What's new in Groups

The new Groups release has a fresh look, including controls that match Gmail and other Google services.

New Google Groups home page
New Groups

What you need to know about new Groups

New Groups includes most popular Groups features as well as:

Improved navigation—Group settings are consolidated into one section for easy access.
Streamlined group creation—A three-step wizard simplifies group creation.
Powerful search options—New filtering and search options help you find content.
Simplified My groups page—When you’re signed in to Google Groups (groups.google.com), you can find all your groups on the same page. If you're signed in to an account managed by your work or school, the groups and features available depend on the settings for your organization.
Standardized messaging—Topics are now called conversations and match Gmail patterns.
Enhanced member management—The updated Members page provides quick access to group member subscriptions and permissions.

Key features now available in new Groups

The new Groups release offers many of the key features you use in Groups, including the following:

Feature	Description
Mobile readiness	The Groups UI refined for use on mobile devices. See Using new Groups on mobile.
Collaborative Inboxes	Creating Collaborative Inboxes, using Collaborative Inbox features such as assigning topics, and changing a group’s type to Collaborative Inbox. Collaborative Inboxes you’ve created in classic Groups are accessible in new Groups.
Labels	Replacement for tags and categories.
Multiple domains: Group creation	Creating groups in multiple domains. To use this feature, you must be signed in to a work or school account. The options you see might be different. To learn more, contact your administrator.
Favorite conversations	Viewing all of your favorite conversations (topics) on a single page.
Custom group roles	Creating and managing custom roles.
Welcome messages	Adding or changing the group welcome message that appears above group conversations.
Global settings	Viewing or changing preferences and settings that apply to all of your groups.
Signed-out users	Allowing users who aren’t signed in to a Google Account to work in Groups. If a group is publicly visible, you can search for the group and view conversations without being signed in. However, you must sign in to perform any actions in the group.
Show original message source	Viewing the source code of a message, including its headers.

Using new Groups on mobile

You can use Groups on your mobile device to search for and view groups, conversations, and your membership settings.

To perform tasks such as creating a group or posting to a conversation, use the full desktop version of Groups. Many popular browsers let you view the desktop version of a site on a mobile device. For example, in Google Chrome, in the top right, click More select Desktop site.

Performing common tasks in new Groups

If you're signed in to a work or school account, the options you see might be different. To learn more, contact your administrator.

How you manage members

Location in new Groups: Left panel > People

To...	Go here:
View current/ pending members	Members Pending Members
Add members	MembersAdd members

Learn how to manage members in new Groups.

How you view certain members and messages

To view...	Do this:
Members whose messages are bouncing	On the left nav, click Members. A red triangle appears next to the Subscription column entry of members whose messages are bouncing.
Moderated messages	On the left nav, click Conversations > Pending. You can view the five most recent messages waiting for moderation. To see more messages, at the top right, click Next .

Permissions and settings

In new Groups, to view a group’s settings, click Group settings at the bottom of the left navigation panel. To show all available settings, at the top right of the Group settings page, next to Advanced, click Turn on .

To learn more about new Group settings, see View or edit group details.

Find Advanced at top right

General

Available settings:

Group name
Group email
Group description
Enable additional Google Groups features
Shared labels
Who can see group
Who can join group
Allow external members
Who can view conversations
Who can post
Who can view members

Learn more about general settings.

Member privacy

Available settings:

Identification required for new members
Display names must be unique
Who can contact group owners
Who can view member email addresses

Learn more about member privacy settings.

Posting policies

Available settings:

Allow Email Posting
Allow web posting
Conversation history
Who can reply privately to authors
Who can attach files
Who can moderate content
Who can moderate metadata
Who can post as group
Default sender
Message moderation
New member restrictions
Spam message handling
Rejected message notification

Learn more about posting policies.

Email options

Available settings:

Subject prefix
Email footer
Group email language
Auto replies
Post replies to
Conversation mode

Learn more about email options.

Member moderation

Available settings:

Who can manage members
Who can modify custom roles
Custom roles

Learn more about member moderation settings.

Deprecated features

To simplify Google Groups, the following features have been deprecated in new Groups.

Feature	Description
Canned responses	Creating one or more canned responses to use in your posts. Instead, you can create templates in Gmail.
Pinning topics	Making topics appear at the top of the list.
Moving topics	Moving topics from one group to another.
Tags and categories	Using tags and categories to manage content. The functionality will be replaced by labels.
Group types	Creating web and Q&A forums and using forum-related features such as marking the best answer in existing groups.
Topic types	Creating and managing discussion and question type topics.
Statistical info on the About Group page	Usage graphs and other statistical information about a group.
Embedding groups in web pages	Using iFrames to embed groups in external web pages. Located in classic Groups under Manage groupInformationGeneral information. Instead, you can link to a group from an external web page and view the group in Groups.
Some advanced keyboard shortcuts	Using key combinations to perform tasks, such as pressing g + c on the My groups page to create a group. Accessibility shortcuts will continue to be supported, however.
Saved searches	Saving a search so you can use it again simply by clicking the search name in the left panel.
Editing own posts	Allowing users to make changes to their messages after posting them.
Themes	Choosing a background theme for your Groups display.
Unread messages	Viewing unread message counts for starred groups in the left navigation panel. Instead, you can create a filter for your group messages in Gmail and view unread message counts there.
User activity	Viewing activity for a user such as recent posts, total posts, posting trend per month, and group memberships.
My Discussions	Viewing the My Discussions page from the left navigation panel. Instead, you can use search to view specific groups and messages.
Posting history	Viewing a record of a group member’s posting activity.

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