Google Workspace Changes

Gemini in Google Forms now provides quantitative insights, including counts and percentages of themes in text responses.

Google Forms is enhancing its Gemini-powered insights for text responses by allowing form editors to see quantitative data. By selecting 'Show theme percentages', Gemini categorizes responses into themes and displays the count and percentage of responses for each theme, leveraging AI functions in Google Sheets to provide deeper, actionable insights.

Google Sheets introduces two new functions, =SHEET and =SHEETS, to help users manage and reference spreadsheet tabs.

Google Sheets is adding two new dynamic functions: =SHEET and =SHEETS. The =SHEET function returns the sheet number of a specified sheet name or reference, while =SHEETS returns the total number of sheets in the spreadsheet. These functions automatically recalculate when sheets are added, deleted, moved, or renamed, ensuring data analysis remains accurate as the spreadsheet structure changes.

Google Groups is introducing stricter internal and external membership classifications to improve data security.

Starting in Q2 2026, Google Groups will enforce stricter classifications for internal and external memberships. Groups that disable the 'Allow members outside your organization' setting will be strictly limited to internal members. Existing groups with external members that have this setting disabled will be automatically reclassified as external, with external additions restricted to admins. This change affects the Google Groups UI, Admin console, and various APIs (Cloud Identity, Admin SDK Directory API, and Groups Settings API), where attempts to add external members to internal groups will now result in errors.

New =SHEET and =SHEETS functions added to Google Sheets for enhanced tab management.

Google Sheets is introducing two new functions, =SHEET and =SHEETS, to enhance the management and referencing of multiple tabs within a spreadsheet. The =SHEET(value) function returns the sheet number of a specified sheet, or the current sheet if no argument is provided. The =SHEETS() function returns the total number of sheets in the spreadsheet. These dynamic functions automatically recalculate when sheets are added, deleted, moved, or renamed, ensuring data analysis accuracy.

Save PDFs directly to Google Drive from Chrome.

Users using Chrome on their computer can now save PDFs directly to Google Drive without leaving the current page. These saved files are automatically organized into a 'Saved from Chrome' folder for easy retrieval. Chrome administrators can control this feature via policy starting from Chrome version 145.

New 'Take notes for me' controls in the green room for all customers.

Google is introducing new controls for 'Take notes for me' that allow all customers, regardless of their participation in the Gemini Alpha program, to turn off the AI note-taking feature directly from the green room before joining a call.

New 'Take notes for me' automatic configuration for Gemini Alpha customers.

Google is introducing a new setting for customers in the Gemini Alpha program that automatically enables 'Take notes for me' for meetings with three or more participants. This setting is on by default, but admins can disable it via the Google Meet Admin Console under Gemini settings, and end users can opt out through their Meet user settings.

Introduction of 'Who can modify group details' permission and expanded visibility of group settings.

Google Groups is introducing a new standalone permission, 'Who can modify group details,' which allows group owners and managers to precisely control who can edit the group's name and description, with options to grant this ability to owners, managers, or all members. Additionally, all group members will now be able to view the group settings page, although the ability to edit those settings remains dependent on the user's role and assigned permissions.

New Admin console configuration for "Take notes for me" in Google Meet for Gemini Alpha customers.

Google Meet is introducing new settings in the Admin console, initially for organizations participating in the Gemini Alpha program for Workspace, to pre-configure AI note-taking. This 'Take notes for me' setting will automatically enable AI note-taking for meetings with three or more participants and will be on by default for Alpha program organizations, with the functionality for end-users starting no sooner than March 11th, 2026. Admins will gain control to manage this setting in their console, with visibility starting from February 18th, 2026. Additionally, all Google Meet users, regardless of Alpha program participation, will soon have the ability to turn off "Take notes for me" directly from the green room before joining a call.

AI-suggested feedback for written assignments in Google Classroom.

Educators can now leverage AI-suggested feedback, powered by Gemini, to efficiently draft personalized guidance for student assignments within Google Classroom. This feature aims to help teachers manage their workloads, deliver timely and specific feedback to enhance student growth, and provide high-level, empathetic guidance that can be scaled across larger classes. Teachers maintain full control to review, edit, and refine the AI-generated suggestions before sharing with students.

AI-suggested feedback for written assignments in Google Classroom.

Google Classroom is introducing AI-suggested feedback for written assignments, allowing educators to use Gemini to draft personalized guidance tailored to a student's work, grade level, and specific focus areas. By selecting 'Help me write' in private comments, teachers can generate drafts that they can then review, edit, and refine, helping to reduce the time spent on manual feedback while maintaining high-quality, empathetic support for students.

Connected Sheets for BigQuery now allows users to generate data forecasts using BigQuery ML and the TimesFM model.

Google is introducing a new forecasting capability in Connected Sheets for BigQuery, leveraging BigQuery ML (BQML) and the TimesFM foundation model. This allows users to predict future business metrics like sales or demand without writing SQL or Python. Key features include a user-friendly configuration pane, customizable prediction horizons and confidence intervals, support for granular breakouts by data dimensions, and automatic visualization of forecasts against historical data.

Improvements to local administrative access controls on Windows 10 and 11 devices.

Google is updating the administrative privileges setting for Windows device management to provide administrators with more control and flexibility over local administrative access on Windows 10 and 11 devices. This update replaces the previous 'Replace' behavior, which removed all existing members from the local administrators group before adding new ones, allowing organizations to preserve existing local admin access while managing specific users via Google Workspace.

Figma integration in Google Chat allows users to receive notifications, preview files, see comments, and reply to comments directly from Chat.

The Figma for Google Workspace add-on, already available for Google Calendar, Docs, and Meet, is now extended to Google Chat. This integration enables users to stay updated on Figma files within Google Chat by receiving notifications for invites, previewing files, viewing new comments and tags, and replying to comments without leaving the Chat interface.

Listen to Gemini-powered audio summaries of your Google Docs.

Google Docs has introduced a new Gemini-powered feature that allows users to listen to brief audio summaries of their documents, including content across multiple tabs. This feature provides a natural-sounding verbal synopsis to help users quickly grasp the most important parts of a document. Users can personalize their experience by choosing from various voices, such as narrator, persuader, and coach, and can adjust the playback speed to suit their preferences.