Google improves file management experience within Chat spaces

Google is improving the file management experience and creating a central place to manage all conversation-related artifacts within spaces in Chat. The previously known "Files" tab will now be called "Shared" and you will also notice a refreshed user interface and features like a sort drop-down menu, support for shared links and media files, and more, offering a more intuitive and user-friendly experience.

With this update, three tabs, namely Chat, Shared and Tasks, will appear at the top of a space in Google Chat. Upon clicking Shared, you will see three sections: Files, Links and Media.

You can use the new sort drop-down to narrow down the list of documents displayed based on category (file, link, media) or date shared.

"This update reflects our continued effort to make Google Chat the central hub for project and team collaboration in Google Workspace. The new Shared tab improves team collaboration by providing a centralized and visible method to access shared content shared within a space," Google wrote in a post.

The rollout for this update for Rapid Release domains started on March 27, 2024, with an extended rollout period that could potentially extend beyond 15 days for feature visibility. For Scheduled Release domains, a more gradual rollout will begin on April 17, 2024, and may take up to 15 days for the feature to become visible to all users.

These enhancements within Google Chat spaces will be available to all Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts.