate through your document with ease and focus on sections that matter most to them. 


Tabs in Docs can be particularly useful when you need to break down long, structured documents into smaller, more digestible sections. For example: 

  • A marketing manager can build a campaign brief using different, focused tabs for budget, goals, and creative ideas. 
  • A sales leader creating pitch templates can now have dedicated tabs for each industry or territory. 
  • A customer service representative can create tabs for each solution to address common customer service issues. 
  • A project manager can create a tab for budget, roles and responsibilities, goals, and key dates so that their working team can stay on track. 
  • A team manager can keep a record of routine documentation, such as recurring meeting notes, agendas, performance reviews, and quarterly planning updates. 
Within each tab, you can also create subtabs to add even more structure to your document. For instance, a budget tab could include subtabs for travel expenses and agency fees, or a team makeup tab could include subtabs explaining each team’s roles and responsibilities. 

tabs in Google Docs


Who’s impacted

End users 


Why you’d use it 

Structuring your Docs with tabs helps to organize longer documents, brings together existing documents more cohesively, and makes collaboration easier. 


Additional details 

Users have the option to set an emoji for each tab to visually represent its content and make navigation easier. The emoji will show to the left of the tab title in the left panel, which replaces the default article icon. 


Getting started

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: 
    • For documents containing 2 or more tabs and new documents, the left panel will open by default to let users navigate and manage tabs easily. When the left panel is closed, users can open it at all times by clicking on the Tabs & outline icon in the top left corner. 
    • You can also share links to specific tabs rather than sharing the link to an entire document by clicking on the three dots menu for a given tab > Copy link. 
    •  Visit the Help Center to learn more about using document tabs in Google Docs.

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 – October 4, 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.




Access filter chips easier in Google Drive search 
Last year, we introduced search chips in Drive to enable you to filter by criteria like file type, owner, and last modified date. To build upon this, we are adding these filters inside the Drive search bar, so you can find relevant files even faster in Drive. We will also show new as-you-type suggestions for filter chips. For example, if you type “doc”, you’ll see a suggested “Document” file type chip. | Rolling out to Rapid Release domains now; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for October 22, 2024. | Available to Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about searching and finding files in Drive.

Access filter chips easier in Google Drive search

The Option List field type is now two separate field types in Label Manager 
Since launching, Google Drive Labels have supported the ability to make an Option List field a single-select or multi-select. To make this setting clearer and improve upon the user experience in the Label Manager, we’ve separated the options into two separate field types: Options list (Single select) and Options list (Multi select). | Rollout to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains is complete. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Essentials Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Education Standard, Education Plus, Frontline Starter and Frontline Standard customers only. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about adding fields to a label. 


Improved spelling suggestions for Germanic languages in Google Docs
For years, users have used Google Docs’ spelling suggestion features for a variety of languages. This week, we’re excited to announce improvements to Norwegian spelling suggestions: 
  • Norwegian Bokmal 
  • Norwegian Nynorsk 
Rolling out to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains now. | Available to Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about checking your spelling & grammar in Google Docs and changing your language on the web.


Introducing new summary cards for purchase information in the Gmail mobile app 
Summary cards extract information from related purchase emails and visually display it at the top of the email to provide helpful information about orders and deliveries. This week, we’re excited to announce updates for purchase-related summary cards including new action buttons, the ability to organize key information across related emails, and real-time status updates. Now you can effortlessly find order details of recent purchases or stay up-to-date on the latest delivery status. The new purchase summary cards are now available in the Gmail mobile app on iOS and Android devices. | For Android devices, rollout to Rapid Release domains is complete; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for October 14, 2024. | For iOS devices, rollout to Rapid and Scheduled Release domains is complete. | Available to Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about using summary cards in Gmail.

new summary cards for purchase information in the Gmail mobile app

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.


Comments and action items are now available for client-side encrypted Google Sheets and Slides 
The use of comments and action items are now available in client-side encrypted Google Sheets and Slides. | Learn more about client-side encrypted comments in Sheets and Slides.


Beta update: Data Loss Prevention enforcement in Gmail is now instantaneous 
We’re announcing enhancements for the Data Loss Prevention for Gmail open beta, which are designed to improve usability without compromising sensitive data protections for Gmail. | Learn more about the DLP beta in Gmail. 


New Watermarking in Google Meet Helps Protect Your Meeting Content 
Google Workspace customers with a Gemini add-on can now watermark presented content and video feeds in Google Meet. Watermarking in Google Meet will appear as a subtle text overlay that displays the meeting code and the email address of the viewer over the shared content and video feeds of participants.| Learn more about Watermarking in Meet.


Gmail Q&A now available on iOS devices
Last month, we introduced a new way of searching your inbox with Gemini on Android devices. Starting this week, this feature is also available on iOS devices, enabling you to ask Gemini questions about your inbox. | Learn more about Q&A on iOS devices.


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

Customize your Google Docs with polished cover images

What’s changing 

We’re making it easy for you to personalize and differentiate documents with full-bleed cover images that extend from one edge of your document to the other. 


Whether you’re customizing a document for a customer with industry themes, personalizing an onboarding document for a new employee or building a virtual brochure for your company’s products, cover images help set the tone for a document by adding relevant visuals. 


You can add cover images from our curated gallery or upload your own image. To insert, you can either: 
  • Click the new “Cover image” chip at the top of your Doc (similar to the ones introduced last year). 
  • Go to Insert > Cover image > Upload from computer or Choose from stock images. 
  • Type “@” followed by Cover image > Upload from computer or Choose from stock images. 
Adding a cover image to your Google Doc


Additional details 

Cover images can only be added to documents set to pageless mode, allowing the image to span the entire width of the document. To set up the more immersive experience of pageless mode, go to File > Page setup > Pageless or Format > Switch to Pageless format. 


Getting started 


Rollout pace


Availability

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

Resources 

Upload additional types of documents to Gemini (gemini.google.com) for insights and analysis

What’s changing 

Beginning today, Google Workspace users with a Gemini Business, Enterprise, Education or Education Premium license can now upload a variety of files from Google Drive or locally from your device into Gemini (gemini.google.com): 
  • Document and text files, such as TXT, DOC, DOCX, PDF, RTF, DOT, DOTX, HWP, HWPX and Google Docs 
  • Data Files, such as XLS, XLSX, CSV, TSV and Google Sheets 
Gemini can use uploaded files to gain context and analyze your content. In turn, this can help enhance your understanding, research, and writing through summarization of complex subject matter, identification of trends and insights, and recommendations for improving writing and document organization. Uploading a document can also help give you more personalized and relevant responses. 
Gemini document uploads


Additional details 

  • At this time, Context-Aware Access (CAA) for files uploaded from Google Drive isn’t supported. Context-Aware Access gives you control over which apps a user can access based on their context, such as whether their device complies with your IT policy. Learn more about Context-Aware Access.
  • Uploading files from Google Drive honors access control settings for files within Drive, meaning users can only upload files that they own or have been shared with them. 
  • File upload is not available to Google Workspace users accessing Gemini as an additional Google service.
  • Users with a Gemini for Google Workspace license who access Gemini as a core service are subject to the Google Workspace Terms of Service or Google Workspace for Education Terms of Service (for education institutions). When users use Gemini as a core service, their chats and uploaded files won't be reviewed by human reviews or otherwise used to improve generative AI models. 

Getting started 

Rollout pace 

Availability

Available for Google Workspace customers with 
  • Gemini Business, Enterprise, Education, Education Premium add-on 

Resources 

Third-party smart chip resource creation now available in Google Docs

What’s changing 

Last year, we introduced the ability to pull rich data from apps directly into Google Docs with third-party smart chips. Today, we’re taking this a step further by enabling third-party partners, such as Lucidspark, Lucidchart, and Zoho Projects, to create smart chips or resources like tasks or flowcharts that end users can add and edit in their Google Docs. 

To access third-party smart chips, an admin or user must first install a partner’s add-on from the Google Workspace Marketplace and then users can search for items to create using the @ menu in Docs. After the item is selected, a creation form will appear that includes text input fields relevant to the type of resource being generated. Once the third-party smart chip is inserted, users can hover over it and view a preview of the content.
Seamless linking between Zoho Projects and Google Docs

Who’s impacted 

Admins, end users and developers (partners) 


Why you’d use it 

This feature expands upon your ability to add, view and engage with critical information from third party apps by letting you create third-party resource content. 


Additional details 

Other third-party partners, such as Jira & Confluence, plan to add resource creation to their existing third-party smart chip add-ons in the Google Workspace Marketplace later this year. 


Getting started 

Rollout pace

Availability 

Available in beta: Policy Visualization across Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drive

What’s changing 

Currently, when there are security policies applied to documents, spreadsheets, presentations or files, users are given no central explanation of which actions, like downloading, making a copy, or external sharing are restricted. 

To improve upon this experience, users who are interacting with policy-protected content, such as those with data loss prevention (DLP) rules or trust rules, will now be proactively informed about what actions are prevented by those policies. 

For example, if a user is interacting with a document affected by DLP-enforced information rights management (IRM) and a Trust Rule, they will see a shield icon, banner, and side panel that informs them of the restricted actions.
Policy Visualization across Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drive


Who’s impacted 

End users 


Why it matters 

With this update, users will be made aware of which actions they are taking that are disabled on a document, spreadsheet, slide or file due to data protection controls.

Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: 
    • Any user will be able to see policy visualization if it's active on a document, but the owner of the document is used to determine if it's turned ON. 
    • A shield icon, banner, and side panel will automatically appear when security controls are present. 
    • Visit the Help Center to learn more about the policies that enable Policy Visualization: 

Rollout pace 

During the Open Beta period, this feature will be opt-in only. Customers who fill out this form will see the feature enabled in their specified domains within 7 days of sign-up. Customers may submit feedback here or email it to [email protected]. 


Availability

Policy visualization is enabled when the document, spreadsheet, slides or file owner belongs to the following Google Workspace editions: 
  • Business Starter, Standard, Plus 
  • Enterprise Starter, Standard, Plus 
  • Essentials Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Essentials Enterprise Plus 
  • Frontline Starter, Standard 
  • Education Fundamentals, Standard, Plus, the Teaching & Learning Upgrade 
  • Workspace Individual Subscribers 

Resources 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – July 12, 2024

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.


Shared drives can now have up to 100 levels of nested folders and 500,000 items 
Prior to this month, a folder in a shared drive could have up to 20 levels of nested folders and could contain a maximum of 400,000 items. Today, we’re excited to announce that we’ve increased the nested folder limit to 100 levels and the maximum number of items to 500,000. | Rollout to Rapid and Scheduled Release domains is complete. | Available to Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Learn more about shared drive limits in Google Drive. 

eSignature is now available for select Google Workspace customers 
As previously announced, starting July 15, 2024, we will begin rolling out eSignature for Google Docs to end users on select Google Workspace editions. eSignature offers a variety of features to help you streamline requesting and capturing signatures, helping you stay organized and keep your work moving along. Specifically, you can: 
  • Request eSignatures, including signatures from more than one user and from non-Gmail users. 
  • View the status of pending signatures and find completed contracts. 
  • Keep contract templates to initiate multiple eSignature requests. 
  • View an audit trail of completed contracts.
  • Use custom text fields to request additional information from signers, such as job titles, email addresses and more. 
  • Sign contracts from both mobile devices and PCs. 
Rollout to Rapid and Scheduled Release domains starts July 15, 2024 at a gradual pace (up to 15 days for feature visibility). | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, and Education Plus customers. | Learn more about sending signature requests & sign documents with eSignature.


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.


Introducing a new experience for data regions reporting
We’ve introduced several new enhancements to Google Workspace data regions. | Learn more about data regions reporting. 

Access Management is now generally available in the European Union 
Access Management is now also generally available in the European Union — these controls allow customers to select the physical location from which Google support teams can access organizational data during support activities. | Learn more about Access Management. 

Manage your compliance and data controls from a single source in the Admin console 
We’ve centralized relevant features and information into a single location in the admin console: Data. | Learn more about compliance and data controls. 

Enhancing the Google Calendar appointment scheduling experience with additional features 
We’re updating appointment schedules by adding new features to enhance the overall experience. | Learn more about appointment scheduling updates. 

Pre-configure meeting notes, recordings, and transcripts from the Calendar invite 
Meeting hosts can now pre-configure meeting notes, meeting recordings, and meeting transcripts from the Calendar invite. | Learn more about meeting host capabilities. 

Use the Apple Volume Purchasing Program (VPP) to distribute apps for device enrollment and company owned devices 
In November 2023, we announced the ability to purchase and distribute iOS apps to user-enrolled devices through Apple’s Volume Purchase Program. Beginning this week, we’re expanding this functionality to include device enrollment and company-owned iOS devices. | Learn more about the Apple Volume Purchasing Program. 

Google Meet and Zoom interoperability now includes presented content via a wired HDMI connection 
We’re expanding the interoperability between Google Meet and Zoom to include the ability to present content via a wired HDMI connection. | Learn more about Google Meet and Zoom interoperability.

Rollout Update: setting the default camera framing option for Google Meet hardware devices
We recently announced several updates related to framing options on Google Hardware devices. This included the ability for admins to configure the default camera framing option for their hardware devices. After pausing rollout to optimize performance, we are pleased to announce that this feature is now fully available. | Learn more about default camera framing options for Meet hardware devices.

Access Google Meet artifacts with a new Google Drive API scope
We’re introducing a new OAuth scope for the Drive API: drive.meet.readonly. The new scope grants app access to read and download files from a user’s drive that were created or edited by Google Meet — this includes meeting transcripts, notes, recordings, and more. | Learn more about accessing Meet artifacts.


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.



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 Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, and Google Drive is rolling out now

What’s changing

We’re pleased to announce the general availability of Gemini in the side panel of Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive. Through the side panel, Gemini can assist you with summarizing, analyzing, and generating content by utilizing insights gathered from your emails, documents, and more—all without switching applications or tabs. The updated interface automatically summarizes the content you're working on and provides contextually relevant prompts to help you get started. 


Who’s impacted 

End users 


Why you’d use it 

The side panel will use Google’s most capable models including the Gemini 1.5 Pro model with a longer context window and more advanced reasoning, allowing you to harness the power of Gemini directly from your most used Google Workspace apps. Here are a few examples of when you’d use it:
  • Docs: Gemini in Docs side panel can help you write and refine your content, summarize information, help you brainstorm, create content based off of other files, and more.
Gemini in Docs side panel

  • Slides: Gemini in Slides side panel can help you generate new slides, generate custom images, summarize presentations and more. 

Using Gemini in Slides side panel

  • Sheets: Gemini in Sheets side panel can help you track and organize data. In the side panel, you can quickly create tables, generate formulas and ask how to accomplish certain tasks in Sheets.

Using Gemini in Sheets side panel


  • Drive: Gemini in Drive side panel can summarize one or multiple documents,  get quick facts about a project, or deep dive on a topic without needing to find and click through numerous documents.



    Using Gemini in Drive side panel


Additional details

We’re also introducing Gemini in the Gmail side panel, which you can leverage to summarize email threads, draft an email, suggest responses to an email thread, and more. For more information, see our announcement on the Workspace Updates blog.


Getting started

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
  • End users: You can access the Gemini in the side panel by clicking on “Ask Gemini” (spark button) in the top right corner of Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive on the web. Visit the Help Center to learn more about collaborating with Gemini in Google Drive, as well as Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides.

Rollout pace


Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – June 21, 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.


Now generally available: Build AppSheet automations using Google Forms 
AppSheet helps users automate manual workflows by integrating with data sources like Google Drive, Chat and Sheets, and earlier this year we announced its integration with Google Forms in beta. This week, we’re excited to announce this is now generally available. | Roll out to Rapid Release domains and Scheduled Release domains is complete. | Available to Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Education Standard, Education Plus and the Teaching & Learning Upgrade, Frontline Starter, Frontline Standard, AppSheet Starter, AppSheet Core, AppSheet Enterprise Standard, and AppSheet Enterprise Plus customers only. | Learn more about AppSheet's integration with Google Forms and building your first app and automation using Google Forms. 


The ability to add and remove Google Groups as space members using the Google Chat API is now generally available 
Last year, we announced the ability to create spaces, memberships, group chats, and more using the Google Chat API. This week, we’re excited to introduce the option for developers to add and remove Google Groups as space members using the Google Chat API. | Rolling out now to Rapid Release domains and Scheduled Release domains. | Available to all Google Workspace customers. | Learn more about accessing Chat APIs through the Google Chat API. 


Comments and action items in client-side encrypted Google Docs is now generally available 
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 functionality was previously available in open beta — see our original announcement for complete details. | Rolling out to Rapid Release domains now; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for July 2, 2024. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard and Education Plus customers. | Learn more about working with encrypted files in Drive, Docs, Sheets & Slides.


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.


Insert images into practice sets in Google Classroom 
Teachers can now import images, like graphs, charts or photos, into practice sets using files from Google Drive or directly from their computer. | Learn more about inserting images into practice sets. 

Help your students learn to read with Read Along in Classroom 
We’re introducing Read Along in Google Classroom, a new feature that helps students build their independent reading skills by enabling teachers to assign differentiated reading activities, based on Lexile® measure, grade level, or phonics skills. | Learn more about Read Along in Google Classroom. 

External users can now securely collaborate on client-side encrypted files 
We’re expanding visitor sharing, a feature that provides secure, pincode-based collaboration over sensitive data with people, to include client-side encrypted files. This allows users to securely collaborate with external partners on sensitive Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides files, while maintaining the confidentiality of the information with the granular control of encryption keys, identity verification and user permissions. | Learn more about visitor sharing. 

Create interactive YouTube assignments in Google Classroom more quickly and efficiently, with the help of AI 
We’re introducing AI-suggested questions that educators can easily attach to a video based on its content when creating interactive YouTube assignments in Google Classroom. | Learn more about YouTube assignments in Classroom.

Google Meet adds 52 new languages to translated captions and 11 more languages for closed captions 
For all Google Workspace customers and users with personal accounts, we’ve expanded support for closed captioning. In addition, for Gemini for Google Workspace customers, we are adding 52 languages to translated captions with full language support. | Learn more about translated captions and closed captions. 

Improved syncing experience between Google Calendar and third-party calendars 
We’re pleased to introduce an improved email notification experience for those who are using third-party calendar services—like Outlook—to collaborate with Google Calendar users. | Learn more about the improved syncing experience on Calendar.

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).   

External users can now securely collaborate on client-side encrypted files

What’s changing

We’re expanding visitor sharing, a feature that provides secure, pincode-based collaboration over sensitive data with people, to include client-side encrypted files. This allows users to securely collaborate with external partners on sensitive Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides files, while maintaining the confidentiality of the information with the granular control of encryption keys, identity verification and user permissions. 
External users can now securely collaborate on client-side encrypted files


Getting started 


Rollout pace 


Availability 

Available for Google Workspace: 
  • Enterprise Plus Education Standard and Plus 

Resources