Google Workspace Update: February 2025

Google Workspace Update Summary - February 2025

The summary of essential information about new features and improvements for Google Workspace customers in February 2025

Calendar

⭐ Know who an event is shared with when using shared Google Calendars

Users can have one of the following access permissions for shared Google Calendars: 

• “See only free/busy (hide details)” 
• “See all event details” 
• “Make changes to events” 
• “Make changes and manage sharing” 
• Read more

Availability: Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts

  Chat

⭐ Developers can now add form field validation to Google Workspace add-ons and Google Chat app cards

Workspace add-ons and Chat app developers can add client-side input validation to Chat apps and add-ons. Read more.

Availability: Available to all Google Workspace customers

⭐ Create and vote on polls directly in Google Chat

In order to provide users with an easy way to gather feedback directly in their Google Chat conversations, we’re introducing a new Poll app. Read more.

Availability: Available to all Google Workspace customers that have enabled Chat apps in their domain, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts

Docs

⭐ Improving the cover images experience in Google Docs

Last year, we made it easier for you to personalize and differentiate documents with full-bleed cover images that extend from one edge of your document to the other. Since then, many users have added cover images to help set the tone for a document, and today we’re announcing the few updates. In addition to the “Choose from stock images” and “Upload from computer”, insertion options, users can now add images via: 

• Searching the web 
• Uploading from Drive 
• Importing from Google Photos 
• Pasting a URL
• Read more

Availability: Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts

Drive

⭐ Easily migrate files from Microsoft OneDrive to Google Drive

You can migrate the files of up to 100 users at a time, including the files corresponding access permissions with shared members. 
With the general availability release, we’ve also added additional settings which admins can use to: 

• Specify files to migrate within a certain date range.
• Exclude specific file formats and large files. 
• Skip uploading an identity map and allow Google to automatically map source and target users instead. 
• Read more

• Business Starter, Standard, and Plus
  
• Enterprise Standard and Plus
  
• Education Fundamentals, Standard, Plus, and the Teaching and Learning add-on
  
• Essentials Starter and Essentials
  
• Enterprise Essentials and Enterprise Essentials Plus
  
• Nonprofits
  

⭐ Updating the access experience in Google Drive

Today, we’re excited to announce the general availability of this feature in shared drives and My Drive, which means that users can restrict access to their My Drive folders using the two options outlined below, and by 2026, we will simplify and align the restricted access principles for My Drive and shared drives. Read more.

Availability: Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts

⭐ Enhancing video navigation and accessibility with Google Drive video transcripts

Starting today, Drive users can now view and search transcripts for their videos. The transcript appears in a sidebar next to the video player and highlights the currently spoken text. Read more.

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

Gmail

⭐ Data classification labels in Gmail are now available on all Android and iOS devices

In November 2024, we launched an open beta for data classification labels in Gmail. Beginning today, data classification labels will be available when using the Gmail app on mobile Android and iOS devices. Expanding data classification labels to mobile enables organizations to protect their data whether their users are sharing and accessing information from desktop devices or from mobile devices in the field or on-the-go. Read more.

Availability: The Label Manager and manual classification is available to Google Workspace:

• Frontline Starter and Standard
  
• Business Standard and Plus
  
• Enterprise Standard and Plus
  
• Education Standard and Education Plus
  
• Essentials, Enterprise Essentials, and Enterprise Essentials Plus
  
  

Meet

⭐ Google Meet adds more screen reader options for in-meeting reactions

To improve access for users with vision disabilities, we are adding several more options for how reactions in Google Meet are experienced through screen readers. Read more.

Availability: Available for Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google accounts

Sheets

⭐ Easily convert data to people chips and update chip format in Google Sheets

Similar to the functionality in Google Sheets that helps you easily convert data to dropdown chips, you can now use bulk chip conversion for people chips. Read more.

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

Source: https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com