Google Workspace Updates: Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap

4 New updates

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are fully launched or in the process of rolling out (rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete), launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time (if not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete), and available to all Google Workspace customers.

Get more granular views of Google Slides with new zoom settings

You can now customize your views in Google Slides with new custom zoom settings that give you the ability to input your desired zoom percent or use the preset zoom percentages in the drop-down menu at the top of your presentation. | Learn more about zooming or changing your document view.

Expanding Google Drive log events to additional Google Workspace editions

Drive log events, a feature that enables admins to access an audit and investigation page to run searches related to Drive log events, is now available for Google Workspace Business Starter and Essentials Starter editions. | Learn more about Drive log events.

Expanding originality reports in Google Classroom to Microsoft Word files

Educators can now run Google Classroom originality reports on Microsoft Word files (.docx) to check their students' work for authenticity. The tool will identify uncited content and plagiarism by comparing a file against webpages and books on the internet. | Learn more about turning on originality reports.

Adding rich text formatting to comments in Google Classroom

Rich text formatting is now available for class and private comments in Google Classroom, enabling teachers and students to customize and add emphasis to their content. This highly requested feature includes bolding, underlining, italicizing, and bulleted lists. | Learn more about bold, italicize, and underline text.

Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.

Experience better collaboration in conference rooms with new support for whiteboard cameras on Google Meet Hardware

To improve upon the whiteboarding experience, provide better meeting inclusion, and foster greater collaboration, we’re excited to announce support for whiteboard cameras on Google Meet Hardware, with Logitech Scribe as the first supported camera. | Learn more about support for whiteboard cameras on Google Meet Hardware.

Use Directory Sync to replace the domain name for synced users

Using Directory Sync, admins can automatically replace the domain name for synced users and groups in their Google Cloud directory. This means synced Google users and groups can have a different domain name than the domain used in the external directory following a sync. | Learn more about replacing the domain name for synced users.

Add or remove client-side encryption from a Google Sheets and Google Slides files

You can now simply add or remove client-side encryption to existing spreadsheets in Google Sheets or presentations in Google Slides. This update gives you the flexibility to control encryption as your documents and projects evolve and progress. This feature is already available for Google Docs. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard and Education Plus customers only. | Learn more about client-side encryption in Sheets and Slides.

Improving table placements in Google Docs

We improved table positioning options for documents set in pages format. These features add more flexibility and control over the layout of text with tables in Docs. Learn more about table placements in Google Docs.

View more insights and take quick action via the Chrome Browser Cloud Management home card in the Admin console

In addition to the existing cards in the Admin console landing page such as “Users” or “Billing”, we’ve added a card for Chrome Browser Cloud Management. Here you can see quick stats, such as the number of enrolled browsers, and directly perform actions such as enrolling new browsers or managing Chrome extensions. | Learn more about the Chrome Browser Cloud Management home card.

Pull rich data from apps directly into Google Docs with third-party smart chips

We’re excited to share that third-party smart chips in Docs are now generally available for all users. Since introducing third-party smart chips, developers have been able to build app integrations. Several partners have already created smart chips so users can start embedding content from those apps directly into Docs. | Learn more about third-party smart chips in Google Docs.