Your Google Chat history can now be searched by Gemini – how it works

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ZDNET’s key takeaways

• Gemini can now access your workspace Google Chat history.
• You can ask for specific details or for an overview of messages.
• The feature will be turned off by default.

Google Chat just got an upgrade that could be one of its most practical yet. 

In a recent blog post, Google announced that Gemini can now access your Google Workspace Chat history. If you’ve ever spent time scrolling through several days, or even weeks, of conversation to find information, you can appreciate how useful this could be.

Also: Google Workspace now lets you create AI agents to automate your work – how to get started

Gemini can already access your Gmail, Google Drive, and other Workspace apps, and edit your Chat messages, but it couldn’t see your chat history. This latest addition lets it dive deep into your work conversations to search for information that never makes it into formal documents — from specific project details to summaries of your day’s messages.

Google offered a few example scenarios. You might ask something like, “Who’s the marketing lead for Project Clover?,” “What’s the latest deadline mentioned for Project X?” or “Summarize my unread chat messages from today.” 

Also: You can turn off Gemini in Gmail, Photos, Chrome, and more – here’s how 

Tools like Gemini can be useful at work, but they’re limited to the information you give them when it comes to personal help. With Chat integration, Gemini can see a great deal more information from what’s often the fastest-moving part of your day. Of course, how useful it is depends on how heavily your team relies on Chat. If this implementation works, Chat could seriously threaten other workplace communication options like Slack and Teams. 

To use the feature, just ask Gemini for the information you need once the feature is on. Gemini in Google Chat will be off by default, but you can turn it on in settings. It’s available now in Google’s Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains.