Your Gmail account is changing whether you like it or not

Google is starting to roll out a new Gmail upgrade to millions of users. Earlier this year the Mountain View firm launched its new look Gmail, which not only integrated the Meet and Chat services but also brought with it a fresh design based on Material You. At the time of its initial rollout in February, if you wanted to try out the new Gmail look you specifically had to opt-in to get it.

But starting this week the new Gmail design will be applied automatically to millions of accounts around the world.

If you’re not a fan and still want to stick with the old look then you’ll have to opt out.

Revealing this Gmail change, Google in a new blog post said: “Earlier this year, we introduced a new, integrated view for Gmail, making it easy to move between critical applications like Gmail, Chat and Meet in one unified location.

“Beginning today, we are rolling out the opt-out experience to a segment of Gmail users. This means that select users will see the new Gmail experience by default, but they will still have the option to revert to classic Gmail via the settings menu. As we continue to roll out this new experience, the new Gmail view will also continue to be available for users who want to enable it via Quick settings.”

For those that hate change, the good news is the new look Gmail still shares a lot in common with the old design. But there are some subtle changes which help make Gmail pop out from your laptop screen more and improve productivity.

One of the most meaningful changes is how the left hand section of the user interface looks.

Gmail users that also use Chat and Meet regularly will be able to customise the UI to access these services more easily.

The new Gmail upgrade also brings with it a tweaked, fresh new look based on Google’s Material You design language.

This was first introduced with Android 12 and gives users the opportunity to personalise colour schemes for UI elements that also are carried across to other apps – including those from Google as well as third-party ones.

Speaking about how the new Gmail design helps users, Google said: “When enabled, the new navigation menu allows you to easily switch between your inbox, important conversations, and join meetings without having to switch between tabs or open a new window. We hope this new experience makes it easier for you to stay on top of what’s important and get work done faster in a single, focused location.”