U-M Google Updates

Google has made a significant change to the way secondary calendars in Google Calendar are managed and owned. A secondary calendar is any calendar you create or that someone else creates and shares with you. These differ from your primary calendar and any resource calendars you may manage, which currently remain unaffected by this change. (Refer to the ITS Knowledge Base if you’re unsure whether your calendar is a secondary or resource calendar.)

What’s changing?

• Secondary calendars now have a single, dedicated owner. Previously, secondary calendar ownership was managed using the “Make changes and manage sharing” permission.
  • Now, the calendar creator becomes the owner when a new secondary calendar is created.
  • Existing secondary calendars created before this change have had an owner assigned based on the existing calendar permissions.
    • Based on our testing, the individual who created the calendar and had the “Make changes and manage sharing” permission has been assigned as the owner.
    • However, Google has not informed us of how they determined ownership for existing calendars. This includes scenarios such as:
      • There were multiple individuals with the “Make changes and manage sharing” permission, and the creator is no longer shared on the calendar and/or no longer has an active U-M Google account.
      • No one shared on the calendar had the “Make changes and manage sharing” permission.
    • If you notice an owner is assigned incorrectly, reach out to the individual and ask them to transfer ownership to the appropriate person.
• You can now transfer ownership of secondary calendars to another individual at U-M.
  • Only the current calendar owner can transfer ownership.
  • Secondary calendars cannot be transferred to an external (non-UM) Google account. (They must have a U-M Google account with Calendar access.)
  • The individual must be shared on the calendar before you can transfer ownership to them. (They don’t need to have the “Make changes and manage sharing” permission.)
  • After you transfer the calendar to another owner, they will receive an email with a link. The new owner has 60 days to accept ownership, and you will remain the owner until they do so. If they never accept, you will remain the owner.
  • Once the new owner accepts the transfer, your permission level for the calendar automatically changes to “Make changes and manage sharing.”

Refer to the ITS Knowledge Base for more information on transferring ownership of secondary calendars.

Google has announced two changes to how restricted sharing permissions are handled in Google Drive. These updates, which build upon the new "limited access" folder feature from earlier this year, are designed to simplify permission management within shared folders.

What’s changing?

• Individuals with permission to restrict access on a parent shared folder will no longer see the “Update item only”/ “Remove from item” options.
  • These options would previously appear when:
    • You changed a collaborator's role on a file to something different than what their role is on the parent folder, such as changing it from Editor to Viewer (“Update item only” option).
    • You unshared/removed access to a file from someone who is shared on the parent folder (“Remove from item” option).
• Moving forward, an individual’s permissions on the parent shared folder will always cascade down to every file and folder within it. The only situation in which this wouldn’t occur is if you create a limited access folder and restrict their access to the files within it.
  • Pre-existing files that you updated before this change won’t update their permissions to match the parent, even if you move them within the shared folder.
  • Google has stated that they will apply limited access permissions to pre-existing files in 2026. We will provide additional communications closer to when that change occurs and as we know more from Google.

• Files with the “Allow editors to change permissions and share” setting turned OFF will be updated.
  • As of September 22, when a file has this setting turned off and the owner moves it into a shared folder, any changes made to the parent shared folder’s permissions afterward will also be applied to the file. (Previously, those changes were only applied if the file owner was the one making the folder permission change.)
    • This ensures that the folder's permissions control the access for everything it contains, even when this setting is turned off at the file level.
  • Beginning October 8, Google will automatically apply limited access to individual files that have this setting turned off. The file owner will still be the only person who can share these files. Limited access will not be applied to files that turn the setting off after October 8.
    • Note: You can’t apply limited access to an individual file yourself. Only Google can do this as part of system-wide permission upgrades like this one. If you’d like to apply limited access to an individual file after October 8, follow Google’s guidance on moving it to a limited access folder.
    • According to Google, when they automatically apply limited access to an individual file within a shared folder, it remains hidden from people with access to that shared folder. The automatic change doesn’t change who can access the file.

Refer to the Google Help Center to learn more about limiting access to folders in My Drive and shared drives. Refer to Best Practices for Sharing in Google Drive for other tips on sharing at U-M.

Updates

Chat

• Mark a thread as unread

  You can now mark threads as unread in Chat messages. Previously, you could only mark messages in the main conversation stream as unread. Learn more about marking a thread as read/unread.

Drive

• New alert badge when accessing externally-owned or shared files

  A badge now displays on Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files when the file is owned by or shared with someone external to U-M Google. You'll also see a pop-up with more details and the option to report the externally-owned file for abuse (if applicable). These alerts help you identify potentially harmful files and when to be cautious when sharing confidential information in external files.

  

• Granular control options for who can respond to existing Forms

  Last year, Google upgraded Forms to give you more granular control over who can access and respond to them. At the time, this only applied to newly created forms. In August 2025, Google automatically upgraded all existing forms to the new controls. The upgraded experience is now similar to how you normally share Google files with external individuals. Learn more about publishing and sharing forms with responders.

  One major change is that you could previously restrict responses to “trusted domains” (i.e., University of Michigan). This capability was phased out on September 8 as part of the upgrade. Responders from trusted domains can no longer access or submit responses to these forms. You must review the sharing settings in your upgraded forms to ensure responders regain access if you used the “trusted domains” feature.

• Restrict printing, copying, and downloading abilities of editors

  File owners and shared drive Managers can now apply printing, copying, and downloading restrictions to collaborators with edit permissions. (Editors still retain their editing abilities.) Previously, they could only apply this restriction to viewers and commenters. Learn more about restricting permissions for collaborators in Drive.

• Send feedback directly to Form owners 

  Form responders can now contact form owners directly by clicking Help and feedback at the bottom of a form and selecting Contact form owner. Learn more about contacting form owners.

• Search for embedded content in Sites

  When you perform a search, the results will also include content from within embedded files, such as Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and PDFs. Previously, searching on a site only showed results from the text directly on the pages. Learn more about searching for embedded content in Sites.

• Refreshed user interface in Google Drive for desktop app

  The Drive for desktop app will now display important information, such as sync activity, notifications, shared files, and more in a single view. Learn more about the Google Drive for desktop redesign.

  

• Video engagement insights in Drive

  You can view the total number of times a video is opened under a new Analytics section within the Details panel. To view the new Analytics section, open the video in Drive > click the three-dot menu > click Details > locate the "Analytics" section.

• Thumbnail previews on video progress bars in Drive

  Similar to YouTube, you can now view thumbnail previews when hovering over the video’s progress bar in Drive. This feature is only available for newly uploaded videos.

• Arrow keys move an object by a pixel distance in Slides

  Using the arrow keys to “nudge” an object in a Slides presentation will now move it by one pixel. If you want to move the object a larger distance, press Shift + arrow key.

Gemini & NotebookLM

• Create quizzes in Gemini

  You can generate quizzes for any subject in the Gemini app by uploading relevant documents or entering a prompt like “Give me a practice quiz about the nervous system.” Based on the uploaded files or prompt, Gemini will generate interactive quizzes, featuring multiple-choice or true-or-false questions. Once you’ve completed the quiz, you’ll see an overall score, accuracy breakdown, and insights regarding areas of improvement and where to focus your study efforts. Learn more about creating quizzes in Gemini.

• New study tools in Gemini

  You can now use Gemini to create flashcards and study guides, and customize the number of questions and question types in generated quizzes. Gemini will now automatically integrate visuals and YouTube videos into its responses. Finally, you can utilize the new “Guided Learning” feature, which walks you through subjects step-by-step. Learn more about Guided Learning and the other study tools in Gemini.

  

• Create illustrated storybooks in Gemini

  You can now use Gemini to craft personalized, illustrated storybooks about any topic with read-aloud narration.

• Video Overviews and upgrades to the Studio panel in NotebookLM

  Like Audio Overviews, you can now turn your notebooks and their sources into Video Overviews that are narrated by an AI voice. You have the option to customize your Video Overview by specifying topics to focus on, indicating your learning goals, describing the target audience, and more. Relatedly, you can now generate multiple Audio Overviews in a single notebook and shareable links to content, such as Audio Overviews and Video Overviews. Learn more about Video Overviews in NotebookLM.

• Introducing Gemini Live

  Gemini Live is a conversational feature available in the Gemini mobile app. With Live, you can talk naturally with Gemini, asking it questions, brainstorming ideas, and more. You can even share your live camera view to ask questions about your surroundings. (As with other Gemini features, your interactions are not human-reviewed or used to train Google’s AI models, as long as you are using your U-M Google account to access the app.) Learn more about using Gemini Live.

• Incorporate information from Calendar, Tasks, and Keep in your conversations with Gemini Live

  You can now reference Calendar, Tasks, and Keep in your conversations with Gemini Live. Examples include asking Gemini about upcoming meetings on your Calendar, specific notes in Keep, or upcoming Tasks. To reference Calendar, Tasks, and Keep in conversations, the “Google Workspace apps” app must be enabled in your Gemini settings.

Mail

• Link your Calendar booking pages when composing emails

  By clicking the Calendar icon at the bottom of your email draft in Gmail, you can view a list of existing booking pages (i.e., appointment schedules) and an option to create a new booking page. Once a booking page is selected, it will be automatically inserted into the email draft. Learn more about appointment schedules and booking pages in Calendar.

Meet

• Customizable caption styling

  You can now customize the styling of captions in Meet, including the font size, font type, color, and background color. You can customize captions during the meeting by hovering over them or going to Settings > Captions > Customize your captions. Your settings will persist across your meetings and can be changed at any time.

• New host management control for who can ask to join a meeting

  Meeting hosts can now control who can request to join a meeting. This option is available when the meeting access type is “Trusted” or “Restricted” and can be configured:

  • From the Calendar invite: Go to Video call options (gear icon) > Host controls > Meeting access type. When “Trusted” or “Restricted” is selected, you can uncheck the “Anyone with the meeting link can ask to join" box.
  • During the meeting: Go to Host controls (lock icon) > Meeting access type. You can uncheck the “Anyone with the meeting link can ask to join” box.

  Learn more about controlling access to Meet sessions.

Previously Communicated

None!

Updates

Google Chat

• Real-time markdown styling and code formatting 

Markdown styling and code formatting will now be applied in real time while composing Chat messages. Previously, formatting would only be applied after the message was sent. Learn more about using markdown and code formatting in Chat.

Google Drive

• Accessibility tags for tables, equations, and checkboxes in PDFs exported from Docs

Building upon Google’s structural and accessibility tagging additions in PDFs exported from Docs last year, they have now introduced accessibility tags for tables, equations, and checkboxes.

• Advanced formatting for tables in Sheets

You can now toggle on/off gridlines, alternating colors, condense view, and the option to add a footer to tables in Sheets. Within a table, click the down arrow next to the table title and hover over Table formatting in the drop-down menu to find and adjust the new settings.

• Add multiple people chips in one Sheets cell 

You can convert cells with multiple emails in one cell to people chips. Learn more about inserting smart chips in your Sheets.

• New sidebar with design elements in Slides

Google has added a new right sidebar to Slides that allows you to explore and insert a variety of design elements quickly. These elements include:

• Building blocks: A new library of pre-formatted pieces of content, such as agendas, quotes, or key statistics. These blocks, which function similarly to building blocks in Docs, are composed of native Slides elements and can be de-grouped and customized once inserted into your slide.
• Stock images: Access millions of high-quality stock images in an expanded library of web images, stickers, and GIFs.
• Templates: Modern, professionally-designed Slides templates.

Learn more about using templates and building blocks in Slides.

• More high-quality Slides templates

Google has added even more Slides templates for you to use and customize.

Google Meet

• Improved dynamic layout features

Google added several new redesigns and features for customizing your Meet session with “dynamic layouts.”

• “Portrait tiles” prioritize faces by cropping out excess background video
• Optimized tile placement logic to enable much more efficient layouts that minimize unused space
• Visual design refresh, including color-sampled tile theming for participants with their cameras off
• Larger room tiles in the grid when ‘Dynamic tiles’ is not active
• More flexibility around how tiles are cropped, including self-view
• Increased video pin limit from three to six

These updates are currently only available for Meet sessions on the web. Learn more about dynamic layouts in Meet. (Note that U-M Google does not have access to the dynamic tiles and face match features listed in the article.)

Previously Communicated

• New “limited access” sharing experience in Google My Drive and shared drives
• Introducing Grackle: New accessibility add-ons for Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides
• Introducing Google Gemini and NotebookLM

We’re excited to announce that Google’s generative AI services, Gemini and NotebookLM, are now available for use with your U-M Google account.

What are they?

• Gemini: Generative AI chat app that can be used to create new content and images, help brainstorm ideas, draft or summarize writing, explore complex topics, and assist with research and creative work.
• NotebookLM: AI-powered research and note-taking assistant using Google’s Gemini models. NotebookLM lets you upload your own sources, such as documents, PDFs, and Google Docs, and interact with them through summaries, questions, audio overviews, and AI-assisted exploration.
  • It’s especially helpful for synthesizing large amounts of information across uploaded materials.

How do I access them?

Both services are available to all active U-M faculty, staff, and students on the Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint campuses, and Michigan Medicine.

Gemini

• You can access Gemini via the web app at https://gemini.google.com or the mobile app (Android and iOS) while logged in to your U-M Google account.
• You can connect and use some Google Workspace services within the Gemini web app.
• You cannot access the Gemini service integrations available within Drive, Gmail, Calendar, etc.

NotebookLM

• You can access NotebookLM via the web at https://notebooklm.google.com while logged in to your U-M Google account.
• The mobile app for Android and iOS is expected to be released on May 20.

Note: Google does not display the U-M logo beside your profile picture in Gemini or NotebookLM as they do in other Google services. Ensure you are logged into your U-M Google account when accessing them.

Privacy & security

• Gemini and NotebookLM are considered Core Services and approved for use with the same types of sensitive data as your U-M Google account.
• Your interactions, chats, uploaded files and sources, and generated content are not human-reviewed or used to train Google’s AI models, as long as you use your U-M Google account to access the apps. This information remains in U-M Google and is not shared externally with third parties.
• Within NotebookLM specifically, chat responses and audio overviews only use data from the sources you upload.
  • When using audio overviews in interactive mode, your voice and transcribed interactions with the AI hosts will not be stored.
• You can view your Gemini Apps Activity at any time. Your conversation history is retained for 18 months.

Refer to Using the Gemini App and Using NotebookLM for detailed information on each service and its available features/functionality. Refer to the ITS AI Services site for more general information on Google Gemini and NotebookLM at U-M.