Gmail app 2026.07.20

The Gmail app is Google’s mobile email client for Android phones and tablets and for iPhone and iPad. It reads and sends mail from a Google Account and can also hold addresses from other providers, so several mailboxes share one app. Everyday email works with a personal account without a paid plan. Some of the newer Gemini tools depend on a Google AI plan or an eligible Google Workspace account.

Gmail and non-Gmail accounts

You can add up to five email addresses to one account in the Gmail app. Other Gmail addresses sign in through Google, while Outlook, iCloud Mail and Yahoo are set up automatically from a provider list. You can add any other mailbox manually over IMAP by entering the server details from that provider. Some providers ask for an app password instead of the normal one. An “All inboxes” view in the menu shows mail from every added account together.

Inbox sorting and notifications

Each account in Gmail can use the Default inbox or Priority Inbox. The Default inbox splits mail into category tabs such as Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates and Forums. You can set notifications per account. By default, they cover only mail landing in Primary. A “High priority only” level narrows them further, and labels can carry their own notification and sync options.

You can assign left and right swipes to archive, delete, mark as read or unread, move to a label or snooze. Snoozing hides a message and returns it to the top of the inbox at a chosen day and time, with a reminder when notifications are on.

Writing, scheduling and unsending

The Gmail compose screen takes To, Cc and Bcc recipients and offers basic text formatting by pressing and holding the text. Right after a message goes out, an Undo option briefly appears to pull it back. Schedule send holds a finished message for delivery at a chosen time in a selected time zone. It can hold up to 100 scheduled emails at once. Cancelling one turns it back into a draft for editing.

Account settings also cover a mobile signature, a vacation responder for out-of-office replies and Smart Reply, which places short suggested answers at the bottom of an email.

Confidential mode

A message sent in confidential mode can carry an expiry date, and the sender can remove a recipient’s access earlier from the Sent folder. Recipients cannot forward, copy, print or download the message or its attachments. An optional SMS passcode requires the recipient to enter a code sent by text before opening it. Screenshots and photos of the screen are not blocked.

Search and offline mail

Gmail search suggests terms from contacts, labels, messages and past searches as you type. Chips under the search box narrow results by label, sender or recipient, attachment type, date and unread status. You can combine operators such as after:, before: and has:attachment. Spam and Trash are left out unless the search starts with in:anywhere. Without a connection, only mail already synced to the device is searchable. On Android, you can adjust the number of days kept offline and automatic attachment downloads on Wi-Fi.

Gemini features by account

Gemini in the Gmail app summarizes long conversations and drafts messages from a short prompt through Help me write. Availability differs by account: