Gmail is amailbox provider byGoogle. It is the largest email service worldwide, with 1.8 billionusers.[1] It is accessible via aweb browser (webmail),mobile app, or through third-partyemail clients via thePOP andIMAP protocols. Users can also connect non-Gmaile-mail accounts to their Gmail inbox. The service was launched asGoogle Mail in abeta version in 2004. It came out of beta in 2009.
On April 1, 2004, Gmail was launched with onegigabyte (GB) ofstorage space, a much higher amount thancompetitors offered at the time.[6]The limit was doubled to two gigabytes of storage on April 1, 2005, the first anniversary of Gmail. Georges Harik, theproduct management director for Gmail, stated that Google would "keep giving people more space forever."[7]
In October 2007, Gmail increased storage to 4 gigabytes, after recent changes from competitorsYahoo andMicrosoft.[8]On April 24, 2012, Google announced the increase of storage included in Gmail from 7.5 to 10 gigabytes ("and counting") as part of the launch ofGoogle Drive.[9]On May 13, 2013, Google announced the overall sharing of storage across Gmail, Google Drive, andGoogle+ Photos, allowing users 15 gigabytes of included storage among three services.[10][11]On August 15, 2018, Google launchedGoogle One, a service where users can pay for additional storage, shared among Gmail,Google Drive andGoogle Photos, through a monthlysubscription plan.As of 2021[update], storage of up to 15 gigabytes is included, and paid plans are available for up to 2terabytes for personal use.[12]
There are also storage limits to individual Gmail messages. At first, one message, including all attachments, could not be larger than 25megabytes.[13] This was changed in March 2017 to allow receiving an email of up to 50 megabytes, while the limit for sending an email stayed at 25 megabytes.[14][15] In order to send largerfiles, users can insert files fromGoogle Drive into the message.[16]
The Gmailuser interface at differed from other web-mail systems with its focus onsearch andconversation threading of emails, grouping several messages between two or more people onto a single page, an approach that was later copied by its competitors. Gmail's user interface designer,Kevin Fox, intended users to feel as if they were always on one page and just changing things on that page, rather than having to navigate to other places.[17]
Gmail's interface also makes use of "labels" (tags) that replace traditional folders and provide a more flexible method of organizing emails; filters for automatically organizing, deleting or forwarding incoming emails to other addresses; and importance markers for automatically marking messages as 'important'.[18]
In November 2011, Google began rolling out a redesign of its interface that "simplified" the look of Gmail into a simpler design to provide a more consistent look throughout its products and services as part of an overall Google design change. Largely redesigned elements included a streamlined conversation view, adjustable density of information, new higher-quality themes, a resizable navigation bar with always-visible labels and contacts, and better search.[19][20] Users were able to preview the new interface design for months prior to the official release, as well as revert to the old interface, until March 2012, when Google discontinued the ability to revert and completed the transition to the new design for all users.[21]
In May 2013, Google updated the Gmail inbox with tabs that can categorize the user's emails. The five tabs are: Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates, and Forums. In addition to customization options, the entire update can be disabled, allowing users to return to the traditional inbox structure.[22][23]
In April 2018, Google introduced a new web user interface for Gmail. The new redesign follows Google'sMaterial Design, and changes in the user interface include the use of Google'sProduct Sans font. Other updates include aConfidential mode, which allows the sender to set an expiration date for a sensitive message or to withdraw it entirely,integrated rights management andtwo-factor authentication.[24]
On 16 November 2020,Google announced new settings for smart features and personalization in Gmail. Under the new settings users were given control of their data in Gmail, Chat, and Meet, offering smart features like Smart Compose and Smart Reply.[25]
On 6 April 2021, Google rolled out Google Chat and Room (early access) feature to all Gmail users.[26][27]
On 28 July 2022, Google rolled outMaterial You to all Gmail users.[28]
Gmail'sspam filtering features a community-driven system: when any user marks an email asspam, this provides information to help the system identify similar future messages for all Gmail users.[29]
The Gmail Labs feature, introduced on June 5, 2008, allows users to test new or experimental features of Gmail. Users can enable or disable Labs features selectively and provide feedback about each of them. This allows Gmail engineers to receive user input about new features to improve them and also to understand their popularity.[30] Popular features, like the "Undo Send" option, often "graduate" from Gmail Labs to become a formal setting in Gmail.[31] All Labs features are experimental and are subject to removal at any time.[32]
In May 2012, Gmail improved the search functionality to include auto-complete predictions from the user's emails.[36]
Gmail's search functionality does not support searching for word fragments (also known as 'substring search' or partial word search). Workarounds exist.[36]
In 2016, Gmail launched a tool called Gmailify to let users read emails from other email providers using the Gmail interface.[37][38] In 2025, Google said the service and the general ability to fetch emails from other accounts on an ongoing basis would shut down in 2026.[39][40]
In October 2012, Google added over 100 virtual keyboards,transliterations, andinput method editors to Gmail, giving users different types of input styles for different languages in an effort to help users write in languages that are not "limited by the language of your keyboard."[42][43]
In October 2013, Google added handwriting input support to Gmail.[44]
In August 2014, Gmail became the first major email provider to let users send and receive emails from addresses with accent marks and letters from outside theLatin alphabet.[45][46]
Google Apps is a service from Google that was created in February 2006 as Gmail for your domain. It is to allowsystem administrators of a company or organisation to create email accounts for their own domain.
In theUnited Kingdom (UK), the trademark "Gmail" was owned by another company before Gmail by Google was started. Thus, the United Kingdom uses a domain of "googlemail.com" for their users, and thelogo has the words of "Google Mail" instead of the normal "Gmail".
In September 2009 Google began to change the branding of UK accounts back to Gmail following the resolution of the trademark dispute.[47]
↑Singer, Michael (March 31, 2004)."Google Testing Free Webmail".Internet News.Archived from the original on December 23, 2016. RetrievedOctober 27, 2018.
↑Kuchinskas, Susan (April 1, 2005)."Endless Gmail Storage".Internet News.Archived from the original on April 28, 2016. RetrievedOctober 27, 2018.
↑Coleman, Keith (June 5, 2008)."Introducing Gmail Labs".Official Gmail Blog.Archived from the original on November 26, 2016. RetrievedOctober 27, 2018.
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