This official feed from the Google Workspace team provides essential information about new features and improvements for Google Workspace customers.
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Introducing a fresh visual identity for Google Workspace app icons

We’re updating icons across Google Workspace to introduce a modern visual design that gives every app a more distinct identity. Over the next several weeks, users will see new icons for Gmail, Calendar, Chat, Meet, Drive, Docs, Slides, Sheets, Vids, Keep, Forms, Voice, Sites, and Tasks. | Learn more about the new fresh visual identity for Google Workspace app icons.

Simplify decision-making with Polly, now available for Google Chat

Making decisions in a fast-paced environment often leads to long, messy threads and lost consensus. Polly helps teams solve this by enabling the creation of interactive polls within existing Chat conversations. | Learn more about how to Simplify decision-making with Polly, now available for Google Chat.

Improvements to Out-of-Domain file-level warnings

We’re announcing improvements to our Out-of-Domain file-level warnings. First launched in April 2025, these badges alert users to documents and users outside of their Workspace organization, helping to prevent accidental data exfiltration and potential phishing attacks that spoof internal content. | Learn more about the improvements to Out-of-Domain file-level warnings.

Keep your sources up to date with automatic Drive syncing in NotebookLM

We’re making it easier to keep your sources and insights current in NotebookLM by enabling automatic syncing with Google Drive. Previously, if you uploaded a file in Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides, you’d have to manually update it in NotebookLM to see the changes. With this update, as the content in your Drive files evolves, the information within the notebook updates automatically to match. | Learn more about how to Keep your sources up to date with automatic Drive syncing in NotebookLM.

Gemini LTI Update: Include your LMS sources when using NotebookLM in Powerschool Schoology

When creating a notebook in Powerschool Schoology, Gemini LTI users can now add content directly from their course as sources. This integration allows educators and students to seamlessly bridge their course materials with AI-powered research and analysis, and generate Studio artifacts like Audio and Video Overviews, infographics, slide decks, and more based on their Schoology resources. | Learn more about how to include your LMS sources when using NotebookLM in Powerschool Schoology.

More granular admin controls for Workspace Studio steps and starters

We’re introducing more granular admin controls for Workspace Studio steps and starters. With these new controls, admins can define which steps and starters people in their organization can use to create flows, including by Workspace service or individually. | Learn more about more granular admin controls for Workspace Studio steps and starters.

Easily identify data irregularities with anomaly detection in Connected Sheets

You can now easily identify critical irregularities and outliers in your time-series data when using Connected Sheets to analyze BigQuery data sets from Google Sheets. Anomaly detection in Connected Sheets allows users to distinguish between expected trends and true outliers without requiring manual model training or complex SQL knowledge. | Learn more about how to easily identify data irregularities with anomaly detection in Connected Sheets.

Ask Gemini in Google Meet is becoming more easily accessible on web

We’re excited to announce that we’re making the feature more easily accessible by moving the Ask Gemini prompt box into the bottom left-hand corner of the Google Meet web interface. | Learn more about how ask Gemini in Google Meet is becoming more easily accessible on web.

Prevent account takeovers with Device Bound Session Credentials (DBSC), now generally available in the Chrome browser for Windows

Previously available in beta, Device Bound Session Credentials (DBSC) in the Chrome browser on Windows is now generally available and enabled by default for Google Workspace users. | Learn more about how to prevent account takeovers with Device Bound Session Credentials (DBSC), now generally available in the Chrome browser for Windows.

Share chats, canvases, and generated media from the Gemini app securely via Google Drive

We are introducing the ability for Workspace users on the web to share snapshots of their chats, canvases, and generated media in the Gemini app. | Learn more about how to share chats, canvases, and generated media from the Gemini app securely via Google Drive.

Google Chat external interoperability with Microsoft Teams via NextPlane OpenHub is now available 

Organizations often need to collaborate with customers, partners, and suppliers who use Microsoft Teams. NextPlane OpenHub was built to bridge this Google Chat and Microsoft Teams divide, and it is now launching external interoperability to allow communication across organizational boundaries. | Learn more about how Google Chat external interoperability with Microsoft Teams via NextPlane OpenHub is now available.

Available in beta: Convert your client-side encrypted Slides after a Vault or Takeout export

Admins can now bulk export client-side encrypted (CSE) Slides using Vault or Data Export (takeout), and then convert those exports into PowerPoint files. This allows your organization to retain complete ownership, access, and control of sensitive data in a highly portable format. | Learn more about how to Convert your client-side encrypted Slides after a Vault or Takeout export.

Keep track of student progress with learning standards and skills in Google Classroom

Google Classroom now allows educators to tag coursework and rubrics with learning goals, including specific learning standards and skills, providing a more structured way to monitor student growth. | Learn more about how to keep track of student progress with learning standards and skills in Google Classroom.
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Google Classroom now allows educators to tag coursework and rubrics with learning goals, including specific learning standards and skills, providing a more structured way to monitor student growth. When creating assignments, quiz assignments, questions, or materials, educators can search for available, established standards and skills or click on suggested goals, which use AI to analyze assignment and course content. By tagging coursework with these goals, teachers can view analytics that visualize student performance and identify instructional gaps across individual students, entire classes, or specific learning areas.

Learning standards from around the world are made available in Classroom through partnerships with 1EdTech and Common Good Learning Tools. These standard frameworks are pulled from Satchel Rosetta Exchange, a public space hosted by Common Good Learning Tools where anyone can browse various learning standard sets that leverage the 1EdTech® Competencies and Academic Standards Exchange® (CASE®) standard specification. Visit the Help Center to learn more about getting new standard sets added to Classroom.

This update enables systematic tracking for standards-based learning, offering several benefits across the school community:

  • For educators and leaders: Teachers can utilize data-driven student performance analytics to adjust instruction, while education leaders with Google Workspace for Education Plus can use the "Visit a class" feature to see how coursework aligns with required standards.
  • For students and guardians: Students and guardians can see the learning goals tagged on assignments, giving them clarity for how curriculum relates to required learning milestones and targeted skill growth.
  • Global availability: Classroom has a growing list of standards already available and periodically brings in new ones from the Satchel Rosetta Exchange. Learning standards are available in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Italy, and Australia. Learning skills are currently supported in a selection of languages including English, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, and Brazilian Portuguese.

Getting started

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
  • End users: There is no end user setting for this feature.

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Available in all courses owned by a Google Workspace customer, including Education Fundamentals, Standard, and Plus

Resources

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Admins can now bulk export client-side encrypted (CSE) Slides using Vault or Data Export (takeout), and then convert those exports into PowerPoint files. This allows your organization to retain complete ownership, access, and control of sensitive data in a highly portable format.

Eligible Google Workspace admins can sign up for the CSE Office Interop beta program, which provides immediate access to CSE compatible export, import, takeout and office editing features. Organizations who’ve previously signed up for the beta program should see this feature in their domains now.

Getting started

  • Admins: Admins with eligible Workspace licenses can sign up for the CSE Office Interop beta. We’ll provide more information on how to get started if you’re accepted.
  • End users: This launch has no impact on end users.

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Enterprise: Enterprise Plus
  • Education: Education Standard and Plus
  • Other Editions: Frontline Plus, Assured Controls, Assured Controls Plus

Resources

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Organizations often need to collaborate with customers, partners, and suppliers who use Microsoft Teams. NextPlane OpenHub was built to bridge this Google Chat and Microsoft Teams divide, and it is now launching external interoperability to allow communication across organizational boundaries. OpenHub directly connects Google Chat users to people on external Microsoft Teams tenants, making cross-platform collaboration more seamless.

This release supports external interoperability between Google Chat and Microsoft Teams, including presence, 1:1 chat, group chat, Channels and Spaces, file sharing, and meeting and call initiation. A single Google Workspace environment can connect to multiple external Microsoft Teams tenants via OpenHub, enabling cross-tenant collaboration through a single interoperability layer. OpenHub is designed to provide a familiar cross-platform collaboration experience without requiring all parties to use the same collaboration platform.

OpenHub is also designed to support enterprise governance and deployment requirements. It is deployed as a dedicated single-tenant service, can run in a customer-owned GCP project, and keeps customer data under customer control. It uses customer-managed identities and does not require fake user accounts, Nextplane-controlled user accounts, cross-tenant impersonation, or a proxy Teams tenant.

For Google Workspace admins and IT decision-makers, this can help reduce deployment friction through tightly scoped, auditable permissions aligned with customer best practices. Ongoing configuration and management are handled through the existing Google Admin console and Microsoft Teams admin center, without requiring a separate OpenHub administration console. This is especially important for Google Workspace customers working with external organizations, because it avoids imposing a separate portal or a new management process on customers, partners, and suppliers.

Examples of how this can be used include:

  • Collaborate with customers, partners, and suppliers who use Microsoft Teams
  • Support cross-Teams tenant collaboration from a single Google Workspace environment
  • Maintain cross-platform communication during multi-company projects, joint ventures, or extended partner workflows
  • Enable interoperability when domain validation requirements make internal interoperability difficult to deploy

Getting started

  • Admins: This feature requires administrator consent on both sides of the connection, and Workspace and Teams admins must register NextPlan OpenHub as an enterprise application with their respective platforms before use. Configuration is managed at the domain level through the Google Admin console and Microsoft Teams admin center. OpenHub does not require a separate administration console and is managed through existing platform controls. Visit the NextPlane site to learn more about connecting Teams and Workspace. 
  • End users: There is no end user setting for this feature.

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Business: Business Starter, Standard, and Plus
  • Enterprise: Enterprise Starter, Standard, and Plus
Note that separate NextPlane licensing is required to enable interoperability.

Resources

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We are introducing the ability for Workspace users on the web to share snapshots of their chats, canvases, and generated media in the Gemini app. Because this feature is powered by the same underlying technology as Google Drive, it uses the familiar, consistent sharing interface you already rely on for Google Docs and other files. You can still choose to allow conversation sharing via link.

With this update, members of your organization can easily share Gemini workflows and build on top of what others have created, scaling AI competency and collaboration across teams and enabling new ways for educators and students to teach and learn.

Getting started

  • Admins: This feature will be ON by default and can be managed via a new Admin console setting. Additionally, sharing is governed by your organization’s existing Drive sharing policies. If Drive content is set to be shareable outside the organization, your Gemini assets will be as well. Visit the Help Center to learn more.

  • End users: If enabled by your admin, you can share your Gemini conversations, canvases, and media from the web interface using the standard Drive sharing menu.

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers

Resources

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Useful Links

Join the official community for Google Workspace administrators

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Learn about more Google Workspace launches

On the “What’s new in Google Workspace?” Help Center page, learn about new products and features launching in Google Workspace, including smaller changes that haven’t been announced on the Google Workspace Updates blog.

Learn about our customers

Discover how a diverse range of organizations, from small businesses and nimble startups to globally recognized Fortune 500 corporations, leverage the collaborative power of Google Workspace. Explore examples of how teams of are streamlining workflows and driving productivity by utilizing Google-Workspace.