Google Slides adds new “Follow” feature to improve collaboration

Google Workspace is launching a brand-new tool called ‘Follow,’ which will enable you to work in tandem with your coworkers on Google Slides in real-time. This builds upon the previously launched feature that allows you to see what slide a colleague is on, except now you can click on a collaborator’s avatar in the Slides toolbar to jump to whatever slide they are on and continue to move with them as they navigate and make changes to a presentation.

The feature will be on by default for users and there will not be an admin control. To use it, just click on the avatar of the person whose presentation you’d like to follow from the Slides toolbar. Once you’ve followed, you will see a “Following” badge appear when you hover that avatar again and you have the option to stop following by clicking on their avatar again.

There are a few other scenarios where the following feature will stop working as well. These are when the person you are following refreshes or leaves the presentation, if you make any edits to the presentation, if you click on a different slide, or if you enter Slideshow mode.

This is currently rolling out to all Google Workspace customers (both Rapid and Scheduled Release domains) and users with personal Google Accounts, though the full rollout will take 1-3 days for full visibility. I can think of many ways that this feature will be beneficial for users, companies, and teachers who would like to show live how they are going about putting together a presentation, instead of just presenting the manicured slideshow version of it.