Google Workspace Updates: May 2022

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - May 27, 2022

Friday, May 27, 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.

Send group membership information in outbound SAML responses Admins can now configure and send group membership information as part of SAML responses. | Learn more.

Add personal tasks from Google Chat In Google Chat, you can now create personal tasks from individual or group messages. | Learn more.

Take action on multiple text selections in Google Docs Using Google Docs, you can now make multiple text selections at once, and apply actions such as delete, copy, paste, or format to all selections. | Learn more.

Add shared drives to specific organizational units Admins can now place shared drives into sub organizational units (OUs), enabling them to configure sharing policies, data regions, access management, and more at a granular level. | Available to Google Workspace Essentials, 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.

Embed content as a full page in new GoogleSites Site editors using new Google Sites can now add content as a full page from the following sources: custom code, other websites, and Google apps, such as Maps and Docs. | Learn more.

Copy your client-side encrypted Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files If you have client-side encryption enabled for Docs, Sheets and Slides, you can now make a copy of an existing encrypted document, spreadsheet or presentation. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard and Education Plus customers only. | Learn more.

Cut, copy and paste files using keyboard shortcuts in Google Drive Web You can now use familiar keyboard shortcuts Ctrl + C (or ⌘ + C on Mac), Ctrl + X and Ctrl + V to copy, cut and paste Google Drive files in your Chrome browser. | Learn more.

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

Cut, copy and paste files using keyboard shortcuts in Google Drive Web

Thursday, May 26, 2022

Quick summary

Additionally, a link to the file and its title will also be captured when copying a file, which allows you to easily paste them into a document or an email.

To help you more easily organize files in multiple locations without necessarily creating duplicate files, Ctrl + C, Ctrl + Shift + V will create shortcuts.

Lastly, you can open files or folders in a new tab using Ctrl+Enter, so that you can easily view multiple files at once, or use different tabs to more easily organize files between two different folder locations.

In the above screencast, you can see opening a folder in a new tab, files moved between folders, shortcuts created, and file name and URLs pasted into a Google Doc.
Rollout pace

Rapid Release Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on May 26, 2022
Scheduled Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on June 13, 2022

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts when using Google Chrome

Resources

Copy your client-side encrypted Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files

Thursday, May 26, 2022

Quick summary If you have client-side encryption enabled for Docs, Sheets and Slides, you can now make a copy of an existing encrypted document, spreadsheet or presentation. Encryption will be preserved when copies of the file are made. This feature makes it easier to leverage existing content as a baseline for new encrypted Docs, Sheets, or Slides.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: When client-side encryption is enabled in Google Docs, Sheets or Slides, simply navigate to File > Make a copy. Visit the help center to get started with encrypted files in Drive, Docs, Sheets & Slides.

Rollout pace

Availability

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, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers

Resources

Embed content as a full page in new Google Sites

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Quick summary Site editors using new Google Sites can now add content as a full page from the following sources: custom code, other websites, and Google apps, such as Maps and Docs. Previously, editors could only add these elements as part of a page. This update provides more flexibility to organize and display embedded content on your site.

Embed content as a full page in new Google Sites

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: In a new Site, navigate to Pages > New page > Full page embed. Name the page and then add a URL, embed code, or embed content from another Google app. Visit the Help Center to learn more about adding Google files, video & more.

Rollout pace

Availability

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

Resources

Google Help: Add Google files, video & more

Add shared drives to specific organizational units

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

What’s changing For select Google Workspace editions, admins can now place shared drives into sub organizational units (OUs). Doing so enables admins to configure sharing policies, data regions, access management, and more at a granular level.

This feature is available now as an open beta, which means you can use the feature without opting-in to a specific program.

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users

Why it matters

Currently, all shared drives reside in the “root” OU. As such, all shared drives are subject to the same policies. This update gives admins the option to move shared drives to sub OUs within their organizations, such as Marketing or Legal, which allows for more control over the privacy and security of the shared drive's contents on a case-by-case basis. For example, admins can restrict sharing of a shared drive belonging to the legal department because it contains highly confidential information. Additionally, this also gives admins more flexibility over applying default sub OUs to newly-created shared drives, assuring each new shared drive subject to appropriate security policies.

With this update admins will have greater control and more options to control how their data is accessed and shared on a case by case basis.

Getting started

Admins: Admins can assign shared drives to various OUs using the new “Organizational Unit” column found in Apps > Google Workspace > Drive and Docs > Manage Shared Drives. Visit the Help Center to learn more about shared drives and managing shared drive users and activity.

Alternatively, admins can also manage shared drive organizational unit assignments via the orgUnits.memberships API endpoint.

End users: There is no end user setting for this feature — the ability to access or share certain files contained in a shared drive will vary. Visit the Help Center to learn more about sharing files in Google Drive.

Availability

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

Resources

Take action on multiple text selections in Google Docs

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Quick summary In Google Docs, you can now make multiple text selections at once, and apply actions such as delete, copy, paste, or format to all selections. This will make formatting and editing documents faster by eliminating the need to make repetitive changes, increasing your overall productivity.

Formatting adjustments are made to several pieces of selected text

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin impact.
End users: This feature will be available by default. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using keyboard shortcuts for Google Docs.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on May 25, 2022

Availability

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

Resources

Google Help: Keyboard shortcuts for Google Docs

Roadmap

This feature was listed as an upcoming release.

Add personal tasks from Google Chat

Monday, May 23, 2022

What’s changing

In Google Chat, you can now create personal tasks from individual or group messages. These will then be viewable by you in Google Tasks, the quick-access side panel, and Google Calendar if the task has a set date.

Who’s impacted

End users

Why you’d use it

This feature allows you to more easily stay on top of tasks that come out of conversations with your coworkers via Chat. Once you’ve created a personal task, you can add a due date and description, then quickly navigate back to the conversation.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about adding or editing a task.

Rollout pace

Android & Web:

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on May 23, 2022

iOS:

We anticipate this feature to be available for iOS in the coming months—we will provide an update on the Workspace Updates Blog once available.

Availability

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

Resources

Send group membership information in outbound SAML responses

Monday, May 23, 2022

Quick launch summary We’re adding the ability for admins to configure and send group membership information as part of SAML responses.

Currently, you are able to configure SSO to send user attributes in the SAML response when a user logs in to an app using SAML SSO. With this launch, admins can configure SSO to send group membership information to the application. Apps can then use these attributes to assess user authorization and to implement other business logic.
Getting started

Admins: Visit the Help Center to learn more about group membership mapping and how to set up SSO via SAML for Apteligent.
End users: No end user impact.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on May 23, 2022

Availability

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

Resources

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - May 20, 2022

Friday, May 20, 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.

Migrate your classic Google Sites before December 1, 2022 We’re extending the previously announced timeline to give Google Workspace customers more time to migrate from classic Google Sites to new Google Sites:

Starting December 1, 2022 (previously June 1, 2022), you will no longer be able to edit any remaining classic Sites in your domain.
Starting January 1, 2023 (previously July 1, 2022), Classic Sites will no longer be viewable unless they are converted to new Google Sites.

Learn more here and here.

New and updated third-party DevOps integrations for Google Chat, including PagerDuty There are now a variety of additional DevOps integrations that allow you to act on common workflows directly in Google Chat. | Learn more.

Export log data in near-real time to BigQueryExported log data streams are now in near-real time (under 10 minutes), improving upon the previous process which returned log data that could be up to three days old. | Learn more here and here.

AppSheet Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus available as add-ons to Google Workspace editionsGoogle Workspace customers can now purchase AppSheet Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus as add-ons by contacting their Google Cloud sales representative or through the Google Workspace Partner network. | Learn more.

Use Connected Sheets with VPC-SC protected data, improved Cloud Audit Logs for Connected Sheets events BigQuery datasets that are behind a perimeter created by VPC Service Controls can now be accessed using Connected Sheets. We’ve also made improvements to the Connected Sheets logging in the Cloud Audit Logs. | Learn more.

New banners in Google Chat protect against malicious links In Google Chat, you can now see banners warning against potential phishing and malware messages coming from users with personal Google Accounts to help protect users against malicious actors, keeping data safe. | Learn more.

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

New banners in Google Chat protect against malicious links

Thursday, May 19, 2022

Quick summary In Google Chat, you’ll see banners warning against potential phishing and malware messages coming from users with personal Google Accounts. These warning banners, which are already available in Gmail and Google Drive, help protect users against malicious actors, keeping data safe.

Additional details In Gmail, warning banners are displayed when responding to emails sent from outside of your organization. Now, Android warning banners are also displayed as you add new external recipients. Admins can turn these specific warning labels on or off for their organization.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin action required. Visit the Help Center to learn more about advanced phishing and malware protection.
End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about how Google Chat keeps you safe.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on May 19, 2022

Availability

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

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Advanced phishing and malware protection
Google Chat Help: Learn how Google Chat protects you

Use Connected Sheets with VPC-SC protected data, improved Cloud Audit Logs for Connected Sheets events

Thursday, May 19, 2022

What’s changing BigQuery datasets that are behind a perimeter created by VPC Service Controls can now be accessed using Connected Sheets.

We’ve also made improvements to the Connected Sheets logging in the Cloud Audit Logs. See the “Additional details” section below for more information.

Who’s impacted Admins and end users

Why you’d use it This change gives VPC Service Controls Admins and Editors the ability to allow members of your organization to access, collaborate on, and generate insights from VPC Service Controls protected data via Connected Sheets.

Additional details By default, Connected Sheets cannot access BigQuery data that is protected by VPC Service Controls; however, VPC Service Controls perimeters can now be configured to allow queries issued through Connected Sheets to succeed. This configuration can only be changed by VPC Service Controls Admins and Editors.

Improved Connected Sheets logging Whenever BigQuery data is accessed in Connected Sheets, entries are recorded for who accessed the data and when in Cloud Audit Logs.

Now, the Cloud Audit Logs additionally includes the ID of the spreadsheet that generates the BigQuery data access. Every spreadsheet has a unique ID containing letters, numbers, hyphens, or underscores, which can be found in the Google Sheets URL. Use this documentation to learn more about where to find this additional information in the Cloud Audit Logs.

Getting started

Policy Admins and Policy Editors: Visit the Help Center to learn more about configuring your VPC Service Controls perimeter to allow queries issued through Connected Sheets.
End users: When configured properly as described above, Sheets users can query VPC Service Controls-protected BigQuery data via Connected Sheets just like they ordinarily would query non-VPC Service Controls-protected data. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using Connected Sheets with BigQuery data.

Rollout pace

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers
Available to users with personal Google Accounts
Not available to legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Use Connected Sheets in your organization Google Help: VPC Service Controls
Google Help: Get started with BigQuery data in Google Sheets
Google Sheets API overview

AppSheet Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus available as add-ons to Google Workspace editions

Wednesday, May 18, 2022

Quick summary Google Workspace customers can now purchase AppSheet Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus as add-ons by contacting their Google Cloud sales representative or through the Google Workspace Partner network.

AppSheet allows users to maximize Google Workspace by building custom applications on top of Google Workspace and other services in their environment, all without writing any code. With AppSheet Enterprise, customers can enable advanced scenarios, adding advanced connectivity, more scale, and strengthened governance.

Getting started

Partners can use the Partner Sales Console, Reseller APIs, and Rep-Assisted Buy Flows to add AppSheet Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus to their customers Workspace editions.
Use the Partner Advantage Portal to learn more about how your customers can leverage AppSheet in their organizations and AppSheet's subscription plans.

Developers: Visit the AppSheet Help Center to learn more about getting started with AppSheet.

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers.

Resources

Getting started with AppSheet

Export log data in near-real time to BigQuery

Wednesday, May 18, 2022

Quick summary Currently, you can export Google Workspace logs to Google BigQuery for customized and scalable reporting. Exports take place as a daily sync, returning log data that can be up to three days old. With this launch, exported log data streams will be near-real time (under 10 minutes), ensuring fresh data for your export. This helps you stay on top of security threats and analysis with the most up-to-date activity log data.

Stream activity log data in near-real time when using BigQuery export

Getting started

Admins: This feature works automatically if you have set up service log exports to BigQuery. There is no additional admin control for this feature.
End users: There is no end user impact.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on May 18, 2022

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, and Education Plus
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

New and updated third-party DevOps integrations for Google Chat, including PagerDuty

Wednesday, May 18, 2022

What’s changingWe’re introducing and updating a variety of additional DevOps integrations, which will allow you to take action on common workflows directly in Google Chat:

Apps such as Google Cloud Build, Asana, GitHub, Jenkins and more, have been updated with new functionality:

Using Slash commands for quick actions such as creating a new Asana task or triggering a build in Jenkins or Google Cloud Build.
Ability to use Dialogs for important flows such as setting up the app, or entering detailed info such as creating a GitHub issue.

Operations and incident response professionals can use the new PagerDuty integration to take action on PagerDuty incidents from Chat. From Chat, you’ll be able to:
Receive notifications of PagerDuty incidents right from Google Chat.
Take action, including acknowledging and resolving incidents without leaving the conversation.

You can find these integrations and a complete list of other Google-developed Chat apps here.

Who’s impacted Admins and end users

Why you’d use them We hope these additional third-party integrations within Chat help you collaborate and get work done faster by eliminating the need to switch between various apps and browser tabs.

Additional details We plan to introduce the ability to create dedicated spaces to collaborate with teammates on important incidents to resolve them quickly, with the right people. We will provide an update on the Workspace Updates blog when that functionality becomes available.

Getting started

Rollout pace

Rapid and Scheduled Release domains: Available immediately.

Availability

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

Resources

Migrate your classic Google Sites before December 1, 2022

Monday, May 16, 2022

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

Starting December 1, 2022 (previously June 1, 2022): You will no longer be able to edit any remaining classic Sites in your domain.
Starting January 1, 2023 (previously July 1, 2022): Classic Sites will no longer be viewable unless they are converted to new Google Sites.

To ensure a smooth transition and access to new Sites functionalities, end users and admins are encouraged to use the Classic Sites Manager to complete migration and convert individual classic Sites to new Google Sites before December 1, 2022.

After January 1, 2023, we will replace each remaining classic Site with a Takeout archive and will attempt to convert each classic Site to a new Site. Review your domain’s settings prior to January 1, 2023 to ensure a successful migration.

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. After migration, your classic Sites will no longer be available.

Getting started

Admins and Google Workspace end-users:

Use the Google Sites Migration Guide and the Classic Sites Manager to help your users transition. Visit our Help Center to learn how to convert a classic Site to a new Site, including new and improved Sites functionality.

To ensure a smooth transition, we recommend the following best practices when migrating your sites:

Note that the timeline for this transition is different for users with personal Google accounts — see this article in the Help Center for more information. There are no changes to the timeline for users with personal Google accounts.

Availability

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

Resources

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - May 13, 2022

Friday, May 13, 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.

New idle status in Google Chat In Google Chat on web and Chat in Gmail, you'll see an orange clock badge for users that were recently active in Chat, but aren't currently active. We hope this makes it easier to determine the best time to connect with your colleagues. Visit the Help Center to learn more about availability statuses in Google Chat.

Changes to the default Host Management controls in Google Meet for users with personal accounts The default setting for Host Management controls is changing for users with personal Google accounts. Previously, Host Management controls were ON by default — going forward, this setting will be OFF by default for new meetings. There are no changes to the behavior for Google Workspace customers or Google Workspace Individual users.

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 user interface for sharing your working location in Google Calendar

This update improves the working location feature by offering the same functionality for easily entering and updating location information in a more compact format that uses screen space more efficiently. | Learn more here and here.

Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Nonprofits, as well as G Suite Business customers.

Easily search for Google Meet content in Google Drive

In Google Drive, you can now use app:”Google Meet” to easily find and organize Meet content such as Meet recordings, meeting transcripts, and more. | Learn more.

Import existing custom themes to new Google Sites

You can now import a custom theme from one new Google Site to another. | Learn more.

Create Spaces and Add Members with the Google Chat API, available in Developer Preview

Using the Google Chat API, you can now programmatically create new Spaces and add members to those Spaces. This functionality is available in preview – developers can apply for access through our Google Workspace Developer Preview Program. | Learn more.

Require email verification to book appointments in Google Calendar

When using appointment scheduling in Google Calendar, you can now opt to have users verify their email before booking an appointment. When enabled, the user must be signed into a Google account or validate their email address using a PIN code to complete the booking. | Learn more.

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.

New delegated VirusTotal privilege in the Alert Center

In 2021, we announced an integration between the Alert Center and VirusTotal. At that time, any admin who had the Alert Center privilege could access all VirusTotal reports. Now, we’ve added the ability for admins to control who can view VirusTotal reports. | Learn more.

Available for Google Workspace Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Standard and Education Plus.

Set up SSO profiles for multiple third-party identity providers with the Multi-IdP SSO beta launch

You can further customize authentication by setting up single sign-on (SSO) profiles for multiple identity providers and then configuring authentication for each group or OU. This feature is available beginning today as an open beta, which means you can use it without enrolling in a specific beta program. | Learn more.

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

Set up SSO profiles for multiple third-party identity providers with the Multi-IdP SSO beta launch

Thursday, May 12, 2022

What’s changing For over a decade, we have given admins the ability to configure authentication through a third-party identity provider . In 2021, we expanded this capability by making it possible to choose between third-party identity provider or Google authentication for specific groups or organizational units (OUs).

Now, you can further customize authentication by setting up single sign-on (SSO) profiles for multiple identity providers and then configuring authentication for each group or OU. This feature is available beginning today as an open beta, which means you can use it without enrolling in a specific beta program.

You can now set up SSO profiles for multiple third-party identity providers

Who’s impacted

Admins

Why you’d use it

Currently, you can configure SSO with a third-party identity provider to apply to your entire domain and then require a subset of your users, such as vendors or contractors, to authenticate with Google instead. However, if you have more than one identity provider, you might require greater customization of authentication options. For example, your company might be migrating from one provider to another, or it might have acquired another company that uses a different provider.

The Multi-IdP SSO beta lets you set up SSO profiles for each of your third-party identity providers, giving you the flexibility to specify the authentication method for various users in your organization as needed.

Getting started

Admins: In the Admin console, navigate to Security > Settings > Set up single sign-on (SSO) with a third party IdP > Manage SSO Profile assignments. Visit the Help Center to learn more about setting up SSO for your organization.

Go to the Security settings to set up SSO profiles for third-party identity providers

End users: There is no end user setting for this feature.

Rollout pace

This feature is available now for all users.

Availability

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
Available to all Cloud Identity customers
Not available to Google Workspace Essentials customers
Not available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

New delegated VirusTotal privilege in the Alert Center

Wednesday, May 11, 2022

What’s changing In 2021, we announced an integration between the Alert Center and VirusTotal. At that time, any admin who had the Alert Center privilege could access all VirusTotal reports. Now, we’ve added the ability for admins to control who can view VirusTotal reports.

Important note: Once this feature is rolled out in your domain, some admins may lose access to VirusTotal. If so, super admins will have to re-provision access by going to Admin Privileges > View VirusTotal Reports.

Who’s impacted Admins

Why you’d use it This change will help ensure only those with proper privileges can view VirusTotal reports regarding sensitive data. The VirusTotal integration provides an added layer of investigation on top of existing alerts, empowering admins to take deeper look into threats and potential abuse, helping them better protect their organization and data. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using VirusTotal reports in the Alert Center.

Additional details VirusTotal provides an investigation layer on top of alerts but isn’t being used directly for detection or alerting. No customer information is shared from Google to VirusTotal.

Getting started

Admins: Visit the Help Center to learn more about using VirusTotal reports in the Alert Center and assigning admin privileges.
End users: There is no end user impact.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on May 11, 2022

Availability

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

Resources

Require email verification to book appointments in Google Calendar

Wednesday, May 11, 2022

Quick summary When using appointment scheduling in Google Calendar, you can now opt to have users verify their email before booking an appointment. When enabled, the user must be signed into a Google account or validate their email address using a PIN code to complete the booking.

This setting is off by default and is “sticky”. This means that if you turn it on or off, the configuration will be saved for any new appointment scheduling series. We hope this feature helps ensure you’re protected against potentially malicious actors.

Appointment scheduling user interface with email verification option unchecked.

Getting started

Rollout pace

Availability

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
Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Frontline, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers

Resources

Create Spaces and Add Members with the Google Chat API, available in Developer Preview

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

What’s changingUsing the Google Chat API, you can now programmatically create new Spaces and add members to those Spaces. This functionality is available in preview – developers can apply for access through our Google Workspace Developer Preview Program.Google Workspace administrators can also use the API controls in Admin Console if they would also like to restrict access to Google Chat data.

Who’s impactedAdmins and DevelopersWhy you’d use it While it’s easy to create new Spaces and add members directly in Google Chat, there are cases where Spaces can be filled with many topics and side conversations, making it difficult to keep track of important information. Using the new API functionality, you can set up new spaces that focus on a specific topic, team, or project. For example, an on-call app can automatically create a space when an outage has been detected.Getting started

Developers: To use the Google Chat API, developers can apply for access through our Google Workspace Developer Preview Program.

Availability

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

Resources

Import existing custom themes to new Google Sites

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

Quick summary You can now import a custom theme from one new Google Site to another. This highly requested feature makes it easier to reuse themes that align with your organization’s brand guidelines or your personal style across your various sites.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: In a new Site, navigate to Themes > Custom > Import theme. Visit the Help Center to learn more about changing how your site looks.

Rollout pace

Availability

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

Resources

Google Help: Change how your site looks
Google Workspace Updates Blog: Design your own custom themes in new Google Sites

Easily search for Google Meet content in Google Drive

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

Quick summary In Google Drive, you can now use app:”Google Meet” to easily find and organize Meet content such as:

Meeting recordings
Chat transcripts
Attendance reports
Polls or question and answer reports
Meeting transcripts
Meeting notes created in Google Calendar

We hope this update makes it easier for you to quickly and efficiently find files related to Meet events in Drive. For example, you can search for Meet transcripts by the words they contain instead of their file format, Meet videos based on what folders they may be in (such as My Drive), or Meet recordings based on the date they were recorded.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: When searching for Meet related files in Drive, use app:“Google Meet” in your query.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled domains: Full rollout (1-3 days for feature visibility) starting on May 10, 2022

Availability

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

Resources

Improved user interface for sharing your working location in Google Calendar

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

Quick summary In August 2021, we gave users the ability to share where they’re working from directly on their calendar. This update improves the working location feature by offering the same functionality for easily entering and updating location information in a more compact format that uses screen space more efficiently.

Getting started

Admins: Working location is ON by default and can be disabled at the domain or OU level. Visit the Help Center to learn more about turning working location on or off for users.
End users: Unless disabled by your admin, this feature will be ON by default. Visit the Help Center to learn more about setting your working location.

Rollout pace

Rapid and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on May 10, 2022

Availability

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

Resources

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - May 6, 2022

Friday, May 6, 2022

New updatesUnless 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.
Space descriptions and guidelines in Google Chat rolling out now
Earlier this year, we announced the ability for space managers to add descriptions and guidelines for their spaces. This feature is now available on mobile and will be gradually rolling out for web. | 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.

Use new table templates and dropdown chips in Google Docs to create highly collaborative documents

We’re introducing two new enhancements for our flexible, smart canvas for collaboration: dropdown chips and table templates in Google Docs. | Learn more.

Share your video feed when using Companion mode in Google Meet

When using Companion mode in Google Meet, you can now turn your camera on and share your video feed with all other participants. | Learn more.

Set recurring task end options directly in Google Tasks

You can set the end option for a recurring task (never, on a certain date, or after X occurrences) directly in Google Tasks. | Learn more.

Space managers can now delete messages in Google Chat

This feature will allow Space managers to easily moderate their spaces and remove any content that is irrelevant or inappropriate in the space. | Learn more.

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

Space managers can now delete messages in Google Chat

Friday, May 6, 2022

Quick summary In Google Chat, Space managers can now delete messages from other users in unthreaded spaces. This feature will allow Space managers to easily moderate their spaces and remove any content that is irrelevant or inappropriate in the space.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. Visit the Help Center to learn more about optimizing Chat spaces for your organization.
End users: Hover over a message and select the “Delete the message” option.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on May 6, 2022

Availability

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

Resources

Google Help: Optimize Spaces for your organization

Set recurring task end options directly in Google Tasks

Wednesday, May 4, 2022

Quick summary Currently, you can set the end option for a recurring task (never, on a certain date, or after X occurrences) by opening the task in Google Calendar. With this launch, you can also set this option directly in Google Tasks. This gives you more control over how and until when your tasks repeat.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: These options will be available when creating or editing a task in Tasks. Visit the Help Center to learn more about setting up repeating tasks.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on May 4, 2022.

Availability

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

Resources

Updates

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - May 27, 2022

Cut, copy and paste files using keyboard shortcuts in Google Drive Web

Copy your client-side encrypted Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files

Embed content as a full page in new Google Sites

Add shared drives to specific organizational units

Take action on multiple text selections in Google Docs

Add personal tasks from Google Chat

Send group membership information in outbound SAML responses

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - May 20, 2022

New banners in Google Chat protect against malicious links

Use Connected Sheets with VPC-SC protected data, improved Cloud Audit Logs for Connected Sheets events

AppSheet Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus available as add-ons to Google Workspace editions

Export log data in near-real time to BigQuery

New and updated third-party DevOps integrations for Google Chat, including PagerDuty

Migrate your classic Google Sites before December 1, 2022

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - May 13, 2022

Set up SSO profiles for multiple third-party identity providers with the Multi-IdP SSO beta launch

New delegated VirusTotal privilege in the Alert Center

Require email verification to book appointments in Google Calendar

Create Spaces and Add Members with the Google Chat API, available in Developer Preview

Import existing custom themes to new Google Sites

Easily search for Google Meet content in Google Drive

Improved user interface for sharing your working location in Google Calendar

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - May 6, 2022

Space managers can now delete messages in Google Chat

Set recurring task end options directly in Google Tasks

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