Google Workspace Updates

Control continuous meeting chat for your organization

2026-03-11T08:59:00.000-07:00

Last year, we launched the ability to continue your Meet conversations in Chat. That rollout will continue this month, with the release to Scheduled Release domains planned to start the week of March 23. In the meantime, we’re excited to introduce a new admin control for this feature In the Workspace Admin console, under Meet Safety Settings, you’ll now see a continuous meeting chat setting that allows you to configure continuous meeting chat behavior for your organization. You can do the following:

Set the default state: Choose whether continuous meeting chat is "Default on" or "Default off" for organizational units (OU), configuration groups, or individual users.
Control host modifications: Choose whether meeting hosts can change this setting ("Hosts can modify") for their individual meetings, or if the default state is locked ("Hosts cannot modify").

Set the continuous meeting chat policy for your organization

This feature gives admins more control to set policy and security preferences in their organization. Now, you can easily:

Manage feature training at your organization's pace, or address compliance concerns regarding external message retention and data sprawl.
Ensure all in-meeting messages are retained in Google Chat for a specific period of time to meet legal or internal compliance requirements.

Getting started

Admins: This feature will be configured to “Default on” with “Hosts can modify” by default. You can adjust this setting by organizational units (OU), configuration groups, or individual users. Please note that Google Chat must be enabled for your organization to configure continuous meeting chat. Visit the Help Center to learn more.
End users: Depending on your admin's configuration, meeting hosts can turn continuous meeting chat on or off in the Calendar event video call options before a meeting starts. If your admin chooses "Hosts cannot modify" this host control will not be visible.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Available now

Availability

Business: Business Starter, Standard, and Plus
Enterprise: Enterprise Starter, Standard, and Plus
Other Editions: Frontline Starter, Standard, and Plus; Essentials Starter, Enterprise Essentials, and Enterprise Essentials Plus; Nonprofits

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Manage Meet settings (for admins)
Google Workspace Admin Help: Turn chat on or off for your organization
Google Meet Help: Learn how to use Chat with Google Meet
Google Workspace Updates Blog: New to Google Meet: Continue your conversations in Google Chat

Better screen scaling for Google Calendar on large monitors

2026-03-10T08:05:00.000-07:00

Google Calendar on the web now offers improved scaling on large, high-resolution monitors. This update provides a clearer overview of your day or week by reducing unnecessary whitespace and better utilizing your available screen space.

Previously, users with large or high-resolution monitors may have felt that it was difficult to get an overview of the day or week's most relevant events.

This update means:

Better visibility: Calendar events will better fill the available space, giving more room to short meetings.
Focused views: The grid will prioritize showing a relevant 12–15 hour range (such as 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM) based on your viewport height.
Consistent experience: These improvements apply to both the main Calendar application and the side panel companion view in other Workspace apps (e.g. Gmail).

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: This feature will be ON by default. Users can manually adjust their view preference under Settings > Appearance > Information density. Visit the Help Center to learn more.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on March 10, 2026
Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on April 10, 2026

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts

Resources

Google Help: Change event color set & density in Google Calendar

Assign Google Calendars to Google Meet hardware in bulk

2026-03-09T12:38:00.000-07:00

We’re making it easier to manage calendar assignments for your Meet hardware devices. You can now assign or unassign Google Calendars to your Meet hardware devices in bulk by uploading a CSV file. For organizations with a large number of devices, this eliminates the need to assign calendars one by one, saving you significant time and administrative effort.

The new “assignedCalendarResourceEmail” column in the bulk update CSV file.

Bulk update device dialogue mentioning the new bulk update calendar assign capability

When preparing your CSV file, please keep the following in mind:

To unassign a calendar from a device, simply leave the assignedCalendarResourceEmail cell for that device’s row empty.
While a personal calendar can be assigned to multiple devices, a room calendar resource can only be assigned to one device at a time. To move a calendar resource to a new device using CSV, you must first perform a CSV upload to unassign it, and then a second CSV upload to assign it to the new device.

Getting started

Admins: To use this feature, you’ll need the “Manage calendar assignment” privilege. Without this privilege, any calendar updates in your upload will fail, though other changes (like settings and organizational unit updates) may still be applied. Visit the Help Center to learn more about assigning a Google Calendar to Meet hardware and bulk updating Meet hardware settings.
End users: There is no end user impact or action required.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on March 9, 2026

Availability

Available for all Google Workspace customers

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Assign a Google Calendar to Meet hardware
Google Workspace Admin Help: Bulk update Meet hardware settings

New Device ID for Google Meet hardware

2026-03-09T07:49:00.000-07:00

We’re replacing the current Device ID (“Legacy ID”) for Google Meet hardware devices with a new Device ID. This new Device ID will be displayed everywhere you currently see the Legacy ID throughout the Google Admin console:

The device list, details, history, and videocalling pages (Admin console > Devices > Google Meet hardware)
All device-keyed URLs in the Admin console
Audit logs and BigQuery exports
Bulk upload and download features
Device ID filter in Meet quality tool (Admin console > Apps > Google Workspace > Settings for Google Meet > Meet quality tool)

Additional details

Bulk Updates: Bulk updating device settings by uploading a file on the device list page will require the new Device ID.
Audit Logs: Audit logs (Admin console > Reporting > Audit and investigation) and their BigQuery exports will use the new Device ID for all entries going forward. Existing audit logs created before this change will not be modified.
Transitioning to the new ID:

During the rollout, you may see different IDs for the same device in different locations
For the next 6 months after the rollout, you can use either ID in URLs, bulk uploads, the device list page, and the Meet Quality Tool. The Legacy ID will no longer be supported 6 months after the rollout is complete.

Getting started

Admins: Visit the Help Center to learn more about viewing and editing device information.
End users: There is no end-user impact or action required.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on March 23, 2026, with expected completion by April 6, 2026

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers with Google Meet hardware devices

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: View & edit device information

Updates to meetings made by a delegate user are now sent in the name of the principal

2026-03-09T07:18:00.000-07:00

In many organizations, executives and senior leaders rely on admins or delegates to oversee their busy schedules. In Google Calendar this can be set up by sharing an executive’s calendar with “Make changes to events” or “Make changes and manage sharing” permissions with a delegate user.

We’re updating how meeting notifications are handled when someone manages a calendar on behalf of another user: Previously, initial invitations created by the delegate appeared to come from the principal, but subsequent updates or cancellations were sent from the delegate’s email.

To provide a more consistent experience for meeting participants, all event-related emails — including cancellations and modifications — will now come from the principal. This change ensures seamless calendar management and prevents confusion for guests who may be unfamiliar with the delegate acting on the principal's behalf.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. Visit the Help Center to learn more.
End users: There is no end user setting for this feature. Visit the Help Center to learn more.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on March 9, 2026
Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on March 23, 2026

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts

Resources

Google Help: Share your calendar

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - March 6, 2026

2026-03-06T12:22:00.000-08:00

Improved join permission logging for Google Meet Audit events

Google Meet Audit event logging for endpoints will now also include the permission type used to grant access to join a meeting. | Learn more about improved join permission logging for Google Meet Audit events.

Workspace admins can allow Gemini app conversation sharing for their organizations

Google Workspace admins can now enable users in their organization to share their Gemini chat conversations by creating public links to share and publish. | Learn more about how Workspace admins can allow Gemini app conversation sharing for their organizations.

Improving the connection between Google Calendar events and Google Meet calls

Google is updating how Google Meet links to Calendar events to ensure meeting artifacts (recordings, notes, and chats) are shared with the correct people.This update solves the "ambiguity" of reused codes, preventing sensitive meeting records from being shared with the wrong participants or lost entirely. | Learn more about how the connection between Google Calendar events and Google Meet calls is improved.

New dynamic data source support for dropdowns in Google Chat apps

Google Chat developers can now use dynamic data sources for dropdown menus, allowing apps to query and filter external databases in real-time as a user types. | Learn more about new dynamic data source support for dropdowns in Google Chat apps.

The announcements above were published on the Workspace Updates blog over the last week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.

New dynamic data source support for dropdowns in Google Chat apps

2026-03-06T08:15:00.000-08:00

Developers can now build more robust and efficient Google Chat apps using dynamic data sources for dropdown menus. With this update, developers can connect dropdowns to external data sources that query and filter results in real-time as a user types, addressing previous scalability issues caused by dropdown menus being limited to static lists of options. This is particularly useful for workflows that require selecting from thousands of possibilities—such as assigning a ticket in a project management tool or selecting a specific file from a large database.

Key benefits include:

Improved searchability: Users can now use fuzzy search to find the correct option quickly, rather than scrolling through long lists or using "find" browser commands.
Faster performance: By querying data dynamically, apps avoid the latency issues associated with loading massive static lists.
Consistent user experience: The dropdown interface now supports search-as-you-type for both static and remote data sources, providing a smoother experience across all platforms, including web, Android, and iOS.

Developers can also specify a minimum number of characters to trigger a search, ensuring that queries are only sent when enough information has been provided to return relevant results.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: There is no end user setting for this feature.
Developers: Developers can implement this by reviewing the updated Chat app developer documentation.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Available now

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers and Workspace Individual subscribers

Resources

Developer documentation: Collect and process information from Google Chat
Developer documentation: Get started building for Google Chat

Improving the connection between Google Calendar events and Google Meet calls

2026-03-04T11:01:00.000-08:00

For each video call, Meet attempts to connect the right Calendar event to determine:

Who receives meeting records (ex. Gemini notes, recordings)
Who is included in the continuous meeting chat in Google Chat
Who can join the meeting without having to be manually admitted by the host

Reusing the same meeting code across multiple events can sometimes lead to ambiguity and unexpected behavior such as meeting artifacts being shared with the wrong guests (or no guests at all). We recently announced a change to reduce this ambiguity by stopping automatically copying Meet codes when duplicating Calendar events.

We are now fixing this ambiguity by having each Meet video call be tied to the initial Calendar event where it was created. This gives predictability and transparency about which guests receive notes, messages in Google Chat, recordings and other details from the meeting.

When users manually paste an old meeting code into a new Calendar event, they’ll see a dialog highlighting that the Meet code is still tied to the initial event. Codes created outside of Calendar (like instant meetings from meet.google.com) will remain unlinked.

For example:

If you reuse the meeting code from an old Calendar (Event A) on a new Calendar (Event B), meeting artifacts will only be shared with the host, co-hosts, and guests of the old Calendar event (Event A), and not guests of the new Calendar event (Event B).
If you reuse a meeting code created from meet.google.com on a new Calendar event, meeting artifacts will only be shared with the meetings host and co-hosts, and not guests of the new Calendar event.

Warnings shown when reusing a meet code

Additional details

If you use Apple Calendar to create Google Calendar events with a Google Meet meeting code, the code will be updated automatically. This change ensures that each event uses a unique meeting code. Users receive an email informing them about the update.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: There is no end user setting for this feature. Visit the Help Center to learn more.

Rollout pace

Changes to behavior when creating Google Calendar event with meeting code in Apple Calendar

Rapid Release domains and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on March 9, 2026

Changes to behavior when reusing meeting code in Google Calendar

Rapid Release domains and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on March 23, 2026

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google accounts

Resources

Google Help: Learn about meeting codes in Calendar events
Google Help: Take notes for me in Google Meet
Google Help: Start or schedule a Google Meet video meeting
Google Workspace Updates Blog: Enhancing meeting privacy for copied Calendar events
Google Workspace Updates Blog: New to Google Meet: Continue your conversations in Google Chat

Workspace admins can allow Gemini app conversation sharing for their organizations

2026-03-04T08:38:00.000-08:00

Google Workspace admins can now enable users in their organization to share their Gemini chat conversations by creating public links to share and publish. Previously, this capability was only available to users with personal Google accounts; this update expands access on web to Gemini users with a work or school account.

Creating public links to share Gemini conversations can improve collaboration, efficiency, and content sharing. Recipients do not need their own account. This feature lets you share full conversations - including prompts and responses - with a clickable URL.

Public links that were previously created in the Gemini app will continue to be accessible unless the links are deleted from the Gemini app. Learn how to delete a public link in the Gemini app.

Google Workspace admins will have a new control to allow users in their organization to share their Gemini conversations with public links.

Getting started

Admins: Public Gemini chat link sharing will be OFF by default and can be enabled at the domain, organizational unit (OU), or group level using a new control in the Admin console. Visit the Help Center to learn more.
End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about sharing your chats in Gemini. If you choose to share a chat, anyone with the link can read the chat, reshare it with others, and, except for chats created with Gems or for users under the age of 18, continue the chat with Gemini Apps on their own. Do not create public links to chat conversations containing confidential information or any data you wouldn’t want to be seen or shared publicly.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Available now

Availability

Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts who are signed in to the Gemini app

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Turn conversation sharing on or off
Gemini Apps Help: Share your chats from Gemini Apps

Improved join permission logging for Google Meet Audit events

2026-03-02T07:34:00.000-08:00

Google Meet Audit event logging for endpoints will now also include the permission type used to grant access to join a meeting.

For some endpoint types, additional information will be logged in addition to the join permission type:

For users who asked to join a meeting, the audit event will show which of the other meeting participants admitted them
For meeting room hardware devices that joined a client-side encrypted meeting, the audit event will show which user logged in to grant the room access through delegated authentication

Getting started

Admins: Visit the Help Center to learn more about Meet Audit activity events.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on March 2, 2026

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers

Resources

Google Developers Help: Google Meet Audit Activity Events
Google Workspace Admin Help: About the audit and investigation tool
Google Meet Help: Join client-side encrypted (CSE) meetings on Meet hardware
Google Meet Help: Control meeting access with host controls

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - February 27, 2026

2026-02-27T14:32:00.000-08:00

Two new functions in Google Sheets

We are adding two new functions to Google Sheets, =SHEET and =SHEETS. These additions help users manage and reference spreadsheets with multiple tabs more effectively. | Learn more about two new functions in Google Sheets.

New internal and external membership classifications for Google Groups

To ensure better data security, starting in Q2 2026, Google Groups will launch stricter internal and external classifications on group memberships. | Learn more about internal and external membership classifications for Google Groups.

Save PDFs to your Google Drive

On Chrome on your computer, you can now save PDFs directly to Drive without leaving the page, and easily get back to them later in the “Saved from Chrome” folder. | Learn more about saving PDFs to your Google Drive.

Get quantitative insights from text responses with Gemini in Google Forms

Last year, we announced proactive Gemini-generated insights in Forms for short answer and paragraph questions helping form creators summarize responses to longer questions and quickly understand sentiment and feedback. | Learn more about quantitative insights from text responses with Gemini in Google Forms.

New cartoon avatars in Google Vids

AI avatars in Google Vids provide a fast, cost-effective way to generate high-quality digital speakers. While photorealistic avatars are ideal for formal business, we are introducing new 2D and 3D cartoon-styled avatars that utilize expressive, stylized features.| Learn more about new cartoon avatars in Google Vids.

AI avatars and AI voiceovers in Google Vids now available in seven new languages

Google Vids is thrilled to announce that AI avatars and voiceovers now support more than just English. Users can now provide input in seven additional languages: French, German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and Japanese. | Learn more about AI avatars and AI voiceovers in Google Vids, available in seven new languages.

Sending larger attachments in Gmail: New 50MB limits for Enterprise Plus customers

We are introducing a significant enhancement to Gmail’s storage and delivery capabilities for Enterprise Plus customers. To support seamless collaboration and high-fidelity file sharing, we are increasing the file size limits for both sending and receiving emails. | Learn more about the new limits for Enterprise Plus customers in Gmail.

Google Chat now available as a data source in Gemini app

We’re excited to announce that Google Chat is now available as a data source in the Gemini app for Workspace customers, joining Gmail, Google Drive, and other Workspace apps. | Learn more about Google Chat as a data source in Gemini app.

Expanded duration limits in Google Vids

We are increasing the duration limits for Google Vids projects, recordings and imported media clips, giving you more flexibility to create comprehensive video content. | Learn more about expanded duration limits in Google Vids.

Introducing a new video player experience in Google Drive on iOS devices

Last year, we announced a smoother, more modern video player in the Google Drive Android app. This updated look and feel is now available when watching Drive videos on your iOS devices. | Learn more about the video player experience in Google Drive on iOS devices.

Gemini conversation history is coming to the side panel in Google Workspace

Conversation history is coming to the Gemini side panel in Google Workspace apps. This feature will enable users to resume their conversations with Gemini across sessions. | Learn more about Gemini conversation history in the side panel.

Introducing Nano Banana 2 in the Gemini app

Starting today, we’re rolling out Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image), our best image model yet, to Workspace customers in the Gemini app. | Learn more about Nano Banana 2 in the Gemini app.

The announcements above were published on the Workspace Updates blog over the last week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.

Introducing Nano Banana 2 in the Gemini app

2026-02-26T12:59:00.000-08:00

Starting today, we’re rolling out Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image), our best image model yet, to Workspace customers in the Gemini app.

Nano Banana 2, which replaces our previous Nano Banana model, brings the high-speed intelligence of Gemini Flash to visual generation, making once-exclusive Pro features accessible to a wider audience, including:

Advanced world knowledge: Nano Banana 2 pulls from the Gemini model’s real-world knowledge base and is powered by real-time information and images from web search to more accurately render specific subjects. This deep understanding also empowers you to create infographics, turn notes into diagrams, and generate data visualizations.
Production-ready specs: Make attention-grabbing assets with full control over aspect ratios and resolutions—ranging from 1K for free and 2K for paid users. Your visuals will stay sharp and perfectly sized, whether you are generating a vertical social media Story or a wide-screen presentation backdrop.
Precision text rendering and translation: Generate accurate, legible text for infographics or marketing mockups. Users can even translate and localize text within an image to share your ideas globally.

Nano Banana 2 also dramatically closes the gap between speed and beauty, delivering high-fidelity, photorealistic imagery. Here’s what our newest model offers and has improved on from the original Nano Banana:

Subject consistency: Maintain character resemblance of up to five characters and the fidelity of up to ten objects in a single workflow in the Gemini app, allowing you to storyboard and build narratives without altering the appearance of your inputs.
Precise instruction following: With enhanced instruction following, the model adheres more strictly to your complex requests, capturing the specific nuances of your idea so the image you get is the image you asked for.
Visual fidelity upgrade: Nano Banana 2 delivers vibrant lighting, richer textures, and sharper details, maintaining high-quality aesthetics at the speed expected from Flash.

Getting started

Admins: There are no admin controls for this feature.
End users: Visit the Help Center for more information on generating images in Gemini.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Available now

Availability

Nano Banana 2 will replace Nano Banana Pro across the Fast, Thinking and Pro models for Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts who are 18 years or older and signed in to the Gemini app. Workspace users who have had access to Nano Banana Pro will keep access to Nano Banana Pro for specialized tasks by regenerating images via the three-dot menu.

Resources

Keyword: Nano Banana 2: Closing the gap between speed and beauty
Keyword: Introducing Nano Banana Pro
Google Workspace Admin Help: Turn the Gemini app on or off for users

Gemini conversation history is coming to the side panel in Google Workspace

2026-02-26T11:40:00.000-08:00

Conversation history is coming to the Gemini side panel in Google Workspace apps. This feature will enable users to resume their conversations with Gemini across sessions. This history will only persist in a single app and conversations will remain private. For example, a conversation in the side panel of Google Docs will not appear in the side panel of Google Sheets, and a conversation in the side panel of a shared file will not be visible to other users with access to that file.

Timeline

As of February 25, 2026: Admin controls for conversation history are available. See below for more details and recommended actions.
Starting March 3, 2026: Conversation history will start rolling out to end users participating in the Gemini Alpha and Workspace Labs programs, as well as users with Google AI Pro and Ultra subscriptions.
No sooner than March 17, 2026: Conversation history will begin rolling out to all other Workspace users. We’ll provide an update on this blog before that rollout begins.

Accessing conversation history in the side panel of Google Drive

Deletion controls

This launch includes two new controls for administrators to ensure conversation data management aligns with organizational policies: the ability to decide if users can manually delete their history and the ability to set automated retention periods to manage the data lifecycle effectively. These settings can be configured at the domain, organizational unit, or group level.

This launch does not include Vault support or the ability for end users to auto-delete conversations; we’ll roll these features out in the future. Stay tuned to the Workspace Updates blog for more details when these features launch.

Getting started

Admins: Visit the Help Center to learn how to manage Gemini in Workspace conversation history for your organization using the settings below.

Manual deletion: This setting is ON by default, meaning end users can manually delete individual conversations unless the setting is changed.
Auto-deletion: Conversations are stored indefinitely by default, unless admins enable auto-deletion. If enabled, admins can choose to delete inactive chats after three months, 18 months, or three years.

End users: Once the feature is live, users can access their history within the Gemini side panel of the specific app they are using.

History will only begin to populate once the feature is live for a specific user; conversations held prior to the rollout will not be saved.
Users must have smart features and personalization turned on to access Gemini in Workspace services.
Conversations remain private; users can only view their own individual history.
Depending on the admin settings above, users may be able to manually delete individual conversations.

Rollout pace

Admin controls

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Available now

End-user visibility

Users in Gemini Alpha program and users with Google AI Pro and Ultra subscriptions: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on March 3, 2026
All other users in Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on March 17, 2026

Availability

Business: Business Starter, Standard, and Plus
Enterprise: Enterprise Starter, Standard, and Plus
Other Editions: Frontline Plus
Education: Education Plus
Other Add-ons: Teaching & Learning
AI Add-ons: Google AI Pro for Education
Consumer: Google AI Pro and Ultra

Note: Gemini in Workspace is currently available to users over the age of 18 with eligible Google Workspace plans.

Resources

Google Help: Manage Gemini conversation history settings

Introducing a new video player experience in Google Drive on iOS devices

2026-02-25T10:47:00.000-08:00

Last year, we announced a smoother, more modern video player in the Google Drive Android app. This updated look and feel is now available when watching Drive videos on your iOS devices.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about storing & playing video in Google Drive.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Available now

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts

Expanded duration limits in Google Vids

2026-02-25T08:07:00.000-08:00

We are increasing the duration limits for Google Vids projects, recordings and imported media clips, giving you more flexibility to create comprehensive video content.

Vids projects: The maximum length for any Vids project is now 30 minutes, up from 10 minutes previously.
Recordings: The maximum length for any video or audio clip created directly in the Vids recording studio is now 30 minutes.
Imports: You can now import video or audio clips up to 95 minutes in length (or up to 4 GB in file size).

Note: While you can import clips up to 95 minutes, you must edit them down to 30 minutes or shorter within Vids to unlock full editing capabilities for that clip.

Why it matters

As video becomes a primary tool for sharing knowledge at work, we want to ensure you have the space to tell your story without technical interruptions. These expanded limits are particularly useful for:

Admins: This update reduces the need for users to pre-edit or compress large video files before bringing them into Workspace, ensuring a smoother workflow and better protection for sensitive organizational data within the Vids environment.
End users: Whether you are recording a deep-dive training session, a lengthy project post-mortem, or importing a recorded town hall meeting for highlights, these higher limits allow you to capture more context in a single take.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: There is no end user setting for this feature. Visit the Help Center to learn more.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on March 3, 2026
Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on March 17, 2026

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts

Resources

Google Help: Google Vids storage, object & version history limits

Google Chat now available as a data source in Gemini app

2026-02-25T07:53:00.000-08:00

We’re excited to announce that Google Chat is now available as a data source in the Gemini app (gemini.google.com) for Workspace customers, joining Gmail, Google Drive, and other Workspace apps. Like other Workspace connected apps in Gemini, Google Chat will be default off and can be enabled in your settings. If enabled, Gemini will be able to cross-reference your conversations in Chat to provide more informed, context-aware responses directly within your workflow.

By incorporating Google Chat into Gemini via the existing connection to Workspace apps, you can now ask Gemini to help you retrieve specific project details, summarize missed discussions, and surface information buried in your message history directly within the Gemini app.

Key capabilities include:

Information retrieval: Quickly find specific details, such as "Who’s the marketing lead for Project Clover?"
Project tracking: Ask Gemini, "What's the latest deadline mentioned for Project X?" to find dates directly from recent team discussions.
Quick summaries: Use prompts like "Summarize my unread chat messages from today" to get a high-level overview of what you missed.

Getting started

Admins: This feature will be OFF by default and can be enabled at the OU or Group level. Visit the Help Center to learn more.
End users: Once enabled by an admin, users can connect Google Chat to summarize and find information directly in Gemini. Visit the Help Center to learn more.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Available now

Availability

Business Starter, Standard, and Plus
Enterprise Starter, Standard, and Plus
Education Fundamentals, Standard, and Plus
Frontline Starter and Standard
Essentials, Enterprise Essentials, and Enterprise Essentials Plus
Nonprofits

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Turn Google apps in Gemini on or off
Google Help: Use apps connected to Gemini with a work or school Google Account

Sending larger attachments in Gmail: New 50MB limits for Enterprise Plus customers

2026-02-24T10:37:00.000-08:00

Sending larger files: Users can now attach files up to 50MB directly to an email (doubling the previous 25MB limit). This allows users to send large presentations, comprehensive spreadsheets, and high-resolution PDFs as direct attachments without needing to upload them to Google Drive first.
Receiving larger files: We are increasing the total incoming message size limit to 70MB to also support large messages and attachments. This ensures that your organization can successfully receive larger emails from external senders, improving interoperability with other email platforms.

We know that today's workflows often involve sharing data-rich files. This new update compliments our existing functionality that allows users to upload to Google Drive and share a link. While Drive is excellent for collaboration, sometimes a direct attachment is the preferred method for external partners, clients, or regulatory workflows.

This update directly addresses two key areas of friction by:

Streamlining workflow: Users can now simply drag and drop files up to 50MB into their draft window. This reduces context switching and saves time when sharing final versions of documents.
Improving interoperability: Users who collaborate with partners who are unable to use Drive can now leverage attachments for these larger files, ensuring these critical communications are available regardless of the recipient.

This feature is admin configurable, giving admins more control over your organization's bandwidth and storage policies.

Getting started

Admins: Visit the Help Center to learn how to configure your settings to unlock 50M attachments for your users.
End users: There is no end user setting for this feature.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) started on February 23, 2026

Availability

Google Workspace Enterprise Plus

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Gmail receiving limits in Google Workspace
Google Workspace Admin Help: Gmail message sending limits in Google Workspace

AI avatars and AI voiceovers in Google Vids now available in seven new languages

2026-02-24T09:04:00.000-08:00

Google Vids is thrilled to announce that AI avatars and voiceovers now support more than just English. Users can now provide input in seven additional languages: French, German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and Japanese. The specific details of each feature are outlined below.

AI avatars

AI avatars in Google Vids enable simple generation of high-quality speakers, preferred five times more often than those on other platforms. Today we’re excited to announce that avatars, previously available only in English, can speak seven additional languages: Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Korean, and Japanese.

Anyone can create an avatar video in minutes, saving on both cost and time. Use avatars in scenarios like:

Pitch global clients: Introduce new features to global clients with avatars in their native language.
Educate a global workforce: Update global employees about a new training requirement in Q1.

Avatar generation in Google Vids

AI voiceovers

AI Voiceovers in Google Vids allow users to generate realistic narration for their videos by selecting from a range of different presets. Instead of recording their own voice, users can type a script and the feature will return a high-quality voiceover.

Just like avatars, AI voiceovers are now available in seven new languages (in addition to English): Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Korean, and Japanese.

AI voiceover generation in Google Vids

Note: If the script contains multi-language script input, the feature will return a voiceover in the supported language that’s used most in the script.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about AI avatars and voiceovers.

Note: Workspace customers will get promotional access to higher usage limits of Veo 3.1 avatars in Vids, allowing users to experiment with these features. Per-user usage limits will apply afterward; we’ll provide more information in a future update prior to any changes.

Rollout pace

Avatars additional languages

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on February 24, 2026
Scheduled Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on March 9, 2026

Voiceovers additional languages

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Available now

Availability

Business Starter **, Standard and Plus
Enterprise Starter **, Standard and Plus
Essentials, Enterprise Essentials and Enterprise Essentials Plus
Nonprofits**
[Voiceovers only] Education Fundamentals and Standard
Education Plus and Teaching and Learning add-on**
Google AI Pro for Education add-on
[Voiceovers only] Users with personal Google accounts
Google AI Pro and Ultra

**For a limited time, at least through May 31, 2026, Business Starter, Enterprise Starter, Nonprofit, Education Plus, and Teaching and Learning add-on accounts can access generative AI features in Vids. Learn about Google Vids availability.

Resources

Workspace Updates Blog: New cartoon avatars in Google Vids
Google Help: Create voiceovers with AI in Google Vids
Google Help: Use AI avatars in Google Vids

New cartoon avatars in Google Vids

2026-02-24T09:01:00.000-08:00

AI avatars in Google Vids provide a fast, cost-effective way to generate high-quality digital speakers. While photorealistic avatars are ideal for formal business, we are introducing new 2D and 3D cartoon-styled avatars that utilize expressive, stylized features to enhance emotional resonance and create a more approachable, universally engaging experience.

New 2D cartoon stylized avatars

New 3D cartoon stylized avatars

Why use cartoon avatars?

Previously, users in educational or casual settings were limited to professional, photorealistic options. These new styles allow you to:

Increase Engagement: Keep students focused on educational assignments, such as explaining complex math concepts.
Lighten the Tone: Use "fun recaps" to summarize project results with a more approachable, lighthearted character.
Broaden Your Reach: Connect with diverse audiences across different age groups and backgrounds.

Getting started

Admins: No action required; there is no admin control for this feature.
End users: Access these new styles directly in the Vids avatar panel. For more details, visit the Help Center.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on February 24, 2026
Scheduled Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on March 9, 2026

Availability

Business Starter **, Standard, and Plus
Enterprise Starter **, Standard, and Plus
Essentials, Enterprise Essentials, and Enterprise Essentials Plus
Nonprofits**
Education Plus and Teaching and Learning add-on**
Google AI Pro for Education add-on
Google AI Pro and Ultra

Resources

Workspace Updates Blog: AI avatars and AI voiceovers in Google Vids now available in seven new languages
Google Help: Use AI avatars in Google Vids

Get quantitative insights from text responses with Gemini in Google Forms

2026-02-24T08:09:00.000-08:00

Today, we are enhancing that experience to show quantitative insights about percentage and count of responses across different themes in text responses. This feature leverages AI function in Sheets to categorize responses to quickly get deeper and more actionable insights.

Gemini shows percentage of different themes in responses to a text question in a market research survey

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: Form editors will see an option to “Show theme percentages” for text responses in their Google Forms. When a user clicks on “Show theme percentages", Gemini will categorize responses into themes. The form editor can view the count of text responses in different themes and view a chart to show the percentage of responses across the different themes. Visit the Help Center to learn more about summarizing and analyzing form responses with Gemini.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on February 24, 2026
Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on March 8, 2026

Availability

Business Standard and Plus
Enterprise Standard and Plus
AI Ultra Access
AI Expanded Access
Google AI Pro for Education
Google One AI Pro
Google One AI Ultra

Resources

Google Help: Summarize & analyze text responses with Gemini in Google Forms
Google Help: Use the AI function in Google Sheets

Save PDFs to your Google Drive

2026-02-23T13:49:00.000-08:00

On Chrome on your computer, you can now save PDFs directly to Drive without leaving the page, and easily get back to them later in the “Saved from Chrome” folder. Visit the Help Center to learn more.

Getting started

Admins: Chrome admins can control this feature using this policy, starting from version 145.
End users: There is no end user setting for this feature. Visit the Help Center to learn more about saving PDFs from Chrome to Google Drive.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Available now

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts

Resources

Google Drive Help: Upload files & folders to Google Drive

New internal and external membership classifications for Google Groups

2026-02-23T13:28:00.000-08:00

To ensure better data security, starting in Q2 2026, Google Groups will launch stricter internal and external classifications on group memberships. Groups with the Allow members outside your organization setting disabled will be limited only to members of your organization.

Currently, groups with the Allow members outside your organization setting disabled can still have external members (added via an admin, via a nested external group, or by changing the group from external to internal, which does not remove existing external members). After this change, this behavior will no longer be supported.

To prevent disruption, existing groups with the Allow members outside your organization setting disabled that currently include external members will be automatically updated to a new configuration. These groups will be reclassified as external, but configured so that only admins can add external users (preventing end users from doing so).

Additionally, this change will impact multiple UI and API areas within Google Workspace, including:

Google Groups (and its usage in other apps like Gmail, Chat, and Calendar)
Admin console
APIs (Cloud Identity, Admin SDK Directory API, Groups Settings API)

You can view the complete list of changes and more details in this article.

Getting started

Admins: If you use the Cloud Identity or Admin SDK Directory API to create new groups intended for external members, you may experience script errors if you don’t update your settings. Currently, Groups created via API default to allowExternalMembers=False and admins can add external members to these groups without triggering an error. When this new behavior goes into effect, if you attempt to add external members to a group classified as internal (the default setting), the API will reject the request and your script will return an error. We recommend updating your scripts using the GroupsSettings API now.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: This change will go into effect no earlier than May 15, 2026. We’ll provide an update on the Workspace Updates blog when we have more specific timelines.

Availability

All Google Workspace customers

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Changes to internal & external classifications in Google Groups

Two new functions in Google Sheets

2026-02-23T09:46:00.000-08:00

We are adding two new functions to Google Sheets, =SHEET and =SHEETS. These additions help users manage and reference spreadsheets with multiple tabs more effectively.

The new functions operate as follows:

=SHEET(value): Returns the sheet number of a specified sheet name or reference. If the argument is omitted, it returns the number of the sheet containing the function.
=SHEETS(): Returns the number of all sheets in the spreadsheet.

Please note that the =SHEETS function in Google Sheets does not accept arguments (such as a range of tabs). Formulas containing arguments for this function will result in an error.

These functions allow you to perform calculations based on the structure of your spreadsheet. Both functions are dynamic and will recalculate when a sheet is added, deleted, moved, or renamed within a document. This ensures your data analysis remains accurate even as the organization of your spreadsheet changes.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: Use =SHEET() or =SHEETS() in any Sheets document to get started with the feature. Visit the Help Center to learn more.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on February 23, 2026

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google accounts

Resources

Google Help: Sheets Function

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - February 20, 2026

2026-02-20T13:48:00.000-08:00

View Gemini feature usage and threshold reports in the Admin console

Today, we’re releasing new adoption and usage metrics to our Gemini reports in the Admin console. These new reports offer administrators comprehensive visibility into AI feature usage and thresholds to help them better manage their Workspace subscription and Gemini adoption. This includes usage data by features, apps, and active users. | Learn more about Gemini feature usage and threshold reports in the Admin console.

Improvements to local administrative access controls on Windows devices

We are updating the administrative privileges setting for Windows device management to give administrators more control over how local administrative access is handled on Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices, managed by Google Endpoint Management. This update simplifies settings and provides greater flexibility for organizations that need to preserve local admin access while managing specific users via Google Workspace. | Learn more about Improvements to local administrative access controls on Windows devices.

Forecast data in Connected Sheets using BigQuery ML and TimesFM

We are introducing a new capability in Connected Sheets for BigQuery that allows users to generate data forecasts directly within Google Sheets using the power of BigQuery ML (BQML) and Google’s state-of-the-art TimesFM model. | Learn more about Forecast data in Connected Sheets using BigQuery ML and TimesFM.

Create custom soundtracks with Lyria 3 in the Gemini app

Using text-based or image prompting, you can now generate custom 30 second soundtracks in Gemini. This new capability is powered by Lyria 3, Google’s most advanced music generation model yet. | Learn more about how to Create custom soundtracks with Lyria 3 in the Gemini app.

New user controls for Take notes for me

We are introducing more ways meeting hosts and participants can view and control “Take notes for me” in Google Meet. | Learn more about New user controls for Take notes for me.

New 'Take notes for me' configuration in the Admin console for select Gemini Alpha customers

To help users remember to get notes for meetings where it is most valuable, we are developing new settings for ‘Take notes for me’ that lets users and admins pre-configure AI note taking. | Learn more about New 'Take notes for me' configuration in the Admin console for select Gemini Alpha customers.

Educators can now get help drafting personalized guidance on written assignments with AI-suggested feedback in Google Classroom

We’re introducing AI-suggested feedback for written assignments in Google Classroom, a new feature designed to help educators provide high-quality, personalized support to their students more efficiently. | Learn more about how Educators can now get help drafting personalized guidance on written assignments with AI-suggested feedback in Google Classroom.

Manage permission to edit group details and changes to groups settings

We’re introducing a new permission in Google Groups: "Who can modify group details." This update allows group owners and managers to grant specific roles the ability to edit a group's name and description. | Learn more about to Manage permission to edit group details and changes to groups settings.

The announcements above were published on the Workspace Updates blog over the last week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.

Manage permission to edit group details and changes to groups settings

2026-02-19T11:58:00.000-08:00

Previously, the ability to edit a group’s name and description was limited to the owner and manager roles. This meant that if an owner wanted a member to be able to update the name or description, they had to grant that member manager status, which included a broader set of additional permissions.

With this launch, "Who can modify group details" is now a standalone, configurable permission. Group owners and managers can now precisely control who can update these details, choosing from owners, managers, or all members of the group.

Additionally, as part of this launch, all group members will be able to see the groups settings page, however the ability to edit it will continue to depend on the groups permissions and the users role.

The new setting: “Who can modify group details”

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: This feature will be set to “Group owners and managers” by default. Visit the Help Center to learn more.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release domains: Full rollout (1–5 days for feature visibility) starting on Feb 19, 2026
Scheduled Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on March 5, 2026

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google accounts

Resources

Google Help: Update a group’s settings
Google Help: Create a group & choose group settings