Google Workspace Changes

On-demand call recording is now available for Google Voice Starter plan users.

The Google Voice Starter plan now includes on-demand call recording, a feature previously available in Voice Standard and Premier plans. This allows end users to easily record important calls for various purposes such as future reference, training, or compliance. An intuitive record button will be integrated into the Google Voice interface during active calls, enhancing the utility of the Starter plan as a more complete telephony solution within Google Workspace.

Google Voice Starter now supports desk phones and analog telephone adapters.

Google Voice Starter plan is expanding its capabilities to include support for compatible desk phones and analog telephone adapters (ATAs). This enhancement offers greater flexibility for organizations using the Starter plan, enabling users to make and receive calls on traditional desk hardware according to their preference. This feature aligns the Starter plan more closely with the comprehensive solutions offered by Google Workspace.

Google Sheets now allows direct import of large .csv files to BigQuery for analysis.

Google Sheets has enhanced its capabilities by enabling users to directly import large .csv files into BigQuery for analysis. This new feature streamlines the workflow, allowing users to open and analyze massive datasets from Google Drive or via the Data > Data Connectors menu in Sheets. Once imported to BigQuery, users can leverage familiar Sheets features like charts, pivot tables, and formulas through Connected Sheets, significantly expediting the process from raw data to insights.

Google Meet users now have access to the full emoji library for reactions.

Google Meet users now have access to the full emoji library for reactions in Google Meet. Reactions allow users to engage with meeting content, share meaningful feedback or praise, and celebrate company culture using a wider range of emojis.

Google Drive now allows users to set sharing expirations for files and folders in shared drives and My Drive directly from the sharing dialog, enhancing security and organization.

Google Drive has introduced the ability to set expiration dates for shared files and folders directly within the sharing dialog, extending this functionality to both shared drives and My Drive. This update builds upon existing API capabilities and addresses a highly requested feature, simplifying access management for temporary collaborators. Users can now easily specify when access to a file or a folder (for Viewer role) should automatically revoke, eliminating manual cleanup and ensuring consistent expiration behavior across different Drive environments.

Inline threading is rolling out for direct messages and group direct messages in Google Chat, allowing users to reply in-thread to any message in direct conversations for better organization.

Inline threading, previously exclusive to Spaces, is now being introduced to direct messages (DMs) and group direct messages (gDMs) in Google Chat. This highly anticipated feature aims to streamline the Chat experience by enabling users to reply in-thread to individual messages in direct conversations, thereby enhancing conversation organization and reducing clutter in the main chat stream.

Redesigned Google Chat conversation header with simpler navigation and side panel for shared content and tasks.

Google Chat on the web is introducing a redesigned conversation header that offers a simpler, more consistent layout, making key tools more accessible. This update includes a new side panel for users to access shared files, links, media, and manage tasks directly within the conversation view, with options to adjust its width or expand to full-screen. The header now features icons for quick navigation to 'Shared', 'Tasks', 'Threads', and 'Board'.

Google Meet in-meeting messages will now be powered by and available in Google Chat, enabling continued conversations after meetings.

Starting November 10, 2025, Google Meet in-meeting messages will be integrated with Google Chat. This enhancement allows meeting attendees to continue discussions, share emojis, images, and files directly within Google Meet, with all content consolidated into Google Chat for easy post-meeting access to resources and conversation history. This aims to improve post-meeting follow-through and team productivity.

Improved Workday Google Chat app for managing time off, including requests, views, cancellations, and checking balances/holidays.

The Workday Google Chat app has been updated to provide a more streamlined experience for managing time off. This includes a single, improved flow that allows users to easily request, view, or cancel their time off requests. Additionally, the update introduces quick commands that enable users to check their time off balances and review company holidays directly within the Google Chat application, enhancing efficiency and user convenience for Workday users.

Added drill down functionality to Connected Sheets pivot tables for granular data access.

Users can now drill down into Connected Sheets pivot tables to immediately access granular data. By double-clicking a pivot table cell or using the "Show details" menu option, users can instantly create a pre-configured extract focused on the specific records contributing to the summary metric.

Doubled row capacity for Connected Sheets pivot tables backed by BigQuery.

The row capacity for pivot tables backed by BigQuery in Connected Sheets has been doubled from 100,000 to 200,000 rows. This enhancement allows users to analyze substantially larger BigQuery datasets within a single pivot table in Google Sheets.

Enhanced Admin audit log events with improved schema and event modeling for better clarity and detail.

Google is updating the schema and event modeling for several Admin audit log events, particularly those related to account security, Gmail, and Drive settings, as well as other admin-defined setting audit logs. These enhancements are designed to make the logs more comprehensible, detailed, and accurate. The changes include modifications to event names, event types, and the overall volume of the affected log events. While some legacy events may become redundant, both new and old events will remain available during the transition period to allow administrators to adjust their existing queries, alerts, and reports. This update significantly improves the depth of analysis possible for cybersecurity incident investigation and data usage understanding.

Google Meet introduces waiting rooms for hosts to control participant entry and manage meetings more effectively.

Google Meet is introducing a new waiting room feature that provides hosts and co-hosts with greater control over meeting entry. This feature allows participants to join a waiting room before entering the main call, enabling hosts to admit or deny entry, send one-way announcements, and even move existing participants back to the waiting room. This is designed to prevent interruptions, allow hosts to prepare, and ensure smoother, more productive discussions, especially useful for scenarios like board meetings or interviews.

Ask Gemini in Google Meet is rolling out to Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus domains, providing AI assistance for meeting summaries, key takeaways, and catching up on discussions.

The 'Ask Gemini in Meet' feature is now rolling out to Google Workspace Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus domains. This update brings the power of Gemini directly into Google Meet, acting as a personal assistant to enhance meeting productivity. Users can leverage Ask Gemini to summarize ongoing discussions, get recaps of what was said, identify key takeaways, decisions, and action items, and even catch up on missed content if they joined late and Gemini-powered note-taking was enabled. Interactions with Ask Gemini are private to the user, and it generates answers by referring to meeting captions, user-permitted Google Workspace resources, and public web content. Caption data is not stored post-meeting, and it does not generate meeting recordings or transcripts. Currently, only English meetings are supported, with more languages to follow. Ask Gemini in Meet is on by default but can be managed by meeting hosts and admins.

Educators can convert rubrics from files in Google Classroom with Gemini's help.

Educators can now use Gemini to quickly convert existing rubrics from Google Drive or local files for use in Google Classroom assignments. This new feature allows educators to select 'Convert from file' within the Rubric menu during assignment creation, automating the process of importing rubrics from various file types directly into Google Classroom, eliminating manual data entry. This feature is part of Gemini in Google Classroom and is available for education users over 18 in English.