U-M Google Updates

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.

Classic Google Sites editing ends Dec. 1, convert to new Google Sites ASAP

11/3/2021

On May 15, 2021, Google ended classic Google Sites creation. Since then, new Google websites have only been created in new Google Sites. Beginning December 1, 2021, the ability to edit your remaining classic Sites will be turned off. This change includes the ability to update sharing permissions.

For further details on Google’s proposed timeline for classic Google Sites retirement, refer to Classic Google Sites Retirement Timeline.

We highly encourage you to begin converting 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 in 2022.

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 Google Sites to new Google Sites.

Additional resources:

U-M Google September Monthly Summary

11/1/2021

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

Updates:

This feature enables you to access embedded Microsoft Office files within your existing Office files from Docs, Sheets, and Slides. You can view the files in preview mode, copy an embedded file directly to Google Drive, or download it. Learn more about how to work with Office files using Office editing.

This feature enables you to mark non-Google file types, like PDFs, images, and Microsoft Office files, available offline when using Google Drive on the web. This feature is already available for Google Drive for desktop users. Learn more about enabling and using Google Drive files offline.

Now you can customize your form settings with a more visible Settings tab and an improved settings layout.

Animated GIF, Google Form, zoom in on Settings tab

In new Google Sites, you can now restore a specific page from version history. Previously, you could only restore an entire site. Learn more about deleting or restoring in new Google sites.

Google added a new settings panel in Google Meet for quick access to effects such as background blur and background images during Meet calls. Open the panel from the three-dot menu and select "Apply visual effects.” This panel will also be available before joining a call. Learn more about previewing how you look and sound before a Meet session.

Google has brought their new design schema, Material You, to Google Workspace apps on Android devices. Material You features an updated look and feel for your apps, along with additional options for personalization. 

There is an improved mobile viewing experience for Google Slides on iOS. You can now scroll through a vertical stream of slides, pinch to zoom to get a closer look, and easily switch between editing, presenting, or casting content. 

You can now mute all Meet participants at once from the Meet mobile app. Previously, you could only do this in Meet on the web. Note that meeting hosts and co-hosts are the only users in a meeting who can use the “mute all” feature. Once all participants are muted, hosts and co-hosts cannot unmute them. Learn more about muting participants in Google Meet.

Google has increased the comment size in Docs to a maximum of 50 characters. Comment width will intelligently scale based on your browser window to maximize the use of available screen space.

You can now replace your background with a video in Meet on Android. This feature is already available on Google Meet on web and iOS.

Previously Communicated: