U-M Google Updates

The ability to record Google Meet sessions ends Jan. 10

12/14/2021

In spring 2020, Google announced that they would offer their Google Meet premium recording feature for free to assist educational institutions in their transition to remote learning. According to Google, all U-M Google users will lose access to the premium recording feature in Google Meet on January 10, 2022.

Any previously recorded meetings will remain in Google Drive unless the file owner deletes them, and you will still be able to view recordings.

If you are interested in recording meetings after January 10, check out U-M Zoom, which allows you to record meetings and download recordings. Refer to Record Meetings in Zoom and Save to Cloud or Local Computer for more information.

Update: Extended classic Google Sites retirement timeline

11/19/2021

On November 16, 2021, Google announced an updated timeline for their retirement of classic Google Sites that extends the previous dates to summer 2022. Your ability to edit classic Google Sites now ends on June 1, 2022 (previously December 1, 2021), and Google will begin deactivating those sites on July 1, 2022 (previously January 1, 2022).

Nevertheless, you should still convert your classic Google Sites to new Google Sites as soon as possible. The longer you wait to make the transition, the greater the possibility for data loss when Google begins the deactivations. If you currently own a classic Google Site, refer to Convert Your Classic Google Sites to New Sites for more information on how to convert your classic Sites to new Sites.

Caution: Key classic Google Sites features and functionality are still missing in new Google Sites. As a result, the conversion process is not one-to-one, and it will likely break parts of your site. Until Google brings these key features over to new Sites, you will need to adjust your sites accordingly post-conversion. Visit the Google Sites Help Center to learn more about what to expect when you convert a classic Site to a new Site.

Additional Resources

Set aside time for focus in Google Calendar

11/10/2021

Google has announced a new Google Calendar entry type called “focus time.” Focus time allows you to block out time on your calendar for heads-down individual work or other focus-related activities. Similar to the “out of office” event type, focus time has a different appearance (displays a headphones icon) on your calendar and includes the option to automatically decline conflicting events.

Google Calendar event with focus time Google Calendar focus time event block

Visit the Google Help Center to learn more about using focus time in Google Calendar.

According to Google, this feature began showing up in U-M Google on November 3, 2021 but could take 15 days or longer to become fully visible.

U-M Google October Monthly Summary

11/9/2021

The monthly U-M Google summaries inform the university community of new Google releases and previously communicated updates.

Updates:

Google Meet hosts can now share hosting privileges with up to 25 meeting participants by granting them host controls in the People panel while in the meeting. Learn more about adding co-hosts in Google Meet.

Animated GIF, Google Meet session, cursor is in the People tab and is making a participant a co-host.

Google Meet on the web now automatically detects when a user appears underexposed and enhances the brightness to improve their visibility. Learn more about turning Light Adjustment on or off for your account.

You can now quickly filter email and search results on Android mobile devices to find the specific email or information for which you’re looking. The search filters can be found below the search box in the Gmail for Android app.

Within a Google Calendar event on web or mobile, you can now select the Chat icon next to the guest list to create a group chat containing all event participants. Note that this only applies to participants within U-M Google, external attendees are not included in the group chat. 

Guest section on a Google Calendar event, red box around new "Chat with guests" icon.

You can now add image watermarks directly into Google Docs. This watermark image will repeat behind the text on every page of your document. Additionally, image watermarks are preserved when importing or exporting documents from Microsoft Word. Learn more about adding image watermarks in Docs.

Animated GIF, Google Docs, cursor opens new insert watermark section from the toolbar at the top, adds logo as watermark.

Google has added a new “card” to the New Tab Page in your Chrome browser that will show you relevant, high-priority files from your Google Drive. You can deactivate the card by clicking the Customize Chrome button in the bottom right of the New Tab Page.

Google has renamed the Present button in Google Slides to “Slideshow.”

New Google Slides Slideshow button.

You can now find and view additional information about people in U-M Google, your Google Contacts, and more across additional Google Workspace products, including Google Chat, Calendar, Docs, Sheets, and Slides. This information includes: contact information, work location, whether you’ve received email from them before, and more. Click Open Detailed View while hovering over a user’s information card, or select the Contacts icon in the right-side panel. This feature is already available for Gmail.

Google Contacts will now include additional information about people in U-M Google. This information includes the user’s local time, working hours, and shared files.

You can now mark a Google Chat direct or Space message as read or unread on mobile and on the web. Hover over the message and click the mark as unread icon. Learn more about marking messages as unread in Chat.

  • Drive for desktop support for Apple silicon (M1) devices now available

Google has implemented full support for Google Drive for desktop on Apple silicon (M1) devices.

Previously Communicated:

Create meeting notes in Google Calendar

11/8/2021

Google has released a new feature in Google Calendar which allows you to create and share a meeting notes document right from a Calendar event. Creating a notes document from Calendar will automatically populate the document with the event information and attach the document to the event. This feature is currently only available to meeting organizers or guests with permissions to modify the event in Calendar on the web.

Animated GIF, Google Calendar, cursor clicks Take meeting notes on event, Google Doc opens the notes template

There are two ways to use this feature:

  • While creating or editing an event, click the Create meeting notes button next to the attachment section to create a new document, which attaches to the event upon saving the changes. (The document will be automatically shared with the attendees, including external users, once you click Save.)
  • On an existing, scheduled event, clicking the Take meeting notes button will create the document, and immediately open it in a new tab, as well as attach it to the event. (The document will not be automatically shared with the attendees. You will need to click Share in the prompt that appears in the document.)

You can also add the same meeting notes template into any Google Doc by typing “@” in the document and clicking Meeting notes from the drop-down menu. You will still need to share and attach this document to the Calendar event.

Visit the Google Help Center to learn more about meeting notes in Calendar.

According to Google, this feature began showing up in U-M Google on October 19, 2021 but could take 15 days or longer to become fully visible.