Google Workspace Changes

Enhanced security and Information Rights Management (IRM) controls for Team Drives.

Google is enhancing Team Drives with new security controls, including Information Rights Management (IRM) to prevent users from printing, downloading, or copying files. Admins will also be able to modify settings to limit file access privileges specifically to Team Drive members or only to users within their domain.

Google Drive is improving the 'Shared with Me' section by intelligently organizing files by the people who shared them using AI.

Google Drive is updating the 'Shared with Me' section to help users find shared content more efficiently. The new interface uses artificial intelligence to predict the people and files a user is most likely to search for, organizing the section to make these predictions more visible. This update aims to streamline the process of finding files shared by specific collaborators.

Admins can now limit the bandwidth used by Drive File Stream.

Administrators now have the ability to limit the bandwidth of Drive File Stream for both uploads and downloads to manage network usage within their organization.

Admins can now customize the content cache location for Drive File Stream.

Administrators can now customize the content cache location for Drive File Stream to any directory on a connected APFS, HFS+, or NTFS file system.

End users can now pause Drive File Stream syncing.

End users now have the ability to pause Drive File Stream syncing. While paused, the application will not upload local changes to Google Drive, and new versions of files made available offline will not be downloaded.

Ability to email all members of a Team Drive.

Google is introducing a feature that allows users to email all members of a Team Drive to improve collaboration. Users can send emails either from the Team Drive's drop-down menu by selecting 'Email members' or from within a file in the Team Drive via the File menu's 'Email Collaborators' option. The tool allows users to customize the recipient list by filtering for members, guests, and specific access levels such as Full, Edit, Comment, and View.

Updated 'Can view' permissions for Microsoft Office files to allow viewing of comments.

Google Drive is updating the 'Can view' permission setting for Microsoft Office files. Users with 'Can view' access will now be able to see any comments added to MS Office files after the launch of this change, although they will remain unable to create new comments or reply to existing ones.

Comment on Microsoft Office files, PDFs, and images in Google Drive preview mode.

Google Drive now allows users to comment directly on Microsoft Office files (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), PDFs, and images within the preview pane without needing to convert them into Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides. This update introduces anchored comments—such as drawing rectangles on PDFs/images or selecting specific text and cells—and supports the importing and exporting of comments to and from the underlying OOXML and PDF files.

International language support for Google Drive integration with Slack

Google is launching international language support for the Google Drive integration with Slack. The Google Drive bot will now send messages and respond to users in French, Spanish, German, or Japanese, depending on the user's preferred language setting in Slack.

View Slack activity events within Google Drive

Google Drive is adding activity events that allow users to see when a file is shared or discussed within Slack. Specifically, the activity logs will now record when someone shares a Google Drive file in Slack or comments on a shared Google Drive file within Slack, provided the user has access to both the document and the Slack channel.

Pop-up notifications for Drive for Mac/PC users to transition to Drive File Stream starting January 30

Starting January 30, 2018, G Suite accounts still using the legacy Drive for Mac/PC client will begin seeing pop-up notifications providing instructions on how to install Drive File Stream, provided the domain allows the service and displays download links in the Drive interface.

Shutdown date for legacy Google Drive desktop sync client delayed to May 12, 2018

Google has delayed the complete shutdown of the legacy Google Drive desktop sync client for Mac and PC (Google Drive for Mac/PC) from March 12, 2018, to May 12, 2018. Enterprise organizations are encouraged to transition to Drive File Stream, while non-G Suite users are recommended to use Backup and Sync.

Search within a specific folder in Google Drive.

Users can now search for content within a specific folder in Google Drive by selecting the folder from the Location menu in the search bar or by right-clicking on a folder. This functionality is available for folders within My Drive or Team Drives; folders shared with the user must first be added to My Drive to be searchable.

Google introduces regular release notes for Drive File Stream and Backup and Sync.

Google is now publishing regular release notes for Drive File Stream and Backup and Sync on the Help Center. This allows users to keep track of additions and improvements made to each new version of these products, while major changes will continue to be announced on the G Suite Updates Blog.

Removal of the Google Photos tab from Google Drive navigation

Google Drive is simplifying its navigation by removing the Google Photos tab from the left-hand navigation menu. Users can continue to access their photos and videos within Drive by creating a Google Photos folder in My Drive, or by accessing Google Photos directly via the web, Android, or iOS apps.