Control user access to Classroom

This article is for G Suite administrators.

As a G Suite 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 G Suite 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. 
  • G Suite account—This is set up by your organization’s G Suite admin. 

Support for Classroom

Your G Suite edition determines what level of service and support you can get for Classroom.
 
G Suite edition Type of support
G Suite for Education or Nonprofits
G Suite Basic, Business, or Enterprise 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 G Suite 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 G Suite domains work with other domains.
If a student uses Classroom with... And the primary teacher uses Classroom with... Can the student join the class?

G Suite for Education or Nonprofits

 G Suite for Education or Nonprofits Yes, if class settings in both organizations allow it.
G Suite Basic, Business, or Enterprise G Suite Basic, Business, or Enterprise Yes, if class settings in both organizations allow it.
G Suite for Education or Nonprofits G Suite Basic, Business, Enterprise, or a personal Google Account No
G Suite Basic, Business, or Enterprise G Suite for Education or Nonprofits No
Personal Google Account Personal Google Account Yes

Important: G Suite Basic, Business, and Enterprise 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

  1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

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

  2. Choose one:
    • If you’re using G Suite for Education or Nonprofits, click Apps and then G Suite and then Classroom.
    • If you’re using G Suite Basic, Business, or Enterprise, click Apps and then Additional Google services and then Classroom.
  3. At the top right of the gray box, click Edit Service.
    At the left, you can see the top-level organizational unit and any parent or child organizational units appear.

To turn on or off a service only for users in an organizational unit:

  1. At the left, select the organizational unit.
  2. Select On or Off.
  3. To keep the service turned on or off even when the service is turned on or off for the parent organizational unit, click Override.
  4. If the organization's status is already Overridden, 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.

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.

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