Tag Archives: Google Drive

Improving the Google Workspace experience on large screen Android devices

Quick summary

As part of our mission to provide a top-class user experience on large screen devices, we’re adding several new features and functionality to products like Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Keep on Android devices. 

We hope these updates enhance flexibility by giving you more ways to work with, display and organize your content across Google Workspace. Specifically, the new abilities include:
  • Drag & Drop in Docs, Sheets & Drive: Easily drag text or images from other apps, such as Chrome, and drop content into an existing document or spreadsheet cell. For Drive, quickly upload files by dragging and dropping them into the app. You can also add links to Drive files by dragging the file into an open app like Keep. 
Dragging & Dropping from Sheets
Dragging & Dropping from Sheets into Docs and vice versa

Dragging & Dropping from Keep
Dragging & Dropping from Keep into Drive

Dragging & Dropping from Drive
Dragging & Dropping from Drive into Keep

  • Keyboard support for Drive, Docs & Slides: When using an attached keyboard, use simple and familiar shortcuts to quickly navigate around Drive, Docs, and Slides, without needing to slow down and take your hands off of your keyboard. 
  • Multi-instance support on Drive: Get better insight into your Drive files by having two Drive windows open side-by-side. 

Multi-instance support on Drive:

Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for these features. 
  • End users: 
    • Visit the Help Center to learn more about Dragging & Dropping in Drive and Keyboard shortcuts. 
    • To access Multi-instance support on Drive, select the 3-dot menu on any Drive file > choose the "Open in new window" option > navigate through each Drive window independently. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using Google Drive. 

Rollout pace 

Keyboard support for Drive, Drag & Drop in Drive, and Multi-instance support on Drive: 
  • These features are available now
Keyboard support for Docs & Slides and Drag & Drop in Docs & Sheets: 

Availability 

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

Resources 

Programmatically manage and apply Drive Labels using new API functionality

What’s changing 

Many of our customers already take advantage of the Drive Labels capabilities to classify content and implement policies on their Drive files for governance and Data Loss Prevention. 

Today, we’re happy to announce a highly requested update that will enable you to programmatically manage labels at scale via Drive APIs. 

drive labels api v2



Who’s impacted 

Admins and developers 


Why it’s important 

The new Drive Labels API supports reading Drive Label taxonomies. New functionality in the Drive API can be used to apply labels, set fields on files, and find files by label metadata. As a whole, these new API features enable numerous use cases including, bulk-classification, Apps Script driven workflows, third-party integrations, and other organizing and finding needs. 


Additional details 

We’re also announcing a Beta version of the Drive Labels API that supports creating and modifying labels, which was previously only supported in the label manager.


Getting started 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

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

Resources 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – July 15, 2022

New updates 


There are no new updates to share this week. Please see below for a recap of published announcements. 

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.


Allow collaborators to analyze data in Connected Sheets with delegated access 
Admins can now allow their users to delegate access to BigQuery when using Connected Sheets. This enables end users with access to BigQuery data to delegate their credentials to collaborators to allow them to refresh or edit analysis as needed. | Available to Google Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, Education Plus customers only. | Learn more. 

Sync Apple DEP and Google Mobile Device Management servers on demand 
Admins can now trigger an on demand sync between Apple DEP and Google Mobile Device Management (MDM) servers for company owned devices. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, and Cloud Identity Premium customers only. | Learn more.

Add data loss prevention to Google Chat, now available as an open beta 
Admins can now establish data loss prevention (DLP) rules for Google Chat that can help protect sensitive data from getting to unauthorized users. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Education Plus, and the Teaching & Learning upgrade customers only and Cloud Identity Premium users who are licensed for Workspace editions with Drive audit log. | Learn more. 

Better sharing options for appointment schedules 
We’ve made it easier to share appointment schedules on web through a new Share button. This update allows appointment hosts to copy a short link to all appointment schedules or a specific booking page, and add HTML to embed a booking page on their website. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Education Plus, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Nonprofits customers only. | Learn more. 

Use Miro within Google Meet for an immersive and collaborative whiteboard experience 
You can now leverage Miro, a third party online whiteboarding app, for ideating and problem solving as a group in Google Meet. | Learn more. 

Trust rules for Google Drive are now available in open beta 
The closed beta we announced in 2021 for trust rules in Google Drive that gives admins more control over how files can be shared, both within and outside of their organization, is now available as an open beta. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Enterprise Standard, Education Plus, and Education Standard customers only. | Learn more. 


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

Trust rules for Google Drive are now available in open beta

What’s changing 

In 2021 we announced a closed beta for trust rules in Google Drive, which gives admins more control over how files can be shared, both within and outside of their organization. Beginning today, this feature will be available as an open beta for specific Google Workspace customers, which means you can use it without enrolling in a specific beta program. See below for more information regarding availability. 


With trust rules, admins can enforce policies that limit internal and external sharing. Specific rules can even be set for organizational units and groups, allowing a more granular approach than enforcing blanket policies on every user. 


Trust rules can be turned on in the Admin console — once enabled, it will replace “Sharing options” within the Google Drive portion of the Admin console. Your existing Drive sharing settings will automatically become trust rules – note that this will not change your existing sharing settings or security configurations. 


See below for more information and availability. 


Who’s impacted 

Admins and end users 


Why it’s important 

Previously, admins were only given broad control over sharing settings for Drive, which meant choosing between options such as: no external sharing or only sharing with trusted domains. 


By enabling the trust rules beta, admins now have more control over how files can be shared, both within and outside of their organization. For example, admins can limit what their frontline workers should have access to versus other parts of their organization. 


Getting started 

  • Admins: Eligible Admins can enable this feature in the Admin console by going to Rules > Turn on trust rules. Visit the Help Center to learn more about trust rules. 


  • End users: Your Admin’s trust rules will determine who you can share and collaborate with on Drive files. 

Rollout pace 


Availability 

  • Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Enterprise Standard, Education Plus, and Education Standard Customers 
  • Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Education Fundamentals, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers 

Resources 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – July 1, 2022

New updates

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are fully launched or in the process of rolling out (rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete), launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time (if not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete), and available to all Google Workspace and G Suite customers. 


Drag out from Keep 
You can now effortlessly insert images saved in your Keep notes into other apps by dragging them out from the image carousel on Android devices. | Learn more. 
Drag out from Keep


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.

Offline syncing available for opened Microsoft Office documents 
You can now work offline with Microsoft Office files on your desktop. | Learn more. 


Rich text formatting in Google Forms titles and descriptions 
In addition to new options for styling fonts, rich text formatting is now available in Google Forms, enabling you to customize and add emphasis to your forms. | Learn more. 


Start meetings more efficiently with the Calendar guest list in Google Meet 
In Google Meet, you can now see participants who were invited to the meeting but have yet to join the call. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, the Teaching & Learning Upgrade, Education Plus, Non profit customers, and legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers only. | Learn more. 


Updated timeline for the new integrated view for Gmail 
We’ve rolled out the opt-out experience to a segment of Gmail users. This means that select users will see the new Gmail experience by default, but they will still have the option to revert to classic Gmail via the settings menu. | Learn more. 


New security alerts for highly sensitive changes to Google Workspace configurations 
In the Alert Center, admins will now be notified of select critical and sensitive changes made to their Google Workspace configurations. | Learn more. 


Synchronize client-side encrypted files with Google Drive for Desktop on Windows and Mac OS 
Admins can update their client-side encryption configurations to include Drive for Desktop. When enabled, users can synchronize their Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides files with Drive for Desktop on Windows & Mac OS devices. | Encrypt and upload local files is available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard and Education Plus customers only. | Learn more. 


Easily share profile links via Contacts 
Every contact with a Workspace email now has a new profile link that is easy to copy, share, and send within an organization. | Learn more. 


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

Synchronize client-side encrypted files with Google Drive for Desktop on Windows and Mac OS

Quick summary 

Admins for select Google Workspace editions can update their client-side encryption configurations to include Drive for Desktop. When enabled, users can synchronize their Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides files with Drive for Desktop on Windows & Mac OS devices. Synced, encrypted files will appear as shortcuts on Windows and symbolic links on Mac OS.




Support for Mac OS users on File Provider will be introduced in a future release — we will provide an update on the Workspace Updates blog at that time.


Additionally, this also allows client-side encryption users in your domain to encrypt and upload local files to Google Drive.


Getting started 


Rollout pace 


Availability 

Synchronize encrypted files 
  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and 

Business customers Encrypt and upload local files 

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

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – June 24, 2022

New updates 

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are fully launched or in the process of rolling out (rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete), launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time (if not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete), and available to all legacy Google Workspace and G Suite customers. 


Frictionless sharing across Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides 
In the effort to make collaboration simpler for users, we've introduced a new sharing experience in Workspace. Now, when you click the "Share" button in the top-right corner of your file, you'll see a streamlined design that makes it easier to share files with others and/or specific groups of people in your organizations, control whether your file is searchable to groups with access, and to copy the file link. | Learn more. 

new-sharing-experience

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. 



Data Loss Prevention for Drive helps protect sensitive data when users upload files to external Google Forms, now generally available 
Users can now respond to external forms that contain file upload questions, while also helping to prevent the leak of sensitive and confidential information. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, and Education Plus customers. | Learn more. 


New options for styling fonts in Google Forms 
We’ve added additional font style and sizing options, and the ability to customize header, subheader, and body text separately in Google Forms. | Learn more. 


Adjust spacing between content in Sites using new density theme setting 
Site editors can now adjust the spacing between the content on their site with a custom theme setting that offers Compact, Cozy, or Comfortable spacing options. | Learn more. 


Easily print your Tasks List 
You can now print personal and Chat spaces Task lists on web, making it easier for you to track assigned items offline or plan with pen and paper if that’s your preference. | Learn more. 


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

Data Loss Prevention for Drive helps protect sensitive data when users upload files to external Google Forms, now generally available

Quick summary 

In April, we announced a beta that allows users to respond to external forms that contain file upload questions, while also helping to prevent the leak of sensitive and confidential information. 

This feature is now generally available and will apply your domain’s existing Data Loss Prevention (DLP) for Drive policies to files that your users submit to Google Forms, without creating new rules or updating any existing ones. 

dlp-file-uploads-to-external-forms

Getting started 

  • Admins: 
    • DLP for Drive rules defined for your domain will be applied to files submitted to file upload questions in Google Forms outside your domain. 
    • If you are not using DLP for Drive, you can create DLP rules at the domain, OU, or group level in the Admin console under Security > Data protection. You can apply block, warn or audit actions. Visit the Help Center to learn more about turning Workspace DLP on for your organization. 
  • End users: 
    • End users can respond to forms as usual, but can now respond to forms outside their domain, including forms that have file upload questions. 
    •  If a form violates DLP for Drive rules for their domain, end users may see warnings or be blocked from submitting. 

Rollout pace  


Availability 

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

Resources  

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – June 3, 2022

New updates 


There are no new updates to share this week. Please see below for a recap of published announcements. 

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.

Easily see file locations in Google Drive
You can now see a file’s location information in the Search, Recent, Starred and Trash web views of Google Drive. | Learn more. 


Google for Education transformation reports window open, available worldwide 
Google for Education transformation reports are available for K-12 Google Workspace for Education customers worldwide, from June 1, 2022 through July 26, 2022. | Learn more. 


Bringing Google Meet features to Google Duo for a single, integrated video solution 
In the coming weeks, all Google Meet features will be added to the Duo app. Later this year, we’ll rename the Duo app to Google Meet, our single video communications service across Google accessible to everyone at no-cost. | Learn more. 


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

Easily see file locations in Google Drive

Quick summary

In addition to seeing a file’s name, owner, modification date, and size, we’ve added a column to include location information in the Search, Recent, Starred and Trash web views of Google Drive. 


This feature makes it easier for you to differentiate between similarly-named files stored in different locations and find exactly what you’re looking for at a much faster rate. 

Easily see file locations in Google Drive



Getting started  

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers 

Resources