For work or school accounts, you can restrict access to a space to specific members or make the space discoverable or open to everyone in your organization.
Learn how private, discoverable & open spaces work
Learn about private spaces
- Ideal for discussion amongst teams, projects, and groups.
- To join a space, a space member must invite or add you to the space.
- Unless you're a member or invited to the space, you can’t browse for it in Chat.
Learn about discoverable spaces
- Ideal for topics that aren’t limited to specific individuals or teams.
- When a space is discoverable, you can:
- Find the space in "Browse spaces."
- See the name and description.
- If the space owners and managers allow it, request to join.
Learn about open spaces
- Ideal for topics that aren’t limited to specific individuals or teams.
- When a space is open, you can:
- Find the space in "Browse spaces."
- See the name and description.
- Preview messages.
- Join the space.
- If you have a link to the space, you can join it with the link.
- Frontline
- Business Starter
- Business Standard
- Business Plus
- Enterprise Essentials
- Enterprise Standard
- Enterprise Plus
- Education Fundamentals
- Education Standard
- Education Plus
- Teaching and Learning Upgrade
- Nonprofits
- G Suite Basic
- G Suite Business
- Essentials (domain verified)
Update the space access level
Important:To change the access level for a space, you need to be a space owner or manager. Learn about your role as a space owner or manager .
- On your computer, open Google Chat
or Gmail
.
- In Gmail:On the left, click Chat.
- On the left, select a space.
- At the top, click the space name
Space settings
.
- Under the "Access" section, select a space access level:
- Private:Users can't find or join this space unless you add them.
- Discoverable:Anyone in your organization can find the space.
- Open:Anyone in your organization can find and join the space and preview messages.
- If your space is private, discoverable, or open to a group of users that is smaller than your entire organization, you can choose whether users are allowed to request to join the space.
- Click Save.
If you have multiple target audiences:
- Next to "Advanced access settings," click Advanced
.
- Select who can join and who can find your space.
- You can add only one audience in the "Who can join" field and multiple audiences in the "Who can find" field.
- Turn Request to joinon or off.
- Click Done.
Tips:
- If a space is open to everyone in your organization, you can’t invite people outside your organization to join.
- You can find additional access options your administrator creates. If you have questions about available access options, contact your administrator .
- If your administrator deletes the target audience you select for your space, "
Deleted Audience" displays in the space history and space access is private by default.
Add new members to an open space
You can add new members to an open space by either:
- Copying a link to the space and sharing with others.
- Directly adding or inviting them.
- In Chat, select the space.
- At the top, click the space name
- Share the link to anyone you’d like to invite or reference the space with.
- In Chat, select the space.
- At the top, click the space name
- Click Add.
- Enter the name, email, or Google Group, or select suggested contacts to invite.
- Click Add.
