Gemini Connected Apps in 2026: How to Connect Gemini to Your Apps

Gemini connected apps let the Gemini assistant read from and act in other apps, such as Gmail, Google Calendar, Spotify or OpenTable. To turn one on, open gemini.google.com, click Customize in the sidebar, then Connectors, find the app and click Add. In a chat, type @ and pick the app to use it.

The first time Gemini answers a question with something from your own inbox, it feels like a different product. The catch is that connected apps come with conditions: some only work in the US, some need you to be 18, work accounts need an admin's say-so, and one privacy setting switches most of them off. This guide covers which apps you can connect, how to turn them on and use them, what Gemini can and can't do with your Google apps, and how to fix an app that won't show up.

What are Gemini connected apps?

Connected apps are links between the Gemini assistant and other services, so Gemini can use your content in them and, with your permission, take actions such as creating an event or playing a song. Google's connected apps help page describes them as a way for Gemini to complete requests and give more helpful answers using those apps.

Some public information is always available. Google says Gemini can use public results from Google Search even when you're signed out, and from Google Flights, Hotels, Maps and YouTube when Keep Activity is on. Your own content, like your emails or playlists, is only used once you connect the app. If you're new to Gemini itself, my explainer What Is Google Gemini? covers the plans and settings first.

Which apps can you connect to Gemini?

Google's availability table listed 83 connected apps in late October 2026, and Google's release notes show the list still growing. They fall into a few groups:

The table lists each app's account type, minimum age, countries and languages. In short: calendar and notes apps from phone makers such as Samsung and Xiaomi tend to work everywhere for anyone 13 or older, while most third-party services are for personal accounts, adults and the US. Check the table before you plan around an app.

How to connect an app to Gemini

You connect apps from the Connectors list under Customize, on the web or in the app. Google's steps for a computer, from the connected apps help page:

1. Open gemini.google.com, signed in to your Google account.
2. Click Customize in the sidebar. It may sit under More.
3. At the top, click Connectors.
4. Find the app and click Add.
5. Follow any on-screen instructions to finish connecting.

Click an app in the list before you add it. Its details page shows the actions it supports, what it can't do and example prompts, which is the quickest way to find out whether it does the one thing you want.

How to connect apps in the Gemini app on Android

On Android, the steps are the same with taps: open the Gemini app, tap the menu icon, tap Customize (it may be under More), tap Connectors, then Add next to the app. Android is also where the phone apps live: Phone for calls, Messages for texts, WhatsApp for calls and messages, and Device assistance for alarms and settings.

How to disconnect an app

To disconnect, go back to Customize, then Connectors, click More options next to the app, then Disconnect. Disconnecting stops future access. It doesn't delete what the app already received, as the privacy section below explains.

How to use a connected app in a Gemini chat

To use a connected app, type @ in the text box, pick the app and write your request. If the app isn't connected yet, Google says Gemini either connects it or asks your permission first. When you submit, Gemini uses the app automatically if it's available to you.

@Google Workspace find the email where the conference organizer confirmed my speaking slot, and add that session to my calendar with the room number in the description.

@OpenTable find a table for four near Union Square on Thursday at 7 p.m. somewhere quiet enough to talk.

@Spotify play something instrumental for focused work.

Google's Workspace connected app page gives three tips that make a real difference with your own files and email:

• Name the app in every new chat. Follow-up questions in the same chat don't need it, but a new chat starts without that context.
• Use keywords, not links. Google says not to paste the URL of a document or email. Describe it instead: the sender, the subject or words you remember from it.
• Check the sources. Gemini lists where an answer came from, and Google warns it can give outdated information, like an older email when a newer one exists.

That last tip is the one I learned the hard way. I asked Gemini for the delivery date in a proposal, and it pulled the date from an early version sitting in Drive, not the one I'd sent. Now I name the file and ask Gemini to tell me which file it read, which turns a silent mistake into one I can spot.

What Gemini can and can't do with Gmail, Calendar and Drive

Through the Google Workspace connected app, Gemini can search and summarize your Gmail, Docs and Drive, create and manage Google Calendar events, and work with Google Tasks and Keep. It can't manage files in Drive. The full lists from Google's Workspace connected app page:

Two settings have to be on before Gmail connects. Keep Activity must be on in Gemini, and Smart features in other Google products must be on in your Gmail settings. If Gmail won't connect, turn that Gmail setting on, reload Gemini and try again.

For work and school accounts, Google's work account page adds that Gemini can't create Gmail drafts, manage Drive folders or enter Classroom grades. On a work account, then, Gemini finds and summarizes, and you still write the reply in Gmail. The personal-account page doesn't list drafting email among the things Gemini can do either.

Why aren't my connected apps working?

Most missing or broken connected apps come down to one of five things: Keep Activity, your account type, your country or age, a setting in the other app, or the kind of chat you're in.

Device matters too. Google notes that an app available only in the Android app won't appear on iPhone or the web, and the reverse can happen. One more limit: Gemini can't currently use connected apps inside Google Messages.

Connected apps for work and school accounts

With a Google account from your employer or school, connected apps depend on your organization. Google's work account page lists three requirements: a qualifying Google Workspace edition, Keep Activity turned on (which only your admin can manage), and an admin who has allowed apps to connect to Gemini.

When it's allowed, the Google Workspace connected app covers Gmail, Calendar, Chat, Docs, Drive, Keep and Tasks. Name the app with @ in each new chat. Google also warns that if a prompt needs two apps and one isn't enabled, neither action happens, so split a two-app request into two prompts if your admin has only turned some on.

Custom apps: connecting your own MCP server

Gemini can also connect to custom apps: any server that follows the standard MCP (Model Context Protocol) specification. Google's custom apps page limits this to people 18 or older in the US, signed in with a personal account, in English, with Keep Activity on. You add the server's URL under Custom apps on the web.

Is it safe to connect apps to Gemini?

Connecting an app means Gemini shares data with it to complete your requests, and third-party apps handle that data under their own privacy policies. Google's privacy hub says the data shared can include chat information, device and language preferences, location and content from your connected apps, such as emails, files, events and photos.

• Deletion doesn't travel. Deleting your Gemini activity doesn't delete data another app already received, and disconnecting an app doesn't delete anything from your Gemini activity.
• Changes take a while. Google says that if you delete or update data in a connected app, Gemini may not reflect it for several days.
• Feedback is read by people. Feedback you send that includes content from connected apps is reviewed by trained teams, so leave personal details out of it.

My approach: connect the Google apps you already trust Google with, and treat each third-party app like any other app asking for access to your account. If I wouldn't install a service's own app, I don't connect it to Gemini either.

Which connected apps to turn on first

Start with the one app that holds the questions you ask most, which for most working people is Google Workspace. Then add apps one at a time, as a real need comes up:

1. Google Workspace, for finding emails, summarizing documents and adding calendar events.
2. A music app (Spotify or YouTube Music) if you use Gemini Live or Gemini on your phone a lot. It's low risk and easy to judge.
3. One work tool you search often, such as GitHub, Linear or Dropbox, if it's available to you.
4. Bookings like OpenTable only when you have a reservation to make, and check the result before you show up.

The week before a client dinner, I booked through OpenTable from a Gemini chat and then opened the confirmation email to check the time and party size. It took a minute and it's a habit worth keeping for anything Gemini books on your behalf.