Google Chat update brings a highly requested feature

Many of Google’s popular apps have been updated with new features and improvements lately. It’s now Google Chat’s turn to be in the spotlight, as the search giant has just announced a small, yet important update is now rolling out to everyone using its messaging app.

Although this isn’t a large update, it does bring a rather useful feature: hyperlinks support. With the latest version of Google Chat, you’ll be able to hyperlink text on web and Android when creating or editing a message, Google confirmed earlier today.

In addition to this new functionality, the update adds the ability to copy over hyperlinks from other Google apps like Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Unsurprisingly, this was tagged by Google as a “highly requested” feature, so it’s safe to say that it will help many users make their message look cleaner and easier to read.

In order to hyperlink a piece of text, you’ll have to click on the link icon in the rich text formatting toolbar and enter the URL. If you’re on the web, the whole process of adding hyperlinks is much easier because you can make use of keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+K on ChromeOS and Windows).

As far as availability goes, Google says that Chat users in the Rapid Release domains should get the new features today, but the rollout should take up to 15 days. Everyone else should start seeing the new functionality on August 1, with a full rollout taking up to 3 days.

Finally, the update being deployed to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts. You don’t have to do anything to hyperlink the text in your messages. Once you receive the update, you can start using the new features.