Turn Google+ on or off for users

If you have Drive Enterprise edition, upgrade to G Suite Enterprise to get this service.

Users who have Google+ enabled can use it for collaboration at your company or school, and can also use Google+ for sharing beyond your domain.

As a G Suite administrator, you can control who in your organization uses Google+ from their managed account. Google+ is turned on by default for new G Suite customers, but administrators have the ability to control whether Google+ is on or off for users in a domain, an organizational unit, or group. Users must have a valid G Suite license to use Google+.

Before you begin, carefully review the following requirements and considerations.

Before disabling Google+

If Google+ is turned off for a user, or a user is no longer assigned a valid G Suite license:

  • That user will not be able to create new Google+ content or access other users’ Google+ content. This includes content restricted to your organization. Once Google+ is turned on again and the user has a valid G Suite license, content can be accessed normally and the user can create new posts. This includes public posts, posts restricted to your domain, and privately shared posts.

  • That user’s existing Google+ content will remain visible to other G Suite users who have access to that content. This includes any public Google+ content created by that user.

  • That user can continue to access or delete their own Google+ content through the Activity Log.

  • To permanently delete all visible data for a user, the user or administrator must delete the user’s Google+ profile. Users can visit the downgrade page without deleting their profile to learn more about the data that is deleted or not deleted. Administrators can always delete users’ Google+ profiles, even if Google+ is turned off.

Before enabling Google+

Before you turn on Google+ for your organization, review the following information to understand the requirements and impact.

Check if Google+ is already turned on

Google+ is automatically turned on for new G Suite domains.

To check if Google+ is on or off for your existing domain:

  1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

    Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).

  2. From the Admin console Home page, go to Appsand thenG Suiteand thenGoogle+.
  3. The status is displayed next to the G+ icon:
    • On for everyone
    • Off for everyone
    • On for some organizations

For example, Google+ may be turned on if all of the following applied when Google+ was released:

Turn on Google+ for specific users
  • To turn on Google+ for select groups of users, put their accounts in an organizational unit or add the users to an access group. 
  • To turn on Google+ only for users in some sub-domains, place domain-specific accounts in their own organizational unit (org). Then turn on Google+ for just that org. For details, see Managing multiple domains or Add an organizational unit.
  • To turn Google+ for users in all sub-domains within your G Suite domain, turn on Google+ for your top-level domain or organizational unit.

Users must have a Google+ profile

Users must have a Google+ profile to use Google+.

Users must meet minimum age requirements

To join Google+, users must meet minimum age requirements. If people who don't meet age requirements try to join Google+, their entire account—including Gmail and other services—will be suspended. Learn more
Don't turn on Google+ for users who don't meet Google+ age requirements. Turn on Google+ only in organizational units where all users meet the requirements. If an underage user tries to sign up for Google+, their entire G Suite account—including Gmail and other services—is disabled.

Legal requirements

In using Google+, your organization is solely responsible for complying with all laws and regulations that might be applicable to the provision of Google+ to your organization's end users. This includes but is not limited to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) and Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA).

Turn Google+ on or off

Disable Google+ in the Admin console
  1. Review the considerations before disabling Google+, and inform your users of the changes.
    1. Tell users about the Google+ data that will be deleted, and what data will still available.
    2. Ask users to delete their Google+ profile (or delete it for them), if necessary.
  2. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

    Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).

  3. From the Admin console Home page, go to Appsand thenG Suiteand thenGoogle+.
  4. At the top of the gray box, click Edit Service and choose Off for everyone to turn off the service for all users.
  5. Click Save.

Changes typically take effect in minutes, but can take up to 24 hours. For details, see How changes propagate to Google services.  

Enable Google+ in the Admin console

Before you begin: To turn the service on or off for certain users: Put their accounts in an organizational unit (to control access by department) or put them in an access group (to control access for users across or within departments).

  1. Review the considerations before enabling Google+.
  2. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

    Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).

  3. From the Admin console Home page, go to Appsand thenG Suiteand thenGoogle+.

  4. At the top right of the gray box, click Edit Service Compose.

  5. To turn on or off a service for everyone in your organization, click On for everyone or Off for everyone, and then click Save.

  6. To turn on or off a service only for users in an organizational unit:

    1. At the left, select the organizational unit.
    2. Select On or Off.
    3. To keep the service turned on or off even when the service is turned on or off for the parent organizational unit, click Override.
    4. If the organization's status is already Overridden, choose an option:
      • Inherit—Reverts to the same setting as its parent.
      • Save—Saves your new setting (even if the parent setting changes).

    Learn more about organizational structure.

  7. To turn on a service for a set of users across or within organizational units, select an access group. For details, go to turn on a service for a group.
  8. If chose to turn on Google+, check the box to acknowledge Google+ conditions of use. Then click Turn Google+ on.
  9. Make sure users' required services are also turned on.
  10. Get users started with Google+.

Changes typically take effect in minutes, but can take up to 24 hours. For details, see How changes propagate to Google services.  

 

 

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