Tag Archives: Google Sheets

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – June 30, 2023

3 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 customers.

Revamping the "First Open Experience" in Sheets and Slides on Android devices

In addition to the recent announcement that documents on tablet and foldables will now be in paginated mode upon first open, there will now be a more creation-focused experience when first opening the Sheets and Slides apps on Android devices. For example:

In the Sheets app, there will be larger tap targets and tapping once exposes the formula bar, tab bar, and a contextual formatting toolbar.

Revamping the "First Open Experience" in Sheets

In the Slides app, you will now see the filmstrip on the left-hand side and selecting an object exposes the contextual toolbar and an on-screen keyboard.

Revamping the "First Open Experience" in Slides on Android devices

Paste HTML into document on Android

In continuing our mission to provide a top-class user experience on large screen devices, we’re introducing the ability for users to paste copied HTML elements into a document on Android. You can now copy HTML elements to clipboard and paste the elements into a Doc, all while maintaining the formatting elements.

Easily duplicate groups and objects in Google Sites

Currently, Google Site editors can duplicate a section of their Site, and the duplicated section appears directly below the section it was duplicated from. Starting this week, we’re extending the duplicate feature by enabling you to easily duplicate objects (images, buttons, text boxes) and groups when editing a Site. | Learn more about adding or editing text & images in Google Sites.

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.

Quickly access more features during meetings, available for Google Meet on the web

We’ve introduced a new quick action to access popular features in Google Meet. By hovering the mouse on top of your own video feed, you can access video effects such as immersive backgrounds or fun filters to bring more fun to your meetings and a reframing option to improve your visibility. | Learn more about features in Google Meet.

Apply background blur when joining a call using a virtual desktop

If you’re using a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) to join a Google Meet meeting, you can now use background blur and light adjustment. Background blur will intelligently separate you from the background, blurring your surroundings while keeping you clear and in focus. | Available to Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, and Individual customers only. | Learn more about background blur in Google Meet.

Google Sheets now integrated with mail merge in Gmail

Mail merge will support Google Sheets in the web version of Gmail. This integration will allow you to link a Sheet with up to 1,500 recipients and use any data column from your Sheet as a mail merge tag. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, Education Plus customers and Nonprofits only. | Learn more about mail merge with Sheets in Gmail.

Simplified access controls coming to Google Meet beginning July 17, 2023

We’re introducing simplified controls for meeting access in Google Meet. These will replace the existing Quick access meeting settings and the admin setting to turn Quick access on or off by default will be removed. This update will begin rolling out on July 17, 2023. | Learn more about access controls coming to Google Meet.

Use polls or Q&As during Google Meet live streams

If you’re live streaming a video meeting, meeting hosts can now enable the Q&A and poll features, which previously were only offered in traditional Meet meetings. Expanding these features to live streamed meetings will help take your meetings to the next level with a more feature-rich, collaborative experience. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Plus, Enterprise Standard, Education Plus, and the Teaching and Learning upgrade customers. | Learn more about polls and Q&As during Google Meet live streams.

Making focus time more productive with new Google Calendar setting

To increase concentration and bridge the gap between do not disturb and focus time, you can now mute notifications for the duration of your focus time directly in Calendar. | Available to Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Business Standard, Business Plus, Education Standard, Education Plus, and Nonprofits only. | Learn more about the new Google Calendar setting.

See read receipts for messages in Google Chat group direct messages

We’re introducing read receipts in group direct messages. With this feature, you can now quickly identify if other members of a group have read your latest message within a Chat stream. | Learn more about read receipts in Google Chat.

Improvements for client-side encryption in Gmail

We’ve introduced two new features for client-side encryption in Gmail which will help you quickly identify ineligible recipients and any attachments that may be blocked. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Education Standard customers. | Learn more about client-side encryption in Gmail.

Completed rollouts

The features below completed their rollouts to Rapid Release domains, Scheduled Release domains, or both. Please refer to the original blog post for additional details.

Rapid Release Domains:

Add or remove client-side encryption from a Google Sheets and Google Slides files

Scheduled Release Domains:

Introducing new keyboard shortcuts in Google Sheets

Additional updates for the Google Docs, Sheets and Slides apps on Android devices (Vertical context menu in Docs and Slides)

Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains:

Source: Google Workspace Updates

Google Sheets now integrated with mail merge in Gmail

What’s changing

Last year, we made it easier to send individual emails to many recipients with the launch of multi-send in Gmail, and introduced the ability to personalize multi-send emails with mail merge tags like @firstname and @lastname.

Today, we’re excited to announce that mail merge will support Google Sheets in the web version of Gmail. This integration will allow you to link a Sheet with up to 1,500 recipients and use any data column from your Sheet as a mail merge tag.

Google Sheets now integrated with mail merge in Gmail

Who’s impacted

End users

Why it’s important

With mail merge you can send more personalized and engaging emails to large audiences from web Gmail.

Additional details

With this update, mail merge will fully replace multi-send. We’re also moving the icon for mail merge from the main compose toolbar at the bottom of your email draft to the top-right corner of your compose window. You can still use mail merge without linking a Sheet, using the built-in merge tags: @firstname, @lastname, @fullname, and @email.

Like multi-send, mail merge emails contain a unique unsubscribe link for each recipient by default. Recipients who unsubscribe from your emails are automatically excluded from future mail merge emails you send.

Learn more about mail merge in Gmail.

Getting started

Admins:

For Google Workspace Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, and Education Plus customers, mail merge is restricted to internal recipients by default.
For Google Workspace Business Standard and Business Plus customers, mail merge is available for external recipients by default.
For all Google Workspace editions, you can turn mail merge ON for external recipients at the OU or Group level.
Visit the Help Center to learn more about managing Gmail settings for your users, and customizing access policies for different organizational units or groups.

End users:

To link your Sheet to a draft in Gmail:

Turn on mail merge using the icon in the top-right corner of a new compose tab.
Click Add from a spreadsheet and select which Sheet you want to use for recipient data.

The Sheet must contain at least one column of email addresses and one column with recipient names.

Note: Your recipient data must be in the first tab of the Sheet.
Note: Users are limited to 1,500 mail merge recipients or messages per day, and you can't use Cc or Bcc when recipients are added from a Sheet.

Next, you will see a Finish linking spreadsheet dialog:

Choose the columns that contain recipients’ email addresses and names.

To insert merge tags to your draft:

Type “@” in your draft to show a list of available merge tags.
Every valid column in the first tab of your Sheet should be available as a merge tag.
Insert the desired merge tag by pressing Enter or by clicking on the tag.
Note: Merge tags can’t be used in the subject line or in links.

Visit the Help Center to learn more about mail merge in Gmail.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on June 27, 2023
Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on July 19, 2023

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, Education Plus customers and Nonprofits

Resources

Source: Google Workspace Updates

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – June 23, 2023

2 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 customers.

Adding flexibility to email collection in Google Forms

Previously, when creating or modifying a Google Form and editing the “Responses” section, form creators only had the option to toggle the "Collect email addresses" option on or off. If enabled, this meant when users filled out the form, their email was automatically collected with their form submission. To add flexibility, we’ve introduced the ability to choose between the following email collection options:

Verified email collection (previously known as automatic email collection)
Responder input (previously known as manual email collection)
Do not collect

The verified collection option will now require a user to click a checkbox to confirm which email address is being collected upon submission. | Learn more about viewing & managing form responses.

Adding flexibility to email collection in Google Forms

Gain consensus from collaborators quickly with voting chips in Google Docs

You can now add smart chips that contain emojis to use as voting indicators in Google Docs. This feature helps teams express themselves while they’re collaborating in Docs by allowing you to rank or compare ideas. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus customers and Nonprofits only. | Learn more about inserting smart chips & building blocks in your Google Doc.