This article is for Google Workspace administrators.
As a Google Workspace administrator, use the Google Admin console to give teachers and students access to Classroom.
About user accounts
User account types
Users can sign in to Classroom with one of the following user account types:
- School account—Also known as a Google Workspace for Education account, this account is set up by an accredited school.
- Personal Google Account—This is set up by the student, parent, or guardian. Typically, a personal Google Account is used outside of a school setting, such as a homeschool.
- Google Workspace account—This is set up by your organization’s Google Workspace admin.
Support for Classroom
Your Google Workspace edition determines what level of service and support you can get for Classroom.
| Google Workspace edition | Type of support |
|---|---|
| Google Workspace for Education or G Suite for Nonprofits | |
| G Suite Basic, Business, or Google Workspace for Education Plus | Classroom is an additional Google service and is not covered by support or a service level agreement (SLA). For help, go to the Google Classroom Help Community or Classroom Help Center. |
How cross-domain class membership works
Different Google Workspace edition users might be limited in how they can interact with users who are in a different organization (or have a different domain name). The following table outlines if Google Workspace domains work with other domains.
| If a student uses Classroom with... | And the primary teacher uses Classroom with... | Can the student join the class? |
|---|---|---|
| Google Workspace for Education or G Suite for Nonprofits | Google Workspace for Education or G Suite for Nonprofits | Yes, if class settings in both organizations allow it. |
| G Suite Basic, Business, or Google Workspace for Education Plus | G Suite Basic, Business, or Google Workspace for Education Plus | Yes, if class settings in both organizations allow it. |
| Google Workspace for Education or G Suite for Nonprofits | G Suite Basic, Business, Google Workspace for Education Plus, or a personal Google Account | No |
| G Suite Basic, Business, or Google Workspace for Education Plus | Google Workspace for Education or G Suite for Nonprofits or a personal Google Account | No |
| Personal Google Account | Google Workspace for Education or G Suite Basic, Business, or Google Workspace for Education Plus | Yes, if the Google Workspace organization allows it. |
| Personal Google Account | Personal Google Account | Yes |
Important: G Suite Basic, Business, and Google Workspace for Education Plus customers should not use Classroom with users under the age of 13 or at a school with students.
Control user access to Classroom
Step 1: Put users in organizational units
To turn Classroom on or off for select groups of users, put their accounts in an organizational unit. Learn more about the organizational structure.
Step 2: Give users access to Classroom
-
Sign in to your Google Admin console.
Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).
- Choose one:
- If you’re using Google Workspace for Education or G Suite for Nonprofits, click Apps
Google Workspace
- If you’re using G Suite Basic, Business, or Google Workspace for Education Plus, click Apps
- If you’re using Google Workspace for Education or G Suite for Nonprofits, click Apps
- Click Service status.
On the left, you can see the top-level organizational unit and any parent or child organizational units.
(Optional) To turn a service on or off for an organizational unit:
- At the left, select the organizational unit.
- Select On or Off.
- Click Override to keep your setting if the service for the parent organizational unit is changed.
- If Overridden is already set for the organizational unit, 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.
Note: Changes may take up to 24 hours to propagate to all users.
Step 3: Configure class settings
You can configure 2 settings for Classroom:
-
Class membership—Determine who can join classes in your domain and which classes users in your domain can join.
- Whitelisted domains—Allow users to join classes from the domains that you trust and allow teachers and students from different domains to share information.
For details, go to Configure class settings.