If you manage Google Groups, you need to prepare for a significant shift in how Internal vs. External classifications are enforced. Google is officially closing the loopholes that previously allowed external members to exist inside "Internal" groups (via nesting or admin overrides).

Here is the breakdown of what is changing:

🛑 Stricter "Internal" Definition Starting Q2 2026, if a group is set to "Internal," it will be strictly limited to members of your organisation. No exceptions. Admin overrides to add external members? Gone. Nested external groups? Filtered out.

🔄 The Migration Plan To prevent data loss, Google will automatically reclassify any current "Internal" group that contains external members (direct or nested) as "External". This preserves access, but it means your "Internal" groups list might look different overnight.

⚠️ The Critical "Gotcha" for Admins Once this rolls out, if you manually change a group from External to Internal, all direct external members will be permanently removed immediately. Indirect external members (in child groups) will remain in their child group but be "filtered out" of the parent group's communications and permissions.

My Advice: Start auditing your group structures now. Look for nested groups that might have hidden external members. Decide now which groups should truly be Internal and which need to remain External, rather than waiting for the auto-classification to decide for you.

🔗 Read the full support article here: https://lnkd.in/eKzMBwTm

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