Google Chat may have just solved one of your biggest productivity problems

man working with headphones
(Image credit: Shutterstock.com / Monkey Business Images)

A new Google Chat update looks to help users never forget a project by turning messages into personal tasks.

The chat software is getting a new feature that will allow users to automatically create a new task from individual or group messages in a Google Chat.

The new "Add to Tasks" option will appear when hovering over a message in a Google Chat window, alongside with the current ability to add a reaction emoji or forward a message to your inbox.

Google Chat Tasks

"This feature allows you to more easily stay on top of tasks that come out of conversations with your coworkers via Chat," the official Google Workspace Update blog noted. "Once you’ve created a personal task, you can add a due date and description, then quickly navigate back to the conversation."

Once created, a task will be viewable within Google Tasks, the quick-access side panel, and even in Google Calendar if the task has a set date.

Google Chat tasks button

(Image credit: Google)

The feature is rolling out to Android and Web users now, and will be available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers.

The company says that it is working on adding Add to Tasks to iOS, and expects the feature to be available for iOS in the coming months.

The update is the latest tweak to Google Chat as the company looks to keep it as useful as possible for workers across the globe.

It recently announced that Google Chat users will soon benefit from alert banners that warn against suspicious messages that may contain links to phishing sites or malware downloads.

Google says the new feature will be available across both mobile and web clients, and will help to “protect against malicious actors” and “keep data safe”.

Google Chat has also recently reintroduced its Idle status, denoted by an orange icon, making it easier to see which of your colleagues is present. 

Mike Moore
Deputy Editor, TechRadar Pro

Mike Moore is Deputy Editor at TechRadar Pro. He has worked as a B2B and B2C tech journalist for nearly a decade, including at one of the UK's leading national newspapers and fellow Future title ITProPortal, and when he's not keeping track of all the latest enterprise and workplace trends, can most likely be found watching, following or taking part in some kind of sport.

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