Uninstall Google Workspace Sync for Microsoft Outlook (GWSMO)

Occasionally the GWSMO installer refuses to uninstall or reinstall. Thankfully a rare problem, but one that has persisted from the GASMO, then GSSMO through to GWSMO. This post will talk about how to manually uninstall Google Workspace Sync for Microsoft Outlook (hereafter referred to as GWSMO).

For one reason or another you have decided to uninstall GWSMO or attempted to reinstall to over come some issue.

Error: MAPI was unable to load the information service C:\Program Files (x86)\Google Apps Sync\gsync.dll

This is particular common where problems have persisted even after you've run through "Set up a Google Apps Sync user" and created a new Outlook profile for your Google Workspace email account.


Where the uninstall fails via add/remove programs, here's how to manually remove GWSMO components, to overcome errors that block reinstallation

1. Ensure Outlook is not running
2. Rename the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Google Apps Sync
   ie. Append '.old' to the folder name
3. Rename the folder C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Google\Google Apps Sync
   ie. Append '.old' to the folder name
4. Rerun the installer and configure GWSMO.
5. Upon completion can confirming all is operating as required, you can safely delete the renamed folders.

We are sorry, but you do not have access to Please contact your organization administrator for access.

We are sorry, but you do not have access to <service Name>. Please contact  your organization administrator for access.

If you are a Google Workspace user and you see this message, it means your Google Workspace admin has turned off the a Google service for your account .

To resolve the issue, contact you Google Workspace admin or where you are the admin, please consult this article 

https://support.google.com/a/answer/182442?hl=en

Click a service name below for instructions (requires an administrator account).

Google Workspace	Additional Google Services	Google Workspace Marketplace Apps
Calendar Google Chat Cloud Search Directory Drive Gmail Currents Groups for Business Jamboard Keep Google Meet Google Voice Google Sites Classic Sites Tasks Classic Hangouts Vault	Blogger Brand Accounts Google Ads Google Analytics Google Cloud Google Domains Google Earth Google Maps Google My Maps Google Payments Google Photos Google Play Search and Assistant Search Console Web & App Activity YouTube Other...	Any Google Workspace Marketplace app

We are sorry, but you do not have access to google maps. Please contact your organization administrator for access.

We are sorry, but you do not have access to google maps. Please contact  your organization administrator for access.

We are sorry, but you do not have access to google maps.

If you are a Google Workspace user and you see this message, it means your Google Workspace admin has turned off the Google Maps service for your account.

Google recently made a change in Workspace admin:

"When the Google Maps service control is set to off, users are prevented from using Google Maps when signed into their Workspace account."

To resolve the issue, contact you Google Workspace admin or where you are the admin, please consult this article https://support.google.com/a/answer/6304830?hl=en

 

Google Vault: Are shared files discoverable?

Google Vault: Are off domain shared files discoverable in Vault?

Recently a question about Google Vault was put to me in the G Suite product forums where I contribute under Google's Product Experts Program.

We are setting up Google Vault for our organization. Using me as an example, say my wife, who not a part of our organization but who has a personal Google account, shares a Google Doc for a household grocery list with me at my work address. Are you saying that that document would be then searchable by Vault administrators, since it was shared to my work account? [link]

Normally Google's Help Center is the place to go for most answers, but I was unable to find an article that covers this specific question. This article goes close but does specifically talk about the drive content owned by an off domain user.

So how does Vault handle this?

Testing

Test #1: Discover shared Drive content by off domain owner.

1. Login as a consumer gmail account.
2. Create a Google Doc
3. Share it directly with a G Suite user in a domain with Vault enabled.
4. Login as G Suite user and confirm I can view the shared file.
5. Login in as an Admin to Vault and search for the Google Doc.

Test #1 Result: Files shared by off domain user (owned) are discoverable in Vault.

Test #2: Discover unshared content by off domain owner.

1. Login as a consumer gmail account.
2. unshare the above Google Doc
3. Login as G Suite user and confirm I cannot view the shared file.
4. Login in as an Admin to Vault and search for the Google Doc.

Test #2 Result: Files unshared by off domain user (owned) are no longer discoverable in Vault.

Test #3: Discover publicly shared Drive content by off domain owner.

1. Login as a consumer gmail account.
2. Create a Google Doc
3. Share it publicly (link).
4. Login as G Suite user and use the link to confirm I can view the shared file.
5. Login in as an Admin to Vault and search for the Google Doc.

Test #3 Result: Files shared publicly (by link) by an off domain user (owned) are not discoverable in Vault.

Test #4: Discover publicly shared Drive content by off domain owner and "Add to My Drive..."

1. Login as a consumer gmail account.
2. Create a Google Doc
3. Share it publicly (link).
4. Login as G Suite user and use the link to confirm I can view the shared file.
5. Add the Doc to "My Drive" via the "Add to My Drive..." Option
   
6. Login in as an Admin to Vault and search for the Google Doc.

Test #4 Result: Files shared publicly (by link) by an off domain user (owned) are discoverable in Vault, if the G Suite user adds the file to their Drive .

Test #5: Discover publicly unshared content by off domain owner after it's removed from My Drive.

1. Login as G Suite user, select the Doc and "Remove from my Drive".
2. Login in as an Admin to Vault and search for the Google Doc.

Test #5 Result: Files are not discoverable in Vault.

Summary

Key findings:

• Files owned by users outside the domain and shared directly with G Suite users are discoverable.
• Discovery is only possible while sharing remains enabled.
• If the owner revokes the sharing, discovery is no longer possible.
• Files publicly shared, must be added via "Add to My Drive" for discovery to work.
• Removing the file from "My Drive", will stop discovery.

Considerations:

1. Vault will not provide visibility to data leakage via files owned by off domain users.
   
   Potentially a malicious actor could establish a Google consumer account, create and share a file with an G Suite user. Then dump data into that file and unshare, without Vault showing a record of that.
   
2.  External parties sharing Drive files or Google Docs with G Suite users must be aware G Suite admins can access via Vault.