Earlier this year, Google revealed a new Gmail design. The email service is now rolling out the new interface for users as the default option.
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New Gmail design
The new Gmail design has a sidebar that allows you to switch between Mail, Chat, Spaces and Meet. When you switch to the new interface, you may notice that Gmail's side panel has disappeared. Don't worry, it's still there. Mouse over the Mail icon, and it will display the classic menu which has the shortcuts for the Inbox, Drafts, Sent, Bin, and all your labels.
It might be a little cumbersome to move the mouse over to the left every time you want to access one of the options. The solution for this is simple, just click on the hamburger button above the menu, to pin the sidebar permanently. Similarly, you can collapse the menu for a minimal experience whenever you want.
The new Gmail View displays the hover preview for other services regardless of whether the menu is collapsed or open. If you have Gmail open, and want to quickly access Chat, just mouse over it to view a list of your conversations, without leaving the Mail view. The icons on the sidebar support unread badges to indicate that something needs your attention. When a new message arrives, you will see a notification in the corresponding service. The accent color of some visual elements have been updated.
That is pretty much all that has changed in the Gmail experience. The rest of the interface is the same, including the side panel on the right edge of the screen, with shortcuts for Calendar, Keep, Tasks, Contacts, etc.
A support page on Google says that users will be able to choose the apps that are listed on the sidebar, by clicking on Settings > Apps in Gmail > Customize. This should allow users to remove Chat, Spaces and Meet from the side panel, but I don't see the option for this.
Image credit: Google
How to enable the new Gmail design manually
1. Access the Quick Settings panel from the top right corner of the page.
2. Click on the "Try out the new Gmail view" button.
3. The website will prompt you to reload the page to switch to the new Gmail design. Click the reload button to refresh it.
The new Gmail view should be enabled for you.
Note: The option to switch to the new Gmail design may not be available for all users just yet. It didn't appear for me in Firefox, but when I accessed it via a Chromium-based browser (Edge), it appeared. So, if you don't have the new view, you may want to try that, but YMMW.
The important thing here is that the new Gmail interface is an opt-out experience, i.e., it will be enabled by default. If you wish to restore the classic Gmail design, you can do so from the Settings menu.
If you don't see that option in the menu, there is another way to get the old GUI back. Click on the cog wheel, and select "see all settings". The first set of options, under the General section, allow you to switch between the new and original views. Hit the save button at the bottom of the page to apply the changes. This option was originally meant to be removed by the end of Q2 2022, but since the new design is just beginning to roll out, we can expect it to stick around for a few more months, before Google pulls the plug on it.
Do you like the new Gmail design?
Summary
Article Name
Google begins rolling out the new Gmail design to users as the default option
Description
The new Gmail design is now available for users. The new interface will be enabled by default, but you can switch to the original view.
Google was supposed to stop all those spams but never did because people out there like me are still getting 100 spams everyday and still keep coming back! We don’t care about email facelift or any crap they added on something.
Feels like I’m in kindergarten again. A dumbed down ui with big shiny blocks and lots of colors, settings obfuscated behind a word salad of made up vocabulary, very insulting. proton ftw.
Terrible waste of space design! Who is hiring these brain-dead designers at Google and Microsoft? When I’m in my email I don’t need meet, spaces or chat. I only want to be focused on my emails!
No Google account. The only service I use is its YouTube (no account) and Google Maps, occasionally. Alternatives exist, free or not. That wasn’t the article’s question but it’s my answer (Like Marchais, french communist leader, used to say, no other common point oh dear).
Y’know what? Gmail can go **** itself. lt now blocks all my logins from Thunderbird and sends critical security alerts every time I log in to webmail from *any* IP address.
And no, I am not about to waste any more time frigging around with the brilliant 35-step workarounds for Thunderbird presented on the web, or reading forum entries on the critical security alerts issue that basically conclude goolag has *****ed up and big.
Gmail UIs have always been designed to present the maximum complications and extract the maximum amount of information from the user, like a bloodsucker. The only UI I will ever need is the standard Thunderbird one.
I currently use single gmail address for validating my smart phone account because that (for the moment) is more convenient than a non-gmail one, but that is it.
here here. thanks ghacks, I couldn’t stand that new view
Google was supposed to stop all those spams but never did because people out there like me are still getting 100 spams everyday and still keep coming back! We don’t care about email facelift or any crap they added on something.
Google is wasting time!
Google should help those who have been hacked or had their identity stolen while they make new app lay outs.
I switched to the new view a while ago. I hated it at first.
It was very annoying to not see the list of conversations in Google Chat and having to rest my mouse pointer just to see that list.
But after 10 minutes I came around and after using the new UI for a day, I actually preferred it.
I think the new view keeps the focus on email and only takes your attention away when Chat bubbles pop up.
shouldn’t it be “YMMV” instead of “YMMW”?
Feels like I’m in kindergarten again. A dumbed down ui with big shiny blocks and lots of colors, settings obfuscated behind a word salad of made up vocabulary, very insulting. proton ftw.
Terrible waste of space design! Who is hiring these brain-dead designers at Google and Microsoft? When I’m in my email I don’t need meet, spaces or chat. I only want to be focused on my emails!
It’s an inefficient design and bad use of screen real estate. They no longer value the beauty and mindset of minimalism.
No Google account. The only service I use is its YouTube (no account) and Google Maps, occasionally. Alternatives exist, free or not. That wasn’t the article’s question but it’s my answer (Like Marchais, french communist leader, used to say, no other common point oh dear).
Y’know what? Gmail can go **** itself. lt now blocks all my logins from Thunderbird and sends critical security alerts every time I log in to webmail from *any* IP address.
And no, I am not about to waste any more time frigging around with the brilliant 35-step workarounds for Thunderbird presented on the web, or reading forum entries on the critical security alerts issue that basically conclude goolag has *****ed up and big.
Gmail UIs have always been designed to present the maximum complications and extract the maximum amount of information from the user, like a bloodsucker. The only UI I will ever need is the standard Thunderbird one.
I currently use single gmail address for validating my smart phone account because that (for the moment) is more convenient than a non-gmail one, but that is it.
Thanks for the warning and the info on how to return to the original GUI. Personally I much prefer the Thunderbird view.