Gemini in the side panel of Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, and Google Drive is rolling out now

24/07/2024

Table of contents

What’s changing

Google is pleased to announce the general availability of Gemini in the side panel of Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive. Through the side panel, Gemini can assist you with summarizing, analyzing, and generating content by utilizing insights gathered from your emails, documents, and more—all without switching applications or tabs. The updated interface automatically summarizes the content you're working on and provides contextually relevant prompts to help you get started.

Why it’s important

End users

Why you’d use it

The side panel will use Google’s most capable models including the Gemini 1.5 Pro model with a longer context window and more advanced reasoning, allowing you to harness the power of Gemini directly from your most used Google Workspace apps. Here are a few examples of when you’d use it:

Docs: Gemini in Docs side panel can help you write and refine your content, summarize information, help you brainstorm, create content based off of other files, and more.

Slides: Gemini in Slides side panel can help you generate new slides, generate custom images, summarize presentations and more.

Sheets: Gemini in Sheets side panel can help you track and organize data. In the side panel, you can quickly create tables, generate formulas and ask how to accomplish certain tasks in Sheets.

Drives: Gemini in Drive side panel can summarize one or multiple documents, get quick facts about a project, or deep dive on a topic without needing to find and click through numerous documents.

Additional details

Google is also introducing Gemini in the Gmail side panel, which you can leverage to summarize email threads, draft an email, suggest responses to an email thread, and more. For more information, see our announcement on the Workspace Updates blog.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: You can access the Gemini in the side panel by clicking on “Ask Gemini” (spark button) in the top right corner of Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive on the web.. Visit the Help Center to learn more about collaborating with Gemini in Google Drive, as well as Google Docs, Sheets và Slides.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on February 27, 2024
Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on April 15, 2024