Google Workspace admins on eligible licenses can now apply for a beta that imports PowerPoint files as client-side encrypted Slides, letting users open and edit the content afterward. Files are encrypted on the client before anything is imported, then converted into encrypted Slides that Google describes as high fidelity. The point is interoperability with Microsoft Office without giving up client-side encryption on the way in.
The feature runs through the CSE Office Interop beta program, which also covers Microsoft Office editing, export, import, and takeout. Organizations already registered for that program have the PowerPoint import live across their domains now, and end users in those domains do not need to switch anything on themselves. Admins who sign up in the future get access once they are accepted, and Google says it will explain the next steps to accepted applicants.
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Both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains are covered, so the rollout pace does not split the feature between the two tracks. Availability is narrower than Workspace as a whole: Enterprise Plus, Education Standard and Plus, Frontline Plus, and Assured Controls and Assured Controls Plus. Admins on other Workspace tiers cannot join the beta as described.
The announcement does not say what the import does with formatting that Slides cannot represent, nor whether there are file size limits on the .pptx files that can be brought in. It also gives no graduation date for the beta or a general availability target.
Google has spent much of this month tying its apps more tightly to outside tools and data. A recap published the day after this notice highlighted a Workday add-on that pipes Adaptive Planning data into Sheets and Slides, and a separate announcement described grounding Docs drafts in research stored in Gemini Notebook. Earlier in September, the company said Gemini in Workspace would reach Asana, Atlassian Rovo, HubSpot, Intuit Mailchimp and Intuit Quickbooks, Monday, and Salesforce through Model Context Protocol integrations.
Importing other companies' files has been a recurring theme for Google this year. In March it began rolling out a Gemini tool that pulled memories, preferences, and full chat histories out of ChatGPT and Claude for free and paid consumer accounts on desktop, with chat history uploads accepted as ZIP files up to 5GB. That tool could not carry over project files, attachments, or AI-generated images.
For now the encrypted PowerPoint route remains a beta for a defined set of paid and education editions, with access gated by an application rather than a toggle.
