Google Chat

Start group conversations more easily in Google Chat

You can now start a group conversation in the same way as a 1:1 conversation, by simply selecting all of the people you want to chat with. 

Find out more in our how-to video:

Refine search results in Google Chat with search chips

When you search for messages in Google Chat, you can now refine your results using search chips to add extra criteria.

Manage membership of spaces in a single screen

The new Manage Members screen in a hat space will show you all members currently in the space, as well as any members that have been invited but have not yet joined. You will also have access to chat spaces, where you can change the space from restricted to discoverable,  or vice versa, if you are a manager of the space. 

Do not disturb schedules in Google Chat

You can schedule time during which your chat status automatically shows as "do not disturb" at set times of the day e.g. at lunchtime from Monday to Friday.

Find out more in our how-to video:

Create custom emojis in Google Chat

If allowed by your Google Administrator, you can now create custom emojis in Google Chat which everyone in your organisation will be able to use. 

Find out more in our how-to video:

Reply to a message in an unthreaded chat space

If you have a chat space that has not been set up to allow separate threads for different topics, you can now reply to a specific message to create an inline conversation thread. Each message in the chat room can have any number of replies that can be viewed in a panel on the right-hand side of the screen.

Find out more in our how-to video:

View conversation summaries in Chat Spaces

When you click on a chat space, you will now see a summary of conversations that have been posted into the space since your last visit. You can use the summary to jump to a specific message, and you can close the summary once you have read it. 

Space managers can now remove chat spaces

You can now delete an entire chat space and all of its content if you are the manager of the space. Members will no longer be able to access the space, its files, space tasks, or the member list after the space has been deleted. 

Note that once you remove a chat space, it cannot be recovered.

Space managers can change access to existing spaces in Google Chat

If you are the manager of a Google Chat space, you will be able to change the access of an existing space by making it either restricted or discoverable.  This update means you will no longer need to recreate a chat space in order to change its access.

New size limit in chat spaces

The number of members that can be added to a Chat Space has increased from 400 to 8,000. 

Create personal tasks from Chat messages

In Google Chat, you can now create personal tasks from individual or group messages, You can then view these in Google Tasks or in the tasks add-on in Gmail or Google Calendar. 

Find out more in our how-to video:

Warning banners in Google Chat

In Google Chat, you’ll see banners warning against potential phishing and malware messages coming from users with personal Google Accounts. 

Additional calendar statuses in Google Chat

In addition to seeing when someone is out of the office as their status in Google Chat, you will now also be able to see when a colleague is in a meeting or in focus time, based on their Google Calendar activity. 

Create discoverable chat spaces for anyone in the organisation to join

As well as creating restricted spaces in Google Chat that only specific people will be able to join, you can now create spaces that you can share with anyone in your organisation to join via a link. 

Find out more in our how-to video:

Text formatting in Google Chat

You can now format text to bold, italics and underlining using the button to the right of the text box in Google Chat and Spaces. 

See when a message has been removed in Google Chat

You can remove any message you have submitted  in Google Chat by positioning the mouse over the message, clicking on the ellipses on the toolbar that appear, then on the Delete button.   

If you delete a message in an unthreaded Google Chat Space, a message and timestamp will be added to the conversation indicating the deletion. Note that when a message has been deleted, both the content and the replies are deleted. 

Changes to the way you add Workspace elements in Google Chat

If you wish to add a Google Drive document or Google Calendar invitation into a chat message, this is now done by clicking on the + icon to the left of the message box in both direct chats and spaces. 

Chat Spaces can now be deleted

Google Chat spaces can now be deleted - the owner of the space can remove it, after which the space and all messages inside the space will be removed for all members. 

Note: This feature is not available for Google Workspace editions that have Google Vault - it should have full availability for all Workspace editions in 2022. 

Mark messages as read or unread

You can now mark a Google Chat or Google Space message as read or unread.  Marking a message as unread can help remind you to return to it later in Chat.

In a Google Space with threaded conversations, you can mark a thread as unread starting from a specific message. 

Chat rooms are now Spaces

Google Chat Rooms are now called Spaces, a dedicated place to organize people, topics, and projects in Google Workspace.

Over the coming months, Spaces will be enhanced with a number of new features such as in-line topic threading, discoverable spaces, and enhanced user roles and moderation.

Add GIFs to chat messages

Google Chat integrates with Tenor to allow you to search for and add GIFs to your chat messages. Google Workspace administrators can choose whether to allow users to add GIFs or not. 

Find out more in our how-to video:

Run the Chat standalone app at startup

You can configure the Chat Progressive Web Application (PWA) to start automatically when you sign in to your computer. This can be done on your Windows, MAC OS or Linux computer.

• Browse to chrome://apps

• Right-click on Google Chat 

• Choose Start app when you sign in

Chat suggestions based on your calendar

Previously, anyone that you have a calendar appointment scheduled with at the current time will appear at the top of your Chat list, to ensure you can easily send them a message if required. This has now been expanded to show groups based on everyone invited to the event. 

New Google Chat app interface

The Google Chat app interface has been updated to closer match the Chat facility in the integrated workspace of Gmail. You can now access files and tasks for chat rooms, and have quick access to Google Meet.

Find out more in our how-to video:

1:1 chat suggestions

Google Chat will recommend 1:1 chats based on the current meetings in your Google Calendar. 

If you have a meeting with someone in your Google Calendar, 10 minutes prior to the meeting, and 10 minutes after the meeting ends, a quick link to a 1:1 chat with that person will appear at the top of your Chat list. 

Chat notifications

The following notifications can be set for individual rooms in Google Chat: 

• Notify always: You’ll receive a notification for every message and new messages will be badged.

• Notify less: You’ll receive notifications and badges for direct mentions, @all mentions, and followed threads. Additionally, there is an option to be notified about new threads in threaded rooms.

• Notifications off: You will receive no notifications, but you’ll see a badge if you’re directly mentioned. 

Pin a Chat conversation or room

You can pin a chat conversation or chat room so that it always appears at the top of the list of conversations and rooms in the Gmail integrated workspace.

Find out more in our how-to video:

Add people to group conversations

You can add people to a group conversation in Google Chat, allowing them to see the entire conversation, including messages exchanged before they joined the conversation. 

When you add a new member to a group conversation, all members will see a message that announces the new member. 

Find out more in our how-to video:

Note that you won’t be able to add people to group conversations created before 3rd December, but you have the option to start a new chat with the same people and any additional members.

Read receipts on direct messages 

You can now see when the person you are chatting to in a direct 1:1 message has read a message - the avatar of the person you are chatting to will show to the right of the last message they’ve seen. 

Set your status as away 

As well as setting your status to “do not disturb”, you can now set yourself as “away” in Google Chat. This will show as offline to others, even when you’re active, helping you to focus solely on your work uninterrupted. 

Unthreaded chat rooms 

In Google Chat rooms, messages will be unthreaded by default, which means you will not be able to start new conversation threads, and all messages will appear in a single list. 

When you create a chat room, you can choose to use threaded replies if you wish to be able to split messages into conversations that can be followed as required.

New setting for conversation history in Google Chat

You can now start a Google Chat conversation with people outside of your organisation. This can be done by sending a direct message or adding them to a chat rooms with external members enabled. 

Chat with external contacts

You can now start a Google Chat conversation with people outside of your organisation. This can be done by sending a direct message or adding them to a chat rooms with external members enabled. 

New Google Chat standalone app

You can use the new Google Chat standalone app for a faster and more secure chat experience. 

You can now delete the conversation history of any 1:1 messages in Google Chat. Note that this will remove your copy of the conversation only - the history will still be available to the other person in the conversation. 

Google Chat now offers reply suggestions which work in the same way as in Gmail. When you receive a new message, click on the reply you wish to use, then click on Send, as demonstrated in the following animation.

The new Google Chat application is now available as a core service in Google Workspace. Google Chat can be used to chat directly with members of your organisation, to to create persistent chat rooms that people can view and contribute to in their own time. 

What our how-to video to find out more about Google Chat: