Gmail’s permanent move that switches everyone to a new integrated view starts this month.
In a blog post published on Tuesday, Google has announced it will remove the option to revert to the previous Gmail UI, so we’ll all have to get used to the bustling — and very blue — interface. That includes the Material Design 3 font and Google Sans Text.
Google calls Gmail’s new layout the “integrated” view because it comes with options for Mail, Chat, Spaces, and Meet in the far-left sidebar. As you hover over these buttons, a small pop-out menu will appear. When you click on it, the app fills the entire screen.
If you find the extra buttons distracting, you can disable Meet and Chat from your settings menu. This eliminates the need to see the extra sidebar and gives you a simpler screen, just for Gmail.
Google started testing this layout in February and hasn’t been so cautious about steering users toward the option since. The new layout was opted out in July (meaning you are swapped by default). But now Google is poised to make this change permanent, matching it with some of the other makeovers it’s already applied to its other Workspace apps, including Docs, Calendar, and Sheets.
As someone who has been using the new layout for quite some time, I honestly don’t see myself returning to the old one. It took some getting used to, but it’s a lot more modern, and once I turn off the options for the extra apps, it just feels like the old Gmail.
