Gemini now handles tasks across all of Workspace without switching apps

What happened: Starting September 2, 2026, Google is gradually rolling out (deployment can take up to 15 days) an expansion of Gemini across Google Workspace: the Gemini side panel now offers the same set of capabilities in every app — Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive and Chat. Until now, creating a presentation was really only convenient from Slides, and building a spreadsheet only from Sheets. Now you can be in any of them and Gemini will handle the task across the whole Workspace without you switching windows. The feature runs on what Google calls Workspace Intelligence and deeper integration between its individual tools.

What it means for you: Juggling several apps at once used to mean a lot of unnecessary switching — now you can handle most of it from one place:

• A presentation straight from a document — in an open memo, type “turn this proposal into a clear presentation for my director, styled like @presentation” and Gemini builds the slides in the background without you leaving the document.
• A spreadsheet straight from Gmail — on an email with numbers, type “create a new tracking spreadsheet from this” and Gemini builds it without you retyping the data by hand.
• A meeting scheduled from Chat — in a conversation, type “find an open slot and schedule a meeting with everyone in this thread” and Gemini sorts out the calendar directly.
• Research across files from Drive — “put together a summary of customer insights from project Zebra” and Gemini searches the relevant files in the folder and drafts the brief.

The real difference from before is that you no longer need to figure out “which app actually does this” — you just write what you need, right where you already are.

How to get started:

1. Open any Workspace app with the Gemini side panel (Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides or Chat).
2. Type what you need into the panel — feel free to ask for a different type of output than the app you're in, such as “turn this email into a presentation.”
3. Before you send or save the draft, check it over — it's a draft, not a finished output meant to go out immediately.
4. If you don't see the option in the panel yet, try again in a few days — the rollout runs gradually over up to 15 days.

Watch out for: The feature requires a paid Google Workspace plan with Gemini access (Business Standard or Plus, Enterprise Standard or Plus, Google AI Pro or Ultra, or the relevant education add-on) — not every license includes it. It currently works in English only, with more languages planned later. And because Gemini can now send emails or schedule meetings on its own, the same rule applies as elsewhere: AI proposes, the human approves — always review the output before sending anything involving sensitive correspondence.