Turn Currents on or off for users

If you have an Essentials edition, upgrade to Enterprise to get this service.

Users who have Currents enabled can use it for collaboration at your company or school, and can also use Currents for sharing beyond your domain.

As an administrator, you can control who in your organization uses Currents from their managed account. Depending on your edition, Currents may be turned on or off for new Google Workspace customers. Administrators have the ability to control whether Currents is on or off for users in a domain, an organizational unit, or group. Users must have a valid Google Workspace license to use Currents.

Before you begin, carefully review the following requirements and considerations.

Before disabling Currents

If Currents is turned off for a user, or a user is no longer assigned a valid Google Workspace license:

That user will not be able to create new Currents content or access other users’ Currents content. This includes content restricted to your organization. Once Currents is turned on again and the user has a valid Google Workspace license, content can be accessed normally and the user can create new posts. This includes public posts, posts restricted to your domain, and privately shared posts.
That user’s existing Currents content will remain visible to other Google Workspace users who have access to that content. This includes any public Currents content created by that user.
That user can continue to access or delete their own Currents content through the Activity Log.
To permanently delete all visible data for a user, the user or administrator must delete the user’s Currents profile. Users can visit the downgrade page without deleting their profile to learn more about the data that is deleted or not deleted. Administrators can always delete users’ Currents profiles, even if Currents is turned off.

Before enabling Currents

Before you turn on Currents for your organization, review the following information to understand the requirements and impact.

Check if Currents is already turned on

Currents is automatically turned on for new Google Workspace domains.

To check if Currents is on or off for your existing domain:

Sign in to your Google Admin console.
Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).
In the Admin console, go to Menu AppsGoogle WorkspaceCurrents.
The status is displayed in Service status:
- On for everyone
- Off for everyone
- On for some organizations

For example, Currents may be turned on if all of the following applied when Currents was released:

You had Google Workspace or Google Workspace for Education.
Your Admin console was set up to automatically opt in to new services.

Turn on Currents for specific users

To turn on Currents for select groups of users, put their accounts in an organizational unit or add the users to an access group.
To turn on Currents only for users in some sub-domains, place domain-specific accounts in their own organizational unit (org). Then turn on Currents for just that org. For details, see Managing multiple domains or Add an organizational unit.
To turn Currents for users in all sub-domains within your Google Workspace domain, turn on Currents for your top-level domain or organizational unit.

Users must have a Currents profile

Users must have a Currents profile to use Currents.

Administrators can create Currents profiles for users in your organization.
Users can create their own Currents profile.

Users must meet minimum age requirements

To join Currents, users must meet minimum age requirements. If people who don't meet age requirements try to join Currents, their entire account—including Gmail and other services—will be suspended. Learn more about minimum age requirements.

Don't turn on Currents for users who don't meet Currents age requirements. Turn on Currents only in organizational units where all users meet the requirements. If an underage user tries to sign up for Currents, their entire Google Workspace account—including Gmail and other services—is disabled.

Legal requirements

In using Currents, your organization is solely responsible for complying with all laws and regulations that might be applicable to the provision of Currents to your organization's end users. This includes but is not limited to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) and Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA).