Switching to Google Workspace from Microsoft Teams

Now that you have Google Workspace, here are a few tips to help you begin replacing Microsoft Teams for all your collaboration needs. Get Google Workspace apps on your mobile devices. Note: Some Microsoft features do not directly correspond in Google Workspace and are not covered in this guide.

Comparison at a glance

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In Teams...	In Google Workspace...*
Have team conversations from a channel	Have team conversations in a chat room You can chat with both people within your organization and with external guests. Go to Google Chat or your Gmail account. Next to “Rooms,” click Create or find a room   Create room. Enter a room name. Optional: At the top left, click Choose an emoji . If you don't select an emoji, a default avatar is used. Enter names or email addresses of people and groups you want to add. You can also select from suggestions. If you use a Google Workspace account, suggestions include everyone in your organization, even if they don't have Google Chat. Optional: To allow threaded replies, select Use threaded replies. Important:  You can’t change this setting. Threaded rooms can only be created by Google Workspace accounts. Optional: To allow external people to join the room, select Allow people outside your organization to join. If your administrator doesn’t allow this feature, you may not have this option. Important:  You can’t change this setting. The option to create rooms that allow guests is only available on Google Workspace accounts. Click Create. Optional: To add more people and bots to the room, click Add people & bots. Enter names or emails. Click Send. You can also assign tasks from a chat room in Gmail. See Create and assign tasks in a room.
Chat in a direct message (DM) by clicking New Chat	Send a DM from Google Chat or Gmail Send a direct message to a person Go to Google Chat or your Gmail account. If the name isn’t already under "Chat," click Start a chat . Enter a name or email address. Suggestions appear as you enter text. To send a 1:1 message to someone outside of your organization, enter their email address. Click the person you want to message. Enter a message, then click Send . Send a direct message to a group Go to Google Chat or your Gmail account. Under "Chat," click on an existing group conversation, enter a message click Send . If the group conversation isn’t under "Chat,” click Start a chat Start group conversation. Enter a name or email address. Suggestions appear as you enter text. Click Done . Enter a message, then click Send .
Have video meetings with a team	Have video meetings with a team in Google Meet In a web browser, enter https://meet.google.com. Click Join or start a meeting. (Optional) To create a nickname for your meeting so that people in your organization can quickly join the meeting, enter a nickname. Make it unique to avoid conflicts and keep uninvited people from accidentally joining. Click Continue. Click Join now. To add someone to a meeting, choose an option: Click Copy joining info  and paste the meeting details into an email or another app. Click Add people  and choose an option: Under the Invite section, select a name or enter an email address and click Send invite. Under the Call section, enter a phone number and press Call . Note: You can send a meeting link to people outside of your organization, but someone from within your organization might need to give them access to the video meeting. For details about how to join meetings from Calendar and Gmail, see Start a video meeting.
Share files with a team	Share files with a team in a shared drive Open Google Drive. On the left, click Shared drives. At the top, click New. Enter a name and click Create. For more details, see Get started with shared drives.
Collaborate on shared files in a meeting	Collaborate on shared files in a meeting in Google Meet Open Meet and join a video meeting. Click Present now and choose what to share: Your entire screen A window Click Share. When you’re done presenting, click Stop Presenting. (Optional) To take over presenting from someone else, in the bottom corner, click Present and choose what to share.
See your schedule and create a meeting in Meetings	See your schedule and create a meeting in Google Calendar In Calendar, choose an option: Click an empty time slot in the calendar grid. Click Create. Add an event title, date, and time. Add guests. Add a room, location, or conference call. Click Save.
Add a wiki page for your team	Add a website for your team in Google Sites Choose an option: From the Sites homepage, at the top, click Create , or to choose a template, click Template gallery and select a template. From Google Drive, click  New MoreGoogle Sites. For more details, see Get started with Sites.
Search in the Command box	Search in Google Cloud Search Go to cloudsearch.google.com or open the Cloud Search app. In the Cloud Search search box, enter your search query, such as the name of a person or words in the document. Use everyday words in your search, such as docs jane sent last month. As you enter your query, customized suggestions display. Use the Down arrow to move through the suggestions and then select a suggestion. (Optional) To see results from the public web, click Search web . Navigate through the results and select the search result you want. For more details, see Get started with Cloud Search.

*These instructions are primarily web only.

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