The ‘Waffle’ is the grid of nine small grey boxes that you find in the top right corner of your browser when you are using Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Google Keep etc. If you hover your mouse/pointer over the Waffle for a second or two the words ‘Google apps’ will appear. Google themselves do not call it the ‘Waffle’ - they refer to it as the App Launcher icon.

The G Suite Waffle

The 'Waffle'

Clicking on the ‘Waffle’ opens a menu of icons for all of the available apps in G Suite. There is more than one ‘page’ of icons with the need to click ‘More’ to see the second and third ‘page’.

Google orders your apps in the ‘Waffle’, however you can reorder them. All you need to do is click and hold on an icon and drag it to where you want it. I would suggest that the apps you use more commonly are on the first ‘page’.

When I log in to my computer I always start by going to my school email. I do this by typing mail.ecolint.ch (or at least starting to before autocomplete saves me a couple of seconds) into the Google Chrome omnibox. From my school mail I just click on the ‘Waffle’ and then the necessary icon to launch the apps I need such as Google Drive or calendar.

You can go straight to the various ‘major’ G Suite apps by typing the following into the Google Chrome omnibox:

Image credit: Daniel Nugent