Tag Archives: Weekly Recap

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. 
Easily duplicate groups and objects 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.


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. 
Voting chips in Google Docs


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.


Launching in beta: programmatically write working locations with the Calendar API 
Available now in beta through our Developer Preview Program, you can write a user’s working location using the Calendar API. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade and Nonprofits customers only. | Learn more about writing working locations with the Calendar API. 

Enhancing Google Vault file retention capabilities using Google Drive Labels 
Google Vault now supports custom retention rules based on Drive labels. | Available to Google Workspace Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, and Education Plus customers only. | Learn more about Vault file retention using Google Drive Labels. 

Respond to access requests for Google Workspace files more efficiently 
Users can now review and respond to requests from within the file. Approvers will see a notification dot on the “Share” button if they have a pending access request and a new banner at the top of the sharing dialog. | Learn more about responding to access requests. 

Monitor additional Google Meet hardware issues in the Admin console 
You can now use the Admin console to detect and monitor additional Meet hardware issues, such as: missing display, missing controller, missing default camera, missing default microphone, missing default speaker, and missing default whiteboard camera. | Learn more about monitoring Google Meet hardware issues. 

Use companion mode to check-in to a Google Meet conference room, so everyone can know you by name
If you’re joining a meeting from a conference room, you can use companion mode on your personal device to check in to that specific room. Room check-in allows everyone on the call to easily identify who is in the conference room, rather than simply seeing the conference room name. | Learn more about companion mode check-in with Google Meet.


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.

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).

    Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – June 16, 2023

    4 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.



    Get more granular views of Google Slides with new zoom settings 
    You can now customize your views in Google Slides with new custom zoom settings that give you the ability to input your desired zoom percent or use the preset zoom percentages in the drop-down menu at the top of your presentation. | Learn more about zooming or changing your document view. 
    Get more granular views of Google Slides with new zoom settings

    Expanding Google Drive log events to additional Google Workspace editions 
    Drive log events, a feature that enables admins to access an audit and investigation page to run searches related to Drive log events, is now available for Google Workspace Business Starter and Essentials Starter editions. | Learn more about Drive log events. 

    Expanding originality reports in Google Classroom to Microsoft Word files 
    Educators can now run Google Classroom originality reports on Microsoft Word files (.docx) to check their students' work for authenticity. The tool will identify uncited content and plagiarism by comparing a file against webpages and books on the internet. | Learn more about turning on originality reports.

    Adding rich text formatting to comments in Google Classroom 
    Rich text formatting is now available for class and private comments in Google Classroom, enabling teachers and students to customize and add emphasis to their content. This highly requested feature includes bolding, underlining, italicizing, and bulleted lists. | Learn more about bold, italicize, and underline text. 
    Adding rich text formatting to comments in Google Classroom


    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.



    Experience better collaboration in conference rooms with new support for whiteboard cameras on Google Meet Hardware 
    To improve upon the whiteboarding experience, provide better meeting inclusion, and foster greater collaboration, we’re excited to announce support for whiteboard cameras on Google Meet Hardware, with Logitech Scribe as the first supported camera. | Learn more about support for whiteboard cameras on Google Meet Hardware. 

    Use Directory Sync to replace the domain name for synced users 
    Using Directory Sync, admins can automatically replace the domain name for synced users and groups in their Google Cloud directory. This means synced Google users and groups can have a different domain name than the domain used in the external directory following a sync. | Learn more about replacing the domain name for synced users. 

    Add or remove client-side encryption from a Google Sheets and Google Slides files 
    You can now simply add or remove client-side encryption to existing spreadsheets in Google Sheets or presentations in Google Slides. This update gives you the flexibility to control encryption as your documents and projects evolve and progress. This feature is already available for Google Docs. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard and Education Plus customers only. | Learn more about client-side encryption in Sheets and Slides. 

    Improving table placements in Google Docs 
    We improved table positioning options for documents set in pages format. These features add more flexibility and control over the layout of text with tables in Docs. Learn more about table placements in Google Docs. 

    View more insights and take quick action via the Chrome Browser Cloud Management home card in the Admin console 
    In addition to the existing cards in the Admin console landing page such as “Users” or “Billing”, we’ve added a card for Chrome Browser Cloud Management. Here you can see quick stats, such as the number of enrolled browsers, and directly perform actions such as enrolling new browsers or managing Chrome extensions. | Learn more about the Chrome Browser Cloud Management home card. 

    Pull rich data from apps directly into Google Docs with third-party smart chips 
    We’re excited to share that third-party smart chips in Docs are now generally available for all users. Since introducing third-party smart chips, developers have been able to build app integrations. Several partners have already created smart chips so users can start embedding content from those apps directly into Docs. | Learn more about third-party smart chips in Google Docs.


    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: