What You Have: Plans, IT Settings and Gemini Access

About this course

This course is independent. Google does not make, sponsor or endorse it, and it does not copy Google's documentation. When you need the official wording, go to Google's own Help Center and Workspace Updates pages.

The features you get in Google Sheets depend on three things:

1. Your account type: a personal Google account, or a work or school account that an organisation manages.
2. Your plan: for example a free account, a Google AI Pro subscription, or a Google Workspace edition such as Business Standard.
3. Your administrator's settings: in a managed account, IT can switch features off even when your plan includes them.

Think of it like a phone contract. The plan sets what you could have, and the account holder decides what is switched on. In this lesson you find out which features you actually have and write them down with the date you checked.

Task 1: Identify your account type

1. Open Google Sheets in a web browser. There is no separate desktop app for Sheets. On a computer, "desktop" means the browser.
2. Click your profile picture in the top-right corner and note the email address you are signed in with.
3. Look at the domain:
   • @gmail.com, or a personal address you added yourself: this is usually a consumer account.
   • @yourcompany.com or @school.edu: this is usually a managed account, run by an organisation's administrator.
4. If you have more than one account, use the account switcher to check which one owns the spreadsheet you work in. Many problems that look like missing features are really the wrong account.

Do: Write down the account you use for your work spreadsheets and its type.

Task 2: Find your plan and what it includes

The plan lists below come from Google's Workspace Updates announcements of April and September 2026. Plans change often, so check them again on Google's current pages.

Gemini in Sheets (the side panel that analyses data, builds formulas and creates charts) is listed for:

• Business Standard and Business Plus
• Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus
• Consumer Google AI Pro and Google AI Ultra
• Some AI add-ons and education plans, such as Google AI Pro for Education

It is not listed for:

• Free personal Google accounts
• Business Starter. Independent guides in 2026 say Starter's Gemini features cover Gmail and the Gemini app, not Sheets. Confirm this for your own account.

The AI function (=AI(...) typed in a cell): Google's Help Center says it needs an eligible Workspace or Google AI plan. Google's support page does not give a complete list of plans. Check it against your plan before you rely on it.

Differences between devices (checked November 2026):

• Web: has the full set of Gemini in Sheets features.
• Android: started rolling out on 9 September 2026. On Android, Gemini answers questions, gives insights and makes charts. For formulas and complex edits, Google directs you to the web version.
• iOS: check Google's current pages. Whether these features are available on iOS for your plan is not confirmed.

Steps:

1. Consumer account: open your Google One or Google subscription page and note the plan name.
2. Managed account: most users cannot see the edition. Ask your IT helpdesk: "Which Google Workspace edition am I on?"
3. Search Google's Workspace Updates blog for "Gemini in Google Sheets" and read the Availability section of the newest post.

Task 3: Check what IT has switched off

In a managed account, the administrator works in the Google Admin console and can turn features on or off for everyone or for one department. The settings that matter most in this course are:

• Gemini for Workspace: this can be switched off for Sheets in particular. If it is off, you will not see the Gemini icon in Sheets.
• Marketplace add-ons: the admin can allow any add-on, only approved ones, or none. Approved add-ons appear in the Marketplace under Approved for you.
• External sharing: the admin decides whether you can share files with people outside the organisation, and with which domains.

Steps:

1. Open a spreadsheet and look for the Gemini icon near the top right. Note whether it is there.
2. Go to Extensions > Add-ons > Get add-ons. Note whether you can browse freely or only see approved apps.
3. Click Share and try adding an address outside your organisation. Do not send it. Note any warning or block.
4. If something is missing, contact your IT helpdesk or Workspace administrator. Give them the feature name and your email address. Changes to admin settings can take up to 24 hours to apply.

Task 4: Generally available, preview or unconfirmed

For every feature, put it into one of these three groups:

• Generally available (GA): released to your plan and documented on Google's current pages.
• Preview: labelled beta, Labs or experimental, or offered through a tester programme. Google lists one programme, Google Workspace Experiments, as a way to get the AI function. Preview features may change or be removed. Do not build important processes on them.
• Unconfirmed: you have read about it, but no current Google page lists it for your plan. Treat it as unavailable until you confirm it.

Also note any rollout limits. For example, Google's April 2026 update that lets Gemini build and edit complex spreadsheets was launched in the US, in English only. A feature can be GA and still not be available in your country or language.

This is why every plan or feature note in this course gives the date it was checked.

Your task: Build a "What I Have" record

Create a new spreadsheet named What I Have with these columns:

Fill in at least these rows: Gemini in Sheets, the AI function, Marketplace add-ons and external sharing. Check the record again every few months, and whenever something stops working.

Key takeaways

• Your features depend on your account type, your plan and your admin's settings. Check all three.
• Gemini in Sheets is listed for Business and Enterprise Standard and Plus, and for Google AI Pro and Ultra. It is not listed for free accounts.
• On a managed account, IT can switch off Gemini, add-ons and external sharing. Ask your helpdesk, not Google.
• Sort each feature into GA, preview or unconfirmed, and check rollout limits such as country and language.
• Date every check. Plans and screens change monthly.
• This course is independent of Google.