This official feed from the Google Workspace team provides essential information about new features and improvements for Google Workspace customers.
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Prepare for the SAT with full-length practice tests in Gemini

Standardized tests are often a critical component of the college application process. To support high school and college prep students during these critical milestones, we’re launching practice tests in Gemini: full-length, on-demand practice exams available at no cost. | Learn more about preparing for the SAT with full-length practice tests in Gemini.

New admin controls for "Take notes for me" sharing settings in Google Meet

We are introducing two new admin settings to give you more control over how meeting notes generated by "Take notes for me" are shared within your organization. These settings allow you to: Set a default sharing value: Choose who should receive access to the Take notes for me document and the recap email by default. | Learn more about new admin controls for the 'Take notes for me' sharing settings in Google Meet.

Better time suggestions for meeting with your colleagues using Gemini in Google Calendar

Google Calendar now uses Gemini to find the perfect meeting time faster. Whether scheduling or rescheduling, it analyzes colleagues’ availability, time zones, and conflicts to suggest the best options automatically. | Learn more about improved time suggestions for meeting with your colleagues using Gemini in Google Calendar.

Take your notebooks further by adding NotebookLM as a source in the Gemini app

Starting today, Workspace users can now add notebooks from NotebookLM as a source in the Gemini app. This will provide deeper, more relevant responses that are grounded in the sources in your notebook. | Learn more about taking your notebooks further by adding NotebookLM as a source in the Gemini app.

Calendar event color labels now also accessible to users with “Make changes to events” permission

Google Calendar offers event color labels for events on your primary calendar, which help users to visually organize their meetings and categorize them with Time Insights. Currently, color labels are only visible to users who have “Make changes to events and manage sharing” permissions for a primary calendar. | Learn more about how Calendar event color labels are now also accessible to users with 'Make changes to events' permission.

Record audio, video, and screencasts directly in Google Classroom

Starting today, we're bringing audio, video, and screencast recording functionality to Google Classroom. This new functionality is designed to help transform teaching and learning through multimodality, improving communication, intake, and retention for learners. | Learn more about recording audio, video, and screencasts directly in Google Classroom.

All Google Forms will now have granular controls over who can respond

We’re excited to announce that we will now automatically upgrade all existing forms to have granular controls over who can respond. When forms are upgraded, all users who could previously respond to the form will continue to be able to respond. | Learn more about how all Google Forms will now have granular controls over who can respond.

The announcements above were published on the Workspace Updates blog over the last week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.
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Last year, we announced that form creators can upgrade their existing forms to have granular controls over who can respond to those forms via sharing settings.  Specifically, form creators can limit response access to specific users, groups, or target audiences, similar to how file owners can restrict the sharing of Google Docs, Sheets, Slides or Sites files in Drive. 

We’re excited to announce that we will now automatically upgrade all existing forms to have granular controls over who can respond. When forms are upgraded, all users who could previously respond to the form will continue to be able to respond. Once the upgrade is complete, form creators can make changes to who can respond using the new granular controls, if desired. The form will remain available to receive new responses while  it is being upgraded.


Form creators can control who can respond to existing forms by sharing to specific users or groups

Getting started

  • Admins:  There is no admin control for this feature.
  • End users: Form creators can share their forms with specific individuals or groups. Visit Help Center to learn more.

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts
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Starting today, we're bringing audio, video, and screencast recording functionality to Google Classroom. This new functionality is designed to help transform teaching and learning through multimodality, improving communication, intake, and retention for learners.

Now, teachers and students (when permitted) will see a record button where they can initiate, record, and post audio, video, or screencasts without ever leaving Classroom.

This new recording feature will be available in several key areas:

  • Private comments: Teachers can provide personalized, faster, and friendlier feedback to students on their submissions. For example, teachers helping students with language acquisition can share pronunciation and fluency feedback, and educators of technical subjects can walk students through complex material line-by-line using their voice and screen.
  • Announcements and posts: Teachers can record audio and/or video announcements to improve engagement and connection with students. Students can also use this recording option for announcements if allowed by the teacher's controls.
  • Assignments: Teachers can record instructions for assignments, quiz assignments, materials, and questions, boosting clarity through multimodal instruction. This helps provide a pathway for every student to access instructions and content.
  • Submissions: Students can record and submit multimodal responses to assignments, quiz assignments, and questions. This allows students to show what they know in multiple and accessible ways, which can help close learning gaps and check student understanding in new ways.
This update integrates audio, video, and screencast recording directly into Classroom workflows. 

For teachers, this feature can help solve pain points like the time-consuming task of typing up feedback and a lack of personalization in typed messages, allowing them to leave feedback that is faster and more impactful. For students, it can help improve the comprehension and digestibility of feedback and helps them feel more connected and motivated. Ultimately, audio, video, and screen recording in Classroom enhances communication for real improvements to teaching and learning.

Getting started

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
  • End users: Students must have permission to post in Google Classroom in order to use this feature for announcements and posts. Visit the Help Center to learn more. Teachers and students will be able to initiate audio, video, and screencast recording in Google Classroom on web only.

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Google Workspace Education Plus and the Teaching and Learning add-on
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Google Calendar offers event color labels for events on your primary calendar, which help users to visually organize their meetings and categorize them with Time Insights. Currently, color labels are only visible to users who have “Make changes to events and manage sharing” permissions for a primary calendar. 

Starting February 27, 2026, we are expanding this to include users who have  “Make changes to events” permissions. Currently, these users are only able to see the colors, not the labels — which made color categorizing events harder.

Getting started

  • Admins: There is no additional 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 Standard, Plus
  • Enterprise Starter, Standard, and Plus
  • Education Fundamentals, Standard, Plus
  • Nonprofits
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Starting today, Workspace users can now add notebooks from NotebookLM as a source in the Gemini app. This will provide deeper, more relevant responses that are grounded in the sources in your notebook. This functionality is already available to consumers, and we’re excited to share that it is now expanding to Enterprise and Education users of all ages. 

NotebookLM is a powerful tool for synthesizing information from vast document collections, including PDFs, Google Docs, and more, all with clear, citable sources. By adding notebooks directly into Gemini, users can seamlessly build upon this deep, specific knowledge base and get more relevant responses with the full power of Gemini’s advanced conversational and content-creation capabilities.

Try asking Gemini to:

  • Create content based on your notebook
  • Add a notebook to a Gem 
  • Use other Gemini tools (like Canvas, Veo, Guided Learning, or Deep Research) based on the contents of your notebook



Getting started

Admins: Notebooks as a source within Gemini is determined by the NotebookLM service setting within the Admin Console and is not controlled by the Gemini app service setting. NotebookLM must be turned on in order for end users to access this feature in Gemini. Visit the Help Center to learn more. 

  • Note: When using NotebookLM features within the Gemini app, that usage is subject to NotebookLM's compliance certifications. These may differ from the certifications held by the Gemini app. Please review the specific compliance certifications for both NotebookLM and Gemini to understand the coverage for your organization. Learn more in the Generative AI in Google Workspace Privacy Hub.
End users: Add your NotebookLM notebook(s) to a chat in Gemini by selecting NotebookLM via the “+” button in the prompt box. Users must have access to NotebookLM turned on by their admin to access this feature. Visit the Help Center to learn more.

Rollout pace

Availability

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

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.

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