Initially, Google should have initiated the migration from classic Hangouts to Chat in October 2019 for Workspace (formerly G Suite) users. The switch has been delayed and the plan only started in June 2020, with the final phase set for the end of March .
Google says that starting on March 22, 2022 , it will activate the “preferred chat” setting for anyone who has not already done so, making Google Chat the default chat application . This means that when users visit the classic version of Hangouts in Gmail on the web or the mobile apps of the classic version of Hangouts, they will be directed to Chat.
Google states that “ this change cannot be undone “. That said, hangouts.google.com will continue to work , but Android and iOS apps will be disabled . The vast majority of conversation history from classic Hangouts is already in Google Chat . Google says that as of mid-March 2022, newly created spaces in Google Chat within the domain will not appear in classic Hangouts, but messages sent in these spaces will only appear in Google Chat for affected users.
If the Admin Console of your Workspace Organization is still set to “Classic Chat and Hangout”, the automatic upgrade to “Favorite Chat” will occur “over the course of three weeks to starting from March 22, 2022 “. Organizations with the “Classic Hangouts Only” setting will see the transition begin in a five-week period starting April 4th . This upcoming transition from classic Hangouts to Chat affects paid Workspace users only and not free personal Google Accounts . The company previously reported that the migration would take place after all Workspace users have passed.
