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Google is rolling out Material You-inspired redesigns for Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides on the web. Announced last month, the update refreshes the UI of these platforms for a streamlined experience across the company’s Workspace tools. The changes will reach all eligible users around the world by the end of March.
In a Workspace Updates blog, Google detailed three key changes for Docs, Sheets, and Slides. The toolbar at the top has been redesigned with Material You touches. The tools inside it now appear a little bolder and are spaced more widely. There are some subtle functional improvements as well, such as the new Plus (+) and minus (-) buttons for quickly changing the font size of the document by one point.
Likewise, Google has relocated some tools to reduce clutter. For example, the clock icon in the top right corner is now the single solution for the last edit and version history. Paragraph alignment buttons have also been housed in a new dropdown menu. Earlier, the toolbar contained four alignment buttons. Last but not least, this redesign will bring “user experience improvements in commenting, background, rulers, and gridlines.”
Google Drive is also getting some functional improvements as part of this UI overhaul. You can now select multiple items simultaneously and undertake batch operations. New search chips make it easier to find files in Drive. As noted by 9to5Google, the lack of dynamic color support on the web has made Google heavily use a shade of light blue for this redesign of Workspace tools. You have previously seen this color scheme in Gmail’s Material Your redesign on the web.
Google updates Workspace web apps with Material You UI redesign
This Material You UI redesign for Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides web apps will be available to all Google Workspace customers, legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers, and users with personal Google accounts. There is no admin control for these changes. You’ll see the refreshed UI as soon as the update reaches you. You or your organization don’t need to manually make any changes.
As far as the rollout pace is concerned, Google is unsurprisingly pushing the changes to users on Rapid Release domains first. Those users started seeing the redesigned UI a few days back. The company expects to cover all users over the next couple of weeks. The rollout for users on Scheduled Release domains, i.e. normal Gmail/Google accounts, will begin on March 22 and will reach everyone within three days. “These key visual and interactive design changes will help you get your best work done faster by emphasizing the tools within our products used most frequently,” Google said.
