Additionally, Managers can describe space guidelines that establish rules and expectations for members to create a safer community experience. 


Space guidelines

Space guidelines


We hope this feature makes it easier to share the purpose and guidelines for a particular space, making it easier for your collaborators to navigate quickly to the appropriate space. 


Getting started 


Rollout pace 

Space Roles: 

Mobile: 

  • Rapid and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on February 28, 2022, with anticipated completion by March 14, 2022 

Web: 

Space Descriptions and Guidelines: 

  • We anticipate rollout for the descriptions and guidelines features to begin later this month. We’ll share an update on the Workspace Updates Blog when rollout begins. 


Availability 

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

Resources 

Roadmap 

This feature was listed as an upcoming release.

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AppSheet Support is now available through the Workspace Admin console
Available to all  AppSheet customers who have admin user access through Workspace Support. AppSheet Core is available as an add-on paid subscription to all Google Workspace editions. | Available to all  AppSheet customers who have admin user access through Workspace Support. AppSheet Core is available as an add-on paid subscription to all Google Workspace editions. | Learn more here. 



Updated emoji experience in Google Chat on web
Last year we updated the emoji experience on mobile.Now we have brought the ability to express yourself more authentically in Chat on Web. We’re making the following updates to the emoji experience: 
  • The Emoji set is updated to the latest version (Emoji 13.1), reflecting the latest emoji set and diversity and inclusion options.
  • Gender-neutral options for gender-modifiable emojis have been added.
  • Emoji skin tone and gender preferences are saved per individual emoji. 

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.


Classic Hangouts will be upgraded to Google Chat beginning March 22, 2022
Beginning March 22, 2022, we’ll turn on the “Chat preferred” setting for any customers who haven’t already done so, making Google Chat the default chat application. This means that when users visit classic Hangouts in Gmail on the web or the classic Hangouts mobile apps, they’ll be directed to Chat. Hangouts.google.com will continue to work. It is not possible to opt out of this change. | Learn more. 



Google Workspace Migrate is now generally available
Google Workspace Migrate, previously announced in beta in 2019, is now generally available for select Google Workspace Editions. This first-party, on-premise product helps admins assess and plan migration projects, and confidently migrate their users and large amounts of critical content directly into Google Workspace. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, Education Plus, and legacy G Suite Business customers only. | 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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Who’s impacted

Admins


Why you’d use it

Google Workspace Migrate is especially beneficial for Google Workspace customers with a large number of seats, as it allows them to securely migrate large amounts of their organization’s data and setup on-premises infrastructure. Specifically, it provides assistance with:

  • Assessment: Quickly scan source environments to help accurately plan for key project milestones and watch points 
  • Migration: Efficiently migrate valuable data from a variety of sources (see below) 
  • Track: Easily identify project progress and health with detailed aggregate and granular logging functionality 

Additionally, Google Workspace Migrate supports Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft OneDrive, file shares, Box migrations, legacy G Suite Business and Google Workspace environments, enabling you to: 

  • Selectively migrate Gmail, Calendar, Drive, and more data between Google Workspace environments. 
  • Choose to migrate all users from one environment to another. 
  • Selectively migrate specific user data (organizational units, users, or subsets of data) between Google Workspace environments.


Additional details 

To prevent disruption to end-user productivity, Google Workspace Migrate maintains a high level of fidelity for migrated content from supported sources: Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, and file shares. The following versions will be supported:

  • Google Workspace
  • Exchange: Exchange 2010, 2013, 2016, and Microsoft 365 
  • Sharepoint: SharePoint 2010, 2013, 2016, SharePoint Online, and OneDrive for Business 
  • File shares: A Windows-accessible file share (for example, SMB or NFS)
  • Box

Getting started


Rollout pace



Availability

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

Resources


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We're now ready to move into the final phase of the migration from Classic Hangouts to Google Chat for Google Workspace customers. 

Beginning March 22, 2022, we’ll turn on the “Chat preferred” setting for any customers who haven’t already done so, making Google Chat the default chat application. This means that when users visit classic Hangouts in Gmail on the web or the classic Hangouts mobile apps, they’ll be directed to Chat. Hangouts.google.com will continue to work. It is not possible to opt out of this change. If you’d like to export your classic Hangouts and Chat data, learn about exporting your organization’s data. 

NOTE: This phase does not affect the personal use of Hangouts with a Google Account. 


See below for more information and timing. 


Who’s impacted 

Admins and end users 

Why it matters 

Starting March 22, 2022, classic Hangouts users with the following domain settings will be migrated to Google Chat:

Admin console setting

Automatic upgrade timeline

Chat and classic Hangouts

Access groups with both Google Chat and classic Hangouts turned on

 Over the course of three weeks starting March 22, 2022

Classic Hangouts only

Access groups with only classic Hangouts enabled
Over the course of five weeks starting April 4, 2022



After domains are upgraded to “Chat preferred,” all classic Hangouts applications, except hangouts.google.com, will be disabled. Additionally, the “Chat and classic Hangouts” and “Classic Hangouts only” settings will be removed from the Admin console. 

Additional details 

  • Vault users: Messages sent in classic Hangouts will continue to be retained and held according to policies set for Chat, and searchable and exportable with Gmail search in Vault. Messages sent in Chat are subject to retention rules and holds you set for Chat, and searchable and exportable with Chat search in Vault.
  • Conversation history: Except for a few special cases, all the conversation history from Hangouts will be available in Google Chat. However, starting mid-March 2022, any newly created spaces in Google Chat within your domain will not appear in classic Hangouts. This means that messages sent in these spaces will only appear in Google Chat for your affected users. You can learn more about Chat and classic Hangouts interoperability. 


Getting started 

  • Admins: 
    •  If you currently have the “Classic Hangouts only” or “Chat and classic Hangouts” Admin console setting enabled for your entire domain or specific access groups, you’ll be automatically upgraded to the “Chat preferred” setting, per the dates listed above. You can upgrade all of your users to “Chat preferred” prior to those dates if you choose. 
    • If you don’t have the “Classic Hangouts only” or “Chat and classic Hangouts” setting selected, you don’t need to do anything. 
  • End user: There is no end user setting for this feature. Visit the Help Center to learn more about the switch from classic Hangouts to Google Chat. 

Availability 

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

Resources 

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Who’s impacted 

Admins and end users 


Why it’s important 

Document previews give users a snapshot of documents in the search results page without having to open the link. This feature is particularly useful when trying to distinguish between documents with similar titles — now, users can feel more confident they’re opening the most relevant results. 


Previews are available for most of the popular document formats such as Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, PDF, Microsoft Word documents and more. Note that users can only preview documents that they have access to. 


Getting started 

  • Admins: This feature will be OFF by default and can be enabled at the search application, or data source level. To learn more about document previews, including preconditions and limitations, refer to our developer documentation for thumbnails. 
  • End users: There is no end user action required.

Rollout pace 

  • This feature is available now.

Availability 

  • Available to Google Cloud Search Customers 

Resources 

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Reviewing a Summary in a Google Doc


Pageless format in Docs gives teams more space to collaborate, helping to create an uninterrupted flow of information for both writers and viewers, as well as adding more horizontal space for content like tables and images. 


Formatting a Google Doc to be Pageless

Formatting a Google Doc to be Pageless



Getting started 


Rollout pace 


Availability 

Pageless formatting and summaries 
  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers 

Summary suggestions
  • Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Frontline
  • Not available to Google Workspace, Education Fundamentals. and Nonprofits. 

Resources 

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Who’s impacted 

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 labels 
  • Tasks 


Additionally, you’ll also notice various other improvements: 
  • You'll see spelling suggestions along with search chips 
  • You can clear search chips on their own, or together with the query 
  • Additional date options for the “Last modified” chip 


We hope search chips make it easier to narrow down your search results and find your important files faster. 


Getting started 

  • Admins: No action required. 
  • End users: This feature will be automatically available. Simply enter a search query and select one or multiple chips to further drill down results. Visit the Help Center to learn more about finding files in Google Drive. 

Rollout pace 


Availability 

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

Resources 

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Japanese grammar suggestions for Google Docs 
You'll now see grammar suggestions as you type in Japanese in Docs. Grammar suggestions can help you write faster and more accurately. | 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. 



Manage overdue tasks in Google Calendar You can now easily see and manage your overdue tasks in Google Calendar. 
If you have uncompleted tasks that were due in the past 30 days, you will have an all day entry that will tell you how many tasks are pending from that timeframe. | Learn more. 



Participate in Google Meet polls and Q&As on Chromebase for meetings 
You can now participate in Google Meet polls and Q&As when joining from a Chromebase for meetings all-in-one touchscreen device. | Learn more.



The future of Currents and the next generation of collaboration in Spaces 
With Spaces now available, starting in 2023 we are planning to wind down Google Currents and bring remaining content and communities over to the new Spaces experience. | Learn more here and here. 



Google Voice calls between many European numbers are now included in Google Voice licenses
Beginning February 8, 2022, calls from European Google Voice numbers to mobile and landline numbers in many European countries will be included with the cost of the Google Voice license. | 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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Getting started


Rollout pace

  • This feature is available now for all users with European phone numbers.


Availability

  • Available to all Google Voice Starter, Standard, and Premier customers


Resources


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With Spaces now available, starting in 2023 we are planning to wind down Google Currents and bring remaining content and communities over to the new Spaces experience. Before we do this, we’ll deliver new capabilities in Spaces to help you communicate and collaborate more effectively. These include support for larger communities and leadership communication, investments in advanced search, tools for content moderation, and more. We’re also investing in search and discoverability, platform capabilities for app development, and enterprise-grade security and compliance, including data protection, data loss prevention (DLP) and Vault support. 


If your organization is using Currents, we’ll share a timeline for opting in to data migration and other milestones in the coming months, as well as guidance to assist with the transition. Spaces are available to all Google Workspace customers today.


Who’s impacted

Admins and end users


Why it matters

The accelerating transition to hybrid work has significantly changed the way people collaborate, and Google Workspace customers are using Chat and Spaces to communicate about projects, share organizational updates, and build community. 


Upgrading Google Currents to Spaces removes a separate, siloed destination for users, and provides organizations with a modern, enterprise-grade experience that reflects how the world is working today. Spaces provide a central place for teams to engage in topic-based discussions, share knowledge and ideas, move projects forward, and build communities and team culture. 


Additional details

In preparation for the migration from Currents to Spaces, we’ll start turning down features with very little usage. Please see the Help Center for more details.


Getting started

  • Admins: If your organization is using Currents, we’ll share more details, including a migration guide, in an email to the primary admin at your domain in the coming months. Please stay tuned. 
  • End users: Read more on how to get started with Spaces.

Availability

  • Spaces are available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts.

Resources


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Who’s impacted

End users



Why you’d use it

This update can foster more inclusive hybrid meetings by giving participants in conference rooms and classrooms a way to engage in these key activities from Chromebase for meetings devices.



Additional details

Q&A
When using a Chromebase device:
  • Meeting participants can view, sort, and upvote questions.
  • Note: meeting organizers can start Q&As from Meet on web, Android, and iOs devices only.

View and upvote questions on Chromebase for meetings




Polls
When using a Chromebase device:
  • Meeting participants can vote on any poll during the meeting. Note that the vote will be attributed to your Chromebase device.
  • Note: meeting organizers can create a poll from Meet on web, Android, and iOS devices only. 

Participate in meeting polls by voting on Chromebase for meetings




Visit the Help Center to learn more about conducting polls and asking participants questions in Meet, and the supported Google Workspace editions.


Getting started

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
  • End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about using polls and Q&As in Google Meet.


Rollout pace


Availability



Resources



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See pending tasks as an all day entry in Calendar




By giving you a comprehensive list of uncompleted past tasks, right in Calendar, we hope that this helps you better keep track of your Tasks. The feature will be available on the web and on mobile. 


Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: This feature will be ON by default for anyone that uses tasks in Calendar and can be turned OFF by hiding tasks in Google Calendar. Visit the Help Center to learn more about creating & viewing tasks in Calendar. 

Rollout pace 

Web: 

Android: 

iOS: 

Availability 

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

Resources 

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