What you need to know
- Google Chat is changing its URL to increase loading times while preserving the same appearance.
- Additionally, Chat now supports schedule sending messages for the first time.
- The Workspace messaging platform adds a Drafts tab as a hub for managing scheduled chats.
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For messaging, most Google users turn to the Google Messages. The company also has a specialized messaging client for Workspace teams called Google Chat, though. Starting this week, Google is making two key changes to Chat that'll make the platform quicker and add a long-overdue messaging feature. These changes arrive as part of an extended rollout, according to Google, meaning they might take a few weeks to show up for everyone.
You might not know that the old web URL for Google Chat doesn't follow the typical Google format. Google Chat was originally found on the web at mail.google.com/chat, and it's now moving to chat.google.com. The small tweak might break some Google Chat extensions, so be sure to update your extensions to be compatible with the new URL.
Aside from the URL change giving Google Chat an online home separate from Gmail, the shift brings a big improvement for users. Google says the fresh URL reduces loading time, allowing Google Chat's web client to run faster. Crucially, it doesn't affect the Chat user interface, and bookmarks and links to the old URL will still work.
Separately, Google is adding a schedule send feature to Chat that works similarly to scheduling an email in Gmail. When creating a message in a Chat conversation, you can click the menu beside the send button to open the schedule. From there, you can pick a suggested schedule send time or choose a custom time.
Google Chat will now display a banner above the compose box when you have a scheduled message in a particular conversations. After they've been scheduled, you can manage scheduled messages by opening the new Drafts shortcut in the Chat sidebar. This new area will let Chat users edit, reschedule, or cancel messages.
Notably, you'll only see a Drafts page in the sidebar when you have active scheduled messages.
Both the new Google Chat URL and schedule send support are rolling out now for Workspace users on rapid release domains. As this is an extended rollout, it could take longer than 15 days for the feature to become available. For scheduled release domains, the launch will begin on Jan. 2, 2026 and could take up to 15 days to appear afterward.
