Use apps in Google Chat

Apps are special accounts you can message that connect you to services in Chat, so you can:
  • Look up information.
  • Schedule a meeting.
  • Do tasks.

Learn how apps work in Google Chat

When you interact with an app in Chat, the app can see your:

The app can see other’s basic information in a chat, but it can't see their email address or avatar unless they interact directly with the app.

Google creates and maintains some apps, such as the Google Drive and Poll apps.

Third-party software vendors create and maintain other apps. If you use a third-party app, review the vendor's Terms of Service and privacy policy for more information on the third-party use of your data.

Important:

  • On your work or school accounts, your admin can install apps for you. Afterwards, the apps can send you direct messages. You can't uninstall the apps but you can turn off notifications for conversations with the app.
  • If you're an external member of a Google Chat space created by a work or school account, you can't add, remove, or interact with any apps.

Tips:

Find & install a Chat app

Important: If you have a work or school account, your organization controls which apps are available to you.

  1. On your computer, open Google Chat or Gmail.
  2. Select an option:
    • Click New chat and then Find apps.
    • In the Chat sidebar, click Get Add-ons .
  3. Search or browse for an app.
  4. Select an app.
  5. To create a dedicated 1:1 direct message with the app and allow you to interact with the app’s features individually, click Install.
    • Or, to add an app to a space and allow all space members to use the app’s features, click Add to Space.

Tips:

Add apps to a conversation or space

Your installed apps can be used in your conversations and spaces. When you add an app to a space, you grant the app the ability to:

  • Fetch basic information about the space.
  • Create messages in the space.
  1. On your computer, open Google Chat or Gmail.
  2. Select a conversation or space.
  3. At the top, click the space name or conversation participants.
  4. Click Apps & integration and then Add apps.
  5. Enter the app name.
  6. Select one or more apps.
  7. Click Add.

Tips:

  • When you add an app to a space, it grants the app access to messages that triggered the app, not to read all the messages in the space.
    • Apps that require access to the full message context can only do so with explicit permission.
  • When you add an app to a space, the app gets installed in your Apps section.
    • Now the app is available in every other space you’re in and may be available in other Workspace products.
  • Do not manually add the app to the conversation. To use the app in a different conversation or space, add the app in the space with:
    • An @mention or /mention
    • A command
    • A relevant link preview

Remove apps from a conversation or space

  1. On your computer, open Google Chat or Gmail.
  2. Select a conversation or space.
  3. At the top, click the space name or conversation participants.
  4. Click Apps & integrations.
  5. To remove an app, click More options and then Remove from space.

Tips:

  • When you remove an app from a conversation or space, it’s only removed from that conversation or space, not from your Apps section.
  • You can uninstall the app from the Apps section. This also uninstalls the app from other Workspace products.

Uninstall an app

  1. On your computer, open Google Chat or Gmail.
  2. On the left sidebar, under "Apps," open an app.
  3. At the top, click the app's name and then Uninstall.

Use app commands

Use app commands in Google Chat to communicate quickly with apps. You don’t have to remember the commands. Instead, you can enter a forward slash / or click Add .

The app commands you use in a conversation are private. The app's responses appear in the conversation.

  1. On your computer, open Google Chat or Gmail.
  2. Select a conversation or space.
  3. In the reply area, enter a forward slash /.
    • Or, at the left of the reply area, click Add .
  4. Start typing and select the option from the list that matches what you're trying to do.
    • If the command requires more information, type your input in the reply area and press Enter to activate.
    • If the command does not require more information, click the command to activate it.

Tips:

  • If the app isn’t already in the conversation or space, the app is added when you message it.

  • To perform a custom behavior, add an argument. An argument is an additional input that you provide to a command.

Get help with apps

  1. On your computer, open Google Chat or Gmail.
  2. Open the conversation with the app.
  3. At the top, click About.