Google to shut down Hangouts in November, tell users to switch to Chat

Tech giant Google is going to shutting down its cross-platform instant messaging service Hangouts. The tech giant is asking users to switch to Google Chat, which was introduced in October 2020.

Google revealed in a new blog post that Hangouts will be taken down in November 2022, and users on desktop and mobile will be asked to migrate to Google Chat before that. Chat data from the Hangouts platform will automatically be available on Google Chat, and users will also have the option to download all their Hangouts data before the platform is shut down.

“Starting today, people using Hangouts on mobile will see an in-app screen asking them to move to Chat in Gmail or the Chat app. Similarly, people who use the Hangouts Chrome extension will be asked to move to Chat on the web or install the Chat web app. In July, people who use Hangouts in Gmail on the web will be upgraded to Chat in Gmail,” Google said in a blog post.

Google said that moving to Google Chat will let users edit Docs, Slides, or Sheets with side-by-side editing, making it easier to collaborate while continuing the conversation. It also includes Spaces, a dedicated place for topic-based collaboration.

Groups and teams can share ideas, work on documents, and manage files and tasks, all from a single location. And, the new integrated view in Gmail makes it easier to use Chat alongside your Gmail inbox, Spaces, and Meet.

“Switching to Chat also makes expressing yourself more fun, whether you are using emojis with skin-tone selections, rich text editing to give your chats emphasis, @mentions to notify someone in the group or sending a GIF,” the company said.