The timelines below are for administrators and users. If you're not a Google Workspace customer, go to this different timeline for consumers.
The new Google Sites is now the only option for you to create websites in Google Workspace.
What’s happened so far
- As of August 2020: New Sites became the default for you to create websites.
- As of March 2021: Admins could access the Classic Sites Manager to review the organization’s classic Sites and migrate them to new Sites.
- As of May 2021: You could not create sites in classic Sites.
After January 30, 2023:
- The ability to edit classic Sites ended on January 30, 2023.
- Google has started migrating any remaining classic sites in your domain. Any remaining classic sites with an eligible owner for migration to new Sites will be automigrated to new Sites as a draft for site owners to review and publish. Until site owners publish the draft site, site viewers will not be able to see the website content and will see an error message.
- If the domain super admin and site owners are eligible to receive takeout data from classic Sites, they’ll receive an archive of all existing classic sites. This includes classic sites without an eligible owner.
- During the migration, you can track the status of your classic sites through the Classic Sites Manager.
- After the migration, links to migrated “drafts“ in new Sites and a link to the classic Sites takeout data will be available in Classic Sites Manager.
To avoid disruption for site viewers
If you want a site to be available to viewers, convert it to new Sites using the Classic Sites Manager or classic Sites settings. Using these tools, you can publish your new site at the same URL as the old site to avoid disruption to viewers.
Sites transition best practices for admins
First, ensure all user groups have access to new Google Sites as soon as possible.
Next, decide on your approach for the transition. Do you want individual site owners to migrate their sites, or do you as the admin want to manage the entire migration?
- If you want individual site owners to migrate their sites, point them to Convert your classic Sites to new Sites.
- If you as the admin want to migrate your site, use the Classic Sites Manager.
Manage classic Sites migration
- Migrate inactive sites by deleting or archiving them. Choose an option:
- Export classic Sites using Google Takeout.
- Delete any classic Sites that are no longer useful to your organization. A sign that the site might be a good candidate to delete is that no one edited or viewed it in the past year.
- Turn off editing in classic Sites.
- Start migrating active sites by converting them or rebuilding them in new Sites:
- Convert the most viewed or most frequently edited sites from classic Sites to new Sites.
- When you have a draft of the new site, compare the sites and make any manual adjustments or changes the new Site might need.
- Publish the new site over the URL of the classic Site.
For certain sites, you might consider rebuilding the site from scratch in new Sites using the site templates available. This might be easier than converting and manually adjusting sites, especially for sites with a number of features that are unsupported in new Sites.
Go to Compare new Sites & classic Sites.
Questions
How do I know if I’m affected?To see if your organization has any classic sites that need to be migrated, visit the Classic Sites Manager.
The key dates for consumers and Google Workspace users are different. The dates in this article are accurate for Google Workspace customers. If you’re a Gmail user using classic Sites, go to Convert your classic Sites to new Sites.
We designed new Sites to help you and your users create websites without programming experience, across mobile and desktop, and with real-time collaboration. New Sites is a replacement for classic Sites, built on Google’s latest infrastructure. For more information, go to the related Google Workspace blog entry.
The person who converts the site from classic Sites to new Sites becomes the site owner.
For example, if an admin converts the site, they become the owner of the new site, and:
- Previous owners become editors.
- Viewers stay viewers.
- Editors stay editors.
The admin can later transfer ownership of the site to someone else, if needed.
For more information about the experience for users, go to the section about converting your site in classic Sites settings in Convert your classic Sites to new Sites.
During the migration phase, you will not be able to permanently delete any classic Site with a corresponding new Site draft. Google will remove these classic Sites after the migration is complete.
To view your classic Site content, you can export your classic Site by clicking Download in the classic Sites home screen, using the Classic Sites Manager, or going to takeout.google.com. Note that Takeout may not be enabled for all end users in your organization.
When a classic Sites is automatically migrated, the old site is deleted and the new site is in draft status until you publish it. Auto-converted classic sites can’t be manually converted or restored.
If you manually migrate your site, your classic Site is not deleted. You can manually delete your classic Site, which can be restored within 30 days. For details, go to Delete or restore your site.
For more information, go to Classic Sites migration details.
