How to find your contacts in Google Workspace

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With over 2 billion users of G Suite products globally back in 2020, surprisingly few are aware of all of the time-saving methods and shortcuts of how to find your contacts in Google Workspace.

By 2022 G Suite has transitioned into Google Workspace, offering even more value for small businesses and enterprise clients.

Google Workspace meta description highlights the G Suite transition

Like all of the Big Five tech companies, Google keeps enhancing its products to make them more intuitive for businesses and private users alike. Navigation of Google Contacts is no exception — you can access the list of your contacts from different Google apps and interfaces. If you have a Gmail account, this guide on how to view Google contacts will make your electronic communication more productive.

What is Google Workspace?

Google Workspace is a proprietary suite of collaboration and productivity applications for businesses by Google, that evolved as a paid-for version of the retiring G Suite. These are core Google Workspace apps: Gmail, Chat, Drive, Meet, Slide, Calendar, Sheets, and Docs.

Google Workspace core products

What is Google Contacts?

Google Contacts is an application that allows users to create, store, group, merge, organize, and share contact details of other email user accounts. The app is available for Android mobile users, as a web app as well as part of the Workspace suite of tools in the form of a sidebar.

It’s critical to note that contacts in a Gmail inbox do not get shifted to Google Contacts automatically. Users need to add each contact to their Google Contacts app individually to be able to access these details across devices, merge, organize, and label them.

Ways to Find your Contacts in Google Workspace

UX design is truly impeccable with big tech companies— so users are never lost, nor do they need to work hard to click their way through to the intended application. This is why you can access your Google Contacts from pretty much any screen of your Google Workspace. 

There are two icons that will help you navigate your way faster when you ask yourself “Where are my contacts in Gmail?”:

  1. the Google Apps icon [it’s a square made up of 3×3 gray dots]
  2. the Google Contacts icon [it’s a blue circle with a schematic white silhouette of the head and shoulders of a person]

It’s safe to state that one of these icons is visible in one of the corners of your screen if you use any of the Google Workspace apps. Let’s guide you through the most popular scenarios:

Using Google Workspace Sidebar

Sidebars in most SaaS solutions is where users expect to find all sorts of tools and pathways to their most used features. Following the same user-friendly navigation logic, Workspace offers a few of the popular tools sitting there in a compact vertical ribbon of icons on your right – waiting to be handy—and within easy reach.

In the default Gmail account layout, users will see a column of 4 icons in the top right corner under your account icon – one of them being the icon for your contacts application.

From Gmail’s Inbox

When in a Gmail inbox, users can open their Google Contacts app by using the G+C shortcut. Yes, as simple as this: when you are in your inbox, just press “G” followed by “C” to open the contact application.

There are a few preconditions to be aware of for the shortcut to work:

a)   You have to be on the very first screen of the Gmail Inbox [without initiating any action inside your Gmail account, like opening a new message, replying, etc.]

b)   You need to enable shortcuts in the settings first:

  • Click the Gear icon in the top right corner.
  • Click the “See all settings” button.

●      Under the “General” settings tab scroll down to the “Keyboards shortcuts” option and click the radio button “Keyboard shortcuts on”.

From Google’s Homepage

All users with a Gmail account can access all free Google applications right from the Google homepage. This is how to do it:

  1. Open Google.com
  2. Click on a Google apps icon in the top right corner [When you hover a mouse over these nine dots, a tooltip prompter appears, that reads “Google apps”]
  3. Click on a Google Contacts Icon from a dropdown selection of apps.
  4. Congrats! You can now see all of the contacts in Gmail that you have added to this contact management app.

By Adding it to the Favorites Bar In Your Browser

If you use Google Workspace as your primary business email,—you may consider adding the GC app to your favorites bar. To do so, open a Google contacts app by one of the methods described above and use the “Command + D” shortcut to add it to your favorites bar on the browser.

Now you can open the app without even opening either Workspace or Gmail – it’s always one click away.

Ways to Find Gmail Contacts on Different Devices

All of the above-enumerated ways are available on desktops, and most of them are also accessible on mobile screens. Here’s a rundown of your options depending on the resolution of your screen:

How to Find Contacts in Google Workspace on a PC

  1. Use a sidebar in the top right corner of the screen. Find the Google contacts round blue icon to access the app.
  2. Use the Gear Icon in the top right of the desktop to access the menu of all Google apps; find and click the GC round blue icon. 

Let’s also review how to find your Workspace contacts on your mobile devices—Android devices and iPhones. Mind that the synchronization will only take place in case you make an effort to add your Google Workspace account to your mobile device.

How to Find Contacts in Google Workspace on an iPhone

For iOS devices follow this algorithm to locate the data:

  1. Open the Contacts app
  2. Tap “Groups” at the top left corner
  3. Select Global Address List [found only under your Google Workspace account]
  4. Search for a contact you need.

On Android gadgets the algorithm is even simpler.

How to Find Contacts in Google Workspace on an Android

From the home screen of your smartphone:

  1. Open the Contacts app
  2. Search for a contact.

With fundamental navigation tips covered, let’s get down to some pro-level tips that can drive your efficiency and save time.

Tips to Find Contacts in Google Workspace like a Pro

Use “Frequently contacted” suggestions

The system allows users to add contacts to favorites by marking them with a star.

Too lazy to optimize your data?

No problem. AI embedded in the Google productivity applications knows the users who you contact most. Just look on the left top of the Google Contacts app. “Frequently contacted” is the second option under “contacts”.

Use Labels to Find Specific Data

Labels are a convenient way to group and organize people in your email list. One person can belong to different label groups, so possibilities are nearly endless.

If you are looking for a person belonging to a certain group, look on the left dashboard – as labels are lined up right after individual contacts.

Using Shortcuts

Typing GC when in your Gmail inbox helps open a Google Contacts application as described above.

FAQ

How to add several contacts to Google Workspace

You can add multiple contacts to Google Workspace in the Google Contacts app by uploading a CSV file or vCard files via the “import” function or by entering multiple email addresses in the “create multiple contacts” field.

Can I See my Phone Contacts on Google Workspace?

Workspace Android users can save their device contacts to a Google Contacts account in order to have this data available for their Workspace apps. To do so in Android settings go: 1. Google 1. Settings for Google apps 3. Google Contacts sync 4. Also, sync device contacts 5. Automatically back up & sync device contacts. 6. Choose the Google account. 7. Save.

How to Delete Contacts in Google Workspace

To delete a contact from Google Workspaces users need to find a contact and click the “more” button on the right of the contact row. Two options will appear: “Hide” and “Delete.” Choose “Delete.”

How to Find Contacts in Google Workspace on an iPad

When trying to find your Google Workspace contacts on iPad and other handheld iOs devices, go to Contacts – Groups – Global Address List. Note, that you have to set up Google Workspace on your iOs device first.

Conclusions

While finding Contacts in your Workspace is fairly intuitive, some ways will save you a few clicks here and there.

If you use the tool for work, chances are that you need to look up a contact in Gmail a good dozen times a day [which translates into hundreds of times a month, tens of thousands of times a year]. 

1 Comment. Leave new

  • At my honorable age, these step-by-step guides are just what the doctor prescribed. Thank you for putting it up for us so nicely. Best regards from Vermont!

    Reply

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