Category Archives: Apps Feed Blog

The feed from the Google Apps team

Use Gemini in the side panel of Google Chat in additional languages

What’s changing 

Over the last few months, we’ve released the use of Gemini in the side panel of Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Drive, Google Slides and Gmail in additional languages and today we’re excited to expand the availability of Gemini in the side panel of Chat to the following languages: 
  • Spanish 
  • Portuguese 
  • Italian 
  • German 
  • Japanese 
  • French 
  • Korean 

Gemini in Chat helps users collaborate more effectively in their spaces, group messages and direct messages by providing conversation summaries, identifying action items, and searching the web. For additional information on Gemini in Chat, check out our original announcement of Gemini in the side panel of Chat. 


Additional details

Users may see the “Alpha” badge as we bring more features into Gemini in the side panel of Google Workspace. 


Getting started


Rollout pace 


Availability 


Available for Google Workspace: 
  • Business Standard and Plus 
  • Enterprise Standard and Plus 
  • Customers with the Gemini Education or Gemini Education Premium add-on 
Anyone who previously purchased these add-ons will also receive this feature: 
  • Gemini Business* 
  • Gemini Enterprise* 
  • AI Meetings and Messages* 
*As of January 15, 2025, we’re no longer offering the Gemini Business and Gemini Enterprise add-ons for sale. Please refer to this announcement for more details.

Resources 

Try Canvas, a new way to collaborate with the Gemini app

What’s changing

Starting today, you can create, format, and refine your documents or code in Canvas, a new collaborative space in Gemini. 


Generate and iterate on first drafts: after generating a first draft in Canvas, you can rapidly refine and ask Gemini for feedback to suggest edits. Update specific sections or the whole draft, and use the quick editor tools to change the tone, length, or formatting. From essays to blog posts to reports, up-level your documents in Canvas. If you want to collaborate with others on the content you just made, you can export it to Google Docs with a click.




Generate & iterate on code: Easily convert your ideas into working prototypes for web apps, code snippets and scripts, and more. Ask Gemini to generate & preview React or HTML code directly in Canvas in a familiar code editor, and review Gemini's changes on each turn.



Canvas is available globally across all Gemini-supported languages.


Additional details

  • Currently, Canvas is available on web (gemini.google.com) for Google Workspace business and education users. We’re planning to support Canvas in the Gemini mobile app for these users at a later date.
  • Canvas is available to Google Workspace for Education users 13+ or the applicable age in your country.

Getting started


Rollout pace

Availability

Available for Google Workspace:
  • Business Starter, Standard, Plus
  • Enterprise Starter, Standard, Plus
  • Education Fundamentals, Standard, Plus
  • Frontline Starter and Standard
  • Essentials, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus
  • Nonprofits

Available for Google Workspace customers with these add-ons:
  • Gemini Business*
  • Gemini Enterprise*
  • Gemini Education
  • Gemini Education Premium
*As of January 15, 2025, we’re no longer offering the Gemini Business and Gemini Enterprise add-ons for sale. Please refer to this announcement for more details.

Resources

See summaries of shared Google Docs, Slides, or Sheets files directly in Google Chat

What’s changing

Similar to how Google Chat’s summaries in the home view provide users with a bulleted synopsis of message content, we’re excited to introduce a new way to preview files shared in Chat. 

Starting today, users can easily summarize Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets files shared within a Chat conversation. Simply click the new “Summarize this file” button that appears within the respective file preview card in the conversation, and Gemini will summarize the file so you can get a quick overview without having to leave Chat. 

Gemini summaries for linked Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides

Who’s impacted 

End users 


Why you’d use it 

By providing quick, on-demand summaries of files shared in Chat, Gemini helps you save time and get the gist of shared files instantly, eliminating the need to open each document. 


Getting started 

Rollout pace 


Availability

Available for Google Workspace: 
  • Business Standard and Plus 
  • Enterprise Standard and Plus 
  • Customers with the Gemini Education or Gemini Education Premium add-on 
Anyone who previously purchased these add-ons will also receive this feature: 
  • Gemini Business* 
  • Gemini Enterprise* 
  • AI Meetings and Messages* 
*As of January 15, 2025, we’re no longer offering the Gemini Business and Gemini Enterprise add-ons for sale. Please refer to this announcement for more details.

Resources 

Gmail data loss prevention now supports “sensitive content snippets”

What’s changing

We recently launched data loss prevention for Gmail and, beginning today, Admins can see “Sensitive content snippets” for Gmail messages that trigger data loss prevention rules. This content is logged  in the security investigation tool and admins can use the information to better identify security risks, determine whether a false positive was returned, and decide on an appropriate course of action.

Snippets are already available for DLP events for Drive, Chat, and Chrome. Visit our Help Center and our previous announcement for more information.

Matched content and information about the data detector type is displayed in the side panel under ‘Log Details’ in the Security Investigation Tool

Getting started

Rollout pace

Availability

Available to Google Workspace 
  • Frontline Standard
  • Enterprise Standard and Plus 
  • Education Fundamentals, Standard, Plus, and the Teaching and Learning add-on
  • Enterprise Essentials Plus
  • Also available for Chrome Enterprise Premium

Resources


Use Gemini in the side panel of Google Slides in even more languages

What’s changing

Following up on our recent language availability announcement, we’re excited to announce that you can now use Gemini in the side panel of Google Slides, which includes the ability to generate images, in the following languages: 
  • Arabic
  • Catalan
  • Chinese
  • Czech 
  • Danish 
  • Dutch 
  • Finnish 
  • Greek 
  • Hebrew 
  • Hungarian 
  • Indonesian 
  • Malay 
  • Norwegian 
  • Polish 
  • Romanian 
  • Russian 
  • Swedish 
  • Thai 
  • Turkish 
  • Ukrainian 
  • Vietnamese 
With Gemini in the side panel of your Workspace apps, you can get help summarizing, brainstorming, and generating content by utilizing insights gathered from your emails, documents, and more—all without switching applications or tabs. Check out our original announcements for Gemini in the side panel of Slides, Docs, Sheets, and Drive, and Gmail for even more information. 


Additional details 

  • Users may see the “Alpha” badge as we bring more features into Gemini in the side panel of Google Workspace. 
  • Image generation of people is not supported in these additional languages at this time. 

Getting started 

Rollout pace 


Availability 

Available to Google Workspace: 
  • Business Standard and Plus 
  • Enterprise Standard and Plus 
  • Customers with the Gemini Education or Gemini Education Premium add-on 
  • Customers with the Gemini Business or Gemini Enterprise add-on* 
*As of January 15, 2025, we’re no longer offering the Gemini Business and Gemini Enterprise add-ons for sale. Please refer to this announcement for more details.

Resources 

Beta update: Data loss prevention rules based on classification labels are now applied instantly in Gmail on the web

What’s changing

In November 2024, we announced an open beta for data classification labels in Gmail. To further enhance the experience, we’re pleased to announce that auto-classification labeling with data loss prevention (DLP) rules and actions triggered by classification labels detected in the message will now be applied instantly when using Gmail on the web. Previously, users were informed of any implications after messages left the inbox. With this update, the feedback is instant, providing the opportunity to educate users on why their message is classified, blocked or quarantined, and how to remedy the issue to keep their email communications flowing. 

With this new functionality, and with this feature still in an open beta period, we strongly encourage you to continue providing feedback so we can optimize the feature for general availability. You can also use the form to sign-up for feedback sessions with the Google user research team to provide more detailed feedback.




Who’s impacted

Admins and end users

Why it matters
Google Workspace's expansion of data classification labels to Gmail gives admins the ability to mitigate data exfiltration and gain a deeper understanding of shared data based on information type and sensitivity level to apply data protection policies appropriately. Some ways you can use Data Protection Rules with Classification Labels are:

    • Prevent messages based on a specific classification (e.g. Confidential, Internal, NTK) from being accidentally shared with unauthorized users.
      • You can create a rule with specific label(s) as a condition and choose an action to trigger when a message is sent:
        • Warn: users will see a notification that their message may contain sensitive information, helping to prevent accidental sharing. Note that this action does not block the message from being sent.
        • Block: users will be notified that their message will not be sent unless the label is changed or removed (if data organization policy allows).
        • You can also create a rule in a way that allows for sharing labeled messages only if confidential mode is enabled for the message.

    • Enforce classification on every message or specific messages
      • You can create a rule that warns users or blocks the message if a specific classification label is not found in the message. This can help educate users and drive adoption of your organization’s data classification policy among users.
    • Automatically apply classification labels messages if specific information types are found in the message
      • You can create a rule to automatically apply a specific classification label if certain criteria is met. For example, credit card information or medical information are contained within the email. 
      • You can also configure the rule to allow users to modify the label to a more appropriate one based on the situation and data classification policy of your organization.
    For more detailed information, please refer to our beta announcement as well as our Help Center.


    Additional details

    At this time, this update is only supported when using Gmail on the web. Stay tuned for further updates about instantaneous support in Gmail iOS and Android clients.

    Getting started

    Rollout pace

    Availability

    The Label Manager and manual classification is available to Google Workspace:
    • Frontline Starter and Standard
    • Business Standard and Plus
    • Enterprise Standard and Plus
    • Education Standard and Education Plus
    • Essentials, Enterprise Essentials, and Enterprise Essentials Plus


    Data loss prevention rules with labels as a condition or labels as an action are available to:
    • Enterprise Standard and Plus
    • Education Fundamentals, Standard, Plus, and the Teaching & Learning Upgrade
    • Frontline Standard
    • Cloud Identity Premium (with a Workspace Edition that includes Gmail)

    Resources



    Admins can now deploy Context-Aware Access for NotebookLM and NotebookLM Plus

    What’s changing

    Building upon the recent announcement of NotebookLM and NotebookLM Plus becoming available as a Google Workspace core service with enterprise-grade data protection, we’re excited to introduce the ability for admins to specify Context-Aware Access (CAA) policies when their users access NotebookLM and NotebookLM Plus. 

    Context Aware Access support for NotebookLM

    Who’s impacted 

    Admins and end users 


    Why it’s important

    Using Context-Aware Access, admins can set up different access levels for NotebookLM and NotebookLM Plus based on a user’s identity and the context of the request (location, device security status, IP address). This can help provide granular access controls without the need for a VPN, and give users access to Google Workspace resources based on organizational policies. 


    Getting started 


    Rollout pace 


    Availability 

    Context-Aware Access is available for Google Workspace: 
    • Enterprise Standard and Plus 
    • Education Standard and Plus 
    • Enterprise Essentials Plus 
    • Frontline Standard 
    • Cloud Identity Premium 

    Resources 

    Introducing a new building block that summarizes content with Gemini in Google Docs

    What’s changing

    Last year, we introduced a collection of building blocks designed to help you manage important business workflows in Google Docs, including team task management, project tracking, hiring, and more. 

    Today, we’re excited to announce an additional building block that adds an AI-generated summary to your content using Gemini in Docs. By going to Insert > Building Blocks > AI Summary or typing “@” followed by “AI summary,” Gemini will provide a summary that you can instantly insert or edit alongside other document collaborators. In addition, you can select the refresh option to update your summary when you make changes to your document. doc content. 

    These AI-generated summaries make it easier to consume long documents and can be particularly useful for content such as technical documents, meeting notes, strategy documents, marketing briefs, and more. 
    new building block that summarizes content with Gemini in Google Docs




    Getting started 


    Rollout pace 


    Availability 

    Available for Google Workspace: 
    • Business Standard and Plus 
    • Enterprise Standard and Plus 
    • Google One AI Premium 

    Anyone who previously purchased these add-ons will also receive this feature: 
    • Gemini Business* 
    • Gemini Enterprise* 
    *As of January 15, 2025, we’re no longer offering the Gemini Business and Gemini Enterprise add-ons for sale. Please refer to this announcement for more details.

    Resources 

    Available in beta: Convert your client-side encrypted documents after a Vault or Takeout export

    What’s changing 

    After a Vault or Data export (takeout), admins can now convert their exported client-side encrypted documents to Word files. This allows organizations to maintain ownership over, access to, and analysis of sensitive data in a portable format even after it has been exported from Google Workspace. 


    Eligible Google Workspace admins can use this form to request access to the beta. We’ll share more specific instructions once you’re accepted into the beta.



    Getting started

    • Admins: Client-side encryption can be enabled at the domain, OU, and Group levels (Admin console > Data > Compliance > Client-side encryption). Visit our Help Center to learn more about client-side encryption.

    Rollout pace

    • The feature will be available immediately once you're accepted into the beta.

    Availability

    • Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard and Education Plus customers.

    Resources


    Upcoming changes to how retention policies are applied to 1:1 direct messages in Google Chat

    What’s happening 

    Many Google Workspace organizations rely on Google Chat to facilitate communication and collaboration, including with users in the same domain, users in other Workspace Domains, and users with personal Google accounts. Currently, each organization in an external 1:1 direct message conversation can set their own retention policy, which impacts what messages end users see in the product user interface and what admins see in Google Vault.


    To provide a more consistent product experience across conversation types, we are changing how retention policies are applied to 1:1 direct messages with external participants.


    Following this change, 1:1 direct messages with external participants will respect the retention policy of the user who created the conversation. If a user in your organization did not create the conversation, they may see more or fewer messages in the Chat user interface after this change since the creator’s policy will be respected. You can see who created the conversation by scrolling to the top of the conversation, or hovering over the external badge. 


    This change does not impact an admin’s ability to apply a retention policy or ability to access 1:1 direct messages in Google Vault or Data Export for users with a Google Vault policy applied. 


    If you do not have Vault, or do not have a Vault policy applied, changes in access to conversations will apply to the product user interface and Data Export.


    Additionally, today, in the case that two users within the same organization have conflicting retention or auto-deletion policies, we respect those policies separately for each user. Once the migration happens, we will respect the longer of the two retention policies and the shorter of the two auto-deletion policies for both users in the conversation. If one user has a custom retention rule while the other has only a default retention rule, the custom rule will take precedence over a default rule.


    Starting May 1, 2025:
    • All new external 1:1 direct messages will respect the retention policy of the creator. 
      • For users with a Vault policy applied, the creator’s policy will only impact messages in the Chat product user interface. 

    Starting June 2, 2025:
    • Existing 1:1 direct messages will migrate to respect the retention policy of the creator. 
      • For users with a Vault policy applied, the creator’s policy will only impact messages in the Chat product user interface. 

    By August 1, 2025:
    • We anticipate the migration will be complete.

    Until February 1, 2026:
    • We will preserve impacted 1:1 direct messages in Google Vault or Data Export for 6 months past the end of the migration to allow organizations to download a copy of the data.

    Why it matters

    It’s important to note that if your organization has a Google Vault policy applied to your users, you will not lose access to any conversations—even if they no longer appear in the Chat product user interface. If your organization does not have Vault or does not have a Vault policy applied, some conversations that were previously available may no longer be available in Data Export or Vault. 


    Getting started

    Resources