This official feed from the Google Workspace team provides essential information about new features and improvements for Google Workspace customers.


Finding critical information on the go often involves sifting through lengthy email threads and switching between multiple messages while your hands are busy commuting or multi-tasking. Following our initial rollout of conversational AI voice capabilities, we are bringing Gmail Live to Google Workspace customers on mobile (Android and iOS). Using our latest Gemini models, Gmail Live delivers a low-latency, inbox-aware voice search experience that lets you ask questions naturally and hear synthesized answers directly from your email inbox. We’ve included sources for users to easily view the emails where the information is being pulled, as well as the following improvements:

  • See where the information is coming from: An email source card is now surfaced prominently at every conversational turn.
  • Ability to pick the voice of your choice: You can now pick your preferred voice directly from Gmail Live.

Common use cases include:

  • “What is the order status for Black Forest Construction Supply?”
  • “When is my next mandatory training due?”
  • “Show me the latest update from my manager, John.”
  • “What gate is my flight leaving from tomorrow?”

Getting started

  • Admins: This feature will be ON by default for organizations with Gemini in Workspace access and respects existing smart features and personalization admin settings. Visit the Help Center to learn more.
  • End users: On supported iOS and Android devices, tap the Live entry point in the Gmail search bar to begin a voice session. First-time users will be prompted to grant microphone access. Visit the Help Center to learn more.

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Business: Business Starter, Standard, and Plus
  • Enterprise: Enterprise Starter, Standard, and Plus
  • Frontline: Frontline Plus
  • Nonprofits: Google Workspace for Nonprofits
  • Add-ons: Gemini Business, Gemini Enterprise, AI Expanded Access, and AI Ultra Access
  • Education Add-ons: Google AI Pro for Education
  • Consumer: Google AI Plus, Pro, and Ultra

Note that this feature is currently only available to users in the US with EN-US as their language.

Resources

Earlier this year, we launched AI Inbox in Gmail which helps users catch up on what matters most. Starting today, we’re expanding AI Inbox to paid Google Workspace users. By highlighting key actionable to-do’s and summarizing priority work updates across your emails, AI Inbox makes it easier to stay on top of daily business workflows.

AI Inbox’s core capabilities:

  • Suggested to-dos: Automatically extracts action items, deliverables, and deadlines embedded within email conversations. Teams and business leaders gain clear visibility into critical follow-ups without manual note-taking or scanning through dense threads.
  • Topics to catch up on: Delivers clear, context-rich summaries of your most important topics, across multi-message threads and rapid back-and-forth discussions. Users can reference this section to get caught up on the latest key decisions and status changes.

Getting started

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
  • End users: Eligible users can access AI Inbox directly within the Gmail desktop client or mobile app menu. Use our Help Center to learn more about AI Inbox.

Availability

  • Business: Business Starter, Standard, and Plus
  • Enterprise: Enterprise Starter, Standard, and Plus
  • Education: AI Pro for Education
  • Other Editions: Frontline Plus

Note that this feature is currently only available to users in the US with EN-US as their language.

Rollout pace

Note: AI Inbox will rollout later to Starter and Education editions in the coming months.

Resources

Client-side encryption (CSE) gives organizations ultimate control over who can access their most confidential data, using customer-managed encryption keys that render the data unreadable to unauthorized third parties, including Google. Google Drive now supports previewing CSE files directly within Drive. Previously, users had to download encrypted non-native files to their local devices in order to see the contents. With this capability, authorized users can preview encrypted content instantly in their web browser without ever leaving Drive.

The feature improves productivity and strengthens security by removing the need for unnecessary downloads. At launch, previewing is available only in Drive, and only for:

  • Encrypted PDF documents
  • Encrypted image file formats

Getting started

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
  • End users: This feature will be on by default. Visit the Help Center to learn more.

Rollout pace

Availability

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

Resources

As previously announced, skills in the Gemini app are starting to roll out today, with an expected completion by mid-November. In the coming weeks, we’ll also introduce critical features like the ability to share Gemini app skills and an integration with Google Drive. We’ll post on the Workspace Updates blog as soon as those capabilities start rolling out.

We also want to share an update on the rollout of skills in Workspace. We previously shared that the launch to Rapid Release would be complete by October 12, 2026, and the rollout to Scheduled Release would begin on October 19, 2026. While we work to ensure skills in Workspace launch in a safe and reliable manner, those rollouts are slightly delayed. We will share the updated timeline here as soon as it’s confirmed. 

Getting started

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Skills in the Gemini app
    • Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google accounts
  • Skills in Workspace
    • Business: Business Starter, Standard, and Plus
    • Enterprise: Enterprise Starter, Standard, and Plus
    • Education Add-ons: Google AI Pro for Education
    • Other Add-ons: AI Expanded Access

Note that skills in Workspace are available only to users over age 18; skills in the Gemini app will be available to users of all ages.

Resources

You can now switch from watching a Google Meet live stream to participating with audio and video directly on Android. This feature is available for viewers who have been invited to both the live stream and the main meeting.

While watching a live stream on Android, you can switch roles using the meeting title, the live streaming badge, or the info button in the overflow menu. This in-app workflow eliminates the need to reopen join links or switch apps.

Existing meeting access permissions and domain policies apply, ensuring only authorized participants can join with media. Only eligible viewers will see the entry points, protecting the integrity of the meeting or event.

Role switching is already available for Meet clients on iOS and web.





Getting Started

  • Admins: There are no administrator controls for this feature.
  • End users: While watching a live stream on an Android device, eligible viewers will see an option to transition directly into the main meeting room as an active contributor.

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts

Resources

We are introducing next steps in Google Meet. Powered by Gemini and Workspace Studio, our new capability allows users to automate repetitive post-meeting tasks directly within Google Workspace. Next steps help you transform meeting discussions into definitive actions, like drafting follow-up emails in Gmail or exporting action items to Google Tasks.

During busy work days, meetings are frequently just one part of an expanding workflow. Without the right integrations, capturing decisions and executing on follow-up tasks requires manual data entry that leads to context fragmentation and wasted time.

On your post-meeting screen, look for the section titled, “Routines for this meeting,”  where you can enable next steps with one tap. “Take notes for me” must be enabled during the meeting for any next steps to appear. This works for both one-off or recurring meetings, and users can enable a specific next step across all of their meetings (when “Take notes for me” is turned on).

We are starting out with just two routine next steps, draft a follow-up email and add action items to Google Tasks. However, there are several more soon on the way, so be on the lookout!



Draft a followup email or export your action items to Google Tasks on the Google Meet post-call page after a one-off meeting


You can also complete your next steps after a recurring meeting

Getting started

  • Admins: This feature will be ON by default and can be disabled at the domain/OU/group level via the Workspace Studio Admin settings or the Take Notes for Me setting. Visit the Help Center to learn more.
  • End users: This feature is available to users when "Take notes for me" is enabled. Users can manage their routine next steps from the Meet post-call screen or in the Workspace Studio Flows library once turned on for the first time in Google Meet. Visit the Help Center to learn more.

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Business: Business Standard and Plus
  • Enterprise: Enterprise Standard and Plus
  • Education Add-ons: Google AI Pro for Education

Resources

We’re introducing Assured Controls rules in the Google Workspace Admin Console, giving administrators a more granular, resource-centric way to enforce Access Management and Access Approvals policies on Google Drive files.

Previously, Access Management and Access Approvals policies could only be scoped at the user level, applying broadly to all covered data owned by users within a selected Organizational Unit (OU) or group. With Assured Controls rules, admins can now configure both Access Management and Access Approvals policies together in a single unified rule and target specific Google Drive files using classification labels in addition to existing OU and group-based scoping capabilities.

By scoping Assured Controls policies to specific classification labels, organizations can reserve their strictest sovereign and compliance controls for only their most sensitive files while maintaining standard, rapid support workflows for less sensitive business data.

How organizations can use Assured Controls rules:

  • Automated end-to-end protection with Data Loss Prevention (DLP): Admins can combine data protection rules with Assured Controls rules to automatically apply Access Approvals and Access Management policies based on Drive file contents. A DLP rule can automatically apply a classification label when sensitive content (such as Personally Identifiable Information, financial records, or regulated project identifiers) is detected in a Drive file, which then automatically triggers the corresponding Assured Controls rule using that label as a condition to enforce Access Management and Access Approvals protections.
  • Regional data sovereignty across multinational teams: Multinational enterprises can apply regional classification labels (such as EU Restricted or U.S. Restricted) to Drive files and restrict access to EU or US support staff based on the contents of the file itself.
  • Targeted compliance for regulated workloads: Public sector and financial services organizations can apply a classification label (such as CJIS / IRS 1075) to sensitive Drive files and use an Assured Controls rule to restrict support actions on those files to CJIS-authorized and IRS 1075-authorized individuals while simultaneously requiring explicit Access Approvals—without impacting support speed for unclassified files owned by the same users.

Getting started

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Access Approvals rule-based enforcement: Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus and Frontline Plus customers with the Assured Controls or Assured Controls Plus add-on.
  • Access Management rule-based enforcement: Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus and Frontline Plus customers with the Assured Controls Plus add on.

Resources

Calls in Google Meet will use post-quantum cryptography (PQC) for extra protection, starting now with laptop web clients and meeting room hardware, with mobile support coming soon. There are no visible changes, and you can continue using Meet normally. The updated encryption protects your data against potential future quantum computer threats.

The expansion of PQC to all Meet calls will help to secure infrastructure and services against the potential threat of a future cryptographically relevant quantum computer. No such computer exists today; however this change helps protect today's Meet traffic from the theoretical risk of being harvested and decrypted by a future quantum computer, an approach commonly referred to as Store Now, Decrypt Later.

Google Meet has used quantum-safe encryption previously for client-side encrypted calls (CSE).

Google automatically implements all necessary updates to benefit all Meet hosts and participants. Administrators and end users don't need to take any action.

Getting started

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts

Resources

Secondary calendars will now follow the lifecycle of their owner

As announced earlier this year, we are now rolling out the secondary calendar lifecycle changes for non-personal Workspace accounts: secondary calendars will now follow the lifecycle of their owner, meaning that when a user account is deleted, any secondary calendars owned by that user will be deleted as well. | Learn more.

Preview, edit and collaborate on Markdown (.md) files natively across Drive and Docs

We are introducing the ability to view, edit, and collaborate on Markdown (.md or .markdown) files directly in Google Docs, as well as view rendered previews in Google Drive. | Learn more.

Use stock charts in Sheets to better visualize price movements

Google Sheets now supports new types of stock charts, making it easier to visualize price movement over time. Stock charts condense several price points for each time period into a single marker, so you can read a security's full trading range at a glance rather than interpreting separate line series. | Learn more.

Create Trello cards from Google Chat messages with Trello for Google Workspace

Trello for Google Workspace makes it easy to capture tasks and ideas from the conversations where they begin. With the app, you can create new Trello cards from emails and Google Chat messages, helping you keep Trello up to date without switching tabs or breaking your flow. | Learn more.

Point-in-time editing now available in Google Vids

Google Vids is improving the video creation experience with the introduction of point-in-time editing. This feature will help ensure that the canvas matches the video timeline 1:1. Previously, the canvas displayed all elements present across an entire scene all at the same time, regardless of when they appeared during the video. | Learn more.

Carrier Link for Google Voice available in 14 additional countries

In June, we launched Carrier Link in 20 countries where Google Voice service was not otherwise available. Today, we are making Carrier Link available in an additional 14 countries (the US, Canada, and much of Europe).  Previously, customers in these countries could purchase Google Voice with a first party calling plan provided by Google. Now, customers who want the simplicity and features of Google Voice, but would prefer to use it in combination with a calling plan purchased from a local carrier can do so. | Learn more.

New logic and search steps in Workspace Studio help expand automation capabilities

We are introducing several new feature enhancements to Google Workspace Studio as part of the October 2026 feature release. These additions expand automation capabilities across Gmail, Google Meet, Google Drive, and custom control logic, giving users more flexibility to build sophisticated workflows without writing code. | Learn more.

The announcements above were published on the Workspace Updates blog over the last week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.

We are introducing several new feature enhancements to Google Workspace Studio as part of the October 2026 feature release. These additions expand automation capabilities across Gmail, Google Meet, Google Drive, and custom control logic, giving users more flexibility to build sophisticated workflows without writing code.

Specifically, this release includes:

  • Nested Conditionals: Enables nested branching logic within flows so users can build multi-layered conditional decision paths.



  • Gmail Skip Replies: Allows users to configure Gmail thread triggers to ignore follow-up replies, ensuring flows trigger only on primary incoming emails.



  • Meet Calendar Outputs: Expands the Google Meet primitive to output additional Calendar event metadata—including full invitee lists—and provides template support for generating post-meeting follow-up email drafts.
  • Search for a Doc: Introduces a dedicated Google Drive step that allows flows to search dynamically for relevant document files based on search parameters.



These enhancements eliminate repetitive follow-up tasks, allow dynamic document lookup, and provide more control over automated communication across Google Workspace.

Getting started

  • Admins: Feature controls inherit overall Workspace Studio domain and OU-level policies. Admin settings for prerequisite primitives ramped prior to feature deployment. Visit the Help Center to learn more.
  • End users: Features are ON by default and accessible directly within the Workspace Studio flow builder. Visit the Help Center to learn more.

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers and Workspace Individual subscribers with access to Google Workspace Studio.

Resources

In June, we launched Carrier Link in 20 countries where Google Voice service was not otherwise available. Today, we are making Carrier Link available in an additional 14 countries (the US, Canada, and much of Europe).  Previously, customers in these countries could purchase Google Voice with a first party calling plan provided by Google. Now, customers who want the simplicity and features of Google Voice, but would prefer to use it in combination with a calling plan purchased from a local carrier can do so.

Our partners Southlight Services, Gamma Communications, Tata Communications & Telefonica Global Solutions have collaborated with Google Voice to offer these services in these countries.

Carrier Link allows Workspace customers to easily add phone numbers and calling plans from a certified local carrier, leveraging a pre-configured multi-tenant implementation of SIP Link.

This simplifies the process of setting up a cloud phone system, allowing customers to make and receive calls with payment handled by their local carrier and minimal configuration. Carrier Link is especially helpful for small businesses that want a reliable connection without the hassle of setting up their own hardware.

Getting started

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Available to Workspace customers with Google Voice Starter, Google Voice Standard, or Google Voice Premier subscriptions

Resources

Google Vids is improving the video creation experience with the introduction of point-in-time editing. This feature will help ensure that the canvas matches the video timeline 1:1. Previously, the canvas displayed all elements present across an entire scene all at the same time, regardless of when they appeared during the video. With this update, when a user is editing, they will see exactly what appears in the video at that specific timestamp, eliminating visual clutter from overlapping text boxes, stickers, and images.

This update simplifies the creation process by providing a true "what you see is what you get" editing workflow. Key improvements include:

  • Synchronized canvas display: The editing canvas dynamically updates as you scrub or move through the timeline, showing only the active elements at that exact moment.
  • Enhanced timeline interaction: Editors can click directly on object tracks within the timeline to move the playhead to that point.
  • Simplified scene management: Users no longer need to split scenes into smaller segments simply to manage multiple timed objects, making it easier to build multi-layered content like captions, lower thirds, and media overlays.

Point-in-time editing is the default behavior across all Google Vids sessions and requires no action from administrators. This streamlined experience will help users create polished video content more efficiently without managing overlapping elements.



Point-in-time editing in Google Vids

Getting started

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
  • End users: There is no end user setting for this feature. Visit the Help Center to learn more.

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Business: Business Starter, Standard, Plus and Base
  • Enterprise: Enterprise Starter, Standard, and Plus
  • Education: Education Fundamentals, Standard, and Plus
  • Consumer: Google AI Plus and Ultra
  • Other Editions: Frontline Starter, Standard, and Plus; Essentials Starter, Enterprise Essentials, and Enterprise Essentials Plus; Individual; Nonprofits
  • Education Add-ons: Google AI Pro for Education; Teaching and Learning
  • Other Add-ons: AI Expanded Access

Resources

Trello for Google Workspace makes it easy to capture tasks and ideas from the conversations where they begin. With the app, you can create new Trello cards from emails and Google Chat messages, helping you keep Trello up to date without switching tabs or breaking your flow.

The refreshed app replaces and builds on the Trello for Gmail experience and adds the ability to create new cards from Google Chat. Existing Trello for Gmail users can continue using the app without reinstalling or reauthorizing it. To create cards from Google Chat, add Trello for Google Workspace to a Chat space or direct message and follow the sign-in prompt.


Getting started

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google accounts. Requires a Trello account to use.

Resources

Google Sheets now supports new types of stock charts, making it easier to visualize price movement over time. Stock charts condense several price points for each time period into a single marker, so you can read a security's full trading range at a glance rather than interpreting separate line series. Users can create and customize the following stock chart types:

  • High-Low-Close (HLC): plots the highest price, lowest price, and closing price for each period, showing both the trading range and where the period settled
  • Open-High-Low-Close (OHLC): adds the opening price, so you can see the full session in one marker and immediately tell whether the period closed up or down

Both types are built for the workflows financial analysts already run in Sheets, from tracking equities and commodities to building valuation models on historical price data.

Sheets stock chart support also comes with enhanced Microsoft Excel import compatibility. Previously, importing Excel files containing stock charts into Sheets would result in these charts being dropped entirely, forcing analysts to rebuild them manually. Now, HLC and OHLC stock charts are accurately preserved when moving files between Excel and Sheets.



User creating a stock chart in Google Sheets

Getting started

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google accounts

Resources

We are introducing the ability to view, edit, and collaborate on Markdown (.md or .markdown) files directly in Google Docs, as well as view rendered previews in Google Drive.

Markdown is a standard text format widely used by Large Language Models (LLMs) to preserve structured content, like tables, headers, and bulleted lists, without the bulk of heavy file formats. Previously, you needed to import and convert Markdown files into a Doc format, which often altered formatting, stripped comments, and fragmented files.

Now that users can handle markdown files natively in Google Docs, they can open, edit, and collaborate on markdown files without changing the file type. Editing Markdown files in Docs also enables both users and agents to collaborate without forcing anyone to write raw syntax, handle manual file conversions, or give up Docs' real-time editing and commenting tools.

Drive also now supports rendered markdown, so you can view fully formatted, beautiful documents with clickable links and structured tables right in Drive.


Getting started

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
  • End users: There is no end user setting for this feature. Visit the Help Center to learn more.

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google accounts

Resources

As announced earlier this year, we are now rolling out the secondary calendar lifecycle changes for non-personal Workspace accounts: secondary calendars will now follow the lifecycle of their owner, meaning that when a user account is deleted, any secondary calendars owned by that user will be deleted as well. Similarly, when a user is suspended, their owned secondary calendars will be suspended as well. This matches the behavior of primary calendars. To preserve a secondary calendar, ownership must be transferred to a new user before the original owner's account is deleted or suspended.

This update strengthens organizational data governance by ensuring that every secondary calendar is tied to a valid owner that determines organizational settings and policies applying to the data.

Getting started

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers and Workspace Individual subscribers

Resources

Create more natural, expressive AI voiceovers in Google Vids with upgraded Gemini 3.8 Flash Lite TTS

We are upgrading the underlying text-to-speech (TTS) engine powering AI voiceovers and avatar narration in Google Vids to the latest Gemini 3.8 Flash Lite TTS model. | Learn more.

Introducing skills in the Gemini app and Workspace, plus what’s next for Gems

We recently introduced skills—reusable prompts that guide Gemini—in the Gemini app and Google Workspace. Over the coming weeks, skills will roll out to Workspace users and eventually replace Gems as the tool for tailoring instructions for specific tasks. | Learn more.

Customize the style of your captions in Google Vids

Captions in Google Vids are now fully customizable. Until now, captions came in a set style. You can now change their font and typography, where they sit on screen, and how they animate, so they match your brand or the look of your video. | Learn more.

Programmatic comment and suggestion support now available in the Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides APIs

Developers can now programmatically create, read, and manage comments across Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides using their respective developer APIs. In Google Docs, this update also introduces API support for suggested edits, allowing automated tools and third-party systems to propose document revisions for user review rather than altering content directly. | Learn more.

Simple setup option for Workspace Client-side encryption

We are introducing a new option which can make the initial setup of Google Workspace Client-side encryption (CSE) significantly easier and faster for admins. | Learn more.

Find your learning tools all in one place with the student hub in Gemini

We recently announced a new, dedicated hub in the Gemini app to help get students started with all of Gemini's learning tools. Initially available in personal accounts, the Gemini student hub is now available to Google Workspace for Education users of all ages. | Learn more.

Built-in interoperability between Google Meet and Microsoft Teams on Android (AOSP) devices, now generally available

We are making video conferencing device interoperability between Google Meet and Microsoft Teams generally available. It was previously available in preview. | Learn more.

The announcements above were published on the Workspace Updates blog over the last week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.

We are making video conferencing device interoperability between Google Meet and Microsoft Teams generally available. It was previously available in preview. This launch will enable you to:

  • Join Microsoft Teams meetings from Android (AOSP)-based Google Meet hardware devices.
  • Join Google Meet meetings from Android (AOSP)-based Microsoft Teams Rooms devices.

See our early preview announcement for more details.

Getting started

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers with Google Meet hardware devices running Android/AOSP 

Resources

We recently announced a new, dedicated hub in the Gemini app to help get students started with all of Gemini's learning tools. Initially available in personal accounts, the Gemini student hub is now available to Google Workspace for Education users of all ages. The hub helps keep students organized; they can start a study notebook, create flashcards, take a practice quiz, and more. As Gemini creates more learning tools, you’ll find them in the student hub.

Getting started

  • Admins: The Gemini app and related in-app tools are controlled by the Generative AI settings in the Workspace Admin console. The Gemini student hub is subject to these existing controls. Visit the Help Center for more information on turning the Gemini app on or off.
  • End users: There is no end user setting for this feature. To get started, visit gemini.google.com/students or select Students in the Gemini app menu.

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers and Workspace Individual subscribers outside of the European Economic Area (EEA), and users with personal Google accounts globally

Resources

We are introducing a new option which can make the initial setup of Google Workspace Client-side encryption (CSE) significantly easier and faster for admins.

CSE now supports a simple setup path in the Admin console which can help customers get up and running with CSE in minutes. By combining Cloud HSM Keys with Google Identity, we have automated much of the setup flow which could be time consuming.  In a few clicks, admins can set up and deploy CSE, reducing the time to live and allowing customers to use their existing GCP resources to add CSE protection to your most sensitive data.

Customers use Client-side encryption across Workspace applications to encrypt emails, files, meetings and events, to comply with sovereignty and compliance regulations from HIPAA to ITAR. With Client-side encryption, data is encrypted by customer keys before it ever reaches Google servers, making the customer the sole arbiter of their data. Previously, this privacy control required deep technical knowledge to set up  a third-party key service and configure an identity provider. With simple setup, admins from enterprise to small businesses can start encrypting their important data within minutes.

For admins who require more custom configurations leveraging third-party key services, that option is also still available via the standard CSE setup process.


Getting started

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Enterprise: Enterprise Plus with the Assured Controls or Assured Controls Plus add-on

Resources