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What’s changing 

At Google Cloud Next 2021, we announced the Google Forms API Beta, which provides programmatic access for managing Google Forms and acting on responses— empowering developers to build powerful integrations on top of Forms. 

The Google Forms API is now rolling out as an Open Beta which means developers who are part of our Early Adopter Program can make their integrations available to the public. We’ll no longer require individual end-user accounts to be allowlisted. Developers should keep in mind, however, that their integrations are in Beta. 

Developers can apply to join our Early Adopter Program and begin developing using the Google Forms API by filling out this form. 

See below for more information. 

Who’s impacted 

Admins and developers 

Why you’d use it 

The Google Forms API provides programmatic access to manage Forms and receive responses, supporting the development of a variety of powerful integrations. For example, the API could be utilized to develop real-time dashboards or data visualizations, trigger business workflows incorporating project management, CRM, or LMS tools, or auto-generate forms from question banks or other data sets. 

The API is useful for a variety of tasks such as: 

  • Creating and modifying forms or quizzes 
  • Retrieving form responses or quiz grades 
  • Reading form content and metadata 
  • Receiving push notifications for form or quiz responses and updates 



Getting started 

Rollout pace 

Integration availability for end users 

Availability 

Resources 

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What’s changing 

Earlier this year, we announced the beta for Google Workspace Client-side encryption, specifically for Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides, with support for all file types in Drive including Office files, PDFs, and more. 

We’re now expanding the beta to include desktop data for Google Meet and Google Drive. Additionally, key access service APIs are now publicly available for anyone to use. 

Encryption notice in Meet

Encryption notice in Meet

Lastly, we are adding two new Key access service partners (Fortanix, Stormshield) for customers looking for a dedicated partner that integrates with the key access service APIs. Previously, we had announced key service partnerships with Flowcrypt, FutureX, Thales and Virtru. 

The beta is available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus and Google Workspace Education Plus customers—eligible customers can now apply for the beta here. Important note: Customers who are already participating in the beta will have to reapply for access to the Google Meet and functionality, but you will be able to reuse your key service configuration. 

Who’s impacted 

Admins and developers 

Why it’s important 

Google Workspace already uses the latest cryptographic standards to encrypt all data at rest and in transit between our facilities. With Client-side encryption, we’re taking this a step further by giving customers direct control of encryption keys and the identity provider used to access those keys. This can help you strengthen the confidentiality of your data while helping to address a broad range of data sovereignty and compliance needs. 

When using Client-side encryption, customer data is indecipherable to Google. Customers can create a fundamentally stronger privacy posture to comply with regulations like ITAR and CJIS or simply to better protect the privacy of their confidential data 

Read our announcement post to learn more about this beta and our plans for Client-side encryption across Google Workspace. 

Additional details 

If you are looking to choose a key service access partner, Flowcrypt, Fortanix, Futurex, Stormshield, Thales, and Virtru have built tools in accordance with Google’s specifications and provide both key management and access control capabilities. Your partner of choice holds the key to decode encrypted Google Workspace files, and Google cannot access or decipher these files without this key. 

If you prefer to build or integrate your own in-house key services, we have published the key access service API specifications that can be used with Client-side encryption. 

Getting started 

Availability 

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

Resources 

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Update
[December 9, 2021]: This beta is now closed and will no longer be accepting new applicants. We will provide an update on the Workspace Updates Blog when this feature becomes generally available.

What’s changing

We’re launching a new beta for Google Drive that will help users refine their search and locate files faster using search chips. This is similar to functionality available in Gmail today. 





See below for more information.


Who’s impacted
Admins and end users


Why you’d use it 
When searching in Drive, users often use a few key words to try and locate the file they’re looking for, such as “marketing plan” or “sales report,” which may return results that are too broad. 


Now, after a query is entered, users can use search chips to surface more relevant results based on:

  • File type, such as a Google Doc, PDF, or image
  • People
  • Location, such as a shared drive or specific folder
  • When the document was last modified
  • File titles only
  • Shared drive labels
  • Tasks
We hope search chips in Drive make it easier to find relevant files faster, eliminating the need to perform multiple searches or sort through irrelevant results.


Getting started
  • Admins: This beta is now closed and will no longer be accepting new applicants. 

  • End users: If accepted into the beta, search chips will be available by default to users in the Google group(s) provided at sign-up. Simply enter a search query and select one or multiple chips to further drill down results.
Availability
  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers

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New updates 
Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are fully launched or in the process of rolling out (rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete), launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time (if not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete), and available to all Google Workspace and G Suite customers. 



New look and feel for Workspace Updates email subscriptions 
We’ve improved the look and feel of the emails you receive when you subscribe to Workspace Updates. 
  • The emails themselves will be sent from noreply@workspaceupdates.withgoogle.com, so be sure to update any inbox filters or labels you may have and check your spam folders if you don't immediately see them. 
  • Emails for the Workspace Updates Blog in non-English markets will update to this new format in the coming weeks. 
  • If you have any feedback about these emails after September 29th, please feel back to let us know in the linked form. 
Available now | Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts. | Workspace Updates Blog Email Subscription Feedback 



Porting in Google Voice now available in Canada 
If your organization has existing phone numbers with another service provider, you can port (or move) those numbers to Google Voice in Canada. | Learn more.



Previous announcements 
The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details. 



Live translated captions in Google Meet available in beta 
Launching in beta, live translated captions help video call participants communicate better by translating a spoken language to captions in another language. | Learn more here and here. | Available to meetings organized by Google Workspace Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Teaching & Learning Upgrade customers. | Apply to beta 



Add image watermarks in Google Docs 
You can now add image watermarks directly into Google Docs. This watermark image will repeat behind the text on every page of your document. | Learn more. 



Renaming “whitelisted domains” to “allowlisted domains” in the Admin console 
We’re updating instances of “whitelisted” in the Admin console to “allowlisted”. This change more accurately describes this action, as well as eliminates a non-inclusive term from our products. | Learn more.



Comment size increasing in Google Docs 
Comment width will intelligently scale based on your browser window to maximize the use of available screen space. | Learn more.



Replace your background with a video in Google Meet on Android 
In addition to replacing your Google Meet background with a static image on web and mobile, you can now replace your background with a video on Android. | Learn more. 



Quickly access Google Drive files in Chrome browser 
We’re adding a card onto the New Tab Page in your Chrome browser that will surface relevant files from your Google Drive, making it easier and more efficient to find the files you need. | Learn more.



View Alert Center notifications directly from the Admin console toolbar 
You can now quickly access Alert Center alerts from anywhere in the Admin console from the toolbar at top of the page. Selecting the new bell icon will surface the ten latest alerts, along with a brief description. | Learn more.



Use the “Slideshow” button in Google Slides 
We’re replacing what was previously the “Present” button in Slides to now say “Slideshow.” We hope this makes it clearer when you are beginning a slide show, and when you are sharing your screen in Meet. | Learn more. 



Review smart home devices used for work in your Admin console
Admins can now view and manage the smart displays and speakers that access work data in the Admin console, alongside other devices managed with Google endpoint management. | Learn more. 



For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).
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Update
[December 13, 2021]: This beta is now closed and will no longer be accepting new applications.

What’s changing 
We’re launching a new beta that makes it easier for admins and delegated admins to move folders from My Drive to shared drives. This beta will add several usability enhancements including: 
  • Retaining folder IDs (“copyless moves”) to reduce disruption due to the move 
  • Preventing moves that would exceed any shared drive limits 
  • Reparenting any unmovable items under the item owner's My Drive root, and creating shortcuts in the existing hierarchy as a reference 


See below for more information and availability. 


Who’s impacted 
Admins 


Why you’d use it 
Shared drives are a powerful way to empower teams and organizations to store, access, and collaborate on files. With this beta, admins and delegated admins will notice significant improvements when moving folders from My Drive to shared drives. 



Currently, when admins move folders, the existing folder IDs change, existing links to these folders can break, and impacts on shared drive limits are unclear. With this beta, folder IDs will not change and moves that can potentially exceed any shared drive limits will be rejected. 



We hope this streamlined process will allow admins to confidently migrate folders from My Drive to shared drives by providing them with more context on the changes they’re making. 




Additional details 
In the coming months, we will introduce end user support for moving My Drive folders to shared drives. We will provide an update on the Workspace Updates Blog when the end user portion of this feature becomes available. 

Dragging and dropping a folder from My Drive into a shared drive



Getting started 

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

Resources 
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What’s changing 
Currently, you can configure to authenticate your users using a third-party identity provider — this configuration applies to all users within your domain. Now, you have the option to specify groups or organizational units (OUs) to authenticate a subset of your users using Google. This feature is available beginning today as an open beta, which means you can use it without enrolling in a specific beta program. 


Who’s impacted 
Admins 


Why you’d use it 
Currently, when you configure SSO with a third-party identity provider, the setting applies to your entire domain. However, there are some instances where you may want a subset of your users, such as vendors or contractors, to authenticate with Google instead. The Partial SSO beta gives you the flexibility to specify the authentication method for various users in your organization as needed.



Getting started
Image description: Within the Admin console, navigate to Security > Settings > Set up single sign-on (SSO) with a third party iDP > Manage SSO Profile assignments to specify a specific OU or Group who should identify using Google.

Rollout pace


Availability
  • Available to all Google Workspace and Cloud Identity customers


Resources

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Quick launch summary
Google Meet meetings can be scheduled across Google Workspace products, such as Calendar, Gmail, Google Chat, and more. This means your unique meeting code and its expiration are based on the product that your meeting is created from.


Most meeting codes will expire 365 days after the last use, but there are instances where the meeting code will expire instantly once the meeting ends. See below for a complete breakdown of meeting code expirations according to the product they were generated by. These meeting code expirations will take effect beginning May 19, 2021.


We strongly recommend you use the table below to ensure your meeting codes are valid, especially for meetings you plan far in advance.


Where the meeting is Generated How long the meeting code is valid
Google Calendar

Meeting codes expire when the following two conditions are met:

1) The meeting code has not been used for 365 days, and

2) The meeting code isn’t associated with any future calendar events.

Note: If a code is created in another product and pasted in a Calendar invite, the code will expire according to the product it was generated from.
Gmail and the Google Meet homepage Meeting codes expire 365 days after last use.
Google Chat and Google Hangouts Meeting codes expire 365 days after last use.
Breakout Rooms Breakout rooms expire instantly once the parent meeting ends.
Jamboard and Meeting room hardware Meeting code expires instantly once all users leave the meeting.
Nicknamed meetings

Note: Available to Google Workspace subscribers only.		 Meeting code expires instantly once all users leave the meeting.
Google Classroom Meeting code expires instantly once all users leave the meeting.
Other Third Party Applications Meeting codes expire 365 days after last use. If someone uses the code within the 365 day window, then it will add another 365 days to the shelf life.
Google Nest

Meeting code generated by speaking into your Nest device and saying “Hey, Google start a meeting” expires 365 days after last use.

For users in the Google Workspace with Google Assistant Beta: Meeting generated by usage of meeting nicknames, expire instantly after the last user leaves.

Getting started
  • Admins and end users: We recommend reviewing the meeting code expiry limits to ensure your meeting codes are valid, especially for meetings planned far in advance.

Rollout pace

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


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What’s changing 
Next week, we’re launching draft responses for Google Forms in beta. When responding to a Google Form, Quiz or Quiz assignment in Classroom while signed into your Google Workspace account, your progress will automatically be saved as a draft for 30 days from your last edit or until the form is completed. 

This beta is only available to Google Workspace for Education customers. Admins can use this form to express interest in participating in the beta. 



Who’s impacted 
Admins and end users 

Why it’s important 
With this new feature, you won't have to start over if you can't complete a form or quiz in one sitting, if you want to switch between multiple devices, or if your internet connection cuts out before your answers have been submitted. 

Additional details 
Note that during the beta, Forms will only automatically save your progress as a draft for users in your domain when they’re signed in to their Google Workspace for Education account. 


Data location requirements 
In order to participate in the beta, your domain cannot have data location requirements. To determine if you have data regions, use this Help Center article regarding geographic location for your data. 


Feature availability 
While this beta is only available for Google Workspace for Education customers, this feature will be made available to all Google Workspace customers later this year. We’ll provide an update on the Workspace Updates blog when this feature becomes generally available. 

Getting started 
  • Admins: Google Workspace for Education admins can use this form to express interest in joining the beta. You’ll be notified via email once accepted into the beta and when the beta becomes available. 
  • End users: No action required. Once the beta starts, your draft responses will automatically be saved when logged in to your Google account. To view your drafted responses, simply reopen the form link when logged in to your Google account. 

Availability 
  • Available to Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, and Teaching and Learning Upgrade customers 
  • Not 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, Frontline, and Nonprofits customers 

Resources 
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What’s changing
We’re adding a User Invitation API to the Cloud Identity API. This new API allows you to identify and manage unmanaged accounts. 

Unmanaged accounts are users with consumer Google accounts that share your organization's email address. The API will enable you to manage these accounts at scale, and automate sending of invites to these users to transfer their account to a managed state. to a managed state. 

The User Invitation API is initially available as an open beta, which means you can use it without enrolling in a specific beta program. See our documentation to learn more about how to use the API. 


Who’s impacted 
Admins 


Why you’d use it 
Unmanaged accounts occur when a user registers for a personal Google account using an email address that matches your domain. These accounts generally exist because a user has previously signed up for a personal Google Account using their work or educational email address. 

If your organization then signs up for Google Workspace or Cloud Identity and attempts to provision a managed account with the same primary email address, the conflict needs to be resolved. 

Previously, you could only manage these existing accounts via the Admin console. The User Invitation API provides another option which can help automate resolution of these conflicts, and can make it easier to manage these conflicts at scale. 


Getting started 
Rollout pace 
  • This feature is available now for all users in beta. 
Availability 
  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, G Suite Basic and Business customers, and Cloud Identity customers 
Resources 
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What’s changing 
In the coming months, we’ll make some changes to the solutions we offer to access Google Drive files and keep them in sync on your desktop. There is no immediate action required, but we suggest familiarizing yourself with the changes and plans described below. 

Currently, we have two sync solutions available—Drive File Stream, which was built for business users, and Backup and Sync, which was built for consumer users. 

Some of our Google Workspace customers have deployed both sync solutions, which can be confusing for end users and challenging for IT departments to manage. To address this, we're planning to unify these sync clients later in 2021, bringing the most used features from both Drive File Stream and Backup and Sync to all of our users. Check out the Additional details section below for more information, and sign up to preview the unified sync client in beta. 


Who’s impacted 
Admins and end users 


Why it’s important 
We’re planning to unify our sync clients and bring all of our customers the best and most used features from both Drive File Stream and Backup and Sync. This will create a powerful and unified sync client for anyone who uses Drive, whether for business or personal purposes, and will: 
  • Make it easier for admins and IT teams to manage deployments 
  • Reduce user confusion around which app to use 
  • Result in better performance for end users 
The beta for the new unified client will help organizations currently using Backup and Sync understand how the new client will work prior to it becoming generally available later in 2021. 


Additional details 

Drive File Stream is now Google Drive for desktop 
As of version 45, Drive File Stream is known as Google Drive for desktop. This is simply a name change; all functionality will remain the same and most admins and end users won’t need to take any action to continue using the client. See our release notes for more details. 


Backup and Sync functionality and users will be transitioned to a new version of Drive for desktop later this year 
Later this year, Backup and Sync users will need to transition to Drive for desktop, the unified sync client. Until then, we’re working to incorporate features from Backup and Sync into the new solution and to make it as easy as possible for users. 

We’ll announce when Drive for desktop is ready for Backup and Sync users. We will share more details later this year on how Backup and Sync users can get started with Drive for desktop. We will provide 3 months’ notice for Google Workspace admins and end users before the deadline to transition to Drive for desktop. The transition will be self-serve for end users. More details on consumer timelines will be announced closer to availability. Visit our Help Center to learn more about which features will be transitioned to Drive for desktop. 


Google Workspace customers can now preview the new Drive for desktop client in beta 
Google Workspace customers with end users who are currently using Backup and Sync can apply for a beta of the new unified Drive for desktop experience, which includes Backup and Sync features. Learn more, and sign up for the beta. 


Getting started 
  • End users: The name change from Drive File Stream to Drive for desktop will take place by default. Functionality won’t change, and there is no user action required. 
    • Note that there’s also no action required for Backup & Sync users with personal Google accounts at this time. 

Rollout pace 
Drive File Stream renaming to Drive for desktop 

Drive for desktop unified client beta 

Availability 
  • Drive for desktop is 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, Nonprofits customers, and users with personal Accounts. 
  • The beta for the new unified client is 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 who currently have users with the Backup and Sync deployed. 

Resources 
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What’s changing 
Dynamic groups let you create a group with membership that is automatically kept up to date with a membership query. Dynamic groups can be based on one or many user attributes, including addresses, locations, organizations, and relations. You can manage dynamic groups in the Cloud Identity Groups API and the Admin console. 

Dynamic groups is currently available as an open beta, which means you can use it without enrolling in a specific beta program. 


Who’s impacted 
Admins and developers with group create and user read privileges. 


Why you’d use it 
Dynamic groups work the same as other Google Groups with the added benefit that their memberships are automatically kept up-to-date. This means you can use them for the same functions, including for distribution lists, access-control list (ACL) management, and more. By automating membership management you can increase security, reduce errors, and alleviate user frustration while minimizing the burden on admins. 

Here are some examples of how you can use dynamic groups. You can create groups of: 
  • All users based in your New York office, which you can then use for email communications related to that office location. 
  • All engineers, which you can then use to provide access to specific tools. 


Additional details 
At launch, you won’t be able to manage policies such as context-aware access policies using dynamic groups. Once available, you will be able to create a dynamic group which you could then use to manage specific context-aware access policies. We are working on adding this functionality in the future, and will announce it on the G Suite Updates blog when it’s available. 


Getting started 


Rollout pace 
  • This feature is available now for all eligible users. 
Availability 
  • Available to G Suite Enterprise, G Suite Enterprise for Education, and Cloud Identity Premium customers 
  • Not available to G Suite Essentials, G Suite Basic, G Suite Business, G Suite for Education, G Suite for Nonprofits, and Cloud Identity Free customers 
Resources 
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What’s changing 
We’re adding the ability to set expirations for group memberships using the Cloud Identity Groups API. This enables admins to set an amount of time that users are members of a group. Once the specified time has passed, users will be removed from the group automatically. 

Membership expiry is currently available as an open beta, which means you can use it without enrolling in a specific beta program. 


Who’s impacted 
Admins and developers 


Why it’s important 
Groups are a powerful way to manage permissions and access control in your organization.In many cases,, there’s a known amount of time that a user should be a member of a group. This can make managing membership time consuming, and increases the possibility that a user has overly-broad access. 

Automatic membership expiration can help reduce the administrative overhead for managing groups, and can help ensure group membership is limited to the members that need access. This can help: 
  • Increase security by ensuring users do not have long lived membership in groups, and that your group memberships don’t become too expansive. 
  • Manage security groups by using group membership with our recent launch of security groups. 
  • Reduce admin time and administration costs by automating some group management tasks 
Getting started 
Rollout pace 
  • This feature is available now for all users. 
Availability 
  • Available to G Suite Enterprise, G Suite Enterprise for Education, and Cloud Identity Premium customers 
  • Not available to G Suite Basic, G Suite Business, G Suite for Education, G Suite for Nonprofits, G Suite Essentials, and Cloud Identity Free customers 
Resources 
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What’s changing 
We’re launching a new Cloud Identity Groups API. This will enable you to create and manage Google Groups and their memberships for your domain via API. Previously, API support for group management was available only via the Admin SDK and therefore was accessible only to domain admins. With this launch, the APIs can be accessed by admins as well as non-admins. Once you create groups via the API, you can view and manage them through the Google Groups web UI (groups.google.com), through the Admin console, or via the API. 

Using the new API you can: 
  • Create and delete groups 
  • See and update group metadata 
  • Add members to and remove members from a group 
  • Modify member roles within a group 
See our developer documentation for more details on how to use the Cloud Identity Groups API. 


Who’s impacted 
Admins, developers, and end users 


Why you’d use it 
Groups are an important tool to manage communication, access, and security for organizations. Adding the ability to create and manage groups via an API can help make group management more scalable and efficient. 


Additional details 
Available to admins, developers, and end users 
Business teams can create and manage groups they own without being granted admin permissions, preventing them from managing additional, unnecessary groups and saving the admin team time. This allows teams to manage their work more efficiently without creating any security risks from assigning admin permissions when they are only needed for this specific task. 


Getting started 
Rollout pace 
  • This feature is available now for all users in beta. 
Availability 
  • Available to all G Suite customers 
Resources 
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What’s changing 
We’re launching a beta for a new API to manage company-owned and personal mobile devices and desktop devices. It will work for devices managed via fundamental management, endpoint verification, Drive File Steam, and enhanced desktop security for Windows. Find out more about device management in G Suite. 

The new API is part of the Cloud Identity API, and will eventually replace the Admin SDK Directory API used to manage mobile devices. 


Who’s impacted 
Admins and developers 


Why you’d use it 
The new API includes all the capabilities of the Admin SDK Directory API it will replace. In addition, it adds these new features over and above the Admin SDK: 
  • Ability to create and manage company owned devices 
  • Ability to manage Windows devices registered with the Google Credential Provider for Windows 
  • Ability to manage desktop services such as those with the “Endpoint Verification” extension or those with Drive File Stream installed on them 
Getting started 
Rollout pace 
Availability 
  • The beta is open to all G Suite customers. 
Resources 
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Update (September 8, 2020): This beta is now closed and will no longer be accepting new applicants.

What’s changing We’re launching a new beta program that allows you to share folders in shared drives. The beta is now closed. 

Who’s impacted Admins, end users, and developers

Why you’d use it Shared drives are a powerful way to empower teams and organizations to store, access, and collaborate on files. Until now, all permissions were set at the shared drive level or the individual file level, and it wasn’t possible to share specific folders within a shared drive.

With this beta, you can share a specific folder with other users, or upgrade member access to provide users with additional permissions on specific folders within shared drives. Examples of how you can use this include:

  • For a marketing department, you can have a shared drive accessible by all internal employees, with a specific folder for advertising materials that’s also accessible to an external agency. 
  • For a sales department organized by region, you can have a shared drive that enables team managers and directors to see all activity, with regional teams only able to see the information relevant to their specific area of focus in a shared folder. 
  • For a shared drive used to prepare for a specific event, you can give all members view access to all files, while providing each specific team with edit access to the documents relevant to their part of the event. 
 
Share a folder with non-members and give members upgraded access on folders 




Additional details 
Manager access level needed to share folders 
Folders in a shared drive can only be shared by managers of that shared drive. Other shared drive access levels (e.g. content manager and commenter) are not eligible to share folders, because they are not allowed to control broad access to content. Folders in shared drives have the same access levels as the shared drives themselves, with the exception of the manager.

These access levels include: Content manager (default), Contributor, Commenter, and Viewer. Note that a Contributor on a folder is an Editor on a file in that folder.

See more details on shared drive access levels.


Folder roles in shared drives 


Folder access levels can only be expanded, not reduced, from the shared drive level
Access levels assigned at the shared drive level represent the minimum level of access users will have to all files and folders within that shared drive. This ensures transparency, predictability, and scalability. As a result, the access level of a user for a folder within a shared drive can only ever be greater than the access level of that user for the shared drive itself; it can’t be more restrictive.

For example, a Commenter on a shared drive cannot be just a Viewer of a folder within that shared drive. However, a Viewer on a shared drive can have their access level expanded to Commenter or Contributor for specific files and subfolders within that shared drive. Therefore, if permission on a file or folder is downgraded, the action will take place on one or more parent folders where the permission was inherited from.


An example of the dialog if access level is reduced for a sub-folder in a shared drive 


What happens with file and folder moves 
When shared files or folders are moved in, within, or between shared drives, inherited access to content will be updated accordingly, and direct access will be preserved. The same is true when shared files or folders are moved from a shared drive to a user’s My Drive.

For example, imagine a document was originally in the Sales team shared drive. All members of the Sales team have Viewer access to the shared drive and so have Viewer access to the document. Additionally, five individual Sales team members have Editor access to the specific document. If that file was moved out of the Sales team drive, the Sales team would lose their inherited Viewer access, but the five individual users would still have Editor permissions.

As these (shared) folder moves can make broad changes to content access, folders moved into or between shared drives are only allowed for users who are managers on both the original as well as the target location.

Note: We will start to enforce the manager requirement with this beta program, and on September 1, 2020, for all G Suite customers. Going forward, it will no longer be possible for Contributors or Content managers on the target destination to move folders in or between shared drives.

Getting started Admins: This beta is now closed.


End users: Once this feature is enabled for your domain, to share a folder: Select a folder in a shared drive of which you are a manager and click on share in the folder menu (toolbar) to open the share dialog. From there, you can share the folder.

    Availability 


    • Available to G Suite Business, G Suite Enterprise, G Suite for Education, G Suite Enterprise for Education, and G Suite for Nonprofits customers 
    • Not available to G Suite Basic customers and users with personal Google Accounts 

    Resources 

    Roadmap 
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    What’s changing We’re enhancing Context-Aware Access (CAA) with a beta that enables admins to use it to control SAML apps. This gives admins the ability to control access to SAML apps based on the user, the device, and the context they are in when they are trying to access an app.

    CAA for SAML apps will work for customers that use Google as the primary identity provider (IdP) to enable access to third party apps from pre-integrated SAML apps or custom SAML apps. It’s available to G Suite Enterprise, G Suite Enterprise for Education, Cloud Identity Premium, and Drive Enterprise customers only. See our post on the Cloud Blog to learn how this and other launches can help G Suite customers stay secure.

    Who’s impacted Admins only

    Why you’d use it Using Context-Aware Access, you can create granular access control policies to apps based on attributes including the user, location, device security status, and IP address. This can improve your security posture by reducing the chances that there’s unintended access to specific apps and the data in them. Some ways you could use CAA for SAML include:

    • Only allow access to your CRM app when the user is on the corporate network. 
    • Only allow access to a cloud storage app if the user has an up to date operating system and an encrypted device. 
    • Only permit IT admins to access certain tools from a remote location. 
    • Only permit users in a specific country to access certain apps. 


    Additional details 
    Builds on the CAA for G Suite infrastructure 
    Controlling CAA for SAML apps will use the same infrastructure and admin console interface as CAA for G Suite. That means you can use any pre-configured access levels, user groups, and end-user messaging for CAA to SAML. Use our Help Center to find out more about managing context aware access in G Suite.

    CAA for SAML only enforced at time of sign-in 
    CAA for SAML apps is only enforced at the time of sign-in. This is different from CAA for G Suite applications, which offers a higher level of control. G Suite applications are built by Google and CAA controls are enabled for continuous evaluation of context (IP, device attribute, etc) during use. As SAML apps are non-Google applications using Google sign-in, we’re only able to evaluate context at the point where a user signs into these applications using Google sign-in. After that sign-in, the context is not evaluated again until the session is terminated and users try to sign-in again with Google.

    Getting started 
    • Admins: This is an open beta, so the controls will automatically become available to you if you are a G Suite Enterprise, G Suite Enterprise for Education, Cloud Identity Premium, or Drive Enterprise customer. 
    • End users: No end-user impact until turned on by the admin. 

    Availability 
    • Available to G Suite Enterprise, G Suite Enterprise for Education, Cloud Identity Premium, and Drive Enterprise customers. 
    • Not available to G Suite Basic, G Suite Business, G Suite for Education, G Suite for Nonprofits, and Cloud Identity Free customers. 

    Resources 
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    UpdateMarch 30, 2020: We're no longer accepting beta applications. Please stay tuned for an announcement when the new Groups interface becomes generally available.

    What’s changing Later this year, we’ll replace the current Google Groups interface with a new experience. Starting today, you can sign up to try the new experience in beta, giving your organization early access to the new UI and a head start on the migration from classic Groups. Use this form to apply for the beta. 

    Before applying, please carefully consider the “Additional details” below. Some features that currently exist in Groups will not be available in the beta. If your organization uses those features often, you may want to wait to try new Groups.

    Who’s impacted Admins and end users

    Why you’d use it The new Groups experience features a modern, fresh look and controls that are streamlined, intuitive, and consistent with other G Suite tools like Gmail. Participation in the beta will allow you to check out the new interface as soon as possible, provide feedback to Google, and prepare your users for future migration.

    It’s important to note that we’re continuing to improve on the new Groups experience and some features that currently exist in classic Groups will not be available in the beta. 

    Specifically, users in the new Groups beta won’t have access to the following features:
    • Collaborative inboxes
    • Tags and categories
    • Mobile browser experience for new Groups
    • Welcome messages above group conversations
    • Accessing moderated messages
    For the complete list of features that will not be available in beta, see our Help Center.


    Users will still be able to access features not available in beta features at any time by reverting back to classic Groups. To do so, you can click on the gear at the top right of the page and select “Visit classic Google Groups.” When opted into beta, users can switch between the beta version of Groups and Classic Groups as often as needed. If you feel this will be confusing or disruptive, however, you may not want to apply for the beta.


    Reverting back to Classic groups from the New Groups beta

    Reverting back to the New Groups beta from Classic Groups

    Visit our Help Center for more information on the features available in the new Groups beta.
    Additional details
    We’ll roll out the new Groups experience in three stages:

    • Beta with the option to revert: If you apply for and are accepted into the beta, your users will be automatically transitioned to the new Groups experience with the option to revert back to the classic Groups UI at any time.
    • General availability (GA) with option to revert: Following the beta, we’ll introduce the new Groups experience to all G Suite customers. We’ll announce the specific date for this GA phase on the G Suite Updates blog at least two weeks in advance, and admins will have the option to control user access to the UI in the Admin console at that time. If an admin doesn’t take action, their users will see the new Groups experience when they visit groups.google.com. Users will have the option to revert back to classic Groups at any time.
    • Mandatory transition to new Groups: Later this year, all users will be migrated to new Groups, and they’ll no longer have the option to revert to classic Groups. Admins will not be able to prevent users from accessing the new Groups UI. We’ll announce the specific date for this transition on the G Suite Updates blog at least one month in advance.

    Getting started
    Admins:  
    • Complete this form to apply for the beta. You must be a super admin to qualify.
    • If you’re accepted into the beta, you’ll receive an email shortly before your domain is whitelisted. Once your domain is whitelisted, all users in your domain and subdomains will be migrated to the new Groups experience, but they’ll have the option to revert back to classic at any time. Once accepted into the beta, you can use this email template to communicate these changes to your users. 
    • Please note that it may take several weeks for your domain to be whitelisted into the beta.
    End users:  
    • If your organization is accepted into the beta, you’ll automatically be transitioned to the new UI. You can revert back to classic Groups at any time.
    Availability
    • Available to all G Suite customers
    Resources

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