60 Google Workspace Tips and Tricks (Formerly G Suite)

Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) includes more than a dozen individual productivity tools, and nearly all of them offer features that most users never discover. This guide covers 51 tips and tricks across all major Google Workspace products to help you get more out of the platform. For more on available tools in Google Workspace, see our dedicated overview.

What Changed When G Suite Became Google Workspace

Google renamed G Suite to Google Workspace on 6 October 2020, in an announcement by Javier Soltero on the Google Workspace blog. The tips on this page still work. Several of the product names around them no longer do.

Is G Suite still a thing? Not as a brand, and not as an edition name either.

This article was first written against the G Suite lineup, so the table below records what has since been retired or renamed.

What the old G Suite lineup had	Status	What to use instead
G Suite, the brand name	Google renamed it on 6 October 2020	Google Workspace
Google Hangouts	Google completed the upgrade to Chat on 1 November 2022, per Workspace Updates	Google Chat, with Google Meet for video
Google Currents	Google made it unavailable on 5 July 2023 and deleted the data on 8 August 2023	Spaces inside Google Chat
Jamboard, the app	Google retired the app on 31 December 2024, per Workspace Updates	The third-party whiteboards Google names in that announcement
Inbox by Gmail	Google shut it down in April 2019	Gmail, which absorbed several Inbox features
G Suite Marketplace	Google renamed it	Google Workspace Marketplace
Basic, Business and Enterprise editions	Google renamed all of them	Business Starter, Standard and Plus, plus the Enterprise tiers
Unlimited storage on the Business edition	Google replaced it in 2022	Pooled storage shared across the whole organization

Two of the seven pages ranking for Google Workspace tips still carry a Hangouts entry in their navigation. Naming what died is cheap, and almost nobody does it. Hangouts video calling moved to Meet, and our guide to starting a Gmail video call from the Meet tab or from Chat covers the current steps.

What Is New in Google Workspace in 2026?

The biggest change since this article first published is that Gemini stopped being a paid add-on. Google folded its AI features into the core Business and Enterprise editions.

Google announced it on Workspace Updates on 15 January 2025. Gemini is bundled into Business Starter, Standard and Plus and into the Enterprise tiers.

Wait, so I’m already paying for it? If you’re on a Business or Enterprise edition, yes. Google withdrew the separate Gemini Business, Gemini Enterprise, AI Meetings and Messaging and AI Security add-ons from sale. Billing for them stopped after 31 January 2025.

That change did not cover every edition. Google’s announcement leaves Education, Nonprofits, Frontline, Essentials and Individual outside it, so check your edition before you plan around Gemini. For the edition-by-edition view, see which Gmail features only Enterprise editions include.

What General Google Workspace Tips Should Every User Know?

Quick Answer: Start by choosing the right pricing plan for your needs, explore third-party apps through the Google Workspace Marketplace, familiarize yourself with all available tools (not just Gmail and Docs), use Cloud Search to find files across all apps, and tightly manage user permissions and security settings.

1. Choose the right pricing plan. Google Workspace offers multiple packages. The Basic plan covers most fundamentals. Business adds more storage, better support, and stronger security controls. Enterprise provides the highest level of security and administrative features. Specialized plans like Google Workspace for Education are also available for specific industries.

2. Explore third-party apps and add-ons. One of Google’s biggest advantages is its openness to third-party developers. Through the Google Workspace Marketplace, you can find hundreds of integrated tools to enhance core products, or embed new functionality into apps you already use. Browse the available Google Workspace apps and Google Workspace add-ons to find options that fit your workflow. Many are free.

3. Learn all the available tools. Gmail and Google Docs get the most attention, but Google Workspace includes Keep for note-taking, Google Forms for surveys and quizzes, Jamboard for visual collaboration, and many more. Do not let useful tools go undiscovered.

4. Use Cloud Search. Available on Business and Enterprise plans, Cloud Search performs a comprehensive search across all apps and users to find exactly the file you need. It eliminates the need to browse through individual apps and folders manually.

5. Control user permissions and security. Even Basic accounts include administrative controls and security settings, and these grow stronger as you scale to higher plans. Manage these actively. A security breach or unauthorized file access could jeopardize your entire operation.

What Are the Best Tips for Google Keep and Google Drive?

Quick Answer: In Keep, create color-coded team task lists and set location-based reminders. In Drive, use Workspaces to group related files, manage sharing permissions carefully, set expiration dates on sensitive files, and use Advanced Search to find all files with action items assigned to you.

Google Keep

Google Keep is a note-taking app designed for meeting notes, to-do lists, and quick task management.

6. Create team task lists. Keep supports team-based task lists with color-coding and labels. Create a different color and label for each team, enable sharing, and you have a lightweight platform for comprehensive team-based to-dos.

7. Set location-based reminders. Beyond time-based reminders, Keep allows you to set reminders tied to a physical location. For example, attach a grocery list to a store location, and you will receive an automatic pop-up when you arrive.

Google Drive

Google Drive is Google Workspace’s built-in file storage and synchronization service.

8. Use Workspaces and Priority. Beyond folders, Drive lets you create Workspaces, groups of files you use together frequently. Google will even recommend Workspaces based on your activity. Set one up for each department or major client. The Priority feature surfaces your most important files and to-do items above the rest.

9. Manage Drive permissions. Sharing files is easy, but do not get too lax with sharing standards. As an administrator, manage permissions with close scrutiny.

10. Set expiration dates for sensitive files. When sharing something you want someone to see only temporarily, such as a snapshot of a work-in-progress, use the “Access expires” option in Shared settings to set an expiration date.

11. Find assigned tasks in real-time. Google Docs, Sheets, and other platforms allow task assignment, but Drive lets you see all your assigned tasks at once. Use Advanced Search and select “Action items only” to display only files with tasks assigned to you.

What Are the Most Useful Gmail Tips and Tricks?

Quick Answer: Set up automatic filters to organize incoming mail, create templates for repeated messages, use Snooze to delay emails until you are ready to respond, enable Undo Send with a 30-second window, learn keyboard shortcuts, mute unnecessary threads, and use labels and stars for visual organization. For a deeper dive, see our 40 Gmail-exclusive tips and tricks.

12. Visualize your email habits. You spend much of your work life emailing, drafting, reading, organizing. EmailAnalytics lets you visualize your email activity, including how many emails you send and receive, your average email response time, and more. You can install it for your entire team to evaluate employee email habits.

13. Send self-destructing or 2-step authorization emails. Click the lock-and-clock icon in any email draft to access Confidential mode. This allows you to set an expiration date (so the email cannot be read after a certain time) or require the recipient to verify their identity with an SMS passcode, enabling two-factor authentication for viewing the email.

14. Set up automatic filters. Gmail filters organize emails as they arrive, saving significant time. Conduct an advanced search using the search bar to define parameters like sender, recipient, or subject line content. Click “Create filter” to instruct Gmail on how to handle matching emails automatically. For step-by-step instructions and filter ideas, see our guide on Gmail filters.

15. Create templates (formerly canned responses). Go to Settings, navigate to the Advanced tab, and enable Templates. Once enabled, type a message in any draft and save it as a template with a descriptive name like “rejection letter” or “welcome aboard.” When composing new emails, click the vertical ellipses, select Templates, and insert saved content instantly.

16. Integrate with Calendar and Keep. Gmail integrates directly with Google Calendar and Keep. With any message open, click the vertical ellipses at the top, then select Add to Tasks or Create Event to convert an email into a calendar item, note, or to-do item.

17. Set and track to-do items. Use the Tasks icon on the right side of Gmail’s desktop app to keep track of everything you have to do. The interface is intuitive, search, sort, and check off tasks as you complete them.

18. Use the Snooze button. When you receive an email that warrants a response but you are not ready to respond, click the clock icon and snooze the email until a specific time and date. The email will reappear in your inbox as if received for the first time. Access snoozed emails early through the Snooze section in the left-hand menu.

19. Learn keyboard shortcuts. Gmail has over 100 built-in keyboard shortcuts, and each one saves a few seconds per use. Master common commands like composing a new message or sending, and create custom shortcuts through the Advanced tab in Settings.

20. Mute annoying threads. For email threads that go on endlessly without relevance to you, click the vertical ellipses at the top of the thread and select “Mute.” The thread will be hidden from your inbox with no further notifications. You can unmute later if needed.

21. Un-send emails. In Settings under the General tab, find Undo Send and set the cancellation period to 30 seconds for the maximum window. After sending any email, you will have a brief window to reclaim it before full delivery. For detailed instructions, see how to unsend an email in Gmail.

22. Customize Gmail tabs. By default, your Gmail inbox is organized with Primary, Social, and Promotions tabs. Adjust these in Settings under the Inbox tab, remove Social and/or Promotions, or add Updates and/or Forums to filter additional message types.

23. Use labels, markers, and stars. Labels work like folders, tagging emails by sender, importance, or any factor you choose. Importance markers highlight which emails are worth reading first. Colored stars help you identify email types at a glance.

24. Train Gmail to use your preferred markings. If you use labels, markers, and stars consistently, Gmail learns from your habits and begins applying them automatically to incoming emails. For patterns Gmail does not pick up on, create a new filter to handle them.

Older Gmail tips still point at a Labs tab that no longer exists. This guide shows where the old Gmail Labs features live now, tab by tab.

What Google Docs Features Improve Collaboration and Productivity?

Quick Answer: Voice typing lets you dictate instead of type. Compare Documents highlights differences between versions. Digital signature add-ons speed up contract verification. Built-in translation converts documents between languages. Commenting with shareable links makes collaboration precise, and version history lets you revert to any previous edit.

25. Type with your voice. Google Docs allows you to type with your voice. Ensure a microphone is connected, click Tools, select Voice typing, then click the microphone icon to begin. It takes practice with punctuation and corrections, but it can significantly increase your speed.

26. Compare documents to highlight differences. With one version of a document open, click Tools, then Compare Documents. Select the second document to compare against, and Docs will highlight every difference between the two.

27. Use digital signatures. Install a digital signature add-on by selecting Add-ons in the menu and clicking “Get add-ons.” Multiple providers are available. This speeds up identity verification and contract processing.

28. Translate documents instantly. Click Tools, then Translate to convert an entire document or a selected section of text into your chosen language. Google’s translation is not a substitute for human translation but is effective for quick comprehension.

29. Comment and link to comments. Highlight a section, click the speech bubble icon on the right, and enter a comment. Once posted, click the vertical ellipses on the comment to get a shareable link, this directs collaborators straight to the comment without searching through the document. This feature is especially useful for remote team collaboration.

30. Browse version history. Click File, then Version history, then See version history to view all earlier versions of your document. You can see who made edits, what they changed, and when. Name different versions to make future reference easier.

What Are the Best Tips for Google Sheets and Google Slides?

Quick Answer: In Sheets, sync data between multiple spreadsheets, use the Activity Dashboard to track collaboration, and create heat maps with conditional formatting. In Slides, pull images directly from Drive, replicate formatting across objects with Paint Format, and use the built-in laser pointer during presentations.

Google Sheets

31. Sync data between multiple spreadsheets. It is possible to sync one spreadsheet to another in Google Sheets, keeping information consistent across files. The process involves referencing data from an original spreadsheet into a destination spreadsheet. Follow Google’s official instructions here.

32. Use the Activity Dashboard to track collaboration. As a Google Workspace administrator, the Activity Dashboard lets you track who is viewing and editing files. This is especially valuable in Sheets where dozens of users may be modifying the same file.

33. Get creative with data visualization. Sheets offers dozens of chart types in the Insert tab. Conditional formatting takes visualization further, create a heat map by setting gradually more intense colors for minpoint, midpoint, and maxpoint values, then adjust the midpoint to a percentile for meaningful gradient displays.

Google Slides

34. Pull images from Google Drive. Head to Insert, hover over Image, and click Drive to navigate directly to images stored in your Google Drive. This eliminates the need to download and re-upload files.

35. Replicate formatting across objects. Highlight the formatted object you want to copy, click the Paint Format icon, then highlight the new area to apply the formatting. Press Escape to stop.

36. Use the built-in laser pointer. During a presentation, click the laser pointer icon at the bottom of the screen (to the right of “Presenter view”) to transform your mouse into a laser pointer.

What Are the Best Tips for Google Calendar and Google Contacts?

Quick Answer: In Calendar, use keyboard shortcuts for faster navigation, transfer event ownership, attach files to events, and use Suggested Times to find meeting slots that work for all participants. In Contacts, organize with labels, delegate contact management to colleagues, and use the search feature to find contacts quickly.

Google Calendar

37. Use keyboard shortcuts. Google Calendar supports keyboard shortcuts for navigating dates, changing views, and modifying events. Mastering these saves significant time over clicking through menus.

38. Transfer event ownership. When you can no longer host a meeting, open the Options menu, click Change Owner, and enter the new owner’s information. They will receive a notification of the transfer.

39. Attach files to events. Ensure attendees have agendas in advance by attaching files to calendar events. Create an event, click More options, and click Add attachment at the bottom of the description box. Upload from your desktop or Google Drive.

40. View available meeting times. When creating an event, add participants and check the “Suggested times” feature on the right. Google automatically recommends timeslots that work for everyone (or as many participants as possible).

Google Contacts

41. Use labels to organize contacts. Just like Gmail, Google Contacts supports custom labels. Create and assign labels based on where contacts work, where you met them, or how they relate to your projects.

42. Delegate contacts to colleagues. If contact sharing is enabled for your organization, click the Settings icon, then Delegate access, then Invite delegate. All invited users can view and manage your contacts.

43. Search for contacts effectively. The search feature in Google Contacts is efficient, type whatever information you can remember and search by label if possible. The search is intuitive enough to narrow results from partial information.

What Are the Best Tips for Google Chat and Google Forms?

Quick Answer: In Google Chat, use the Meet bot to schedule meetings with natural language, run polls with an add-on, use Smart Reply for routine responses, and snooze notifications during focus time. Google Chat replaced Hangouts on 1 November 2022, and Google retired the Jamboard app on 31 December 2024. In Forms, create quizzes and surveys for internal and external use, enable email notifications for responses, and add logic branching for personalized survey paths.

Google Chat (Formerly Google Hangouts)

Correction to our own earlier advice: the tips in this section were written for Google Hangouts, and Hangouts no longer exists. Google completed the upgrade of Hangouts to Google Chat on 1 November 2022, announced on Workspace Updates.

The instructions below still work, with two substitutions. Read every mention of Hangouts as Google Chat, and read every mention of a Hangouts Chat help page as its Chat equivalent.

One tip in this section has no replacement. Google retired the Jamboard app on 31 December 2024, so the whiteboard suggestion below points at a product that is gone.

44. Use the Meet bot in Chat. The Meet bot schedules, modifies, and cancels meetings using natural language commands (for more, see our list of online meeting scheduling apps). Open Chat, click “Find people, rooms, bots,” enter “meet,” and select the bot. Use @meet to give instructions like “schedule a meeting with Dave today at 4:30 pm.” Learn more about the Meet bot here.

45. Create polls during meetings. Use the free third-party Polly add-on to create polls in large meetings. Call out @Polly and create your poll line by line to quickly tally votes or gauge the room’s opinion.

46. Use Smart Reply. Smart Reply suggests responses based on the content of messages you receive. Pay attention to these suggestions, if you learn to trust them and select the most appropriate response, you can save a minute or two per interaction. Over time, those minutes add up. Smart Reply is also available in Gmail.

47. Snooze and manage notifications. Snooze notifications by clicking your status and setting a snooze duration. For more granular control, go to Settings, click Web and Desktop, and configure which notifications you want to receive. Reducing interruptions during focus work improves productivity significantly.

48. Use Jamboard for visual collaboration. Jamboard functions as an interactive team whiteboard where users can sketch, drop images, and engage with visual elements in real time. Adding a visual element to team meetings often improves comprehension and engagement.

Google Forms

Google Forms is useful for market research, customer satisfaction surveys, group decisions, and evaluating employee satisfaction.

49. Create quizzes and surveys. Forms works for both external research and internal team decisions. Use it for customer surveys, employee engagement checks, onboarding quizzes, or office-wide polls.

50. Enable email notifications for submissions. In the Responses tab of your form, click the vertical ellipses and select “Get email notifications for new responses.” You will receive an email every time someone submits a response.

51. Add logic branching. Create conditional survey paths that route respondents to different sections based on their answers. First, create multiple sections using the twin-rectangles icon. Add a required multiple-choice question at the end of a section, click the vertical ellipses next to “Required,” and select “Go to section based on answer.” This allows personalized survey experiences based on demographic data or other responses.

Google Workspace Limits Worth Knowing Before You Plan Around Them

Not one of the seven pages ranking for Google Workspace tips publishes a single documented limit. These are the ones that break real workflows, with the Google property that publishes each.

Limit	What Google publishes	Which Google property publishes it
Messages sent per day	Google publishes 2,000, dropping to 1,500 for mail merge and 500 on a trial account	Admin Help, sending limits
Recipients per message, from the web	Google publishes 2,000 total, of which 500 may be external	Admin Help, sending limits
Recipients per message, via the Gmail API	Google publishes 500	Admin Help, sending limits
Recipients per message, via SMTP or IMAP	Google publishes 100	Admin Help, sending limits
Email aliases per user	Google publishes 30, at no extra cost	Admin Help, email aliases
Attachment size, most editions	Google publishes 25 MB	Admin Help, sending limits
Attachment size, Enterprise Plus	Google publishes up to 50 MB, web only	Admin Help, sending limits
Filters per account	Google publishes 1,000	The Gmail API developer reference, and nowhere else
Labels per mailbox	Google publishes 10,000	The Gmail API developer reference, and nowhere else
Scheduled emails queued at once	Google publishes 100	Gmail Help, and only on the iPhone and iPad tab

If your team is anywhere near that 2,000 a day ceiling, it helps to know the real figure before you hit it. You can count how many emails your team sends each day instead of guessing.

Where Google’s documentation disagrees with itself

Contradiction 1, the attachment ceiling: the Google Workspace Learning Center states a flat 25 MB with no edition caveat. Admin Help says 25 MB, rising to 50 MB on Enterprise Plus and web only. Google’s knowledge property describes the same range as 25 MB outgoing to 150 MB inbound for mail sent to Google addresses.

Contradiction 2, the label cap: the Gmail API reference publishes 10,000 labels per mailbox. Admin Help tells administrators to use 500 labels or fewer and states it as a rule.

Neither property links to the other. If you’re designing a label taxonomy for a whole company, that gap decides whether the design survives.

Five Tips Google Documents That Almost Nobody Repeats

Google’s Workspace Learning Center sits at a different address from the main Help Center, at support.google.com/a/users, and almost nothing on the open web cites it. These five come straight out of it.

52. Change your inbox density. Gmail offers Default, Comfortable and Compact. Default is the only one that previews attachments straight from the inbox list.

53. Move the Chat panel to the right side. This is purely about vertical room. Moving Chat off the left gives your label list the full height of the window.

54. Open a Chat space as a pop-up. You can work in Gmail and keep watching one space at the same time, without the space stealing the main panel.

55. Stop your sent mail scrolling sideways. Before you send, check for fixed-width tables and oversized signature images, which are what force horizontal scrolling on the recipient’s screen.

56. Turn Nudges on or off. Nudges are the reply reminders Gmail floats to the top of the inbox, and the toggle sits in Gmail settings.

Four more Google documents and the AI Overview repeats

57. Use the dot-new shortcuts. Typing cal.new, docs.new or sheets.new into the address bar opens a new file or event immediately. Google’s developers blog published the full set in October 2019.

58. Draft an email inside Google Docs. Type the @ symbol in any Doc and choose Email draft, which lets a team edit the message before anyone sends it.

59. Schedule a send. Click the arrow beside Send and pick a time. Gmail Help documents it here, and note that page opens on the iPhone and iPad tab by default.

60. Learn six Gmail search operators. Google publishes the full operator list, and these six do most of the work.

Operator	What it finds
has:attachment	Only messages carrying a file
filename:pdf	Messages with a PDF attached, or any extension you name
before:2025-01-01	Everything older than the date you name, in that year-month-day format
larger:10M	The messages eating your storage quota
is:unread from:dave	Unread mail from one person, combining two operators
in:anywhere	Searches spam and trash too, which normal search skips

Frequently Asked Questions About Google Workspace Tips and Tricks

What are the best Gmail tips and tricks in Google Workspace?

Key Gmail tips include setting up automatic filters, creating templates for repeated messages, using the Snooze button to delay emails, enabling Undo Send with a 30-second window, learning keyboard shortcuts, muting unnecessary threads, and using labels, markers, and stars for organization. Gmail also integrates directly with Calendar and Keep for task management.

What are the most useful Google Drive tips for team productivity?

Use Workspaces to group related files, set the Priority feature to surface important documents, manage sharing permissions carefully, set expiration dates on sensitive shared files, and use Advanced Search to find files with action items assigned to you.

What Google Docs features improve collaboration?

Voice typing lets you dictate instead of type. Compare Documents highlights differences between versions. Digital signature add-ons speed up contract verification. Built-in translation converts documents between languages. The comment feature allows linking directly to specific comments, and version history lets you browse and revert to any previous edit.

What are the best Google Calendar tips for scheduling?

Use keyboard shortcuts for faster navigation, transfer event ownership when you can no longer host, attach files to events so attendees have agendas in advance, and use the Suggested Times feature to find meeting slots that work for all participants.

How do you choose the right Google Workspace pricing plan?

Basic covers most fundamentals at the lowest price. Business adds unlimited storage, better support, and enhanced security. Enterprise provides the highest level of security, compliance, and administrative features. Specialized plans like Google Workspace for Education are also available for specific industries.

What Google Sheets tips help with data management?

Sync data between multiple spreadsheets to keep information consistent. Use the Activity Dashboard to track who is viewing and editing files. For visualization, Sheets offers dozens of chart types plus conditional formatting features like heat maps with color gradients based on data values.

What are the best tips for Google Chat and team communication?

Use the Meet bot in Google Chat to schedule, modify and cancel meetings with natural language commands. Google Chat replaced Google Hangouts on 1 November 2022, so any instruction written for Hangouts now applies to Chat. Google retired the Jamboard app on 31 December 2024.

How do you get the most out of Google Forms?

Use Forms for both external market research and internal employee surveys. Enable email notifications for new submissions in the Responses tab. Add logic branching by creating multiple sections with required multiple-choice questions that route respondents to different sections based on their answers.

Is G Suite still a thing?

No, not as a brand. Google renamed G Suite to Google Workspace on 6 October 2020, and renamed the Basic, Business and Enterprise editions to Business Starter, Standard and Plus alongside the Enterprise tiers.

What is Google’s 20% rule?

Google’s 20 percent rule is an employment practice, not a Google Workspace setting. It refers to engineers spending part of their time on side projects, so there is nothing to switch on in your admin console.

What are the downsides to Google Workspace?

The documented limits are the real constraint: Google publishes 2,000 messages per day, 100 recipients per message over SMTP, and 30 aliases per user. Retired products are the other downside, since Hangouts, Currents and the Jamboard app are all gone.