Manage Currents content sharing

As an administrator, you can control how users in your organization can share and view Google Currents content. For example, you might want to restrict users in your organization from creating or interacting with external content. 

What are the content sharing and access settings?

You can apply these settings by organizational unit or for your entire organization.

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Allow content sharing and access outside of your domain (Public mode)

In Public mode, users can create and view content that isn't domain-restricted. They can also create private communities and interact with Google Workspace users outside of their domain in private communities, which are invite-only and only open to other Google Workspace users. They cannot create communities outside of their domain. However, your users remain members of any communities created before April 2, 2019, that have at least one Google Workspace owner—even if they're outside of their domain.

Restrict all content sharing and access outside of your domain (Private mode)

Users in Private mode can’t view, create, or interact with external content, search results, or recommendations. They can only create domain-restricted posts and like, follow, comment, or vote on posts or communities in their domain. 

Note: Visibility of content (including external content) created prior to enabling this mode remains unaffected.

Restrict all content sharing and access outside of your domain and restrict external Currents content (Hybrid mode)

Users in Hybrid mode can view content outside of their domain, but can't create it themselves. They can also join and view content in private communities, which are invite-only, outside of their domain, and only open to other Google Workspace users. 

Note: Visibility of content (including external content) created prior to enabling this mode remains unaffected.

Considerations before you change this setting

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Private mode is the default for new user accounts

The default sharing mode for new Google Workspace accounts created after April 25, 2019, is Private. However, you can change the mode at any time. If you were a customer before April 25, the sharing mode for your domain will not change.

Allow birthday editing in Currents profiles

If you're not automatically creating Currents profiles, make sure you enable Birthday editing to allow users to create Currents profiles.

Profile visibility

Information visible in Currents profiles includes information, such as name, profile photo, profile cover photo, and posts, created by the owner that the person viewing the profile page has access to see. Users' Currents profiles can no longer be shared publicly or available through public search. Some search engines might serve cached content.

People outside of your organization can still see user profiles in your organization under certain circumstances. For example:

• A user previously made external posts, which will link to their Currents profile. Users may delete these posts. See Delete and manage activity on Currents for more details.
• A user owns, moderates, or is a member of a community that’s not restricted to your organization. Their entry in the list of members of that community will link to their Currents profile. Users can transfer community ownership to another user and then leave the community. 

Before you change the setting

• Allow 48 hours—Changes can take up to 48 hours to fully apply to users. Some setting elements might apply faster than others, but to take full effect, allow at least 48 hours.

• Communicate the changes to your users. It's important to notify your users before changing the content sharing setting. Explain why they might not be able to do things that they could before, such as posting outside of their domain.

• Think carefully about how much you restrict your users—Changing the setting to be more restrictive can prevent users from modifying communities or posts that they already own.

  Example: If a user owns a private community while in Public mode, changing the setting to Private mode prevents the user from posting to the community or modifying its name, description, or photo. However, this user could still promote a new user to be the owner and continue to view new content added to the community or the user could leave the community.

• Consider the effect on users following communities or people—Users who are changed from the Public or Hybrid mode to the Private mode continue to follow the same people or communities that they followed previously and continue to see new content from these sources, unless they unfollow them.

Change the setting

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 AppsGoogle WorkspaceCurrents.
3. Click Advanced settings.
4. To apply the setting to everyone, leave the top organizational unit selected. Otherwise, select a child organizational unit or a configuration group.
5. Under Content sharing and access, choose the setting:
   • Public mode 
   • Private mode 
   • Hybrid mode 
6. Click Save.

Currents content sharing FAQ

Can users join additional external communities in Private or Hybrid mode?

Not in Private mode. In Hybrid mode, your users can join and view content in private communities, which are invite-only, outside of their domain, and only open to other Google Workspace users. 

Can my users create new external communities?

If you give your users Public mode access in Currents, they can create new private communities with other Google Workspace users outside of their domain. The private communities are invite-only and only open to other Google Workspace users. 

Can users keep existing external community memberships?

Yes, regardless of their content sharing and access mode, users can keep existing external community memberships. However, after April 2, 2019, external communities without a Google Workspace owner will be deleted.

What about owners or moderators of external communities?

In Private or Hybrid mode, if a user owned an external community, they retain owner rights. They can delete the community and manage membership options. They can also make another user a moderator or owner.

However, they will not be able to edit the community or perform moderation-related actions, such as handling spam, posts held for review, or member requests.

How are notifications affected?

In Private and Hybrid modes, users will continue to get notifications from external communities. If users own or moderate existing external communities, they will not receive additional membership join requests.