![]() ![]() The original version was rough, but Google seems to have listened to the complaints about the second sidebar. This won't last forever, though, and you'll have to get used to the new Gmail eventually. Click the settings gear, and you should still see a "Go back to the original view" option. If you really don't like the new Gmail, you still can, for at least a little while longer, opt out of the new design. When you turn off Google Chat and Meet, though, collapsing the Gmail sidebar once again shows Gmail controls inside Gmail. With the two-sidebar layout, clicking the hamburger button to collapse the sidebar only shows the app switcher and not any of the Gmail controls-you see links for Google Chat and Google Meet instead of "Inbox," "Stars," "Spam," etc. Turning off the two-sidebar layout not only makes new Gmail look a lot more like old Gmail-it also makes the regular Gmail sidebar work the way it used to. It's strange that New Gmail works this way when Old Gmail put Gmail controls, Google Chat, and Google Meet all in a single, adjustable sidebar, but that's what Google chose to do. Just head to the settings gear, then the "Customize" link under "Chat and Meet." Un-tick both checkboxes, and the sidebar will disappear, allowing you to reclaim a lot of screen real estate. This new "no-sidebar" option isn't very obvious, but you can kill the Gmail sidebar by turning off Google Chat and Google Meet. Thankfully, in between the February preview and this on-by-default rollout, Google apparently listened to feedback and added the option to turn off the sidebar. Gmail already has a sidebar, but this new design adds a second sidebar, which feels like a big banner ad for Google's other communication apps. Google has long had the strategy of shoving whatever new products it wants to promote into Gmail, and the new Gmail design comes with a big, full-height sidebar featuring only four icons: one for Gmail, two for Google Chat (Google's latest messaging app), and one for Google Meet (Google's version of Zoom meetings). The other change you might want to make involves fixing our biggest complaint with the new Gmail: that new, giant sidebar. This "theme" screen is also where you can apply Gmail's weirdly hidden dark mode: Just pick the black background option, and everything will switch over to light text on a dark background. (You can also pick from your Google Photos collection via a "my photos" link at the bottom, and I tried uploading a solid-white background, but trying to apply it only brings up an error message). To truly match the Old Gmail background, you would want "white," but that's not an option. ![]() Click on the settings gear in the top right and then under the "theme" section, click "view all." The background closest to the old Gmail is the solid "soft gray" background option. Further Reading Hands-on: Gmail’s new sidebar feels like a big banner ad for Google ChatGmail still has a theme system, so you can change the color to whatever you want. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |