Tag Archives: Other

Client-side encryption for Gmail available in beta

What’s changing

We’re expanding customer access to client-side encryption in Gmail on the web. Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Education Standard customers are eligible to apply for the beta until January 20th, 2022.

Using client-side encryption in Gmail ensures sensitive data in the email body and attachments are indecipherable to Google servers. Customers retain control over encryption keys and the identity service to access those keys.


Who’s impacted
Admins and end users



Why it’s important

Google Workspace already uses the latest cryptographic standards to encrypt all data at rest and in transit between our facilities. Client-side encryption helps strengthen the confidentiality of your data while helping to address a broad range of data sovereignty and compliance needs. 

Client-side encryption is already available for Google Drive, Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, Google Meet, and Google Calendar (beta).


Getting started


  • Admins: 
    • Eligible Workspace customers can apply for the beta after completing a few steps to prepare your account.
    • This feature will be OFF by default and can be enabled at the domain, OU, and Group levels (Admin console > Security > Access and data control > Client-side encryption). Visit the Help Center to learn more about client side encryption. 

  • End users: To add client-side encryption to any message, click the lock icon and select additional encryption, and compose your message and add attachments as normal. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using Client-side encryption for Gmail.





Rollout

We will be accepting beta applications and allowlisting customers over the next several weeks.


Availability

  • Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, 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 legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers
  • Not available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources


Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – December 9, 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. 




See collaborator avatars in the toolbar of apps on Android devices 
In continuation of our efforts to improve the Google Workspace experience on large screen Android devices, we’re moving collaborator avatars from the overflow menu into the app toolbar at the top of your Android tablets and mobile devices. 
widgets on android
Pin table headers when using pageless format on Google Docs 
When your Google Doc is set to the pageless format, you can now pin one or more table rows as header rows. When you scroll vertically past the top of the table, the headers will remain visible at the top of the window until you scroll to the bottom of the table. | Learn more. 
pinned headers
Easily share files in Google Meet chat on web 
Currently, when you share the link to a Google Drive file in Meet chat, you have to ensure the document is shared with those on the call, either proactively or reactively, on a separate screen. Starting this week, when sharing a file in Meet chat, you will now be prompted to update the file sharing permissions to reflect which meeting attendees you’d like to have access to a particular file, all within Meet. | Roll out to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains began December 5, 2022 at an extended pace (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility). | Learn more. 


Warning banners for external email recipients on iOS devices
Beginning today, you'll see a warning banner when adding external recipients to an email on iOS. These warnings are already available for Gmail on the web and Android devices. Note that admins can turn these specific warning labels on or off for their organization. | Roll out to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains began December 9, 2022 at an extended pace (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility). 


Improvements for using Miro in Google Meet
We've made two enhancements for the Miro experience within Google Meet:
  • Meeting participants will see a dialog invite instead of a chat message asking them to join a whiteboarding session.
  • Meeting hosts now have the option to end collaboration for the group as a whole. Alternatively, meeting participants will have the ability to leave the session individually.
We hope these improvements create a smoother collaborative experience when using Miro within Google Meet. | Learn more here and here.






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.



More ways to prevent data exfiltration on iOS devices 
In 2020, we released several data exfiltration protections for iOS devices. Today, we’re announcing the next set of enhancements for data exfiltration protections for iOS. We’re expanding these security controls to give admins more ways to protect sensitive company data on iOS devices. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Enterprise for Education, and Cloud Identity Premium customers only. | Learn more. 


New default setting for content managers to modify shared drives coming in February 2023 
Starting this week, admins will see a new shared drive setting that can be enabled or disabled to give content managers the ability to share folders in shared drives. In February 2023, all content managers will have the ability to share folders by default. If you’d like this feature to remain off for end users, disable the setting now. | Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Business customers only. | Learn more. 


Create drop-down chips in Google Sheets 
We’ve added dropdown chips in Google Sheets, a custom formatting feature that is already available in Docs. They also enable you to easily indicate statuses or various project milestones outlined in your Sheet. | Learn more. 


Collaborate with colleagues in Google Slides through a new ‘Follow’ feature
We’re introducing a new ‘Follow’ feature that allows you to collaborate with colleagues in real-time on Google Slides. Simply, click on a collaborator’s avatar in the Slides toolbar to jump to whatever slide they are on, and continue to move with them as they navigate and make changes to a presentation. | Learn more.



Completed feature rollouts


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


Rapid 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).

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – December 2, 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.


Improved meeting quality when joining on virtual machines 
If you use a Virtual Desktop Interface (VDI) such as Citrix or VMWare to join Google Meet calls, you’ll notice an increase in video and audio quality. Meet will now detect whether you’re joining from a VDI and automatically adjust for the best performance. | Learn more. 


Use the Cloud Search Query API to set Suggest Filters to enhance Cloud Search results 
It’s now easier to configure and use Cloud Search search filters and facets with multiple enhancements to our existing functionalities. With this launch, you can use the Cloud Search Query API to configure new additional capabilities. | Available to Google Cloud Search Customers only. | Learn more.



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 25, 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. 



Resizing Pivot Tables in Sheets
We’re excited to announce a requested feature that allows you to resize the pivot table editor side panel when creating or editing a pivot table. This functionality is especially useful when the names of columns or fields are too long and you want to see the text in its entirety. | Learn more.

Improved search results based on recent search activity in Gmail
In July, we announced better search and suggestion options in Gmail. Now, when using Gmail on the web, this also includes better search results based on your recent search activity in Gmail. This enhancement to Gmail search makes results more relevant and contextual. | Learn more. 


Share Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files in Google Meet chat 
Earlier this year, we announced the ability to join or present to a Google Meet call from Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides. Now, if you are presenting or joining a meeting from a file, you can easily share that file with meeting attendees through in-meeting chat. With this update you’re able to grant access to a document, spreadsheet, or presentation to all or select meeting attendees, allowing everyone in the meeting to collaborate while having a conversation. | Learn more. 

Previous announcements


There are no previous announcements to share this week. 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 18, 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 content from Google Slides into other apps on Android
Over the last several months, we’ve added numerous new features and functionality to products like Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Keep on Android devices. This week, we’ve launched the ability to easily drag text and image content from Google Slides into other apps on Android. | Learn more.

Improving drag & drop on the Google Drive Android app
Earlier this year, we launched drag & drop in Drive, allowing you to quickly upload files by dragging and dropping them into the app. This week, we’re improving this feature by enabling you to also drag & drop files and folders around in your Drive to move their location as you see fit. This can be done either in the two-window view or in the single app view. | Learn more. 


Full mouse support now available on Google Docs Android App
Expect full mouse support while using Google Docs on Android that will mirror mouse behavior on the web. For example, clicking and dragging across text will now select that specific text instead of panning the entire document. 


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.



Concentrate or disconnect with scheduled Do Not Disturb on Google Chat
You can now set a recurring schedule so you are not disturbed by Chat notifications on web, Android, and iOS. | Learn more. 


Use Access Approvals to control data access during support or maintenance 
This week, we introduced Access Approvals, which builds on Access Transparency and Access Management. Access Approvals allows customers to explicitly approve or deny Google employees access to data during support and general maintenance. Access approvals will be rolling out over the course of the next several weeks. | Access Approvals is part of Google Workspace Assured Controls, which is available as an add-on for Google Workspace Enterprise Plus customers only. For more information, contact your Google account representative. | Learn more.


New Consolidated Controls Page for Google Takeout
Beginning November 15, 2022, admins can manage Takeout settings from a new consolidated controls page, located at Admin console > Account > Google Takeout > User access to Takeout for Google services. We anticipate the new page to be fully rolled out within the next few weeks. | Learn more. 


Sharing suggestions in Google Drive make collaborating easier
We've made it easier to share files with the people you typically share with in Google Drive. With this feature, suggested recipients will appear in the sharing dialog to speed up collaboration across your organization. | Learn more. 



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 11, 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. 



Easily assign Tasks from Google Docs on mobile
Earlier this year, we made it easier for you to assign Tasks from Google Docs. This enables you to assign a checklist item to yourself or a colleague that will then show up in the assignee’s Tasks list. When edits are made to an assigned item in Tasks, such as a change to the title, due date or completion state, those updates will show in the Doc, and vice versa. We’re excited to announce that this is now available on the Docs Android and iOS apps. | Learn more here and here.



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.



The new Gmail user interface is becoming the standard experience
At the beginning of 2022, we announced a new user interface and a customizable, integrated view for Gmail, bringing critical applications like Gmail, Chat, and Meet in one unified location. Starting this month, this user interface will become the standard experience for Gmail, with no option to revert back to the “original view.” With the new UI, users are still able to change their Gmail theme, inbox type, and more through quick settings. | Available to Google Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers only. | Learn more.



Trust rules in Google Drive now generally available
In July 2022, we announced an open beta for trust rules in Google Drive. Beginning today, this feature will become available for eligible Google Workspace customers. Trust rules give admins more control over how files can be shared, both within and outside of their organization. For example, admins can limit what specific departments can access versus other parts of their organization. See our original announcement for more information. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Enterprise Standard, Education Plus, and Education Standard customers only. | Learn more. 



Use Key Migration to change or add key services for Client-side encryption
As we continue to expand Client-side encryption (CSE) across Google Workspace products, we’re introducing Key Migration which allows admins to enable additional key services or change their existing key service. In both cases, built-in controls ensure key migrations are performed safely, with support for backup key services and potential roll backs. These ensure encrypted data remains inaccessible to Google and fidelity is maintained through the migration process. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, and Education Plus customers only. | Learn more. 


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 4, 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. 


Use smart chips in Google Sheets as links on mobile 
With smart canvas, you’re currently able quickly add people and files into Google Sheets with smart chips on the web. Starting this week on mobile, these chips are treated like linked text and will show relevant hovercards and context menu items. 

Offline printing now available for Google Sheets 
We’ve launched offline printing to support users working in a Sheet with offline access. In addition, emojis and system fonts are now included in offline printing. This feature is only available to those using Google Chrome. As a reminder, your organization can encrypt Sheets files with Workspace Client-side encryption, an additional feature supported by offline printing. | Learn more. 


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.



Improved flow for expiring access controls in Google Drive 
You can now set expiring access when sharing files in My Drive. This update improves the existing expiring access capabilities by allowing you to add an expiration when sharing, as opposed to after a person already has access to the file. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, Education Standard, and Nonprofits customers only. | Learn more. 

Reminder to migrate your classic Google Sites before January 30, 2023 
We’re extending the previously announced timeline to give Google Workspace customers more time to migrate from classic Google Sites to new Google Sites: 
  • On January 30, 2023 (previously December 1, 2022): We will begin to turn off the ability to edit any remaining classic Sites in your domain. Your classic Sites will remain viewable until the automatic conversion.
  • After January 30, 2023 (previously January 1, 2023): We will begin to automatically convert all remaining classic Sites to new Sites drafts for site owners to review and publish, and export static archives to Google Takeout. Your classic Sites will be deleted after they are converted to new Sites. Note: Refer to the CSV file included with the export generated after your domain’s autoconversion completes for any classic Sites we were unable to convert. | Learn more.
Google for Education transformation reports window open for customers worldwide 
Google for Education transformation reports are available for K-12 Google Workspace for Education customers worldwide, at no cost. Note: transformation reports are only available in English at this time. | Available to K-12 Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Education Plus, and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade customers only. | Learn more. 

Manage projects & tasks with a new timeline view on Google Sheets 
We’ve introduced an interactive timeline view that allows you to track projects in Google Sheets. This new visual layer displays project information stored in Sheets, such as the task start and end date, description, and owner. | Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Nonprofits customers only. | Learn more. 


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

Google for Education transformation reports window open for customers worldwide

What’s changing

Google for Education transformation reports are available for K-12 Google Workspace for Education customers worldwide, at no cost. Note: transformation reports are only available in English at this time. 

The reporting window is open from Nov 2, 2022 through Dec 31, 2022. Workspace admins will benefit from: 

  • Immediate access: Google Workspace for Education super admins can log in today and immediately view their custom report. 
  • Realtime customization: You can adjust settings in realtime, including your two 12 week product data reporting windows and the numbers of teachers and students in your organization. (The report will be locked for editing after Dec 31, 2022.) 

See below for more information on generating your custom transformation report. 


Who’s impacted 

Admins 


Why you’d use it 

The transformation report is a free tool designed to help quantify your organization’s Google for Education implementation across our products and programs. Semester-based reports track usage trends over time and make it easy to understand how your organization is using Google Workspace for Education, Chromebooks, and progressing through educator certification programs. Additionally, each report includes links to free resources aimed to support your Google implementation. 




Getting started 

  • Admins: Google Workspace for Education super admins can log in to the transformation report tool starting Nov 2, 2022 to view their custom report. Upon login, Admins should: 
    • Update their student enrollment and faculty count.
    • Customize the product reporting windows — choose the two 12 week periods of time (current and previous) that make the most sense for your organization. Graphs in the report will display data comparing usage across these two windows. 
    • Click “View Report” 
  • End users: No action required. 

Rollout pace 

  • Transformation reports are available now for all users 

Availability 

  • Available to K-12 Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Education Plus, and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade customers 
  • Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers 

Resources 

Reminder to migrate your classic Google Sites before January 30, 2023

What’s changing

We’re extending the previously announced timeline to give Google Workspace customers more time to migrate from classic Google Sites to new Google Sites: 

  • On January 30, 2023 (previously December 1, 2022): We will begin to turn off the ability to edit any remaining classic Sites in your domain. Your classic Sites will remain viewable until the automatic conversion. 
  • After January 30, 2023 (previously January 1, 2023): We will begin to automatically convert all remaining classic Sites to new Sites drafts for site owners to review and publish, and export static archives to Google Takeout. Your classic Sites will be deleted after they are converted to new Sites. 

Until January 30, 2023, admins and site owners can manually convert classic Sites to new Sites using the Classic Sites Manager, where they will export classic Sites using Takeout and then delete the classic sites. Review your domain’s settings prior to January 30, 2023 to ensure a successful migration. 


Note: Refer to the CSV file in the Takeout export for any classic Sites we were unable to convert. 


You will be notified once all the sites on your domain have been migrated. This may take multiple months for your domain, depending on the number and complexity of your sites. In the meantime, you can check the status of your sites in the Classic Sites Manager.


Getting started 


Availability 

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

Resources 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – October 28, 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. 



New keyboard shortcuts for Keep
In continuing our efforts to provide a top-class user experience on large screen devices, we’re releasing updated keyboard shortcuts for Keep on Android that better align with the web experience. | View the full list of shortcuts and learn more here. 

Enhancing spell check in Google Docs
Words whose spelling is not recognized will now be underlined in red, even if there is no suggestion. When you click on such a word, you'll see it labeled as an "unknown word" -- from here you can choose to add the word to your personal dictionary or ignore the suggestion. This improvement will highlight more potential spelling errors - helping you write correctly and with confidence. Note that this feature is only available in English at this time. | Learn more. 
Improved hearing aid support for Google Meet on Android
We’ve expanded Google Meet hearing aid support on Android devices to recognize a wider variety of hearing aid devices. Meet will automatically default to using hearing aid support when they’re connected. You can also select hearing aids during a meeting from the audio settings menu. If the hearing aid has a built-in microphone, this microphone will be used. If it doesn’t the mobile phone or tablet microphone will be used.

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.



Use built-in mail merge tags like @firstname to personalize multi-send emails
We’ve launched the ability to personalize multi-send emails with mail merge tags like @firstname and @lastname. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Workspace Individual customers only. | Learn more.


Stronger Admin console protection with risk-based re-authentication challenges
In August 2022, we announced strengthened safeguards for sensitive actions taken in your Google Workspace end users accounts. Specifically, this update protected users from bad actors taking over accounts via cookie theft. Beginning this week, we’re extending this protection to the Admin console. | Learn more.


Custom emojis coming to Chat
We’re making emojis even more expressive and personalized by allowing people to create custom emojis. Everyone in an organization can view and use custom emojis uploaded by their colleagues in Chat messages and reactions. | Learn more. 


Save time by adding in grading category information before exporting Google Assignments in Google Classroom
Starting this week, teachers can include grading category information when exporting Google Classroom assignments to the SIS. | Available to Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Aspen and Skyward 2.0 (SaaS Customers Only) SIS customers only. | Learn more.


Create and manage AppSheet databases, available in public preview
AppSheet is Google’s platform for building and deploying end-to-end apps and automation without writing code. As we continue to enhance and streamline app creation, we’re introducing a built-in structured database in public preview. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus customers, as well as those with an AppSheet license. | Learn more. 


Configure App Access Control for third-party applications in bulk
You can now use that CSV file to specify the status of each app—trusted, blocked, or limited—and upload the file back into the Admin console for updates. | Available to Google Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Frontline, and Nonprofits, legacy G Suite Basic and Business, and Cloud Identity Pro customers only. | Learn more. 





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