Turn Search and Assistant on or off for users

Google Assistant is not available for managed Chromebooks.

As an administrator, you can control who uses Google Search and Assistant services with their Google Account. Just turn the service on or off in your Admin console. Users who have it on can use their account to see personal results and access additional features. Users whose service is off can still use some Search features, including Lens, though without using information from their account or saving information to it, similar to the experience for a user signed out of their account.

When the service is set to Off, users continue to have access to services that are not controlled individually, like news.google.com and finance.google.com

Note: Search and Assistant must be turned on in the Admin console for users to access Google Scholar features that require the user to sign in, such as creating a Google Scholar profile or library.

Control who uses Search and Assistant with their account

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

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

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

2. In the Admin console, go to Menu  AppsAdditional Google services.
   Tip: Scroll to see all services. Or at the top, choose a Filter to narrow the list, for example, based on status or popularity.

3. Click Search and Assistant.

4. Next to Service status, click the Down arrow.

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

   
   Note: To allow users to access Workspace data through Assistant (such as Tasks or Calendar), you also need to complete the steps in Let users access Google Workspace data.
6. (Optional) To turn a service on or off for an organizational unit:

   1. At the left, select the organizational unit.
   2. To change the Service status, select On or Off.
   3. Choose one:
      • If the Service status is set to Inherited and you want to keep the updated setting, even if the parent setting changes, click Override.
      • If the Service status is set to Overridden, either click Inherit to revert to the same setting as its parent, or click Save to keep the new setting, even if the parent setting changes.
        Note: Learn more about organizational structure.

Let users access Google Workspace data

When using Search, users see the Sign in button, even if they’re already signed in.

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

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

2. In the Admin console, go to Menu  AppsAdditional Google services.
3. Click Search and AssistantGoogle Assistant settings.
4. Click Access to Workspace Data through Google AssistantOn.
5. Click Save.
6. To turn a service on or off for everyone in your organization, clickService status select On for everyone or Off for everyone.
7. Click Save.

Allow access to Google Workspace data for devices using Google Assistant

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

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

2. In the Admin console, go to Menu  AppsAdditional Google services.
3. Click Search and Assistant.
4. Click Google Assistant settingsManage device access to Google Workspace data and services using Google Assistant.
5. Check the boxes for the devices you want to manage.
6. (Optional) To require Voice Match or Face Match to access Google Workspace data, check the Require Face Match or Voice Match box.
   Note: Voice Match and Face Match are not security features. For more information, see Face Match on Google Nest Hub Max.
7. Click Save.
   
8. To turn a service on or off for everyone in your organization, click Service statusselect On for everyone or Off for everyone.
9. Click Save.

Manage Voice Match and Face Match

Admins must get parental consent for users under the age of 18 to link their Google Workspace for Education accounts to a Google Assistant-enabled device to enable Voice Match and Face Match. However, Voice Match and Face Match are only enabled on a user’s device if they choose to enable the feature.

Voice Match creates a unique model of a users’ voice that Assistant uses to identify a user on any device where Voice Match is enabled. Face Match creates  a unique model of a users’ face that Assistant uses to recognize a user on smart devices with a camera enabled. 

Google Assistant uses Voice Match and Face Match to tell an enrolled user apart from other users. Depending on user settings, Assistant can use Voice and Face Match to personalize user experiences and results.

To turn Voice Match and Face Match on or off:

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

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

2. In the Admin console, go to Menu  AppsAdditional Google services.
3. Click Search and AssistantVoice Match and Face Match.
4. In the Voice Match and Face Match panel, choose On for everyone or Off for everyone.
5. Click Save.
6. To turn a service on or off for everyone in your organization, click on the Service status sectionselect On for everyone or Off for everyone.
7. Click Save. 

It can take up to 24 hours to see changes. During this time, old and new settings might be intermittently enforced.

If you turn off Voice Match and Face Match: 

• Users' Assistant-enabled devices will lose core features and capabilities.  For example, Assistant will no longer recognize their voice and face, so your end users might not be able to access personal results (such as their calendar or reminders) on shared Assistant-enabled devices, such as speakers or smart displays.  On some devices, such as phones, Google Assistant might no longer respond to “Hey Google.”  
• Voice Match and Face Match models will be deleted from users’ Assistant-enabled devices. If a device isn’t connected to the internet, or if it’s not running the latest version of Google Assistant,  the voice and face models might not be deleted immediately. In these cases, and on some older devices, users may need to factory reset their devices to delete their Voice Match and Face Match models. 
• Enrollment Voice Match clips and Face Match images will be deleted from user accounts.
• If you change your mind, and turn on this setting again, users will have to re-enroll in Voice Match and Face Match. This means that they will have to give their consent to these features, record new voice clips to set up Voice Match, and take new photos of their faces to set up Face Match.

Choose to always use SafeSearch filtering for Google Search queries

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

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

2. In the Admin console, go to Menu  AppsAdditional Google services.
3. Click Search and Assistant.
4. In the SafeSearch for Google Search queries panel, choose to Always use SafeSearch filtering for Google Search queries or Do not enforce SafeSearch filtering for Google Search queries
5. Click Save.
6. To turn a service on or off for everyone in your organization, click on the Service status sectionselect On for everyone or Off for everyone.
7. Click Save. 

Related topics 

• Link your voice to your devices with Voice Match
• Turn a service on or off for Google Workspace users
• Manage access to services that aren't controlled individually
• Turn on or off new services by default
• Google Workspace for Education Core and Additional services
• Use multiple accounts at once on your Google Assistant devices
• Access the Google Assistant with your voice

 

_{Google, Google Workspace, and related marks and logos are trademarks of Google LLC. All other company and product names are trademarks of the companies with which they are associated.}