Google rolls out Gemini side panels for Gmail and other Workspace apps

Google is making Gemini more easily accessible in its Workspace apps, if you're a paying customer. The company is rolling out Gemini side panels for Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive and Gmail, and it has also launched Gemini for the Gmail app on Android and iOS. When Google announced the Gemini side panels at I/O this year, it called the feature “the connective tissue across multiple applications with AI-powered workflow."

The side panel in Docs will help you refine and rephrase what you're writing, summarize information, suggest improvements and create new content based on other files. In Sheets, it can help you create tables, generate formulas and demystify various Sheets functions by teaching you how to do certain tasks. The side panel in Slides can help you generate custom images and summarize presentations, while in Drive, it can summarize several documents at once without you having to open any of them.

Meanwhile, Gemini can summarize email threads in Gmail for you, suggest responses, help you draft new emails and help you find information from within your inbox or from your Drive files. Gemini in Gmail for Android and iOS can summarize your email threads, as well. There's no side panel in the mobile apps, of course, but you'll find a button near the top of your email that you can tap to generate a summary. Sometime next month, Gemini will offer contextual smart replies, which are one-tap response options based on the contents of your conversations. Gmail Q&A will also be available next month and will be able to find information from your emails when you type in questions like "What time does Chloe’s recital start on Saturday?"

You'll be able to use these features if you're paying for Google One AI Premium, or if you have access to Gemini add-in for Business, Enterprise, Education and Education Premium.