Claude can now read and edit your Google Docs, Sheets and Slides directly

Anthropic launched Claude for Google Workspace in public beta on 6 October, putting Claude inside Google Docs, Sheets and Slides as a sidebar and adding connectors (links that let Claude create and edit Google files from its own chat window). Both features are available now on all paid Claude plans.

What happened

Claude for Google Workspace is a new add-on you install from the Google Workspace Marketplace. Once installed, you open a file and go to Extensions > Claude > Open Claude. A sidebar appears next to your document, spreadsheet or presentation.

From that sidebar, Claude can read the file you have open, see which text, cells or slides you have selected, and make changes directly in the file. You choose how much it does on its own:

• Ask before edits mode (the default): each change appears as an approval card and Claude waits for you to accept or dismiss it before applying anything.
• Accept all edits mode: Claude works through the task and applies changes without stopping to ask.

What Claude can do varies by app:

• Docs: fix a sentence or restyle a heading without touching surrounding formatting, or propose larger rewrites as suggestion cards that highlight exactly which passage would change.
• Sheets: write formulas, build pivot tables and native charts, add new tabs, and handle data cleaning tasks, writing results back into the sheet.
• Slides: build new slides that match your deck's existing layouts and themes, then check for overlapping elements, text overflow or readability problems.

Alongside the add-on, Anthropic also released Google Docs, Sheets and Slides connectors (also in beta). A connector is a link that lets Claude use your apps, such as Drive, Slack or Notion. These new connectors let you start from Claude's chat instead: paste a Google file link or ask Claude to create a new file, and it opens in a pane beside your conversation. Claude's access matches your existing Google sharing permissions.

If you are signed in with your Claude account, the sidebar carries your existing connectors and skills. A skill is a saved set of instructions that teaches AI to do one job your way. For example, if you save a quarterly business review format as a skill, your whole team can build the next deck following the same steps. Claude can also pull data from connected tools such as Salesforce or Google Drive during that task.

On Enterprise plans, existing controls including the Compliance API, customer-managed encryption keys and OpenTelemetry audit export apply to the add-on too. On Team and Enterprise plans, an owner or primary owner must enable the connectors before others can use them. Admins can deploy the add-on to their whole domain or selected groups from the Google Admin console.

What it means for your work

• You no longer need to copy text into Claude and paste edits back. Claude reads and writes the file directly.
• Approval cards mean you stay in control: you can review every suggested change before it lands in the document.
• The same models and connected tools you already use in Claude are available inside the sidebar, so your existing setup carries over.
• Enterprise security controls are not bypassed; they apply to the add-on just as they do to Claude's main interface.

What to do now

1. Check that you are on a paid Claude plan (the feature is not available on the free tier).
2. Go to the Google Workspace Marketplace and install Claude for Google Workspace.
3. Open a Google Doc, Sheet or Slide, then go to Extensions > Claude > Open Claude to launch the sidebar.
4. Try asking Claude to tighten a paragraph or write a formula on a real file, using the default Ask before edits mode so you can review the result.
5. If you are on a Team or Enterprise plan and want to use the connectors from Claude's chat, ask your workspace owner to enable the Google Docs, Sheets and Slides connectors first.
6. If you are a Google Workspace admin, you can deploy the add-on to your domain or specific groups from the Google Admin console.

Both the add-on and the connectors are in beta, so some features may change as Anthropic gathers feedback.

Claude blog | BigGo Finance