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If you often work on shared Google Drive files or find yourself drowning in endless email threads, you know how quickly tracking every change and new piece of information can become a massive time-sink.
Google's AI, Gemini, is stepping up to solve this very problem with smart new features designed to quickly get you up to speed.
"Catch Me Up" on Google Drive Files
If you haven't opened your Google Drive in a while and need to quickly get up to speed, you can use Gemini's new "Catch me up" feature to know what's changed in your shared documents and spreadsheets.
Gone were the days of manually scanning through revision histories in every single file. Gemini scans your Google Drive, pinpointing files that have been updated since your last view. It then provides a handy overview of these changes, including edits to Google Docs and comments on Docs, Sheets, and Slides.
While Gemini's summaries won't give you a word-for-word account of every tiny tweak, it aims to save time for anyone who collaborates regularly, from students to professionals.
You'll soon see a new "Catch me up" button at the top of your Google Drive folders, right next to other helpful Gemini buttons. You can also spot a "catch me up activity indicator" on specific files in your list if they've changed, allowing you to get a summary for just that document.
Email Summaries in Gmail
Gemini isn't just helping with Drive files; it's also making your inbox easier to manage! Google has now extended Gemini's ability to automatically summarise long email threads. You can quickly grasp the main points of a lengthy conversation without having to read every single message.
Previously, you had to manually tap a "Summarise this email" button. Now, you just need to have Google's "smart features" turned on in Gmail (and other Workspace apps like Chat and Meet) for it to work. For now, this particular automated summary feature is available only in English.
If you'd prefer not to see Gemini's summaries in your Google Drive or other Workspace products, you can easily turn them off. Just head to your Gmail settings, navigate to the "General" tab, and scroll down to "Google Workspace smart features". There, you'll find a toggle to switch it off.
Gemini can also help you summarise important info from your Google Drive videos, read all about it here. Stay updated with ProductNation on here, Instagram & TikTok as well.
News sources: Google Blog
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