12 Google Workspace Tips and Tricks
Organizations of any size always strive to reach maximum productivity. This is why Google Workspace (formerly known as G Suite) is the favored cloud office system by businesses and managed IT professionals ranging from startups to enterprises.
With over a dozen useful applications and countless features, it’s understandable that some might not even be aware of all that Google Workspace has to offer. As an experienced Google Workspace support partner, we’re happy to share this list of useful Google Workspace tips to optimize your user experience.
1. Use Google Drive to Send Large Files Through Gmail
Gmail only allows users to attach files up to 25 MB to their emails by default. To save a lot of time and data bandwidth, you can send larger files via Gmail by using Google Drive. When the file that you want to email is uploaded to your Google Drive, click the Drive icon at the bottom of the compose window, and select the file you want to send.
2. Convert Images to Text Using Google Drive’s File Scanner
Clicking the “+” icon in your Google Drive app and selecting “Scan” will allow you to take a photo of a document which Google Drive will then save as a PDF. After that, you can copy the text from the photo that you save for later use.
3. Use Voice Typing for Document Creation
Google’s Voice Assistant is already one of the most advanced and precise systems available when it comes to AI technology. Writing with your voice can be enabled on Google Docs by clicking Tools > Voice Typing. Alternatively, you can also use the shortcut Ctrl + Shift + S.
4. Collaborate on Docs With Your Team
Google Workspace was built with team-based tasks in mind. You can co-edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations with your team simultaneously. You can see changes done by your team live, users can leave comments, and there’s a record of the changes done by each team member in a document.
Share your documents with other users and they can start editing the document with you if you give them the ‘Editor’ role.
5. Take Advantage of the Auto-Response Feature on Gmail
We know that responding to emails in a timely manner is important. But if your business receives lots of emails, it’s difficult to reply to every single one quickly. Using the “automated response” feature is a great way to let people know they have been heard while buying you some time to respond. Similarly, you can also use this feature when you are Out-of-Office. To do this, go to your Gmail settings under “General” and set up your Out-of-Office response.
6. Increase the Email Cancellation Period
When you use Gmail, you normally have 5 seconds to undo or “unsend” an email. And in many cases, 5 seconds isn’t enough. You can increase it to 30 seconds by going to your Gmail settings and changing the option to ‘30 seconds’ on the Undo Send setting.
7. Send Meeting Invitations via Google Calendar
With Google Workspace, you don’t have to worry about checking people’s schedules and sending each participant an email invite. Google Calendar and Gmail’s seamless integration allows you to set a meeting, input the desired date, time, and attendees, and invitations will automatically be sent through Gmail.
Another option to consider is checking your Google Calendar to find out who accepted or declined the invitation.
8. Have Your Daily Agenda Emailed to You
Google Calendar can send you daily reminders so you don’t miss a meeting or an appointment. To do this, go to your Google Calendar settings > Other notifications > Daily agenda.
9. No Internet? No Problem! Dial in to Join Meetings on Google Meet
Picture this: you have an important meeting to attend but you don’t have an internet connection. No worries – there’s a dial-in phone option that you can use to join the meeting while offline.
Details for the meeting link can be found on the Google Calendar entry and Google Meet.
10. Google Chat With Coworkers in Gmail
If your team uses Google Chat to communicate, you might find it useful to know that you don’t have to open Google Chat to use it. You can use Google Chat within Gmail, keeping everything in one window – reducing clutter and RAM usage by only having to use one tab instead of two.
11. Expand Your Search With Google Cloud Search
Cloud Search is part of Google Workspace and is also seamlessly integrated with other Google Workspace apps, bringing you the best of search at your fingertips. This allows you to conduct thorough searches across all your company’s content, from Gmail to Drive to Sheets to Slides, and more. Cloud Search can also answer your questions and make relevant suggestions to help you with your daily errands.
12. Discover Google Workspace 3rd Party Apps and Extensions
Google Workspace promotes effortless integration with lots of 3rd party apps and extensions, like Clockify, Calendly, and Dochub. These allow you to do more with Google Chrome and other Google Workspace Apps.
For a list of recommended 3rd party apps and extensions, visit the Google Workspace Marketplace.
Want More Google Workspace Tips?
Working with a Google Workspace partner like Merit Technologies allows you to maximize your office productivity. If you have any questions about the software or need support, talk with an expert or contact us.
