Google Chat

What's New?

New in April 2025

Introducing the board tab in Google Chat

Google Chat now features virtual bulletin boards to organise important information. Users can pin messages, files and links for quick access, and utilise intelligent suggestions to find relevant resources.

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New in March 2025

Organise Google Chat conversations into sections

Google Chat now allows users to organise conversations into custom sections within the left-hand menu. Users can create, name, and rearrange these sections, as well as move conversations between them via drag and drop or menu options.

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New in February 2025

Create names for group direct messages in Google Chat

Users can now name group direct messages in Google Chat, allowing for easier management and quicker location of conversations. Named group DMs will still appear in the direct messages section and remain private to group members.

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Introducing huddles: instant-on, audio-first meetings in Google Chat

Huddles are audio-first meetings that allow for quick and easy real-time collaboration. You can seamlessly transition to a full Meet experience by adding video or screen sharing, all while multitasking in Chat. This provides flexibility for various collaborative scenarios, such as colleagues needing a quick sync on a project.

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New in December 2024

Improving out of office notifications in Google Chat group messages and spaces

If you navigate to a 1:1 direct message, group message or chat space that includes someone that is out of the office, you will see a banner to show who is out of office and the date they will be returning.

Improvements to mentions in Google Chat

When you @mention someone in a chat message, you will now be given the option of adding them to the chat space, or just sending the message without adding the new user.

New in November 2024

Easily respond to Drive comments and access requests in Google Chat

Using the Google Drive Chat app, you can now reply to or resolve comments in Docs, Sheets and Slides from within Chat. You can also choose access levels for share requests, see any mentions in Docs, Sheets and slides and block a sender from the Drive Chat if required.

Find out more in our how-to video:

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Send video messages in Google Chat

As well as sending voice messages in Google Chat, you can now record and send video messages in direct conversations or Chat Spaces. Video messages will be stored in the Media section of the Shared tab in Google Chat.

Find out more in our how-to video:

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New density setting in Google Chat

You can choose between Compact and Comfortable view in Google Chat. Compact view shows all messages aligned in the same direction, with Comfortable showing messages from you on the opposite side of the screen to other messages in the chat.

Respond to conversations without leaving the home view in Google Chat

The home screen in Google Chat now shows a split pane when you click on a message, allowing you to expand the conversation and reply without leaving the home screen.

New in October 2024

Transcriptions now available for voice messages in Google Chat

Users will be able to see an automatic transcription of voice messages in direct messages and spaces in Google Chat. This update enables content consumption in a user’s preferred format or the format that is most convenient at that particular moment.

New in September 2024

Access shared files in direct chats in Google Chat

In Chat Spaces, there is a Shared tab that you can use to access shared files quickly and easily. This has now been extended to direct chat conversations, allowing you to easily find and access files shared within the conversation.

Find out more in our how-to video:

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New in June 2024

Request to join a space

If someone shares a link to a chat space with you that you are not a member of, you can now request to join that space. Space manners will receive a request via a private message from Google Chat and have the option to approve or deny your request.

Send emails to Google Chat spaces

After a space manager generates an email address for a space, members (or anyone in your domain with the email address) can send or forward any email to that space. This provides a great way for teams to easily triage or discuss email content with stakeholders within the space. The email will appear as a clickable card showing a snippet of the email in the designated space.

Find out more in our how-to video:

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New in April 2024

Send voice messages in Google Chat

You can now send voice messages instead of typing in Google Chat on mobile, with web support coming soon. Sending a voice message instead of typing enables you to save time, convey more information, and emphasise the most important information for the message receiver.

New in February 2024

Share spaces smart chips in Google Chat

In Chat, you can now search for and insert a smart chip that links to a space, making it easier to share content in different spaces.

Improvements to Chat spaces

The experience of creating chat spaces has been improved to ensure each chat space has a distinct name, and the welcome page will show contextual options, depending on whether you create a Collaboration or Announcement space.

Find out more in our how-to video:

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New in December 2023

Redesigned Google Chat layout

The redesigned navigation panel brings direct messages and spaces together and introduces shortcuts, a new framework to help you stay on top of your messages.

Find out more in our how-to video:

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Muting conversations in Google Chat

You can now mute a space or conversation in Google Chat, so that you no longer receive notifications from the conversation and the conversation summary will not appear in your Home screen. Muted conversations will move to the bottom of the conversation section.

Find out more in our how-to video:

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New in November 2023

Take action on Google Drive requests from Google Chat

If allowed by your Google Workspace administrators, you can install the Drive app for Google Chat which will allow you to take actions on Google documents directly from within Chat e.g. replying to and resolving comments, seeing when a document has been shared with you, and seeing requests to view your documents.

Find out more in our how-to video:

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New in September 2023

Differentiate between incoming and outgoing messages in Google Chat

To make it easier to see which chat messages have been sent or received, all messages will have an independent message bubble with outgoing messages showing aligned to one side of the chat pane and incoming messages aligned to the other.

Outgoing and incoming messages will have different colour backgrounds.

Smart chips for files in Google Chat

You can now type @ to search for and insert files into your chat messages. An in-line preview of the file will be shown, and other people in the chat will be able to click on the link to access the file directly.

Find out more in our how-to video:

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New in August 2023

Message view counts in Google Chat spaces

You can now see how many views a message in a Google Chat space has had. Hover over the message, click on the ellipses, then choose See message views.

Add hyperlinks to text in Google Chat

You can now select any text in a Google Chat message that you are composing, and add a hyperlink to a website, or to a doc, sheet or slide in Google Drive.

Increased membership and Google Spaces

You can now add up to 50,000 members to a space in Google Chat - a huge increase from the previous maximum of 8,000 members.

Search for members in a Google Chat Space

You can now search for members within a chat space, by going to the Manage Members screen and using the Search box along the top of the member list. Once a member has been located, you can change their role.

New in July 2023

See read receipts in group messages in Google Chat

In a group message in Google Chat - as opposed to a Google Chat Space - you can now see who has read the latest message in a chat stream. Hover over the icons to see the names of all viewers.

New in June 2023

Automatic chat declutter

Chat declutter automatically hides direct messages and spaces that have been inactive for the last 7 days. This feature only activates when a section has more than 10 conversations, and does not affect pinned conversations. To view a hidden space or chat, simply click on the More button.

New in May 2023

Configure Google Chat spaces for announcements

Space managers can set Google Chat spaces to an announcement-only configuration, allowing only the managers in a space to create posts, reply to posts and share files.

A space must be configured as announcement-only during initial set-up by clicking “only Space Managers can post.” However, at any time, an existing Space Manager can assign the role of Space Manager to another space member, allowing them to post messages and change settings within the space.

Find out more in our how-to video:

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New Google Chat interface

The Google Chat interface has had a makeover with changes to the appearance of the top app bar, left navigation, main message view, compose setup, new topic button, and the thread panel within direct messages and spaces.

New in April 2023

Chat space manager settings

Managers of chat spaces can currently add and remove participants, assign new managers, delete messages or the entire space and change the description and access of the site. In addition, managers can now control what all members of the space can do - if they can change space details, add or remove members or use @all to notify all members of a message.

Find out more in our how-to video:

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New in March 2023

All new Google Chat spaces will have in-line threading

From 13th March, all newly created Google Chat spaces will be in-line threaded rather than organised by conversation topic. For now, existing spaces organised by conversation topic will stay as they are, but later this year, they will be migrated to the new in-line threaded experience.

Find out more in our how-to video:

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New in January 2023

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:

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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.

New in December 2022

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:

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New in November 2022

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:

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New in October 2022

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:

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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.

New in July 2022

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.

New in June 2022

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:

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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.

New in March 2022

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:

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New in February 2022

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.

New in January 2022

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.

New in December 2021

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.

New in October 2021

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:

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New in September 2021

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

New in July 2021

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 in April 2021

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:

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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.

New in January 2021

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:

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New in December 2020

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:

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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.

New in November 2020

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 in October 2020

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.

New in May 2020

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.

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New Google Chat standalone app

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

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New in March 2019

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.

New in December 2018

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.

New in February 2018

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:

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