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What’s changing
You can now replace your background with an image in Google Meet. You can either use Google’s hand-picked images, which include office spaces, landscapes, and abstract backgrounds, or upload your own image.




Who’s impacted

End users

Why you’d use it

Custom backgrounds can help you show more of your personality, as well as help hide your surroundings.

Additional details
We recently launched the ability to filter out disruptive background noise and blur your background in Google Meet. Together, these features reduce audio and visual distractions, and help ensure more productive meetings.

Virtual backgrounds work directly within your browser and do not require an extension or any additional software. At launch, they’ll work on ChromeOS and on the Chrome browser on Windows and Mac desktop devices. Support on Meet mobile apps will be coming soon; we’ll announce on the Google Workspace Updates blog when they become available.

Getting started
Admins: At launch, there will be no admin control for this feature. Admin controls to select which organizational units can use custom and preset backgrounds for meetings they organize will be introduced later this year. We’ll announce on the Google Workspace Updates blog when they’re available.

End users: This feature is OFF by default. Visit our Help Center to learn more about how to change your background on Google Meet.




Rollout pace
  • Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout to eligible devices (up to 7 days for feature visibility) starting on October 30, 2020
  • Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout to eligible devices (up to 7 days for feature visibility) starting on November 6, 2020

Availability
  • Available to Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers
  • Available to users with personal Google accounts
  • Selecting your own picture is not available to participants of meetings organized by Education and Enterprise for Education customers
ResourcesRoadmap
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Quick launch summary
You can now set yourself as “away” in Chat in Gmail.

When you set your status to away, you will show as offline to others, even when you’re active, helping you to focus solely on your work uninterrupted.

New presence menu in Gmail


Set your status as away on Gmail mobile apps


For domains that still use chat in classic Hangouts, disabling the “Show when you were last active” setting will now show you as away in Chat.

This feature is rolling out to Gmail on the web and the Gmail iOS app. It will be coming soon to the Gmail app on Android. We will post on the Google Workspace Updates blog when this rollout begins.

Getting started

Rollout pace
Availability
  • Available to Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers
  • Not available to Workspace Essentials and Enterprise Essentials customers
Resources
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What’s changing 
We’re changing the default editing mode for Microsoft Office files in Google Drive on the web. Now, when you double-click on an Office file, it will open directly in Office editing mode. 

Previously, double clicking would open a preview of the document, from which users could choose whether to open in Office editing mode or download the file. You can still use the preview mode by right clicking the file and clicking "Preview,” or by pressing ‘P’ on the keyboard while double clicking the file. 



Who’s impacted 
End users 


Why it’s important 
This change makes it quicker to open and start editing documents. Users can directly edit, comment, and collaborate on Office files using the familiar interface of Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, with changes automatically saved to the file in its existing Office format. 


Additional details 
Note that: 
  • This change will apply to all compatible Office file types, including .docx, .doc, .ppt, .pptx, .xls, .xlsx, .xlsm 
  • Password protected Office files will not open directly in Office editing mode. These files will continue to open in Preview mode. 
  • If the “Office Editing for Docs, Sheets & Slides” Chrome extension is installed, we will redirect to the extension and not to Docs, Sheets, or Slides. This is the same as if you select “Open with” today. 


Getting started 
  • Admins: This feature will be ON by default. There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: This change will take place by default when opening compatible Office files in Drive on the web. You can still use the preview mode by right clicking the file and clicking "Preview," or by pressing ‘P’ on the keyboard while double clicking the file. Visit the Help Center to learn more about working with Office files in Drive. 
Rollout pace 
Availability 
  • Available to Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers, and users with personal Google Accounts 
Resources 
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What’s changing 
We recently announced that G Suite is now Google Workspace: everything you need to get anything done, all in one place. 


As part of our effort to tailor offerings to meet distinct customer needs, we’re expanding our Customer Care portfolio to include a new level of service: Enhanced Support. Designed for customers who need fast, advanced, and complete support, it offers accelerated response times, advanced product knowledge and Third-Party Technology Support. Enhanced Support is included with Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus editions. 


Customers can contact sales for more details on purchasing Enhanced Support separately. 


Who’s impacted 
Admins 


Why you’d use it 
Enhanced Support offers: 
  • An accelerated Support experience, available 24/7. For Priority 1 cases, customers can expect a first meaningful response within one hour; for Priority 2 cases, they can expect a response in four hours. 
  • Intelligent triaging. This ensures that cases are routed directly to technical experts who have advanced product knowledge and training, as well as additional tools to provide complete support. 
  • Third-Party Technology Support: Enhanced Support can help customers leverage the many third-party integrations available on Google Workspace. This includes, assistance with application set-up, configuration, and troubleshooting. 

Additional details 
There are now three levels of service available to customers. Each has a different combination of speed and services based on business needs: 
  • Standard Support: Included with Business Starter, Business Standard, and Business Plus editions, Standard Support offers 24/7 technical support, with a four-hour response time for the highest priority cases. 
  • Enhanced Support: Our new offering, Enhanced Support comes with faster support (a one-hour response time), intelligent triaging, and Third-Party Technology Support. 
  • Premium Support: Launched earlier this year, Premium Support offers the fastest response time, 15 minutes for P1 cases, a named Technical Account Manager, and additional support functions. 
To learn more about our Support offerings, see our Customer Care portfolio. 

Coming in 2021, a support API will be available for Enhanced and Premium Support customers. With the API, you’ll be able to create and manage support cases on a single platform. Stay tuned to the Google Workspace Updates blog for information when this launches.


Getting started 

Availability 
  • Included with Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus editions 
  • Available as an upgrade for Business Standard and Business Plus editions 

 Resources 
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Quick launch summary
We’ve added audit logging for several new user events in Google Chat. Detailed audit logging is a critical component in effectively managing secure chat usage within your domain.

The new events include: 
  • Invite sent
  • Message edited
  • Attachment uploaded
  • Attachment downloaded
  • Room member added
  • Room member removed
We’ve also expanded the information included with each audit log. The following additional fields are now populated for all events if they are available for that event:
  • Message ID
  • Room ID
  • Room name
  • Attachment name
  • Attachment hash
  • External room
  • Room history setting
  • Recipient
  • Attachment URL
Note that these additional fields are only available via the Reports API or security investigation tool.

Getting started

Rollout pace

Availability
  • Available to Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers
  • Not available to Workspace Essentials and Enterprise Essentials customers
Resources
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What’s changing 
We’re creating a single place to manage web and mobile apps in the Admin console. With the new location, we’ll also be updating the management interface to be more consistent and intuitive. You’ll find this at Admin console > Apps > Web and mobile apps. There, you’ll be able to see configured apps, search apps, add apps, manage user access, adjust settings, and more for: 
You’ll no longer be able to manage apps in the previous locations. However, you’ll still manage the Android available apps and system apps settings in Admin console > Devices > Mobile settings. 


Who’s impacted 
Admins 


Why it’s important 
By reducing the locations you need to use to manage different categories of apps and creating simplified and consistent workflows, it will be quicker and simpler to manage app use and deployment for your organization. 


Additional details
New location for web and mobile apps:


New and consistent experience to add web and mobile apps:


Unified settings and quick controls to view access and manage apps:


Getting started 
  • Admins: Find the new app management location at Admin console > Apps > Web and mobile apps. Visit the Help Center to learn more about managing Android and iOS apps, and SAML apps for your organization. 
  • End users: No end user impact. 
Rollout pace 
Availability 
Mobile app management: 
  • Available to Business Plus; Enterprise; Education and Enterprise for Education; G Suite Basic and Business; and Nonprofits customers
  • Not available to Business Starter, Essentials, and Enterprise Essentials customers.
SAML app management: 
  • Available to Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers
Resources 
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What’s changing 
We’re creating reports with recommendations that will help customers proactively understand and protect sensitive content. The reports will show: 
  • How many files in your organization contain sensitive information. 
  • How many sensitive files in your organization have been shared externally. 
  • Insights into the type of sensitive information (e.g. credit card numbers, social security numbers, etc.) in those files. 
Note that a report will be proactively generated for Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus customers on a periodic basis. They do not require any Data Loss Prevention (DLP) rules to be set up in the Admin console. You can turn off the report by going to Admin console > Data Protection > Data protection insights. 

An example of a Data Protection insight report 

Who’s impacted 
Admins 


Why it matters 
Protecting your company’s confidential data is critical. DLP supports this by giving you control over what users can share, and helps prevent the unintended exposure of sensitive information. 

These new reports will help you understand what sensitive information is stored in your organization, and can help you make more informed decisions to protect it. For customers new to DLP, a report can help you identify the types of sensitive content, such as credit card numbers and tax IDs, that you might want to prioritize establishing DLP policies for. For customers already using DLP, a report can help you identify data types that you may not have authored DLP policies for. 

Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus customers also have access to Google Workspace’s DLP systems, which can make it easier to implement chosen DLP policies and create alerts for ongoing monitoring of issues identified in the report. 


Getting started 
  • Admins: 
    • Reports will be produced periodically. When they’re created, links to the report will be sent by email, and an alert will be shown in the Admin console. You can also find the report in the Admin console at Security > Data protection. 
    • Reports will only be accessible by super admins and other admins with the View DLP rule privilege. 
    • You can turn off the report by going to Admin console > Data Protection > Data protection insights. 
    • Visit our Help Center to learn more about managing DLP insights reports.  
  • End users: No end user impact. 
An email which helps admins find and use the report 

Rollout pace 
Availability 
  • Available to Available to Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials (domain verified), Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus customers, as well as G Suite Business customers
  • Not available Available to Essentials, and Business Starter customers, as well as G Suite Education, Enterprise for Education, Nonprofits, and Basic customers
Resources Roadmap 
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Quick Summary 
Google Workspace Add-ons are now available for Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Google Workspace Add-ons are already available for Calendar, Gmail, and Google Drive.


Google Workspace Add-ons allow you to use third-party applications within Google Workspace, helping you get work done faster without switching from one app to another. 

Organizations can also create add-ons using Apps Script or alternative runtimes — use the Google Workspace Developer guide for add-ons to learn more about building add-ons. 

Getting started 
Rollout pace 
Availability 
  • Available to Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, G Suite Business, Basic, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers and users with personal accounts.  
Resources 
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Update
[October 26, 2020]: Please note that there is now an extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days) for this feature.

Quick launch summary 
We’re making it easier to manage access requests to Drive files by sending dynamic emails which allow you to respond to the request without leaving Gmail. 

When someone requests access to a Drive file, you’ll receive an email with the access request. Now, Gmail users will be able to manage that request directly from that email, without leaving the message. Specifically, you’ll receive a dynamic email that lets you review the request, choose the access level (e.g. edit, comment, or view), and grant access directly from the email. 

Previously, you had to open the document in a new tab or app to manage the access request. The dynamic email will make it quicker and simpler to manage these requests and control access to your files. It will work for Gmail users on the web, on Android, and on iOS. 

Note that the 'from' address for access request emails is changing with this launch. They will now come from drive-shares-dm-noreply@google.com. 



Getting started 
Rollout pace 
Availability 
  • Available to Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers, and users with personal Google Accounts 
Resources 
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What’s changing 
We’re launching SmartFill for Google Sheets, which detects and learns patterns between columns to intelligently autocomplete data entry. 


For example, if you have a column of full names, you may want to split it into a column with first names and a column with last names. As you start typing first names into a column, Sheets will automatically look for patterns. If Sheets detects a pattern, it will generate the corresponding formula, and then autocomplete the rest of the column for you. 


We previously announced that SmartFill for Sheets was coming soon. See more details below. 



Who’s impacted 
End users 


Why it’s important 
We hope that SmartFill will make it easier to prepare and use data in Sheets. Similar to how Smart Compose in Gmail helps you write faster with fewer mistakes, SmartFill makes data entry quicker and less prone to error. 


We also recently launched Sheets Smart Cleanup, which uses similar intelligence to help prepare and analyze data in Sheets. By adding new, intelligent features to help automate data preparation and analysis, we hope to empower all users to harness the power of data and quickly make data-backed decisions. 


Additional details 
In addition to using data that’s in a sheet, SmartFill can also use data from Google’s Knowledge Graph. For example, it can use public data to autocomplete a list of countries where a list of cities are located. 


For Enterprise Plus customers, it can also use information from your company’s people Directory to autocomplete data. For example, it can use organization-only data to fill in email addresses for company employees. 



Getting started 
Rollout pace 
  • Rapid Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on October 15, 2020 
  • Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on November 5, 2020 
Availability 
  • Available to Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers, and users with personal Google Accounts 
  • SmartFill integration with people directory is only available to Enterprise Plus customers. 
Resources 

Roadmap 
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Quick launch summary 
We’re enhancing the way you work with Google Workspace Add-ons in Gmail with the addition of Compose-time functions. Compose-time functions can help modify and format your messages in Gmail faster by: 
  • Adding recipients in the “To”, “CC”, and “BCC” fields. 
  • Inserting content into the subject line and body of the email. 
  • Inserting message templates for a consistent look and feel for your communications, and more. 


Organizations can also create their own compose-time add-ons using Apps Script or alternative runtimes. Use the Google Workspace Developer Guide to learn more about building compose actions. 

Getting started 
Rollout pace 
  • Compose time add-ons are available now in the Google Workspace Marketplace. 
Availability 
  • Available to Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers (when enabled by admins) and users with personal accounts.  
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In an effort to make the migration process as easy as possible, we just announced that we’re extending the timeline Google Workspace and G Suite for Education customers have to migrate from classic Hangouts to Google Chat.


In June, we introduced the Chat preferred setting in the Admin console to allow any admin to opt in to migrate all end users to Chat. We also made Chat preferred configurable at the organizational unit level.


In 2021, we will start migrating all remaining customers with “Chat and classic Hangouts" and "classic Hangouts only" settings selected to Chat. Here’s what you can expect:
  • Opt-out upgrade (no earlier than Q2 2021): All customers will be migrated to Chat Preferred unless their admins explicitly opt out. Customers who only have enabled Chat, with classic Hangouts completely disabled, will not be impacted.
  • Mandatory upgrade (late 2021): All remaining customers will be migrated to Chat Preferred, and we will fully replace classic Hangouts with Chat. There will be no option to opt out at this stage.

We will provide advance notice (4 weeks minimum) on the Google Workspace Updates blog before each phase begins. Stay tuned for more information.

Getting started
  • Admins: No action is needed at this time. Check out the Help Center for more information on transitioning your users to Chat.
  • End users: There is no end-user action for these changes.

Resources
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Quick launch summary 
We’re adding a Count API to the Vault API. The Count API enables you to see the number of messages, files, or other data items that match a search query. 


You can use the number of items to estimate the size of the export, and then choose to proceed with the export or adjust the query to retrieve fewer items. This can help ensure a successful export by reducing the likelihood of export errors due to size. 


Getting started 
  • Admins: Visit the API documentation to learn more about the Count API and review an example. 
  • End users: No end user impact. 
Rollout pace 
Availability 
  • Available to Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Enterprise for Education, G Suite Business, as well as other customers with the Vault add-on license 
  • Not available to Essentials, Business Starter, and Business Standard customers, as well as G Suite Education, Nonprofits, and Basic customers  
Resources Roadmap 
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Quick launch summary 
We’re updating the default way videos play when you present in Google Slides. Now, the video will start playing when you click to advance the presentation. Previously, the presenter had to specifically click on the video to start playing. 

With this launch, there are now three options to control playback: 
  • Play (on click) - Video will play when you advance the slide. (This is the new default option.) 
  • Play (automatically) - Video will play without you clicking to advance. 
  • Play (manual) - Video will play when you click specifically on the embedded video in the slide while presenting. (This was previously the default.) 

The new play on click option works the same way as any other animation or slide transition. When you’re presenting a slide with an embedded video, advance the slide by pressing a key, clicking a mouse, or using a remote clicker, and the video will start playing. You can adjust the sequence the video plays in the animations sidebar, so you can coordinate playback with other animations on the slide. 


Note that this change in default behavior will only apply to videos inserted after the launch takes place. Videos already in presentations will not change playback type automatically, but you can change them manually in the format options. 


The new default will help make presentations flow better and reduce distractions, so presenters can focus on content rather than where they have to click. 


Getting started 
  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: This feature will be ON by default and can be turned off for any video in video format options. Visit the Help Center to learn more about videos in Slides. 
Rollout pace 
Availability 
  • Available to Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers, and users with personal Google Accounts 
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[Updates] 
March 7, 2023: All devices with the Google Apps Device Policy will lose access during March 2023. Existing Google Apps Device Policy app users must switch to Android Device Policy before then to continue syncing work data. Note that, per our last update, the new user registration flow on Google Apps Device Policy will be blocked and users may see errors during the registration process as of January 2022. See below for more information and instructions.

January 26, 2022: The new user registration flow on Google Apps Device Policy will be blocked and users may see errors during the registration process.


October 21, 2021: We have adjusted the timing for this change. Now, Google Apps Device Policy app won't be available for new enrollments beginning January 19, 2022. Existing Google Apps Device Policy app users must switch to Android Device Policy before March 19, 2022 to continue syncing work data. Previously, we stated that users must switch before October 26, 2021. 

What’s changing 
Last year, we announced that a new Android management client, Android Device Policy, would replace the legacy Google Apps Device Policy client. We’re now discontinuing the legacy client. 


To ensure that devices enrolled by users with advanced management will continue to sync and have access to data, users in your organization must switch to Android Device Policy before March 19, 2022. Google Apps Device Policy app won't be available for new enrollments beginning January 19, 2022. If users still have Google Device Policy on this date, they won't be able to sync their devices or access data.
 

To switch to Android Device Policy, users must have an Android 6.0 Marshmallow or later device that supports a work profile. For users with devices that don’t meet these requirements, consider switching to basic mobile device management. 


Devices enrolled by users with basic management must move to Android 6.0 Marshmallow or later before March 19, 2022 to continue enforcing a screen lock. If a user's device can't be upgraded to Android 6.0 or later, their device will continue to sync and retain access to data, however it will not be able to enforce a screen lock. 


Who’s impacted 
Admins and end users 


Why it’s important 
The latest Android devices and operating system (OS) versions provide improved security features. Moving to Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) or newer can help ensure all devices are protected by the latest security features, and can take advantage of improvements in the Android enterprise experience. 


Getting started 

Rollout pace 
  • Rapid and Scheduled Release domains: All devices must complete the upgrade by March 19, 2022. Google Apps Device Policy app won't be available for new enrollments beginning January 19, 2022. Android Device Policy is available now for all users. 

Availability 
  • Available to Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers
  • Not available to Workspace Essentials 

Resources 
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Update
November 3, 2020: This feature is not available to Essentials and Enterprise Essentials customers. We previously announced that this was available to all editions and have updated the announcement to reflect the correct availability.

Read more »
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Update

October 20, 2020: We have adjusted the dates that classic Groups will be turned off. It will now take place between November 10, 2020 and November 12, 2020 for Rapid Release domains, and between November 16, 2020 and November 19, 2020 for Scheduled Release domains. These updates have been reflected in the post below. 

Quick launch summary 
In May 2020, we launched new Google Groups to provide a modern experience that matches Gmail and other Google services. In September, we made new Groups the default experience for all users, but allowed individual users to choose to use the classic Groups interface. 


Starting on November 10, 2020 for Rapid Release domains and on November 16, 2020 for Scheduled Release domains, classic Groups will be turned off completely. After that date, there will be no option to use the old version (previously at Settings > Return to classic Google Groups). Users within your organization who were already using new Groups will not notice a change, but users who had chosen to use old Groups will be moved to the new interface. 


Getting started 
Rollout pace 
Availability 
  • Available to Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers
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Quick launch summary
We’re updating the user interface (UI) of the Google Meet Android mobile apps. The new mobile UI will have the same look and feel as that of the meeting experience in the Gmail app and was previously rolled out to the Meet app on iOS.

Check out the original announcement for more details on these changes.

Rollout pace
Availability
  • Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers
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What’s changing
Organizers of Enterprise for Education meetings can now use breakout rooms to divide participants into smaller groups during video calls in Meet. Participants can then easily rejoin the original meeting following their smaller group discussion.

This feature will be launching to additional Google Workspace editions later this year.

Use breakout rooms in Meet

Who’s impacted
End users
Why you’d use it
With this highly-requested feature, educators can offer increased engagement in their classes by splitting students up for simultaneous small group discussions or working time. Moderators can also jump between breakout rooms to monitor and participate in discussions.
Additional details
You can create up to 100 breakout rooms in a call. Call participants will then be randomly and equally distributed across the rooms. You can also manually move people into different rooms. Check out the Help Center for more details.

While only event creators can create breakout rooms, anyone with a Google account that is joining from the web or through the Meet app can be a participant.

Breakout rooms must be created during a video call on a computer.
Getting started
  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
  • End users: This feature will be available by default. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using breakout rooms in Meet.
Rollout pace
Availability
  • Available to Enterprise for Education customers
  • Not available to Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education, and Nonprofits customers. Stay tuned to the Google Workspace Updates blog for information when this launches to additional customers.
ResourcesRoadmap

 

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What’s changing 
We’re launching new APIs in beta to help better identify, audit, and understand indirect group membership (also known as ‘transitive’ or ‘nested’ group membership, see explanation below). The indirect membership visibility, membership hierarchy, and check APIs are part of the Cloud Identity Groups API and enable you to: 
These APIs are currently available as an open beta, which means you can use it without enrolling in a specific beta program. Use our API documentation to learn more. 



Who’s impacted 
Admins and developers 



Why it’s important 
These features will help provide all of the information you need to create visualization of complex group structures and hierarchies. Having this kind of membership visibility can help you make decisions about who to add to or remove from your groups. 


Customers often use groups to manage access to content and resources within their organization. Using ‘nested’ groups is common as it can decrease duplication, simplify administration, and centralize access management. 


However, nested groups can create a complex hierarchy that can make it hard to understand who ultimately has access to content or resources and why they have access. These APIs simplify finding out these answers by making it easier to identify the direct and indirect members for a group. Some use cases include: 
  • A security team can quickly identify all group memberships and associated nested memberships when a bad actor account is identified. 
  • An admin could perform a deep-dive on group structure for audit and compliance. By using the APIs to list and validate direct and indirect members for groups with many nested groups. 
  • A developer could extract group information via the API and feed it to a visualization tool that supports DOT format to make auditing and visualizing complex nested structures easier. 


Additional details 
Indirect memberships, also known as transitive memberships, come from ‘nested’ groups. Nested groups refer to situations where groups are members of other groups. As a result, users in the sub-group are members of both groups. For example, group Y is a member of group X. Users in group Y are direct members of group Y and indirect members of group X. 


Getting started 
Rollout pace 
  • This feature is available now for all users in beta. 
Availability 
  • Available to Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Enterprise for Education, and Cloud Identity Premium customers 
  • Not available to Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, and Business Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, and Nonprofits customers
Resources 
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What’s changing 
You can now add and remove content restrictions via the Drive API. By using the new ContentRestriction API, any file type in Drive can be “locked,” preventing changes to the item’s content, title, and comments. 

Content restrictions can be added or removed via the API and removed via Google Drive on the web by any user who has at least editor access level for the item. 

Learn more about the new API functions in this Drive ContentRestriction (Locking) API documentation. 


Who’s impacted 
Admins, end users, and developers 


Why you’d use it 
While Google Drive’s collaborative editing and commenting features are often helpful and beneficial, sometimes it’s important to know that changes are not being made to a document. Locking a file with the ContentRestriction API can help accomplish this, and could be used to: 
  • Lock authoritative versions of documents to create “official” or “final” documents for record keeping. 
  • Prevent changes to documents that are involved in a workflow, automation, or business process. 
  • Freezing activity on a document for a period of reviews or audits. 

Getting started 
Rollout pace 
  • This feature is available now for all users. 
Availability 
  • Available to Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers
Resources Roadmap 
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Quick launch summary 
Access checker in Google Slides ensures viewers and presenters can play videos and audio files as expected. By automatically offering access suggestions for embedded content, users can create, present, and consume without needing to adjust permissions manually, and can be confident all users will have a seamless presentation experience. 


Earlier this year, we announced that Access checker would check permissions when you inserted Drive-stored audio and video files in Google Slides. With this launch, we’ll also perform an access check for already embedded audio and video content after you share the presentation with additional users or groups. Specifically, when you close the sharing dialog, Access checker will run and may suggest permission changes for multiple Drive video and audio files in the presentation. 


This additional functionality will help ensure all viewers and editors of the presentation will get a consistent experience. See our previous announcement for more information on Access checker in Slides. 



Getting started 
Rollout pace 
Availability 
  • Available to Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers, and users with personal Google Accounts 
Resources Roadmap 
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Quick launch summary 
We’re adding new capabilities to help protect users in the Advanced Protection Program (APP) who use the Chrome web browser from malware. Specifically, when Chrome detects a potentially suspicious file download, users will see a new prompt asking whether they want to send the file to Google Advanced Protection to check for malware. If they choose to send it, Google Safe Browsing will scan it in real time and will warn the user if it determines the file is unsafe. 

See our Security Blog post for more information on the new malware protection and how it works. 
The message users will see when a potentially suspicious file download is detected 


Getting started 
Rollout pace 
  • This feature is available now for all users in the Advanced Protection Program. 
Availability 
  • Available to Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers
Resources 
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Quick launch summary
Last month, we announced that you’d soon be able to see when your Google Chat 1:1 direct messages have been seen. This feature is now rolling out to all Google Workspace customers.


See the original announcement for more information.
Getting started
  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
  • End users: There is no end user setting for this feature.
Rollout pace
Availability
  • Available to Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers
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