Google Workspace Changes

New 'Locked' feature for Google Groups to prevent unauthorized changes.

Google Groups now offers a 'Locked' feature, enabling administrators to restrict modifications to group attributes such as name, email address, and memberships. This is particularly beneficial for organizations synchronizing groups from external identity systems like Entra ID, ensuring consistency and preventing discrepancies. The 'Locked' status helps maintain data integrity by limiting who can make critical changes within Google Workspace, while not affecting access or content moderation settings. Super Admins, Group Admins, and custom roles with specific privileges can manage this feature.

Deprecation of custom roles for managing and viewing members and the 'Entire organization' setting for member management in Google Groups.

Google Groups is deprecating custom roles for 'Who can manage members' and 'Who can view members' permissions, aiming to reduce complexity and increase consistency across Workspace products. Additionally, the ability to set 'Who can manage members' to 'Entire organization' will no longer be supported. Starting September 15, 2025, users will be unable to add new custom roles for these permissions or set 'Who can manage members' to 'Entire organization'. By January 5, 2026, existing custom roles for these permissions will no longer apply, and groups with 'Who can manage members' set to 'Entire organization' will have this updated to 'all members'. Admins and group owners are advised to review and adjust group settings.

Existing custom roles and "Entire organization" setting for managing Google Groups members will no longer apply.

Starting January 5, 2026, existing custom roles configured for "Who can manage members" and "Who can view members" in Google Groups will no longer be active. Additionally, if "Who can manage members" is currently set to "Entire organization", this setting will automatically update to "all members". Administrators and group owners are advised to review and adjust their group settings, reassigning affected users to default roles that align with their permissions, such as managers or owners, or expanding member management capabilities to all group members.

Upcoming changes to permissions for managing and viewing custom roles in Google Groups, deprecating specific custom role capabilities and the "Entire organization" setting for member management.

Google Groups is undergoing changes to its permissions system, specifically impacting "Who can manage members" and "Who can view members" settings. Starting September 15, 2025, the ability to add new custom roles for these permissions will be removed, and setting "Who can manage members" to "Entire organization" will no longer be supported. By January 5, 2026, any existing custom roles for these permissions will cease to apply, and groups with "Who can manage members" set to "Entire organization" will have this setting automatically updated to "all members". This aims to reduce complexity and increase consistency across Workspace products.