[Action Advised] Google Vids personal avatar feature and Admin control

[Bill_Gibson]

From a primary-admin-email: 
Dear Google Workspace for Education administrator,

We’re preparing to release a new feature in Google Vids that will allow users to create a personal avatar using their own face and voice, safely and securely. This feature will be available starting no sooner than July 14, 2026, and you have the option to disable it at any time.

We’ve provided additional information below to help you understand this rollout and the Administrative controls available to you.

What this means for your organization

Key changes and potential impact:

To help you prepare for this update, please review the following details:

• Admin Control: Starting no sooner than July 14, 2026, the personal avatar feature will be “ON” by default for all eligible customers. If your organization has disabled Google Vids (setting is “OFF”), the personal avatar feature automatically remains “OFF”. Admins can change organizational settings or completely disable access to this feature at any time via the Admin console. Only users can create, manage, and delete their own avatar.
• Eligibility criteria: This feature is restricted to users who are at least 18 years old and have English set as their primary language preference. The feature will only be visible if both Google Vids and the personal avatar settings are enabled by the organization. All other users are not eligible at this time.

What you need to do

Action advised before July 14, 2026:

Depending on your organization's needs, please take one of the following actions:

• To allow access: If you want eligible users to have access to the personal avatar feature in Google Vids, no action is required from you.
• To disable access: If you want to disable personal avatars in Google Vids, you can disable the feature for the whole organization, or for specific users or groups. Complete the following steps:
  1. Go to the Google Admin console
  2. Navigate to Apps > Google Workspace > Drive and Docs > Google Vids > Personal avatars
  3. Uncheck the setting
  4. Click Save

Note that the personal avatar setting in Google Vids is rolling out now and will be visible to all Admins by June 30, 2026. You can verify the setting status by checking the audit log for Google Vids settings in the Google Admin console.

We’re here to help

Refer to the following resources for more information about this feature:

• Learn more about admin control of Google Vids
• Learn more about avatar privacy
• Subscribe to the Workspace Updates Blog for the latest updates on the feature’s rollout timing.

Thanks for choosing Google Workspace for Education.

– The Google Workspace for Education Team

[Bill_Gibson]

It will be interesting to see how this feature is received, and how it evolves.