Google Workspace Changes

Updating the access experience in Google Drive

Users can restrict access to their My Drive folders using the two options outlined below, and by 2026, we will simplify and align the restricted access principles for My Drive and shared drives.

general availability of this feature in shared drives and My Drive, which means that users can restrict access to their My Drive folders

For shared drives, folders with limited access allow users to organize files by project, in a single shared drive or shared folder, while ensuring that sensitive information is only accessible to the right team members.

Updates to Drive's public API to support expansive access behavior.

Google is introducing improvements to the Drive public API to make it easier for developers to adopt new access changes. Developers are recommended to opt into the expansive access API behavior in My Drive before February 2026, when these changes will be enforced for all users, to ensure their applications continue to function correctly.

General availability of limited access folders in My Drive and shared drives.

Google Drive now allows shared drive managers and My Drive owners to restrict folder access to specific users, ensuring sensitive information is only accessible to the right team members. This feature allows for better organization of files by project within a single shared drive. By 2026, Google will further simplify and align restricted access principles across both My Drive and shared drives, moving toward a consistent 'limited access folder' setting.

Admins to transfer OneDrive data to Google Drive

You can migrate the files of up to 100 users at a time, including the files corresponding access permissions with shared members.

Expanding Google AI to more of Google Workspace

Summarize multiple documents, generate insights on a specific topic, help you find files, and more.

Local files now sync to Google Drive faster

Drive for desktop will now upload only the parts of the file that changed

Local files now sync to Google Drive faster via differential uploads

Google Drive for desktop now supports differential uploads, meaning that when large files are edited, only the modified portions of the file are uploaded rather than the entire file. This update significantly increases the speed of Drive syncs for all Google Workspace customers, Individual Subscribers, and personal account users.

Enhanced IRM for Google Drive DLP now applies to all users, including file writers and owners.

Google is expanding its Information Rights Management (IRM) capabilities within Google Drive's Data Loss Prevention (DLP) rules. Previously, IRM restrictions—which prevent downloading, printing, and copying—only applied to users with viewer or commenter roles. Now, administrators can apply these restrictions to all users, including file writers and owners, ensuring sensitive content is protected from data exfiltration regardless of the user's role. When applied to editors or owners, they can still copy and paste content, but only within the same document.

Mobile scans are now crisper and clearer with auto enhancements in the Google Drive scanner

Drive’s document scanner will digitize paper documents into higher quality images much faster

Introducing instant video playback after uploads in Google Drive

Google Drive now allows users to watch videos immediately after uploading them to the web version, eliminating the previous wait time for processing while still ensuring the video is fully processed in the background.

Mobile scans are now crisper and clearer with auto enhancements in the Google Drive scanner

The Google Drive document scanner on Android devices now includes auto enhancement to digitize paper documents into higher quality images more quickly. This feature performs actions such as white balance correction, shadow removal, contrast enrichment, auto sharpening, and light improvement.

you can now focus your Gemini conversations in Drive to a specific Drive folder using the side panel.

you can now focus your Gemini conversations in Drive to a specific Drive folder using the side panel. For example, after indicating a specific folder via an @-mention, you can ask Gemini to find files in the folder or write a summary of the folder’s content.

Gemini in the Google Drive side panel now supports focusing conversations on specific folders.

Users can now focus their Gemini conversations in the Google Drive side panel on a specific folder to find files or summarize content. This can be achieved by @-mentioning a folder, dragging and dropping a folder into the side panel, or using the 'Summarize this folder' and 'Ask Gemini' options from the context menu or selection toolbar. Gemini supports analyzing text documents, PDFs, spreadsheets, and presentations within these folders.

Request electronic signatures on PDF files stored in Google Drive.

Google Drive now supports requesting electronic signatures on PDF files, allowing users to capture signatures and custom fields—such as phone number, job title, and company—directly within the Workspace environment. This expands the existing eSignature capabilities previously available in Google Docs to include PDF files stored in Drive.