- Look up information.
- Schedule a meeting.
- Do tasks.
Learn how apps work in Google Chat
When you interact with an app in Chat, the app can see your:
- Email address
- Avatar
- Basic information (such as your name)
The app can see other’s basic information in a chat, but it can't see their email address or avatar unless they interact directly with the app.
Google creates and maintains some apps, such as the Google Drive and Poll apps.
Third-party software vendors create and maintain other apps. If you use a third-party app, review the vendor's Terms of Service and privacy policy for more information on the third-party use of your data.
Important:
- On your work or school accounts, your admin can install apps for you. Afterwards, the apps can send you direct messages. You can't uninstall the apps but you can turn off notifications for conversations with the app.
- If you're an external member of a Google Chat space created by a work or school account, you can't add, remove, or interact with any apps.
Tips:
- Learn how to create custom apps for your organization.
- For your organization's guidelines on app creation, contact your Google Workspace administrator.
Find & install a Chat app
Important: If you have a work or school account, your organization controls which apps are available to you.
- On your computer, open Google Chat or Gmail.
- Select an option:
- Click New chat
Find apps.
- In the Chat sidebar, click Get Add-ons
.
- Click New chat
- Search or browse for an app.
- Select an app.
- To create a dedicated 1:1 direct message with the app and allow you to interact with the app’s features individually, click Install.
- Or, to add an app to a space and allow all space members to use the app’s features, click Add to Space.
Tips:
- You can find and install an app in the Marketplace.
- To perform tasks on your behalf, the app sends you a prompt to get your permission to access your Google Account. To grant permission, go to the prompt and click Allow. Learn how to remove third-party app access to your account.
- To uninstall an app in a direct message, at the top, click the app name
Add apps to a conversation or space
Your installed apps can be used in your conversations and spaces. When you add an app to a space, you grant the app the ability to:
- Fetch basic information about the space.
- Create messages in the space.
- On your computer, open Google Chat or Gmail.
- Select a conversation or space.
- At the top, click the space name or conversation participants.
- Click Apps & integration
- Enter the app name, then select one or more apps
Tips:
- When you add an app to a space, it doesn’t grant the app access to read all messages in the space. It only grants the app access to messages that triggered the app. Apps that require access to the full message context can only do so with explicit permission.
- When you add an app to a space, the app is also installed in your Apps section. The app is then available in every other space you’re in and may be available in other Workspace products.
- If you want to use the app in a different conversation or space, you don’t have to manually add the app to the conversation. Instead, you can explicitly add the app when you use it in the space with:
- An @mention
- A command
- A relevant link preview
Remove apps from a conversation or space
- On your computer, open Google Chat or Gmail.
- Select a conversation or space.
- At the top, click the space name or conversation participants.
- Click Apps & integrations.
- To remove an app, click More options
Tips:
- When you remove an app from a conversation or space, it’s only removed from that conversation or space, not from your Apps section.
- You can uninstall the app from the Apps section. This also uninstalls the app from other Workspace products.
Uninstall an app
- On your computer, open Google Chat or Gmail.
- On the left sidebar, under “Apps,” open an app.
- At the top, click the app's name
Uninstall.
Use slash commands in messages
Use slash commands in Google Chat to communicate quickly with apps. You don’t have to remember the commands. Enter a forward slash /, and a list of commands appears.
Only you can view the slash commands you use. The app's responses are visible in the conversation.
- On your computer, open Google Chat or Gmail.
- Select a conversation or space.
- In the reply area, enter a forward slash /.
A list of apps appears. Under each app name is a list of available commands. As you enter more characters, the list shortens to match. - Choose a command and enter any additional info.
- Press Enter.
Tip: If the app isn’t already in the conversation or space, the app is added when you message it.
Use the integration menu to interact with the app
- On your computer, open Google Chat or Gmail.
- If the app is installed through "Find apps" in "New chat," select a conversation or space.
Tip: If the app you want to use isn't installed yet, click View more apps for Chat, then install the app.
- On the left of the compose bar, click Google Workspace tools
.
- To open a list of commands available within an app, under "INSTALLED APPS," click an app.
- If a command requires further arguments: In the compose bar, enter any relevant inputs into the command. To activate the command, press Enter.
- If a command doesn't require any further arguments: To activate the command, click on the relevant command.
Get help with apps
- On your computer, open Google Chat or Gmail.
- Open the conversation with the app.
- At the top, click About.