The Ultimate Manual to G Suite Admin Third-Party Add-Ons

G-Suite, now known as Google Workspace, is the full collection of Google’s productivity, collaboration, and business management tools.

It’s a complete work management platform with apps like Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, and several other Google products. These applications are sufficient for most business uses and allow companies to perform their operations conveniently and collaboratively.

However, Google also allows third-party add-ons on G Suite from reliable application developers.

In this article, we’ll tell you everything about G Suite Admin third-party add-ons and how you can use them in your business.

Let’s dive in.

What Are G Suite Admin 3rd Party Add-Ons Anyway?

G Suite consists of various Google applications like Gmail, Meet, Sheets, Slides, Drive, and many others. Google has developed all these applications, and it updates and manages them regularly.

But to help you achieve more with Google applications, G Suite (or Google Workspace) also allows you to install third-party add-ons to customize your experience.

G Suite third-party add-ons are applications developed by other reliable companies. They are stand-alone applications that help you create better integration between Google Workspace apps and other applications that you require in your everyday business operations.

Like regular Google Workspace applications, you can find third-party add-ons on the Google Workspace Marketplace.

Since Google Workspace is an extremely popular platform with millions of users worldwide, it has no shortage of third-party applications and add-ons.

You can find add-ons in all kinds of niches like productivity, collaboration, project management, education, document management, HR, Sales, CRM, and many others.

G Suite third-party add-ons only work with the specific applications they’re designed for. This means that an add-on might work with Gmail but not with Google Drive, despite both being part of the Google family. However, many work with all G Suite apps.

This is why you must check whether an add-on works with your desired G Suite app or not before installing it. The Marketplace notes which apps each add-on is made to work with

Once you install an add-on to a G Suite app, it starts appearing on the side of your screen along with the default G Suite apps you’re already using.

For example, in this screenshot, I’ve installed a couple of third-party add-ons to Gmail. These add-ons, Trello and Slack, appear on the side of my screen in Gmail below the default G Suite apps like Calendar, Keep, Contacts, etc.

All your third-party add-ons appear this way in Gmail. Similarly, the add-ons in other Google Workspace apps like Sheets or Drive also appear separately from the regular pre-installed applications.

When you click on an add-on’s icon, it opens in the same window by popping out a narrow screen on the right side, and allows you to perform a specific action that enhances the overall functions of your Google application.

How G Suite Admin 3rd Party Add Ons Work

G Suite third-party add-ons are all available in the Google Workspace Marketplace. You can search for or browse different add-ons in the marketplace and install them to your Google Workspace apps.

Alternately, you can also access the marketplace from a Google Workspace application. In this scenario, the marketplace will only show you the add-ons that work with that specific application.

If a G Suite admin wants to install a third-party add-on to their business account or any of their team members’ apps, they need to access G Suite using their admin login credentials.

The admin login credentials are separate from your personal account. This means that if you’re logged in with your personal Google account, you won’t be able to exercise your admin rights.

Once you access your admin accounts, you have the option to use all the features available to G Suite admins when handling third-party add-ons.

Privileges Of G Suite Admins When Using 3rd-Party Add-Ons

All Google users can install third-party add-ons to their Workspace applications from Google Workspace Marketplace.

However, G Suite admins have additional privileges.

For example, a regular user can only install third-party add-ons to their personal Google account apps. However, G Suite admins can install add-ons to their personal as well as team/employee accounts.

Admins can enable or disable applications for their company domains and install/uninstall add-ons on their team’s behalf. They can also control if the Google Workspace Marketplace apps and add-ons are visible to their team members.

When an admin installs third-party add-ons to their team domain, it starts appearing in the relevant Workspace applications in their Google accounts.

Individual users do not have permission to remove add-ons installed by an admin. Similarly, individual users cannot modify or install apps to their peer accounts unless an admin allows them to do so.

Admins also have the additional option to block or unblock applications for their company domain. As an admin, you can access the blocked applications list from your G Suite admin account and add or remove add-ons.

Similarly, you have the option to block add-ons from a specific developer or restrict their access to your application data.

You can manage all of this through your account’s allowlist. The allowlist consists of all the approved and blocked applications and add-ons in the marketplace for your team.

The approved apps and add-ons appear in your team’s

An admin in G Suite has complete control over their company’s Workspace applications and the associated add-ons. Team members and employees rely on the admins for installing/uninstalling or modifying add-ons to their company accounts.

Exploring Google Workspace Marketplace As A G Suite Admin

As a G Suite admin, you can install add-ons to your business account so that they’re available to all the associated users or make them available to your team members in Google Workspace Marketplace so that they can install them if they want.

When you’re signed in as an admin, you can explore and search different Google Workspace add-ons on the marketplace.

Google Workspace Marketplace does not show you the complete details of an add-on in the search results. You can see an add-on’s rating, thumbnail, and title, along with a short description and the number of times it has been downloaded.

Click on an add-on to see its more detailed description and reviews and understand how it can make your Google Workspace Applications more useful.

Most add-ons provide a detailed overview of their functions on the add-on page. For example, you can see their feature list, supported applications, primary functions, target audience, and many other details.

Plus, you can see the permissions an add-on requires to function correctly. This is critical information for you as a G Suite admin because an add-on’s permissions directly impact your organization’s data privacy and security.

When you install an add-on to your business account, it seeks authorization to access your data. Once you provide the authorization, it applies to all the users in your organization associated with your Google Workspace applications.

That is why it’s crucial to review the permissions carefully before installing an add-on.

You can also read user reviews on this page to see what other users think about it.

As a general rule, avoid installing add-ons that do not have a detailed overview page or have an overwhelming number of bad reviews.

Once you’re satisfied that an add-on is safe for your account and provides the features you’re looking for, you can proceed to the installation process.

There are two types of installations for G Suite admin third-party add-ons:

Domain Install: Installs an add-on to your entire business domain or organizational unit. In this case, an add-on is added to your team members’ accounts as well.
Individual Install: Installs an add-on to your individual admin account only.

We’ll discuss them in more detail shortly.

Example 1: Using The Trello Add-On With Gmail

Trello is among the most popular project management tools used by millions of people around the world. It also has a very popular G Suite third-party add-on for Gmail.

When you install it to your Gmail account, it adds an icon to the right of your screen in the third-party add-ons list.

This allows you to create Trello cards directly from your Gmail emails. This way, if a manager assigns you a task via email, you can quickly move it to a Trello board directly from your Gmail account.

To do that, just open the relevant email and click on the Trello icon in your Gmail window. Then choose the relevant board to create a new card.

Example #2: Using Automagically With Drive

Automagically is a G Suite add-on for Google Drive that allows you to extract questions from your Google Drive files and convert them into Google Forms.

Once you install it to Google Drive, it starts appearing in the third-party add-ons list. To extract questions from a file, open the Automagically add-on in your Google Drive account and single click on a file from your file list.

The add-on automatically extracts all the questions in your document and allows you to convert them into a Google Form.

How to Get Started With G Suite Admin 3rd-Party Add Ons

Now that we’ve discussed G Suite Admin third-party add-ons in detail, let’s review the steps you need to follow to get started.

Step 1: Access G Suite As An Admin

Go to the Google Workspace (G Suite) website and click on Admin console at the top of your screen.

Remember, you won’t be able to access the admin console if you’re using your personal account to sign in.

Step 2: Install A G Suite Add-On To Your Company Domain

Once you’re inside the Admin console, go to Apps → Google Workspace Marketplace apps.

Click Add app to Domain Install list to open Google Workspace Marketplace.

Search the marketplace for add-ons using the search box. Once you find the add-on you’re looking for, click on it to open its details page. Carefully review an add-on’s description, permissions, and reviews before installing it to your domain.

If you decide to install an add-on, you have two options (you can change this later):

Domain Install—Installs the app for your entire domain or a specific organizational unit.
Individual Install—Installs the app only on your account.

Choose the appropriate option depending on how you want to use the add-on and click Continue.

Review the add-on’s terms and conditions and check the agreement box, then click Accept to continue. Click Done when prompted.

Step 3: Control User Installation Of Marketplace Apps And Add-ons

As a G Suite admin, you can control what apps your team members can see in their Google Workspace Marketplace.

Here’s how to do it.

Go to Apps from the Admin console page.

On the Google Workspace Marketplace apps card, click Manage.

Under Manage access to apps, you have three different user access options for your team members.

Allow users to install any application from Google Workspace Marketplace – This option allows your team members to install any app to their accounts.
Do not allow users to install any application from Google Workspace Marketplace – This option blocks users from installing any app. If you choose this option, the “approved for you” section in the marketplace highlights to users that their organization approved no apps.
Allow users to install only allowed applications from Google Workspace Marketplace – Users can only install apps from your allowlist. In the Marketplace, the “approved for you” section highlights the apps allowed for users

Click Save to continue.

Step 4: Using G Suite Add-Ons

Once an add-on has been installed to a Google Workspace application, your team members can use it in their everyday operations.

Here’s how to do it:

Sign in to your Google account associated with Google Workspace and open the application where the add-on has been installed (for example, Gmail or Drive).

Check the installed add-on in the third-party add-ons list on the right of your screen.

Click on the add-on icon to get directions for using it.