Introduction

In this article, you will learn how to hide Google Groups from the Global Address List (GAL) in Google Workspace efficiently with xFanatical Foresight. Some Google groups are created for particular private use cases, and these groups are required to be hidden from the search results in Gmail. It's similar to hiding a user in a Directory. Google Admin Console doesn't provide an intuitive way to bulk hide groups from the Directory. With the help of the xFanatical Foresight Automation platform, this task can be simplified and streamlined.

Illustration of how to hide google group from global address list with xFanatical Foresight AutomationIllustration of how to hide google group from the global address list with xFanatical Foresight Automation

Let’s take an example: A company has a number of Google groups dedicated for third-party service account registration purposes, shipping services, ecommerce sites etc. These groups are not intended to be known for the majority of users in the domain. The IT administrator needs to hide these groups one-by-one in the Directory, so that users cannot find these private groups in Gmail or Contact managers. 

xFanatical Foresight can update the group visibility setting in bulk. Hiding multiple google groups from the Global Address list can be done within some clicks with xFanatical Foresight.  

Introducing xFanatical Foresight Automation

xFanatical Foresight is an enterprise-grade web platform which helps automate and streamlines the Google Workspace workflows. It’s a cutting-edge automation platform, providing a no code environment to work. It permits administrators and users to create intricate business workflows, which consumes a lot more time doing it natively. With xFanatical Foresight, you can automate this process for group settings in bulk, without writing any code, while ensuring work efficiency, data integrity, and security. This is the edge of xFanatical Foresight over the Google Admin Console.

Automation Setup Instructions

In this section, we guide you through the automation setup in xFanatical Foresight. We have 2 ways to set up automation rules, Set up automation from a template and Set up automation from scratch. After completing the automation rule, verify whether the automation meets your requirements.

Set Up Automation From a Template

Set Up Automation From a Template

Supported plans: xFanatical Foresight Elite plan.

  1. Sign into xFanatical Foresight with your Google Admin account. 
  2. Go to the Templates page.
  3. Search Hide groups from the directory, and click on it.
    Hide groups from the directory template on xFanatical Foresight template page
  4. In the Templates > Hide groups from the directory page, click Copy rule.
    Copy rule button on Hide groups from the directory templates page
  5. For the first time use of the template rule, an dialog Action needed will display requesting necessary permissions required to copy the rule. Click Connect with Google and authorize the permissions.
  6. Upon authorization, a dialog titled Copy of Hide groups from the directory will display.
  7. Click Next.
  8. Click Review.
  9. In the Review screen,
    1. Customize the Rule name.
      Copy of hide groups from the directory rule name config on rule review screen
    2. Click Create.
  10. The rule is created in the Rules page.
    Copy of hide groups from the directory rule on xFanatical Foresight rules page
    xFanatical Foresight workflow to hide Google Group from global address list in Google Workspace.
Set Up Automation From Scratch

Set Up Automation From Scratch

Supported plans: xFanatical Foresight Elite and Professional (Legacy).

  1. Download the Sample CSV file of Google Groups info.
  2. Sign into xFanatical Foresight with your Google Admin account. 
  3. Go to the Rules page. 
  4. Click the New Rule The New Rule button in xFanatical Foresight button.
  5. Select Data Uploaded trigger from the Select a trigger screen.
    Selecting Data Uploaded trigger on Select a trigger screen
  6. Click on the Choose a CSV file or drop it here to get started labeled upload box and select the CSV file, downloaded in Step 1.
  7. Wait file to be parsed by the trigger, then click on the Next button.
  8. Select Update group settings action from Select an action screen.
    Selecting upload group settings action from Select an action screen
  9. In Edit actions > Update group settings screen,
    1. If you’re using this action for the first time, you will see Sign in with Google button. Click on it, and authorize xFanatical Foresight the necessary permissions to automate on behalf of your Google account.
      Sign in with Google button on Update group settings edit action screen
    2. In the Group email field, select the Group Email variable from Data uploaded.
      Config Group email field on update group settings edit action screen
    3. Scroll down to the Include in Global Address List field, and select false.
      Config Include in Global Address List on update group settings edit action screen
    4. Click Review.
  10. In the Review screen,
    1. Customize the Rule name.
      Hide google group from global address list rule name config on rule review screen
    2. Click Create.
  11. The automation rule is created.
Verify Automation

Verify Automation

To ensure that your rule setup automates as expected, it’s essential to conduct a simple test. The following instructions demonstrate how xFanatical Foresight automatically hides Google Groups from the global address list in Google Workspace.

Let’s demonstrate first how a group email shows in the email sending process.

  1. Go to a user’s Gmail.
  2. Click Compose to start an email draft.
  3. In the To field, enter the group name. 
  4. The group will display from the dropdown list.
    Email composing to SDE interns group showing two sde groups before hiding it from global address list

Now let’s hide the SDE Interns group email from the global address list.

  1. Go to xFanatical Foresight Templates page
  2. Search Hide groups from the directory, and click on it.
  3. Click on the Download sample CSV file button, or if you set up automation from scratch, please just use the CSV file which you have downloaded.
    Download Sample CSV file button on Hide groups from the directory template page
  4. Replace the CSV file Group Email column with your organization’s group emails you want to hide from the global address list.
    Sample CSV file for hide group from the directory automation rule contains group email header
  5. Go to the Rules Page.
  6. Click on of Copy of Hide groups from the directory rule.
    Copy of hide groups from the directory rule with upload icon on xFanatical Foresight rules page
  7. Upload the CSV file, which is set up in Step 4.
  8. Wait momentarily, and you will get a notification on the top right of xFanatical Foresight. In the notification message, click View log.
    Notification of successful execution of Copy of Hide groups from the directory rule with view log button
  9. In the log details page, you can confirm group email and the setting applied on the group.
    Success log of Copy of Hide groups from the directory rule execution with group email and applied setting details
  10. Go back to Gmail, enter the same group name. The group is now invisible from the directory list.
    Email composing to SDE group after hiding sde interns group from global address list.

Notes

  • Don’t add any non-existing group details in the CSV, the automation will fail on groups not found in the action history.
  • Max of 5000 rows CSV can be processed at a time. So be cautious while creating or editing the CSV files.
  • To make groups visible again in the Global Address List (GAL) or Directory, change the Include in Global Address List field of the Update group settings action to true and upload a new CSV file with the groups to update.
  • The group setting change may take minutes to hours to take effect. 

Conclusion

xFanatical Foresight streamlines the process of hiding google groups from global address lists in Google Workspace. A step-by-step guide is available to ensure data integrity and security are maintained during the export process. Using xFanatical Foresight, you can effortlessly manage and organize your groups, and invest valuable time for more important tasks.

If you have yet to install xFanatical Foresight, check out this quick start.

Try a 14-day free trial with xFanatical Foresight and manage your tasks.

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