Claude launches a sidebar for Google Docs, Sheets and Slides

[Brandon]

Anthropic has launched Claude for Google Workspace, an add-on that puts Claude in a sidebar next to Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, 9to5Google reports. It entered public beta on Tuesday and is available to all paid Claude users through the Google Workspace Marketplace. The sidebar opens alongside the file and can help build documents and make edits. No pricing details were given beyond the need for a paid Claude plan

In Docs, Claude can fix spelling, rewrite parts of a document and restyle sections without breaking the existing formatting. In Sheets, it can write formulas, build tables using the document's context and work from uploaded files. In Slides, it can build new slides from existing layouts or themes and flag elements that may need updating. An "ask before edits" mode lets users preview changes before they are applied

Anthropic has also added connectors so users can edit Workspace files from inside Claude itself, by pasting a file link into a conversation. That works the other way round from the sidebar, letting people stay in their AI assistant while working on documents elsewhere. Both approaches reflect how AI assistants are being built into the tools people already use, rather than asking them to switch apps

What makes this one interesting is that it puts a rival AI inside Google's own apps, which already have Google's Gemini built in. Users can now choose between assistants within the same document. That kind of choice has not always been available in big software ecosystems. It also shows how fierce competition between AI companies has become for everyday office work

Would you use a different AI assistant inside Google's apps, or stick with the built in one? And is an ask before edits mode essential for AI writing tools?

Claude launches Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides integration with sidebar and more9to5google.com