This article is for people who manage Google services or devices for a company, school, or group. If you're using a personal (@gmail.com) account, go to the Google Account Help Center.
Starting September 30, 2023, all Chat spaces organized by conversation topic will be upgraded to spaces with in-line threading through a phased approach. The upgrade process is expected to end by March 31, 2024 for all organizations.
If you’re unfamiliar with spaces and in-line threading, please read Use Spaces in Google Workspace.
What do I need to do?
No action is required from you to start the upgrade process. We suggest you familiarize yourself with in-line threading and how the upgrade process works so you can inform your users, and prepare for any questions or concerns they may have. If you want to select a month and time of week (weekday/weekend), you can do so by filling this form by October 15, 2023. We’ll do our best to incorporate your preferred time slot for the upgrade.
What will the upgrade be like for users?
Before the Upgrade
2 weeks before the upgrade begins, a banner with details about the upgrade will appear in spaces organized by topic. This banner will have a link to a support article which will have details about the upgrade.
During the Upgrade
Once the upgrade starts, the process should take a couple of minutes for most spaces, and will occur during non-peak hours on weekends. In some cases, the process may take up to 12 hours.
During the upgrade process, users, apps, and Chat APIs will not have access to the spaces being upgraded. Google Vault may display duplicate Chat messages from these spaces if a search is performed during the upgrade process.
During the upgrade, all other features of Chat (direct messages, group conversations, and in-line threaded spaces) will not be impacted, and will remain accessible.
After the Upgrade
After the upgrade finishes, users, apps, and Chat APIs will have access to upgraded spaces. No messages will be deleted, and topic spaces will be converted to in-line threaded spaces. Messages sent before the upgrade will be arranged in a chronological manner.
The upgraded spaces will have their conversation history turned on by default, to match the existing history behavior of spaces organized by conversation topic which always have history on. Depending on organization-level history controls, space history settings may be changed by space managers. New messages sent after the upgrade will respect applicable organization-level history controls configured by administrators. Space managers can turn history off if you’ve configured their permission settings to allow this. To learn more, read Set a space history option for users.
New features for spaces
This update to spaces will include many new features. For all the details, we recommend you read Updates regarding the transition from spaces organized by topic to in-line threading in Google Chat. You can also get more information about the upgrade, rationale, and upcoming features to further improve in-line threading experience from this webinar.
Additional Information
- Use Spaces in Google Workspace
- Spaces organized by topic upgrade to in-line threaded spaces in Chat (webinar)
- Existing spaces organized by conversation topic will be upgraded to the new in-line threaded experience by the end of Q1 2024 (Google Workspace Update Blog)
- Updates regarding the transition from spaces organized by topic to in-line threading in Google Chat
- Learn about the upgrade from conversation topics to in-line threading in spaces
