This official feed from the Google Workspace team provides essential information about new features and improvements for Google Workspace customers.
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Admins can now access usage metrics for Google Meet within the organization-level Gemini reports dashboard, in the “Gemini usage per interaction” section. This update gives you visibility into the value your organization derives from Gemini in Meet.

Specifically, the reported metrics include:

  • Usage: The number of times where Gemini was actively used in meetings, such as usage for features like “Take notes for me” or “Ask Gemini in Meet”
  • Users: The number of unique users who actively used Gemini in meetings
Visit the Help Center for more information on active usage.


This update also ensures greater accuracy in active usage metrics for Google Meet. Given this, you may see updated metrics reported for 28D active users and overall usage of Meet. 

Getting started

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. Visit the Help Center to learn more about Gemini reports.
  • End users: There is no end user impact or action required.

Rollout pace

Availability

Available for Google Workspace:

  • Business Starter, Standard, and Plus
  • Enterprise Starter, Standard, and Plus
  • Essentials Starter, Enterprise Essentials, and Enterprise Essentials Plus
  • Frontline Starter, Standard, Plus
  • Individual
Also available to: 

  • Google AI Pro and Ultra
  • Google AI Ultra for Business add-on
  • Google AI Pro for Education add-on
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To make it easier to share information across different conversations, we’re introducing the ability to forward messages in Google Chat. This new feature  eliminates the need for manual workarounds such as  copying and pasting text or sharing screenshots.

This feature helps improve team collaboration through: 

  • Simplified sharing: Users can quickly share information between various direct messages and spaces, without clunky workflows.
  • Context preservation: Forwarded messages display the original sender, source, and any attachments instantly; recipients can view this content even if they are not members of the original conversation.
  • Enhanced visibility: Messages forwarded from a thread can be moved into the main conversation stream, ensuring they get necessary attention.

At this time, users cannot forward messages

  • From entirely internal conversations to conversations that include users from other organizations, and
  • From conversations that include users from external organizations to other conversations that include users from external organizations
Users can, however, forward messages from conversations with people outside their organization to conversations entirely with people inside their organization.
Note that when users forward a message from a DM or group DM, a reminder to protect sensitive information will appear.

Getting started

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
  • End users: To forward a message, select "Forward message" from the message action list and choose your target conversation. Visit the Help Center to learn more about message forwarding in Chat.

Rollout pace

Availability

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

Resources

  • Google Help: Forward a message in Google Chat
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What’s changing

We’re introducing more flexible control for administrators to reboot Google Meet hardware devices from the Admin console.

Previously, admins could only trigger an immediate reboot, which required careful timing to avoid disrupting ongoing meetings or device activity. Going forward, we are adding a “Reboot when idle” option. This feature gives admins the ability to reboot devices without worrying about interrupting users, as the system intelligently waits for the device to become inactive before initiating the restart.

The device is considered “in use” if it is:

  • Connected to a Google Meet, interoperability, or livestream call.
  • Presenting content via HDMI.
  • Engaged in an add-on activity (e.g., a whiteboard session).
Admins will now see two options when initiating a reboot:

  • Reboot when the device becomes idle: Queues the reboot to occur only when all user activity has ceased.
  • Reboot now, even if the device is in use: Forces an immediate reboot, overriding current activities.

Admins can now choose to wait for device inactivity before rebooting.

Getting started

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers with Google Meet hardware devices

Resources

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Google Meet is committed to helping organizations bridge the gap between distributed teams with hardware that is easy to deploy, manage, and use. Today, we’re excited to announce that Neat has joined the Google Meet hardware ecosystem as a certified partner, bringing more variety and specialized video conferencing technology to Google Workspace customers. Newly certified devices include:

  • Neat Bar Generation 2: A compact, all-in-one device optimized for huddle spaces and small to medium rooms
  • Neat Bar Pro: A high-performance solution for larger spaces, supporting multiple screens and advanced zoom capabilities
  • Neat Pad: A dedicated touch screen that serves as both a meeting controller and a room scheduling display
This new partnership expands our portfolio of certified devices, ensuring that IT teams have the flexibility to choose the hardware that best fits their unique office layouts while maintaining the native Google Meet experience users expect.

Getting started

  • Admins: Administrators do not need to take any action. If a Neat Bar Generation 2, Neat Bar Pro, or Neat Pad have been set up, it will automatically appear as a supported device within the admin console. Furthermore, these Neat devices will provide the same level of telemetry data as other AOSP-certified hardware.

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers with Google Meet hardware devices. Neat devices certified for Google Meet are available for purchase through Neat’s global sales channels and authorized resellers.

Resources

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Following our recent announcement regarding the improvements on secondary calendar management with dedicated owners, all secondary calendars you own will consistently be displayed in your calendar list in Google Calendar. Your calendar list is visible in your Calendar settings page. This change ensures that owners always have direct access to manage the settings, sharing permissions, and lifecycle of the calendars they are responsible for. 

Additional details

Owners can always access and manage their calendars through the Settings page, with the flexibility to pin them to their main view by selecting “Show in calendar list.” If you no longer wish to manage a specific calendar, you have the option to either delete it permanently for all subscribers or transfer ownership to someone else—allowing you to unsubscribe while ensuring the calendar remains active for the rest of the team.

To ensure a reliable product experience, we recommend limiting ownership to a maximum of 100 calendars per user. For accounts currently exceeding this threshold, calendars will be added to their list gradually to ensure stability and a smooth transition. For such cases we highly encourage you to review the calendar list and either delete or transfer any calendars beyond the 100-calendar limit.

If you use Apple Calendar to manage your Google Calendar, owned calendars may not sync automatically. To ensure they appear in your list, you can manually select and enable synchronization for specific calendars on this page.

Getting started

  • Admins: No action is required. This update will apply by default to all users.
  • End users: Users will see any previously missing owned calendars appear in their Calendar settings list starting on the dates listed below. For more information on managing these calendars, visit the Help Center. If you use Google Calendar with Apple Calendar, manage your sync preferences at calendar.google.com/calendar/syncselect.

Rollout pace

  • Users with personal Google accounts: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on January 19, 2026
  • Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on January 27, 2026

Availability

  • Impacts all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google accounts
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