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In October 2020, we announced Google Chat would be available for everyone. Since then, people could continue using Hangouts or upgrade to Google Chat — available as its own app or within Gmail — to take advantage of its modern features and integration with other Workspace products. We’ve continued to invest in Chat to help people better collaborate and express themselves, and now we’re taking steps to help remaining Hangouts users move to Chat.

A better way to collaborate

Moving to Google Chat opens up new and better ways to connect and collaborate. For example, users can edit Docs, Slides or Sheets with side-by-side editing, making it easier to collaborate while continuing the conversation.

Google Chat also includes Spaces, a dedicated place for topic-based collaboration. Groups and teams can share ideas, work on documents, and manage files and tasks, all from a single location. And, the new integrated view in Gmail makes it easier to use Chat alongside your Gmail inbox, Spaces, and Meet.

Express yourself

Switching to Chat also makes expressing yourself more fun, whether you’re using emojis with skin-tone selections, rich text editing to give your chats emphasis, @mentions to notify someone in the group or sending a GIF. Now everyone can find just the right way to chime in.

Moving from Hangouts to Chat

First, starting today, people using Hangouts on mobile will see an in-app screen asking them to move to Chat in Gmail or the Chat app. Similarly, people who use the Hangouts Chrome extension will be asked to move to Chat on the web or install the Chat web app. In July, people who use Hangouts in Gmail on the web will be upgraded to Chat in Gmail.

While we encourage everyone to make the switch to Chat, Hangouts on the web will continue to be available until later this year. Users will see an in-product notice at least a month before Hangouts on the web starts redirecting to Chat on the web.

For most people, conversations are automatically migrated from Hangouts to Chat, so it’s easy to pick up where you left off. However, we encourage users who wish to keep a copy of their Hangouts data to use Google Takeout to download their data before Hangouts is no longer available in November 2022 by following these instructions. You can visit the Help Center for more information on the differences between Chat and Hangouts, the migration timelines, and why we recommend downloading your Hangouts data.

The future of Chat

Google Chat offers a modern and integrated experience in Google Workspace. We have big ambitions for the future of Chat, and over the coming months you’ll see even more features like direct calling, in-line threading in Spaces and the ability to share and view multiple images. As we take this final step to bring remaining Hangouts users to Chat, we hope users will appreciate our continued investment in making Chat a powerful place to create and collaborate.

Every business has a story: how they started, how they persevered, how they’ve adapted over time. Small businesses are where we have our birthday dinners, find the perfect unique gift for the friend who has everything, and take our favorite shirt with a giant stain to be saved (again). No matter where you live, small businesses are central to our lives and they show up for us in countless ways.

So we’re marking this International Small Business Week with a few new ways to support small businesses, including exclusive product discounts, our first Heroes of Small Business sweepstakes and business scholarships through our partnership with StartOut.

Exclusive product discounts for small businesses

Making it even easier for businesses and people to connect is at the heart of what we do. We’re offering exclusive discounts on digital tools that help small businesses operate more efficiently, reach more people and stay in touch with existing customers and employees:

• Three months free of Google Workspace
• 40% off of a domain from Google Domains
• $130 off a Chromebook
• 60 days of Shopify Free and a free Shopify-built store

These offers are only available in the U.S. and Canada until July 1. You can learn more and redeem these offers at g.co/smallbiz/week.

Nominate a small business hero

We’re also introducing our first Heroes of Small Business sweepstakes. You have until July 5 to nominate your favorite U.S.-based small business for a chance to win $10,000 for the business — and you’ll receive $500 to spend with them (terms apply). Get started nominating and watch the stories of some small business heroes from across the country at g.co/smallbiz/heroes.

Business scholarships for LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs

Google is helping LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs succeed with funds to StartOut, an LGBTQ+ nonprofit organization that helps facilitate mentorship, access to capital and tools to create an equitable playing field. Through StartOut’s Acceleration Initiative, Google will fund more than 60 scholarships to help Black, Latinx and female identifying LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs to grow and scale their businesses. You can apply on the StartOut website.

Whether you’re a small business owner or just a small business fan, we hope you find a way to celebrate the incredible impact small businesses make on our communities with us this week.