Common questions when considering Google Workspace

With Google Workspace, you'll receive a number of additional business-grade services not included with Google’s free consumer apps. These services include: custom business email @yourcompany, twice the amount of cloud storage across Gmail and Drive, 24/7 phone and email support, 99.9% guaranteed uptime on business email, interoperability with Microsoft Outlook, additional security options like two-step authentication and SSO, and administrative controls for user accounts.

No. When you sign up for Google Workspace, you’ll gain access to a set of integrated apps that work together seamlessly. For instance, you can receive a message in Gmail and instantly convert it into a Calendar event. When you make a comment in Docs, Sheets, or Slides, collaborators automatically receive email alerts. With a single click, you can join a video meeting in Meet from your inbox or calendar. Using these tools together improves productivity and gives your business the most value. However, you are welcome to purchase the suite and only use the services of your choice.

We’ve found that many of our customers are able to eliminate their existing productivity suites and rely exclusively on Google Workspace to create different kinds of files, including text documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. You can work on those files in real time with other people and store them in the cloud with Google Drive. Google Workspace ’s apps work across devices. Unlike traditional desktop applications, there is no software to install. Google Workspace is also compatible with files made in other programs, such as Microsoft Office.

Google Workspace has three editions for companies with up to 300 users: Business Starter, Business Standard, and Business Plus. Companies with more than 300 users should consider our Enterprise offers. Please visit our pricing page to learn more.

Yes, we offer 14 days of Google Workspace service to new customers. Sign up for the free trial in minutes and create accounts for up to 10 people on your team. We’ll need to get your billing details to get your account set up, but you will only be charged after the free trial is over. You can cancel anytime. To get the most from your trial, we recommend trying at least 3 tasks you want to explore, such as collaborating on Docs, launching a video meeting in Meet, or checking Gmail from your mobile device.

You can sign up for Google Workspace online or contact our sales team to get started. When you sign up online, you’ll automatically start with a free 14-day trial. We’ll need to get your billing details to get your account set up, but you will only be charged after the free trial is over. You can cancel anytime. Please note the trial is limited to 10 users. If you add more than 10 users during your trial period, the trial will end and you will begin payment.

You can cancel your subscription at anytime in the Admin Console dashboard, under the Billing section. If you cancel within your 14 day trial period, you will not be charged. Please refer to this help center article for more information.

Following our setup guide, you can set up Google Workspace and migrate your information at no additional cost. Our Support team is available to help if needed. If you would like someone to do the setup and migration for your company, please contact a Google Partner to learn more about these services and the costs associated.

You can pay for your Google Workspace subscription using an international credit card. Google accepts payments from Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. In some locations, you can also pay by making withdrawals from a bank account (also called direct debit).

Annual plans are offered only in some countries. Visit our pricing page to see if an annual plan is offered in your country.

A user is defined as one personalized email address (name@yourcompany). A user can have multiple email addresses by creating email aliases. Group email aliases (such as support@yourcompany) don't count as users. You can add up to 30 email aliases for each user.

No. Each user can have multiple email addresses by creating email aliases. You can add up to 30 email aliases per user.

No, the cost of a domain is separate from Google Workspace. During signup, you will specify the domain you want for your business email. If you don’t yet own the domain, you can purchase it from Google for an additional fee.

Yes. When you first set up your billing, you will choose a country where you do business and which currency you would like to use to pay. Your country determines what payment methods you can use. Choose your country and currency carefully, as you can't change these selections later.

Google Workspace has been built from the ground up to mitigate the unique threats for cloud systems. Google’s standards for performance and reliability apply to businesses, schools and government institutions around the world.

The technology, scale, and agility of our infrastructure bring unique security benefits to our customers. Our vast network of data centers are built with custom-designed servers, that run our own operating system for security and performance. Because Google controls its entire hardware stack, we are able to quickly respond to threats that may emerge.

Google employs dedicated security professionals to work on protecting your data, including some of the world’s foremost experts in computer security. Just like all teams at Google, this team is constantly innovating and making the future more secure, not just for Google’s billion users, but for business organizations as well.

Google has an outstanding track record of protecting user data. We protect this data from outside intrusions as well as insider threats. In addition, we tightly restrict and monitor any internal access to user data. The small set of employees with access is subject to rigorous authentication measures, detailed logging, and activity scanning to detect inappropriate access via log analysis.

It is this unique combination of people, technology and agility that ensure your data is secure at Google. For more information, check out the Google Workspace Security Whitepaper.

Google designed Google Workspace with very stringent privacy and security standards based on industry best practices. This helps our customers address their compliance and regulatory requirements. Google offers strong contractual commitments regarding data ownership, data use, security, transparency, and accountability.

Google undergoes several independent third-party audits on a regular basis. These independent auditors examine the controls present in our data centers, infrastructure, and operations. Examples of these audits and standards include: SOC1™, (SSAE-16/ISAE-3402), SOC2™, SOC3™, ISO27001, ISO 27018:2014 and FedRAMP. Learn more about our certifications at Security and Trust.

Many Google Workspace services are also compliant with HIPAA (U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).

Google Workspace for Education can be used in compliance with laws and regulations important to schools.

Google Workspace supports customers’ compliance with the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which governs the safeguarding, use, and disclosure of protected health information (PHI). Customers who are subject to HIPAA and wish to use Google Workspace for PHI processing or storage can sign a business associate addendum with Google. View more details about HIPAA compliance with Google Workspace.

Respect for the privacy and security of data you store with Google underpins our approach to producing data in response to legal requests. When we receive such a request, our team reviews the request to make sure it satisfies legal requirements and Google's policies. Generally speaking, for Google to produce any data, the request must be made in writing, signed by an authorized official of the requesting agency and issued under an appropriate law. If we believe a request is overly broad, we'll seek to narrow it. For more information, visit Google’s Transparency Report.

Core customer data that is uploaded or created in Google Workspace services is encrypted at rest, as described in this help center article.

This encryption happens as it is written to disk, without the customer having to take any action. Google encrypts data with distinct encryption keys, even if they belong to the same customer. Data is encrypted using 128-bit or stronger Advanced Encryption Standard (AES).

Google encrypts core Google Workspace data while it is “in transit” as well, whether it is traveling over the Internet between the customer and Google, or moving within Google as it shifts from one data center to another. We encrypt this data between Google and our customers using HTTPS with forward secrecy.

Google offers the security features required for most customers directly in Google Workspace. Google Workspace ’s Business and Enterprise editions offer some additional security features, such as advanced Google Drive auditing and security keys management at scale. In all plans, Google Workspace administrators have control over system configuration and applications from within a single dashboard via our Admin console —regardless of the size of the organization.

Administrators can access advanced tools immediately, including authentication features like 2-Step verification and single sign-on, or email security policies like secure transport (TLS) enforcement, IRM, and DLP which can be configured in a few clicks.

For customers with security needs beyond what is included in Google Workspace, we created a partner marketplace that extends our capabilities.

Yes. Google has a broad customer base in Europe. Google provides capabilities and contractual commitments for our customers designed specifically to help address EU data protection requirements and the guidance provided by the Article 29 Working Party. Google Workspace offers EU Standard Contractual Clauses and a Cloud Data Processing Addendum. Additionally, Google Workspace has been assessed as appropriate for use with the UK government's Cloud Security Principles "OFFICIAL (including OFFICIAL- SENSITIVE)".

Yes, you can bring your existing email, contacts, and calendar data with you to Google Workspace. You can migrate the data for yourself and your team members, or you can let your team migrate their own data. Google Workspace has tools to migrate data from Microsoft® Exchange, Outlook®, or Office 365™, IBM® Notes®, and other email systems. For more information on the tools available for data migrations into Google Workspace, see Migrate your organization’s data to Google Workspace.

No, you’ll continue to send/receive email as usual. To use Gmail with Google Workspace, you setup your domain (MX records) to direct your mail flow to the Google mail servers. It’s like registering your new address with the post office so that mail is delivered to your new location. Once the MX records change takes effect (up to 72 hours), you can start receiving/sending email through your Google Workspace account. Until then, you’ll receive/send your email through your old mail system.

No, this transition will not affect your current website. Setting up Google Workspace does not require any changes to your current web host provider. While Google Workspace is not a web hosting provider, you can learn more about Google web hosting solutions through Google Cloud Platform.

To use Google Workspace, you need a domain. Your domain name is what appears after the www. in your website URL. If you already have a domain, enter it when you sign up for Google Workspace. (You’ll be asked to verify that you own the domain.) If you don’t have a domain or want to use a different one with Google Workspace, you can purchase a domain of your choice (if available) from Google.

Yes, you can work with a Google Workspace partner. These experienced IT-service companies can help you evaluate, customize, deploy, and transition to Google Workspace. They can also provide training, data management, and ongoing support. If you have questions about setting up Google Workspace, you can also contact Google Workspace Support. The Support team is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Visit the Setup Site for information on setup, communication templates, and resources for deployment and change management.

Yes, you can manage your organization’s mobile devices, without the need for an on-premise device management server, using the Google Admin console. Mobile device management (MDM) allows you to enforce device policies over mobile devices in your organization and perform actions like remotely wiping your users’ mobile devices.

If your organization acquires a new domain name or does business at multiple domains, you can add all your domains to your account at no extra cost. Users can then have identities at one or more of your domains while sharing services as part of a single organization. And you can manage your domains from the same Admin console. Add a domain as either a separate domain or domain alias, depending on how you plan to use it.

Yes. No matter the size of your organization, we recommend that you distribute the responsibility of managing your users and services among a select set of trusted users. You can grant a user administrative privileges by assigning them one of the available administrator roles. Assigning a role grants the user access to your Admin console. You can make a user a super administrator who can perform all tasks in the Admin console. You can also assign an administrator a role that limits which tasks the administrator can perform. For example, allowing them only to create groups, manage service settings, or reset a user's password.

Initially, most services are turned on for all of your users. You can use the Admin console to turn off services you don't want people to use, or to customize how services work. You have the option to enable the same settings for everyone or apply unique policies to different users. For example, you might turn on Meet just for your support team or allow only the marketing department to share public Google Sites.