Abstract: Symmetries are essential in our understanding of quantum systems. In recent years the concept of symmetries has been generalized to include higher-form symmetries (acting on extended objects), higher-group symmetries (mixing various higher-form symmetries), and non-invertible symmetries (which do not satisfy a group law). In this talk I will discuss the role of generalized symmetries and their breaking at the quantum level, via anomalies, in quantum gravity. In particular, I will highlight how topological charges carried by certain spacetime backgrounds can lead us to the prediction of new dynamical objects in the fundamental theory. Moreover, I will show that demanding the absence of (generalized) anomalies in the gauge sector imposes universal consistency conditions.