Google Workspace Updates: May 2018

New insights in Google Docs Activity dashboard

Thursday, May 31, 2018

See our Help Center for detailed instructions on how to send emails through Activity dashboard.

See viewing patterns over time

A popular request from our users is to have more insight into patterns around viewing data on files. So we’re adding a chart showing how many viewers have visited the file over time. You can adjust the date range, and hover over specific data points for more details.

Use our Help Center to find out more about how to understand the data in Activity dashboard.

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

Editions:
Available on G Suite Business, Enterprise, Education, and Nonprofit editions

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

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information

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We’re introducing new features to provide more insight and help you collaborate through Activity dashboard in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. This will help make the data in Activity dashboard:

More actionable. Users can quickly email file collaborators.
More useful. Users can see viewing patterns over time.

Email collaborators through Activity dashboard

In just a few clicks, users can pick recipients, customize, and send a follow-up email with the link to the file. Users can:

Select who to email. There are shortcuts for collaborators who have viewed the file or have not viewed the file, or you can pick recipients manually with checkboxes (see image below for example).
Customize an email. Users can write a message to chosen recipients.
Send the email.

See our Help Center for detailed instructions on how to send emails through Activity dashboard.

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Making it even easier to join meetings from more third-party clients

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

With this launch, people using Google Calendar clients that don’t display meeting instructions natively (e.g., Samsung S Planner) no longer need to go to Google Calendar on the web to join their meetings.

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

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:All end users using Suite Sync for Microsoft Outlook, Google Sync or a third-party Android client that relies on Calendar Provider

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

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In August 2017, we announced a feature that made it even easier to join a Google Calendar meeting using a CalDAV-based third-party calendaring client. We’ve heard from you that this functionality is helpful and you’d like to see it expanded to more calendaring clients. That’s why now, whenever someone uses G Suite Sync for Microsoft Outlook, Google Sync, or a third-party Android client that relies on Calendar Provider to access an event on Google Calendar, we’ll add automatically generated text to the event’s description. This text will include instructions on how to join the event through Meet or Hangouts.

Include a message when changing meeting details in Google Calendar

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

After you send the message, other guests will see your message in the email they receive alerting them to the updated meeting details.

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

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Delete an event

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There are many reasons why you’d need to make an edit to a meeting, and we’re now making it easier to communicate those changes. Going forward, when you change or delete an existing meeting, you’ll see a dialog box where you can enter a message for other guests of the meeting.

After you send the message, other guests will see your message in the email they receive alerting them to the updated meeting details.

Built-in protections and controls for Team Drives

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

For more information on how to modify these settings, visit the Help Center.

Admin-controlled default settings for new Team Drives in an organization

To protect sensitive information across their organizations, G Suite admins can prescribe default settings for Team Drives newly created in their domains or in individual organizational units. None of these protections will be turned on by default. Defaults can be set to:

Prevent full-access members from modifying the Team Drive’s settings.
Prevent users in your organization from creating new Team Drives.
Prevent people outside of their domain from accessing files in the Team Drive.
Prevent non-members from accessing files in the Team Drive.
Prevent commenters and viewers from downloading, copying, and printing files in the Team Drive.

Note that unless Prevent full access members from modifying the Team Drive’s settings is checked, full access members are allowed to change a Team Drive's settings (from the defaults) after it's created.

For more information on selecting these default settings in the Admin console, visit the Help Center.

Additional info on protective settings

G Suite admins can modify the settings of any individual Team Drive in their domain. For instructions, visit the Help Center.
If Team Drive protections are more restrictive than previously applied document-level protections, the Team Drive protections will take precedence. This means some users may lose access to documents when Team Drive settings are put in place.
If a document with more restrictive protections is placed in a Team Drive with less restrictive protections, the document’s original protections will still apply to that document. Furthermore, document level restrictions will always stay in place unless specifically changed or removed from that document.
A document will only have the protections applied to the Team Drive while it is in the Team Drive. If it’s moved to a different location, none of the Team Drive protections will move with it. However, any protections in place before it was in a Team Drive will still apply.
See our help center for more details on how document and Team Drive protections apply in specific scenarios.

To reduce unintended data leakage, we encourage G Suite admins to begin using these settings in their domains today. Initially the controls are only available for Google Drive on the web (drive.google.com). For more information on Team Drives, visit the Help Center and Learning Center.

Launch Details
Release track:
Admin console settings:

Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release starting May 30th.

User settings:

Launching to Rapid Release starting June 4th
Launching to Scheduled Release starting June 18th

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

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
Admins and end users

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Share files with Team Drives
Learning Center: Get started with Team Drives

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This March, we announced several new features to help G Suite customers stay secure. Among those were new controls to help users safeguard highly sensitive content in Team Drives. These controls are now launching to all G Suite Business, Enterprise, Education, and Nonprofit domains.

Admin controls will start rolling out to all domains today. End user controls are launching to rapid release domains in one week and scheduled release domains in three weeks. Initially the feature is only available for Google Drive on the web (drive.google.com). See below for more details.

User settings to safeguard Team Drive files

With this feature, users* can modify the settings for any Team Drive to specify whether the files in that Team Drive can be:

Shared with users who are not in their domain.
Shared with users who are not members of the Team Drive.
Downloaded, copied, or printed by commenters and viewers.

*To modify these settings, users must (1) be in the same domain as the Team Drive and (2) have full access to the Team Drive.

Prevent full-access members from modifying the Team Drive’s settings.
Prevent users in your organization from creating new Team Drives.
Prevent people outside of their domain from accessing files in the Team Drive.
Prevent non-members from accessing files in the Team Drive.
Prevent commenters and viewers from downloading, copying, and printing files in the Team Drive.

Additional info on protective settings

G Suite admins can modify the settings of any individual Team Drive in their domain. For instructions, visit the Help Center.
If Team Drive protections are more restrictive than previously applied document-level protections, the Team Drive protections will take precedence. This means some users may lose access to documents when Team Drive settings are put in place.
If a document with more restrictive protections is placed in a Team Drive with less restrictive protections, the document’s original protections will still apply to that document. Furthermore, document level restrictions will always stay in place unless specifically changed or removed from that document.
A document will only have the protections applied to the Team Drive while it is in the Team Drive. If it’s moved to a different location, none of the Team Drive protections will move with it. However, any protections in place before it was in a Team Drive will still apply.
See our help center for more details on how document and Team Drive protections apply in specific scenarios.

Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release starting May 30th.

User settings:

Launching to Rapid Release starting June 4th
Launching to Scheduled Release starting June 18th

Check out the most recent G Suite launches

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Last year, we introduced a new resource for admins: What’s new in G Suite? Don’t forget to visit the page regularly for a list of the most recent launches across G Suite.

Feedback? Let us know.

Migrating all G Suite domains from classic Hangouts to Hangouts Meet

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

You can expect these changes to take effect over the next month. If at any time you decide you want your users to schedule new meetings with classic Hangouts instead of Meet during this transition period, you can do so in the Admin console under Apps > G Suite > Google Hangouts > Meet Settings and unselecting “New meeting experience.”

Additionally, to ensure your domain has a seamless transition to Meet, we've added Meet compatibility with Firefox (starting on version 60). Unlike in classic Hangouts, Meet uses native WebRTC protocols so that it does not require any downloads or plugins when using Meet in Firefox.

To learn more about these changes, review the details of the transition plan and the differences between classic Hangouts video calls and Meet in the Help Center. You can also refer to our Meet deployment guide for materials to communicate these changes to your users.

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

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

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

Impact:
All admins and end users

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Switch to Meet

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In March 2017, we announced Hangouts Meet, the next generation in enterprise video meetings. After continued positive feedback from our customers who have begun using Meet, starting May 29th, we’ll enable Hangouts Meet for all G Suite domains that are automatically upgrading on Google’s recommended schedule. This means that all newly created Google Calendar events will contain Meet video meeting details. Previously created meetings will not be impacted with this change.

Copy a site in the new Google Sites

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

We’re making it possible to copy a site created in the new Google Sites. Sometimes you want to work on a new site, but you don’t want to start from scratch. By copying an existing site, you can save time by reducing duplicate work and avoiding manual copying of existing sites.

You might want to copy a site to:

Backup your work by keeping a previous version of a site
Create a base site ‘template’ that you use to create new sites
Iterate on previous sites

To make a copy, open the site in the new Google Sites, click the More menu > Duplicate site.

Copy a site in the new Google Sites

See our Help Center for more details on how to copy a site.

Launch Details

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

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

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

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Create, name, or copy a site

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Calendar Interop now uses a restricted set of IPs

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

We built Calendar Interop to enable user availability lookups between Google Calendar and Microsoft Exchange. Last summer, we introduced a wide array of improvements to the product, such as simplified setup and troubleshooting, real time updates, and support for both web and mobile. To help our customers improve the security of their coexistence setups, Calendar Interop will now use a restricted set of known IPs to communicate with Exchange servers.

By restricting Calendar Interop to this set of known IPs, G Suite customers can now block all incoming traffic (e.g., by setting up a firewall) to their on-premise Exchange servers, except for requests originating from Calendar Interop.

To see the list of IPv4 and IPv6 addresses that belong to Calendar Interop, check out this Help Center article.

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

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: About Calendar Interop

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Changes to embedded content on classic Google Sites

Friday, May 25, 2018

We're upgrading how HTML boxes work on classic Sites. This will improve performance and security, but it may also change the look and feel of some embedded elements. Site editors may want to make some simple adjustments so embedded elements appear the way they want them to. Note that this only affects sites managed in classic Sites. Sites managed in new Sites are not affected.

Upgraded HTML boxes may change visual appearance

When boxes are upgraded, you may notice some visual changes to the embedded element. Visual changes could include:

Improved appearance of rich embedded content (e.g. Twitter images, buttons, and more).
Different display size of the embedded element.
Different styling of the embedded element.

Due to these changes, site editors may want to check embedded content still appears as desired. If needed, site editors can:

Adjust the height and width. Use the manual controls (pictured below) to make the box fit the embedded content better.
Adjust the formatting. You may want to adjust the embed HTML to match your page style. If you got the code from a third party, check if there are formatting options there.

If an editor wants to revert back to the legacy embedded element appearance, they can check the “Use legacy html embed” option. The embedded element will then appear the same as before until the automatic upgrade on June 30th (see below).

Two stages to the upgrade

There will be two stages to these changes:

Stage 1: Starting immediately, we’ll upgrade HTML boxes when an editor opens an HTML box on a classic site.
Stage 2: On June 30th, we’ll automatically upgrade all remaining legacy HTML boxes.

HTML box adjustment options in classic Google Sites

Launch Details
Release track:

Stage 1 (upgrades while content is being edited) launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release on 5/25
Stage 2 (automatic upgrades) launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release on 6/30

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

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Reminder: Absolute metrics removed from Admin console Reports API on 5/29

Thursday, May 24, 2018

As a reminder, we’re removing some Drive metrics from the Admin console Reports API starting May 29th, 2018. Specifically, we’re removing absolute count metrics, which have been replaced by activity based metrics. This was announced a year ago, and the Admin console user interface was updated in October. The old metrics will no longer be available through the Reports API from May 29th.

More Information
G Suite Developers blog post (April 2017): New Google Drive metrics now accessible from Reports API
G Suite Updates blog post (October 2017): Google Drive reporting will show activity-based metrics in the Admin console

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Updates to Hangouts Meet home screen and screensaver on in-room displays

Thursday, May 24, 2018

The Hangouts Meet home screen shown on the TV display when the Hangouts Meet touchscreen is plugged in.

Screensaver and wallpaper
With this launch, we’re also adding a new Meet screensaver. When your Chromebox or Chromebase for Meetings, or Hangouts Meet Hardware device goes idle for an extended period, we’ll display a screensaver with the Meet logo.

Finally, in Hangouts Meet, you can now display custom wallpapers on in-room TV displays instead of the default Meet images. After uploading the images in the Admin console for the appropriate organizational unit (OU), these wallpapers will be shown on the associated Chromebox or Chromebase for Meetings, or Hangouts Meet Hardware devices, regardless of whether the devices are using classic Hangouts or Hangouts Meet.

More information on these settings and where to update them can be found in the Help Center.

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

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Upload custom wallpapers

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When joining a meeting, having the right context is important. That’s why we’ve added some new features to the Hangouts Meet TV display, such as a more informative home screen, screensaver, and custom wallpapers, to quickly orient users.

Home screen interface
Just like when using the remote control, the agenda for the room will now be shown on the in-room display, even when a Hangouts Meet touchscreen is plugged in. This confirms to users what meeting they’re about to join, as well as previews what’s to come in that room. We’ve also moved some features, such as the clock and Meet logo, to the top of the screen for all room TV displays.

The Hangouts Meet home screen shown on the TV display when the Hangouts Meet touchscreen is plugged in.

Admin preview for Google Sites automatic conversion tool

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

This admin preview period can help you to evaluate how you want to use the new Google Sites in your organization, and support your change management efforts with your users.

Launch Details
Release track:

Admin preview launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release.
End user launch to Rapid Release will start on June 19. We’ll release a post with more details when this starts.

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

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

Impact:
Admins only during admin preview. End users when launch starts on June 19.

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
G Suite Updates blog post (May 2017): An update on the classic Google Sites deprecation timeline
G Suite Updates blog post (Nov 2016): A totally rebuilt Google Sites—now available to everyone

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We’re introducing a tool that makes it fast and easy to move a site created in classic Sites to the new Google Sites interface. This will be available to admins from May 22nd, and will start to become available to end users who own eligible sites on June 19th.

The new Google Sites makes it easy for anyone to create functional and attractive sites. However, our users told us that it was time-consuming to manually move sites they had previously created in classic Sites into new Sites. This is why we developed this simple site conversion tool.

Classic site owners can use the tool to automatically create a draft of their site in the new Google Sites. This new draft site will have the updated look and feel of new Sites, and contain the content from the classic site. Starting the process will not affect the original site, so owners can review and edit the draft in the new Google Sites interface. When the new site is ready to go live, it can either be published to the URL of the classic site (to replace the original site and automatically redirect viewers), or published to a new URL.

The tool will currently work on some but not all sites. To see if the tool will work on a site, the site owner should open the classic site at sites.google.com and look for:

A banner at the top that says “New: Convert to new Sites,” or
A link in the left sidebar at Settings > Manage Site > Convert to new Sites.

If the banner and link are not available, the site is not eligible for conversion with the tool yet. This can be for several reasons, but is usually because it uses some features the conversion tool does not support yet. We’re working to make the tool work on more sites. When the site becomes eligible, the banner and link described above will appear.

The admin preview of the tool will roll out to admins in all domains within seven days. Use our Help Center to find out more about how to convert a classic site to a new site and what to expect when you convert a site.

Note: If new Sites is disabled for a domain, users will not see the banner and will not have access to the tool.

Admin preview launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release.
End user launch to Rapid Release will start on June 19. We’ll release a post with more details when this starts.

Self-diagnose ICS-related issues with improved Google Calendar audit logs

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

When changes are made within Google Calendar, it’s important that the available audit logs in the Admin console have the information you need to understand what happened. We have made it easier to do that for changes originating from a third-party system (such as Microsoft Exchange or IBM Notes). In these instances, the third-party system sends the user an email with an attached ICS file.

To help you better investigate situations like these, we’ve added new information to the audit logs, including:

The address of the email sender
The ID of the message that you can use in Gmail audit logs for further investigation
The third-party system that sent the message (for example, "Microsoft Exchange Server 2013"), and
The email recipient.

To see all third-party-originated changes, filter activities by selecting “Gmail ICS Parser” in the API Kind field.

Below is an example of an audit log for an event invitation from Microsoft Exchange user john@exchange.altostrat.com sent to Google Calendar user jane@altostrat.com:

Activity Name: Event created
Activity Description: john@exchange.altostrat.com created a new event Weekly Team Meeting
User: john@exchange.altostrat.com
Calendar Id: jane@altostrat.com
Event Title: Weekly Team Meeting
Event Id: _60q30c1g60o30e1i60o4ac1g60rj8gpl88rj2c1h84s34h9...
API Kind: Gmail ICS Parser
User Agent: Microsoft Exchange Server 2013
Recipient Email: jane@altostrat.com
Message Id: < 001a11474d047be4c80553f59b74 altostrat.com="">
Date: May 22 7:53 AM

With this information, you’ll be able to investigate the change yourself, without having to rely on G Suite Support looking into it for you.

View these reports in the Admin console under Reports > Calendar.

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

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Calendar audit log

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Enforce a password policy on Android work profiles with Google Mobile Management

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

How it works
In the Admin console (under Device management > Password Settings), an admin can require their users to set a password on any managed device and specify certain requirements for that password. This password policy will apply to all managed devices in that admin’s domain.

If an admin wants to apply that password policy to work profiles only, they can navigate to Device management > Android Settings > Work Profile in the Admin console and check the box next to “Apply password settings only for the Work Profile.” This will apply the password policy to work profiles only on devices running Android 7.0 or higher. On all other managed devices in the domain, the password policy will be applied to the entire device.

For more information, visit the Help Center.

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

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

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: Apply settings for Android mobile devices

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G Suite admins can use Google Mobile Management to give their users secure access to work apps and data on their mobile devices. One way admins guarantee this security is by mandating that managed devices are protected with a password, and that that password meets certain requirements (e.g. number of characters, password strength, etc.).

Many employees use their phones for both work and personal purposes, so we make it possible to separate the two on most Android devices by setting up work profiles. With this launch, admins will be able to mandate a password policy on just the apps within these work profiles, protecting corporate data while leaving users free to safeguard their personal apps however they see fit.

Expanding Braille support in Google Sheets

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

As part of our ongoing effort to make our products more accessible, we’re expanding support for Sheets on Windows computers via the latest versions of the JAWS and NVDA screen readers.

Earlier this year we launched Braille support in Google Sheets, and recently announced expanded support for Windows computers. Users with a Braille display will be able to read and edit cell contents, as well as navigate between cells in a sheet. This expanded Braille support will roll out to all users over the next two weeks. With these updates, Braille support on Sheets will be available on the following platforms:

Chrome OS
On Chrome OS, you can use ChromeVox with Chrome.

Windows
On Windows, you can use JAWS or NVDA with Chrome, Firefox, or Internet Explorer. Please upgrade to a recent version of JAWS 2018 (2018.1803.24 or newer) or NVDA (NVDA 2018.1 or newer).

Mac
On Mac, you can use VoiceOver with Safari or Chrome, on Mac OS X Yosemite.

Note: This will only work with recent versions of these browsers and screen readers. To use the feature, make sure your screen reader software is up to date.

For more details on Braille support in Sheets, including detailed software requirements, see our Help Center article on how to use a Braille display to read and enter text.

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

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

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

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Accessibility for Docs Editors
Help Center: Use a Braille display to read and enter text

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White color brushes and Bluetooth conferencing with the latest Jamboard release

Thursday, May 17, 2018

Bluetooth conferencing devices compatibility

Users can now connect and use Bluetooth Conferencing (speaker and microphone combined) devices to the Jamboard. A full list of supported devices can be found in the Help Center.

For a full list of new features and improvements from this month’s release, check out the What’s New in Jamboard page in the Help Center.

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

Editions:
Available to all G Suite Basic, Business, Enterprise, and Education customers

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

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center
Help Center: What’s supported with Jamboard?

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As we continue to add new features to the overall Jamboard experience, the latest Jamboard release helps people more clearly and effectively get their message out.

White color brushes

Users can now draw brush strokes, use handwriting/shape recognition, and autodraw tools in an all new white color.

Bluetooth conferencing devices compatibility

Making Admin Quarantine easier, quicker, and safer

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Users with the “Access Admin Quarantine” or “Access restricted quarantines" admin privileges will have access to this new information in the Admin Quarantine.

For more information, please visit the Help Center.

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

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Set up and manage email quarantines

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Admin Quarantine helps your organization prevent spam, minimize data loss, and protect confidential information. G Suite admins can set up and manage quarantine policies to divert emails that pose a risk before they’re sent or delivered. They can then review those emails and take appropriate action to protect their organization and its data.

In response to your feedback, we’re making it easier to see why emails have been quarantined directly in the Admin Quarantine interface. This information will make it quicker to review emails and easier to identify the right action. Admins will be able to see:

The specific rule that was triggered to cause the email to enter Admin Quarantine
The matched content (when applicable).

Check out the most recent G Suite launches

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Last year, we introduced a new resource for admins: What’s new in G Suite? Don’t forget to visit the page regularly for a list of the most recent launches across G Suite.

Feedback? Let us know.

Twelve third-party applications added to the G Suite pre-integrated SAML apps catalog

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Black Duck
Brightcove
Chartio
Duo
Hootsuite
Jenkins
Jostle
Mango Apps
SumTotal
TextMagic
Veracode
Zinc

Use our help center to see a full list of pre-integrated applications and instructions for installing them.

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

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

Building on other recent launches (February 27th, March 12th, March 29th), we’re adding SAML integration for 12 additional applications:

Black Duck
Brightcove
Chartio
Duo
Hootsuite
Jenkins
Jostle
Mango Apps
SumTotal
TextMagic
Veracode
Zinc

Use our help center to see a full list of pre-integrated applications and instructions for installing them.

Gmail will now remind you to respond

Monday, May 14, 2018

Nudging is on by default for users with the new Gmail enabled, but they can turn it off from their Gmail settings menu if they choose.

We hope this AI-powered feature helps you stay on top of your email and prioritize your work.

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

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions with the new Gmail enabled

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: What's new in Gmail
Help Center: Reply to Gmail messages

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When your inbox is flooded with emails, some will inevitably slip through the cracks. Luckily, the new Gmail can help. It will now “nudge” users to reply to emails they may have missed and to follow up on emails for which they haven’t received a response.

Nudging is on by default for users with the new Gmail enabled, but they can turn it off from their Gmail settings menu if they choose.

Export all your G Suite data in one step

Friday, May 11, 2018

Data from G Suite core services (for example, Gmail, Google Contacts, and Google Docs) will be exported for all users in your organization. Once your export is complete, you’ll receive a confirmation email with a link to your archived data in Google Cloud Storage. For security purposes, the archived data will only be available to super admins of your domain. From there, your organization will be able to download your data in several formats.

Because your security comes first in everything we do, our data export feature enforces strict security controls:

It can only be initiated by super admins who’ve been created more than 30 days prior to the request.
Admins must be authenticated using 2-step verification (2SV).
When a data export is initiated, other admins of the domain will be notified immediately. The export event will also be logged in the admin audit logs.

Additionally, to further reduce risk, data export will be turned off by default for domains with more than 1,000 users. Admins in these domains will need to contact Google Cloud support to temporarily enable this feature.

You can find the link to your archive at any time in the Data Export tool by clicking “Access archive.” The data will be available in Google Cloud Storage for 30 days before it’s permanently deleted.

Admins can also enable end users to download their own individual data via the existing “Download your data” tool.

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

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Export your organization’s data

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Today, we’re introducing data export, a new feature to make it even easier to export and download a copy of your data securely from our G Suite services.

To initiate the process, in the Admin console, navigate to the Tools section of the right-side slideout menu and select “Data Export.”

It can only be initiated by super admins who’ve been created more than 30 days prior to the request.
Admins must be authenticated using 2-step verification (2SV).
When a data export is initiated, other admins of the domain will be notified immediately. The export event will also be logged in the admin audit logs.

Google Drive UI updates

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

The logo in the top left has been changed to the Google Drive logo.
If you’ve added a custom company logo, it is now in the top right.
The Settings icon has been moved in line with the search bar.
The Help Center icon has been moved in line with the search bar.
The page background is now white, not gray.
The “New” button has been updated.
The font used for headers has been changed.

Here’s a comparison of several screens in the old and the new interface:

If needed, you can find screenshots of the new interface here.

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

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

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We’re making some updates to the look and feel of Google Drive on the web. There’s no change in functionality, but some icons and buttons have moved, and there’s a range of visual tweaks to align with Google’s latest material design principles. We built this new interface to create a responsive and efficient experience for Drive users, and to feel cohesive with other G Suite products, such as the recently redesigned Gmail.

Specific changes include:

The logo in the top left has been changed to the Google Drive logo.
If you’ve added a custom company logo, it is now in the top right.
The Settings icon has been moved in line with the search bar.
The Help Center icon has been moved in line with the search bar.
The page background is now white, not gray.
The “New” button has been updated.
The font used for headers has been changed.

Here’s a comparison of several screens in the old and the new interface:

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Define rules to handle Gmail confidential mode messages

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Stay tuned to the G Suite Updates blog for more information when confidential mode launches to G Suite users.

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

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Set up rules for content compliance

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In April, we introduced the new Gmail, including a feature called confidential mode, which helps you protect sensitive content in your emails by setting expiration dates or revoking access to previously sent messages. This feature is now launching to consumer Gmail users only. As previously announced, it will launch to G Suite users at a later time. As a G Suite admin, you can define rules to handle confidential mode messages sent from consumer users to G Suite users in your domain.

Create a compliance rule to block incoming messages and more
For detailed instructions on how to set up rules for content compliance in your domain, please see this Help Center article. Gmail confidential mode will be listed as an attribute under “Metadata match.”

Dial into Hangouts Meet from four additional markets

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

In October 2017, we announced the rollout of international Hangouts Meet dial-in phone numbers for G Suite Enterprise domains. This option helps your team to stay connected, wherever they are. We’ve added this functionality for four additional countries (with more to come!):

Colombia (CO)
Croatia (HR)
Lithuania (LT)
Portugal (PT)

For a complete list of currently supported countries, visit this Help Center article.

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

Editions:
Available to G Suite Enterprise edition only

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Dial in from a phone
Help Center: Join a video meeting

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Work offline in the new Gmail

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

If you want offline content deleted for your users when they sign out of their Google accounts, check the Force deletion of offline data on log out of Google account box. This will prevent your users from keeping content on their local devices when they log out.

Turn on Gmail offline for your account

Once you’ve enabled Gmail offline for your domain, individuals who are using the new Gmail can turn it on from the Offline tab in their settings (the feature is disabled by default).

They can also choose whether to keep offline data on their computers or have it removed when they log out.

Uninstall the Gmail Offline Chrome app

We previously announced that we’re moving Chrome apps, like Gmail Offline, to the web. The Gmail Offline Chrome app will stop working in the future, so we recommend that users uninstall it and begin using the native offline feature as soon as possible.

Enable the new Gmail

These new native offline capabilities are only available to customers participating in the new Gmail Early Adopter Program (EAP). To opt in to the EAP and enable the new Gmail for your domain, follow the instructions in the Help Center.

For more information on Gmail offline, please visit the Help Center.

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

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions with the new Gmail enabled

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
Admins and end users

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Work offline in Gmail
Help Center: What’s new in Gmail

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We can guarantee you’ll want to work on the go, but we can’t guarantee you’ll have Wi-Fi. Fortunately, native offline capabilities in the new Gmail make it possible to work without interruption—even when you don’t have an internet connection. Starting now, people using the new Gmail in a Chrome browser (v61 or higher) can search, write, delete, and archive up to 90 days of messages, even when they’re offline.

Enable Gmail offline for your domain

To get started, enable Gmail offline for your domain in the Admin console (the feature is disabled by default).

Important additional information about the legacy Google Drive desktop sync client shutdown on May 12

Monday, May 7, 2018

As previously announced, the old Drive desktop sync client for Mac and PC—a feature officially known as “Google Drive for Mac/PC”—will start to shut down on May 12th, 2018. After May 12th, the sync client may not work for your organization.

Here are some important things to know:

1. If you haven’t already, upgrade to a newer sync solution.

This shutdown is happening because we have better sync solutions available for Drive users. G Suite organizations still using Drive for Mac/PC should transition to Drive File Stream. For non-G Suite users, we recommend Backup and Sync. For more information on choosing the right sync solution for your users, check out this Help Center guide.

2. The turn-down will be gradual.

We will start the shutdown process on May 12th, but it will be gradual and may take several weeks to impact all organizations. After May 12th, however, updates to files may stop syncing between your users’ computers and Drive, so we recommend upgrading by that date.

3. Once the client shuts down for you, the Google Drive folder will stop syncing.

When the legacy Google Drive desktop sync client shuts down, it will stop syncing the Google Drive folder to Google Drive. The local Drive folder (containing users’ files) will not be deleted from the machine, but changes made inside this folder will no longer sync to Drive. We don’t recommend editing files inside of this folder after May 12th, as it could lead to users misplacing their edited files (not realizing that this folder isn’t syncing to Drive). To avoid confusion, you may want to delete the legacy Google Drive folder. By default, this folder is located at:

Windows: “C:\Users\%USER%\Google Drive”
macOS: “/Users/$USER/Google Drive”

Use caution when deleting this folder, as it may contain content that has not yet been saved or synced.
In addition, after the legacy desktop client shuts down for you, the app will display this dialog when it starts up:

This message will be shown to end users still using the legacy sync client after it is shut down.

4. After May 12th, Drive File Stream will display a dialog and rename the old Google Drive folder to clarify that the old folder is not syncing.

If a user signs in to Drive File Stream and it detects that the old Google Drive folder (from the same account) is still present on the machine, it will append “(Not Syncing)” to the old Google Drive folder, and display the following dialog:

After renaming the old Google Drive folder, Drive File Stream will display this dialog.

If you don’t want your users to see this dialog, you may remove the old Google Drive folder before May 12th.

After May 12th, if you choose to automate the removal of “~/Google Drive/”, you should remove “~/Google Drive (Not Syncing)/” as well. Note that for users who use Drive File Stream in another language, this folder name will be localized.

It’s important to note that while this folder name change is intended to discourage users from editing files inside the old Google Drive folder, it does not prevent users from making changes in it. We strongly encourage administrators to educate their end users to use Drive File Stream, and not the old Google Drive folder.

More Information
Blog post (Sept 2017): Drive File Stream launching to all G Suite customers
Blog post (Jan 2018): Legacy Google Drive desktop sync client now shutting down on May 12th, 2018
Help Center: Deploy Drive File Stream
Help Center: Choose a sync solution

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Google Mobile Management now supports managed configurations for Android apps

Friday, May 4, 2018

Some apps designed for enterprises include built-in settings called “managed configurations” that IT admins can set up remotely. For example, many VPN apps offer automatic setup, meaning people don’t have to take lengthy and confusing steps to begin using VPN . These managed configurations save admins valuable time and allow them to easily deploy otherwise complex settings arrangements. With this launch, we’re making it possible to set up managed configurations for Android apps using advanced mobile device management from Google Mobile Management.

To set up managed configurations by organizational unit (OU) or group, visit Device Management > App Management > Manage Applications for Android Devices > Whitelisted Android Apps in the Admin console and select the “App Distribution and Configuration” for the app you’re looking to configure. For step-by-step instructions, visit the Help Center.

To check if an app supports managed configurations, visit the managed Google Play store and click on the app you’re interested in. If the app supports managed configurations, it’ll be noted under the “Approve” or “Buy” button.

We hope this will make it easier for G Suite admins to deploy the Android apps their users need most, with the built-in settings that work best for their organization.

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

Editions:
Available to G Suite Business, Enterprise, and Enterprise for Education and Cloud Identity Premium 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: Manage apps on mobile devices
Help Center: Managed app configuration

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Update (June 4, 2018): We've resumed rolling out this feature. Thanks for your patience.

Update (May 22, 2018): Due to technical issues, this feature has been rolled back. We'll update this post when it has re-launched.

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On the “What’s new in Google Workspace?” Help Center page, learn about new products and features launching in Google Workspace, including smaller changes that haven’t been announced on the Google Workspace Updates blog.

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Updates

New insights in Google Docs Activity dashboard

Making it even easier to join meetings from more third-party clients

Include a message when changing meeting details in Google Calendar

Built-in protections and controls for Team Drives

Check out the most recent G Suite launches

Migrating all G Suite domains from classic Hangouts to Hangouts Meet

Copy a site in the new Google Sites

Calendar Interop now uses a restricted set of IPs

Changes to embedded content on classic Google Sites

Reminder: Absolute metrics removed from Admin console Reports API on 5/29

Updates to Hangouts Meet home screen and screensaver on in-room displays

Admin preview for Google Sites automatic conversion tool

Self-diagnose ICS-related issues with improved Google Calendar audit logs

Enforce a password policy on Android work profiles with Google Mobile Management

Expanding Braille support in Google Sheets

White color brushes and Bluetooth conferencing with the latest Jamboard release

Bluetooth conferencing devices compatibility

Making Admin Quarantine easier, quicker, and safer

Check out the most recent G Suite launches

Twelve third-party applications added to the G Suite pre-integrated SAML apps catalog

Gmail will now remind you to respond

Export all your G Suite data in one step

Google Drive UI updates

Define rules to handle Gmail confidential mode messages

Dial into Hangouts Meet from four additional markets

Work offline in the new Gmail

Important additional information about the legacy Google Drive desktop sync client shutdown on May 12

Google Mobile Management now supports managed configurations for Android apps

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