Google Vids custom avatars: make a video host from a photo

Google Vids, the video maker inside Google Workspace, now lets you upload a photo and turn it into an AI avatar that presents your video. Before this, you could only build an avatar from scratch. The feature started rolling out on 30 October 2026 for Rapid Release accounts, and Scheduled Release accounts get it from 20 November. Admins do not need to switch anything on.

What can I do with it?

You pick a picture from your computer, Google Drive or Google Photos. Vids turns it into an avatar, and you can tidy the picture first: clean up the background, fix the lighting or add a festive touch. The avatar is saved inside that Vids project, so the same presenter can appear in every scene of the video.

For a small business this is handy for short staff training clips, product walk-throughs or a welcome video on your website, without filming anyone each time.

Which plans have it?

Google lists Business Starter, Standard and Plus, Enterprise Starter, Standard and Plus, Education Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Nonprofits, and personal Google accounts with Google AI Pro or Ultra.

What to do

1. Open Google Vids from the Google apps menu and start a new video.
2. Choose the avatar option and pick Upload, then select the photo.
3. Only use a photo of a person who has agreed in writing to be turned into an avatar. A face is personal data under Malaysia's PDPA, and the video may be shared outside the company.
4. Say in the video or its description that the presenter is an AI avatar, so viewers are not misled.
5. If you do not see the option yet, wait for the rollout to reach your account.

How SyncTech can help

Still on an older email system and thinking of using Vids, Docs and Gmail together? We help Malaysian companies move their email to Google Workspace without losing old mail.

Source and credit

We are sharing this news from Google. This summary is written by Synctech in our own words.

• Upload an image to create a custom avatar in Google Vids, Google Workspace Updates, 2 November 2026: http://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2026/11/create-a-custom-avatar-google-vids.html Retrieved 3 November 2026. Google, Google Workspace and Google Vids are trademarks of Google LLC. Synctech is not connected with Google. This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. If anything here is wrong, email support@synctech.com.my and we will correct it.