Turn Google Messages on or off for users

As an administrator of your organization's Google Accounts, you can control who uses their Google Account with Google Messages. Just turn the service on or off for those users in your Admin console.

Users whose service is turned off can not sign in and use a Google Fi account using Messages for web. For more information, go to Use Messages for web with Fi.

Note: Even if this service is turned off, users can still access Messages through their Android app or through the QR code pairing option on the web. 

Control who uses Google Messages

1. Sign in with an administrator account to the Google Admin console.

   If you aren’t using an administrator account, you can’t access the Admin console.

2. Go to Menu  Apps > Additional Google Services.

   Requires having the Service Settings administrator privilege.

3. Click Google Messages.
   Tip: Scroll to see all services. Or at the left, choose a Filter to narrow the list, for example, based on status or popularity.
4. Click Service status.

5. To turn a service on or off for everyone in your organization, click On for everyone or Off for everyone, and then click Save.

6. (Optional) To turn a service on or off for an organizational unit:

   1. At the left, select the organizational unit.
   2. To change the Service status, select On or Off.
   3. Choose one:
      • If the Service status is set to Inherited and you want to keep the updated setting, even if the parent setting changes, click Override.
      • If the Service status is set to Overridden, either click Inherit to revert to the same setting as its parent, or click Save to keep the new setting, even if the parent setting changes.
        Note: Learn more about organizational structure.
7. (Optional) To turn on a service for a set of users across or within organizational units, select an access group. For details, go to Use groups to customize service access.

Next steps

For more information, go to:

•  Messages Help Center
•  Use Messages for web with Fi.