Based on usage data and your feedback, we’re making some changes to the menus in the web versions of the Google Docs editors. These are similar to the changes we made in December, in January, and in February and will make it easier to find certain items.

Changes that affect the Google Docs and Google Slides menus: 

• In the Format menu, text formatting options (including bold, italic, font size, and more) will be moved to a new “Text” submenu.

Changes that only affect Google Slides menus: 

• The Table menu will be removed. Options to add or remove a table will be in the Insert menu. Options to format tables will be in the Format menu. 
• In the Slide menu, four options for moving slides will be moved to a new “Move” submenu. 
• In the Arrange menu, "Align horizontally" and "Align vertically" will be moved into a new "Align" submenu. 

Changes that only affect Google Docs menus and toolbars: 

• In the toolbar, text color and highlight color will be split into separate controls for each. 
• In the toolbar, a new option will be added to “Insert image” 
• The Table menu will be removed. Options to add or remove a table will be in the Insert menu. Options to format tables will be in the Format menu. 

Changes that affect all Docs editors menus (including Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets): 

• Items in the Insert menu will be reordered.

These changes will only affect the visual menu on the web version of these products. All options will still be available via keyboard shortcuts and the search box in the Help menu.

Launch Details 
Release track:
Launching to Rapid Release, with Scheduled Release coming in two weeks

Editions: 
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace: 
Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact: 
All end users

Action: 
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Keyboard shortcuts for Google Docs 
Help Center: Keyboard shortcuts for Google Slides 
Help Center: Docs editors homepage

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G Suite makes it easier for users to collaborate efficiently and effectively. An important part of collaboration is deciding how and when to follow up with others. To help inform these decisions, we're introducing Activity dashboard in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. It’s a feature that lets users with edit access see who has viewed the file and when they viewed it.



For example, a user can check if a coworker has seen a file already and alert them that it’s been updated. Or an account manager can judge the best way to follow up with a partner, depending on whether that partner has viewed the materials they previously sent.

As of March 7th, G Suite administrators have access to new Admin console settings to control the Activity dashboard feature for their domain or the organizational units (OUs) within it. On March 21st, end users will begin to see Activity dashboard in Docs, Sheets, and Slides. See the “Release schedule” section below for more information.

Understand when user viewing data will be visible

A file’s Activity dashboard contains viewing data, which is information on who viewed the file and when they viewed it. The viewing data that’s shown in the dashboard depends on both your organization’s Admin console settings and a user’s individual settings:

• As an admin, you can determine whether viewing data from your organization’s users is shown in Activity dashboard. Specifically, you can choose to make viewing data for your organization’s users visible, not visible, or only visible within your organization. See the “Review and change your organization’s Activity dashboard settings” section below for more information.
• If you make viewing data visible for your organization, your users can still choose to exclude their individual viewing data from showing in Activity dashboard via their personal privacy settings. If an admin makes their organization’s viewing data not visible, your end users won’t be able to choose to share their viewing data. See the “End user controls for Activity dashboard” section below for more info.

Users with edit access to a file and who belong to the same domain as the file’s owner will be able to see that file’s Activity dashboard and any viewing data which is available in it.

Review and change your organization’s Activity dashboard settings

Admin controls for Activity dashboard are now available in the Admin console. There are three options:

• On: Activity dashboards show all user views, unless individual users hide their information.
• On - Only within your domain: Your users’ viewing information is only visible in Activity dashboards of files owned by users in your domain and to other users within your domain, unless individual users hide their information. Your users’ viewing data will not be visible in Activity dashboards of files owned by users in other domains.
• Off: Your users’ viewing data will not show up in Activity dashboard for any file. Your users may be able to see whether external users have viewed their files, depending on the Activity dashboard settings of those external users.

Find out how to change the setting for your organization in our Activity dashboard Help Center article for admins.

Note: Activity dashboard and its settings don’t affect the data collected in your G Suite Drive audit log.

End user controls for Activity dashboard

When Activity dashboard becomes available to your users, they’ll see a notification in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides that explains the feature and their control options. Activity dashboard will only show viewing data for a user after they see this notification. It will not display any activity from before they saw it.



All users will have access to privacy settings that allow them to control whether their views show up in Activity dashboard at any time. For more information and to change settings, users can see the Activity dashboard Help Center article for users.

Release schedule

Admin console settings are available now. Activity dashboard will start to become available to users in two weeks:

• If your domain is on the Rapid Release track, Activity dashboard will not be available to end users before March 21st. Due to a gradual rollout, all Rapid Release domains may not have access to the feature for up to two weeks after that. 
• If your domain is on the Scheduled Release track, Activity dashboard will not be available to end users before April 9th. Due to a gradual rollout, all domains may not have access to the feature for up to two weeks after that. 

Learn more about this feature in our Help Center article on how your users can use and control Activity dashboard, as well as our Activity dashboard Help Center article for G Suite admins.

Over time we’ll add features to Activity dashboard to provide more insights into activity on the file and to make it easier to communicate with collaborators directly from Activity dashboard.

Launch Details
Release track:

• Admin console settings are available today to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains. 
• User-facing feature will begin to roll out to Rapid Release domains in two weeks and to Scheduled Release domains in five weeks. 

Editions: 

• Activity dashboard access: Available to G Suite Business, Enterprise, Education, and Nonprofit editions only. Users will be able to see the Activity dashboard for a file if they have edit access to that file. 
• Activity dashboard viewing data visibility settings: All users have access to privacy settings for Activity dashboard, as data from users in all G Suite editions can appear in the dashboard. 

Rollout pace: 
Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) 

Impact: 
Admins and end users

Action: 
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center (admins): Let users see who viewed files 
Help Center (users): See who has viewed Google Docs, Sheets & Slides


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When auto-provisioning is enabled for a supported third-party application, any users created, modified, or deleted in G Suite are automatically added, edited, or deleted in the third-party application as well. This feature is highly popular with admins, as it removes the overhead of managing users across multiple third-party SaaS applications.

We’ve heard continued positive feedback from admins, so we’re adding auto-provisioning support for four new applications:

• Kudos 
• 15Five 
• Rollbar 
• Honey 

Customers subscribed to G Suite Education, G Suite Business, and G Suite Enterprise editions can enable user auto-provisioning in all supported applications. Customers on G Suite Basic, G Suite Government, and G Suite Nonprofit can configure auto-provisioning for up to three applications from the supported list. For more information on how to set up auto-provisioning, check out the Help Center.

Launch Details 
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release

Editions: 

• G Suite Education, Business, and Enterprise customers can enable auto-provisioning for all supported applications 
• G Suite Basic, Government, and Nonprofit customers can enable auto-provisioning for up to three applications 

Rollout pace: 
Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) '

Impact: 
Admins only

Action: 
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information 
Help Center: Automated user provisioning
Help Center: Using SAML to set up federated SSO

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G Suite is built for working collaboratively—teams create and share files all the time. When there can be hundreds or thousands of files, though, it can be tricky to find those files later. So we’re improving how you find files that have been shared with you in Google Drive.

The “Shared with Me” section shows the files that have been shared with you. We’re going to start intelligently organizing this section so you may also see people listed, along with files they’ve shared with you. Simply click on a document to quickly open it.


Searching for content by owner is the most popular way to search for content in Drive today. The new interface will use artificial intelligence to predict the people and files that you’re most likely to search for and make them more visible. We hope that this will help you find the files you’re looking for more quickly.

The predictions will improve as the system learns how it’s used. We’re also working on more features which will use artificial intelligence and machine learning to make it easier to find files and collaborate more efficiently in Drive. Look out for more over the next few months.


Launch Details 
Release track:
Launching to Rapid Release, with Scheduled Release coming in 2 weeks

Editions: 
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace: 
Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact: 
All end users

Action: 
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information 
Help Center: Find files shared with you


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Check out the latest "What's New in G Suite" launch recap (pdf) for a roundup of all G Suite launches from February 2018.

Archive and translated versions (coming soon for February issue)

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We just announced some new G Suite products and features to help your organization collaborate more effectively and efficiently. As part of that announcement, we introduced Quick Access for Google Docs. Below are some admin-specific details about Quick Access for Docs to help you get started.

Quick Access for Docs uses artificial intelligence to suggest relevant files based on signals like Drive activity and information in your documents, so you can work with the most up-to-date information and create new material quickly.
Please note that Quick Access for Docs is only available in domains with Google Cloud Search enabled.
For more information on turning Cloud Search on or off for you users, visit the Help Center.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to Rapid Release, with Scheduled Release coming in two weeks

Editions:
Available to G Suite Business and Enterprise editions with Cloud Search enabled only

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
Admins and end users

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: See and use suggested content in a document
The Keyword: New ways to help teams work faster and smarter with G Suite


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We just announced some new G Suite products and features to help your organization collaborate more effectively and efficiently. As part of that announcement, we introduced automatic room suggestions in Google Calendar, which will be launching to all G Suite editions in the coming months. Below are some admin-specific details about automatic room suggestions to help you get started.

This tool will automatically suggest rooms optimized for each attendee based on their building and floor location, previous booking history, audio/video equipment needs and room capacity requirements. To unlock this feature, admins will have to add detailed meeting room information into Calendar. G Suite administrators can use this resource to learn more about inputting their organization’s room information into Calendar.

Closer to the launch, there will be more information on how to enable this feature, such as adding main user work locations to user profiles. Keep an eye on the G Suite Updates blog for more information.

Launch Details
Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Impact:
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: How updating resources affects display, search, and browse
The Keyword: New ways to help teams work faster and smarter with G Suite
G Suite Updates: Time for a refresh: meet the new Google Calendar for web


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We just announced some new G Suite products and features to help your organization collaborate more effectively and efficiently. As part of that announcement, we introduced Google Vault support for Hangouts Chat. Below are some admin-specific details to help you get started.

The newly launched Hangouts Chat is an intelligent and secure tool that makes team collaboration easy. An enterprise-ready solution, Hangouts Chat gives G Suite admins the governance controls they need to manage and secure their organization’s data, including full support in Google Vault—a tool that can help with their eDiscovery and compliance needs.

Set retention policies for Hangouts Chat messages
As a G Suite admin, you can now set retention policies that apply to all Hangouts Chat messages, including those sent directly and those sent in rooms.

You can set a default rule that applies to all users in your domain. This can be an indefinite retention policy (such that messages are never expunged), or one that expunges messages at the end of a specific time period. The default rule applies to all direct messages and rooms in your domain.

You can also set custom retention rules for specific organizational units (OUs), which apply to direct messages only, and/or for all rooms, which apply to room conversations only. This allows you to manage the lifecycle of direct and room messages separately. Custom rules override the default rule and, if multiple custom rules apply to a message, the rule with the longest retention coverage period takes precedence.


Place legal holds on Hangouts Chat messages
In addition to setting retention policies, you can now place legal holds on your employees' Hangouts Chat conversations, whether they take place via direct message or in rooms.

Doing so will preserve room conversations in which a held user is a participant (i.e. they’ve sent a message) and direct messages in which a held user is a member (i.e. they’ve sent or received a message), regardless of whether that user deletes those messages. If a user on hold deletes a message, it will appear deleted to them—but it will be available in Vault until the hold is removed. Remember that holds always take precedence over retention rules.


Search, preview and export chat content 
Finally, you can now search, preview, and export your employees’ Hangouts Chat messages. This enables you to apply the same eDiscovery programs you use for other G Suite services (like Gmail and Drive) to content stored in Hangouts Chat direct messages and rooms.

To learn more about how Vault's support for Hangouts Chat can help your organization meet its legal obligations and archiving needs, check out the Vault Help Center.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release

Editions:
Available to G Suite Business, Enterprise, and Education editions only

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Google Vault
Help Center: Supported data types
The Keyword: New ways to help teams work faster and smarter with G Suite
The Keyword: Move projects forward from one place—Hangouts Chat now available
G Suite Updates: Hangouts Chat now generally available



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We just announced some new G Suite products and features to help your organization collaborate more effectively and efficiently. As part of that announcement, we introduced Hangouts Chat as a core service. Below are some admin-specific details about Hangouts Chat to help you get started.

The Hangouts Chat service will launch default on, unless you’ve chosen to manually opt in to new services. To start using Hangouts Chat on the web, go to https://chat.google.com. To download the app on your desktop or mobile device, go to https://get.google.com/chat.

Please note:

• If you currently have forced chat history off, you will need to actively enable Hangouts Chat in your Admin console regardless of your setting for opting in to new services. This is because “room” conversations in Chat always retain Chat history, regardless of your settings, so it's important that you understand this before enabling the service.
• If both classic Hangouts and the new Hangouts Chat are enabled for an organizational unit (OU), the classic Hangouts history on or off settings are used in chats in which participants use a mix of classic and new Chat. If the history settings are different for chat participants of different OUs, the chat conversation can’t be created. Please review your chat history settings for both products (more info).
• If your domain participated in the Hangouts Chat Early Adopter Program, your settings will be retained. These settings will be accessible at Apps > G Suite > Hangouts Chat in the Admin console.

Hangouts Chat is compatible with the classic version of Hangouts, and you’ll still be able to use classic Hangouts—making sure you don’t miss a message from anyone in your organization. All one-to-one direct messages will forward both ways between Hangouts Chat and classic Hangouts by default.

Additionally, if you require Vault support for use of Hangouts Chat, please see our post for details on that launch.

If you have any further questions, check out the get started guide or visit the Help Center.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions except Government

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Turn Hangouts Chat on or off
Help Center: Sign in to Hangouts Chat
Help Center: About bots
The Keyword: New ways to help teams work faster and smarter with G Suite
The Keyword: Move projects forward from one place—Hangouts Chat now available
The Keyword: Meet the new Hangouts
G Suite Updates: Google Vault support for Hangouts Chat


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With Single-Sign-On (SSO), users can access all of their enterprise cloud applications—including the Admin console for admins—after signing in just one time. Google supports the two most popular enterprise SSO standards, OpenID Connect and SAML, and there are more than 800 applications with pre-integrated SSO support in our third-party apps catalog already.

We’re now adding SAML integration for 12 additional applications:

• 15Five 
• 4Me 
• Clarizen 
• Deskpro 
• Heroku 
• Hightail 
• moxtra 
• ScreenSteps 
• Targetprocess 
• Tinfoil 
• UserEcho 
• xMatters 

Note that apart from the pre-integrated SAML applications, G Suite also supports installing “Custom SAML Applications,” which means that admins can install any third-party application that supports SAML. The advantage of a pre-integrated app is that the installation is much easier. You can learn more about installing Custom SAML Applications in this Help Center article.

Launch Details 
Release track: 
Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release

Editions: 
Available to all G Suite editions and Cloud Identity customers

Rollout pace: 
Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Using SAML to set up federated SSO

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