Gmail Updates & Release Notes

Finding critical information on the go often involves sifting through lengthy email threads and switching between multiple messages while your hands are busy commuting or multi-tasking. Following our initial rollout of conversational AI voice capabilities, we are bringing Gmail Live to Google Workspace customers on mobile (Android and iOS). Using our latest Gemini models, Gmail Live delivers a low-latency, inbox-aware voice search experience that lets you ask questions naturally and hear synthesized answers directly from your email inbox. We’ve included sources for users to easily view the emails where the information is being pulled, as well as the following improvements:

• See where the information is coming from: An email source card is now surfaced prominently at every conversational turn.
• Ability to pick the voice of your choice: You can now pick your preferred voice directly from Gmail Live.

Common use cases include:

• “What is the order status for Black Forest Construction Supply?”
• “When is my next mandatory training due?”
• “Show me the latest update from my manager, John.”
• “What gate is my flight leaving from tomorrow?”

Getting started

• Admins: This feature will be ON by default for organizations with Gemini in Workspace access and respects existing smart features and personalization admin settings. Visit the Help Center to learn more.
• End users: On supported iOS and Android devices, tap the Live entry point in the Gmail search bar to begin a voice session. First-time users will be prompted to grant microphone access. Visit the Help Center to learn more.

Rollout pace

• Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on October 15, 2026

Availability

• Business: Business Starter, Standard, and Plus
• Enterprise: Enterprise Starter, Standard, and Plus
• Frontline: Frontline Plus
• Nonprofits: Google Workspace for Nonprofits
• Add-ons: Gemini Business, Gemini Enterprise, AI Expanded Access, and AI Ultra Access
• Education Add-ons: Google AI Pro for Education
• Consumer: Google AI Plus, Pro, and Ultra

Note that this feature is currently only available to users in the US with EN-US as their language.

Resources

• Google Workspace Admin Help: Turn Gemini features on or off for users
• Google Help: Talk naturally with Gmail Live
• Google Workspace Updates Blog: Use your voice to get more done in Gmail, Docs, and Keep

Earlier this year, we launched AI Inbox in Gmail which helps users catch up on what matters most. Starting today, we’re expanding AI Inbox to paid Google Workspace users. By highlighting key actionable to-do’s and summarizing priority work updates across your emails, AI Inbox makes it easier to stay on top of daily business workflows.

AI Inbox’s core capabilities:

• Suggested to-dos: Automatically extracts action items, deliverables, and deadlines embedded within email conversations. Teams and business leaders gain clear visibility into critical follow-ups without manual note-taking or scanning through dense threads.
• Topics to catch up on: Delivers clear, context-rich summaries of your most important topics, across multi-message threads and rapid back-and-forth discussions. Users can reference this section to get caught up on the latest key decisions and status changes.

Getting started

• Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
• End users: Eligible users can access AI Inbox directly within the Gmail desktop client or mobile app menu. Use our Help Center to learn more about AI Inbox.

Availability

• Business: Business Starter, Standard, and Plus
• Enterprise: Enterprise Starter, Standard, and Plus
• Education: AI Pro for Education
• Other Editions: Frontline Plus

Note that this feature is currently only available to users in the US with EN-US as their language.

Rollout pace

• Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for visibility) started on October 12, 2026
• Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for visibility) starting on October 26, 2026

Note: AI Inbox will rollout later to Starter and Education editions in the coming months.

Resources

• Google Help: Manage to-dos & topics with AI Inbox
• Keyword: Gmail is entering the Gemini era

We recently announced the launch of AI Overviews in Gmail search which allows users to ask natural language questions in Gmail’s search bar and get concise summaries and answers without digging through emails. Starting today, we are expanding access to AI Overviews in Gmail search to global users (with paid plans) who have their Gmail language set as English. Previously, this was only available to users in the US with their language set as English.

Getting started

• Admins: This feature will be ON by default if Gemini for Workspace in Gmail is enabled and Workspace Intelligence access to Gmail is enabled.
• End users: This feature is available by default when smart features are enabled. Users must have both “Smart features in Gmail, Chat, and Meet” and “Google Workspace smart features” turned on to access AI Overviews in Gmail search.

Rollout pace

• Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) started on September 3, 2026
• Scheduled Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on September 21, 2026
• Personal Google Accounts (Consumer): Gradual rollout started on September 3, 2026

Availability

• Business: Business Starter, Standard, and Plus
• Enterprise: Enterprise Starter, Standard, and Plus
• Consumers: Google AI Plus, Pro, and Ultra (excluding personal accounts in the EEA, UK, Switzerland, and Japan)
• Other Editions: Frontline Plus
• Education Add-ons: Google AI Pro for Education
• Other Add-ons: AI Expanded Access

Resources

• Google Workspace Admin Help: Manage access to Gemini features in Workspace services
• Google Help: Get an AI Overview in Gmail search
• Google Workspace Updates Blog: Search faster and smarter with AI Overviews in Gmail search
• Consumer Launch Blog: Gmail is entering the Gemini era

To help protect your privacy and ensure intentional communication, we are introducing a new caution notification in Gmail. This feature is designed to prevent accidental information disclosure by alerting users when they are about to "Reply All" to a thread where they were originally BCC’ed.

Previously, users might inadvertently reveal their presence on a confidential thread by hitting "Reply All" while BCC'ed. With this update, Gmail will now display a prominent warning prompt to confirm your intent before the message is sent to all recipients, ensuring that your participation remains private unless you choose otherwise.

Getting started

• Admins: This feature is available by default.
• End users: This feature is available by default and will trigger automatically when a BCC'ed recipient attempts to "Reply All" on a thread.

Rollout pace

• Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Available now

Availability

• Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts.

Users can now edit and revise their email drafts in Gmail via the prompt bar, using custom refine instructions in Help me write. Previously the refines were limited to preset options like Polish, Formalize, and Shorten. Now if your first draft isn’t quite perfect, you can provide a precise follow-up prompt in your own words to further refine it, and even undo or redo any edits you make.

Whether you need to add a missing detail to the second line or include a deadline for your request, simply type the instruction and Gmail will instantly update the draft for you.

Getting started

• Admins: This feature is available by default if both Gemini for Workspace in Gmail is enabled and Workspace Intelligence access to Gmail is enabled.
• End users: This feature is available by default. Visit the Help Center article to learn more about drafting emails with Gemini in Gmail.

Rollout pace

• Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Rolling out now, with expected completion by July 20, 2026

Availability

• Business: Business Starter, Standard, and Plus
• Enterprise: Enterprise Starter, Standard, and Plus
• Consumer: Google AI Plus, Pro, and Ultra
• Other Editions: Frontline Plus
• Education Add-ons: Google AI Pro for Education
• Other Add-ons: AI Expanded Access

Resources

• Gmail Help: Draft emails with Gemini in Gmail

Previously, users could only work with delegated Gmail accounts through the web interface. We are updating the Gmail app for iOS and Android to allow delegates to read, manage, and compose emails on behalf of a delegator directly from their mobile devices.

This update removes a significant barrier for employees who rely on mobile devices for their daily productivity. For example, an administrative assistant can seamlessly handle urgent communications for an executive while away from the office, without needing to find a desktop computer.

When using the Gmail mobile app, delegates can now:

• Switch between their own inbox and delegated accounts.
• View unread message counts for delegated inboxes from the account menu.
• See emails intermingled across delegated accounts and their own account using the mobile “All inboxes” view.
• Send messages that allow recipients to view the specific "sent by" information in the mobile experience.

Administrators retain full control over delegation settings, including the ability to restrict delegation to specific organizational units. The mobile experience adheres to existing delegation policies and limits, such as supporting up to 1,000 unique delegates per account and 40 concurrent users. Delegators do not need to perform any additional setup to enable mobile access for their existing delegates.

Getting started

• Admins: There is no admin control for this specific mobile feature; it follows existing delegation settings that you’ve configured for the web experience.
• End users: To access a delegated account, ensure you have first been granted access via the Gmail web settings. Once granted, tap your profile picture in the Gmail app on Android or iOS and select the delegated account from the list. Visit the Help Center to learn more about delegating and collaborating on email.

Rollout pace

• Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Rolling out now with expected completion by July 8, 2026 (Android), and July 29, 2026 (iOS)

Availability

• Available in early July to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts

Resources

• Google Workspace Admin Help: Let users delegate access to a Gmail account
• Google Help: Delegate and collaborate on email

As previously announced, Help me write in Gmail is evolving into an even more helpful partner that can pull in your natural voice and personalized context to get you closer to the perfect draft every time. We’ve added two new personalization enhancements:

• Topic contextualization: The feature can now connect to Google Drive and Gmail based on your prompt. It will then use the context from these apps to automatically insert relevant information into the email draft, reducing the time you spend toggling between apps to find specific details.
• Tone and style personalization: Help me write can also now create personalized email drafts that match the tone and style of your previously written emails.

With these new changes, users will save valuable time currently spent on cross-Workspace app context switching to reference correct sources, typing, copy-pasting, and formatting. Just type a short prompt, and delegate the draft writing for common use cases, including:

• Responding to inquiries from customers and partners
• Distributing information, documents, or materials to collaborators
• Reporting progress, milestones, and project-related issue to leadership
• Seeking assistance or answers from team
• Providing or asking for feedback from peers
• Sharing team announcements or progress reports to the organization
• Introducing new projects
• Exploring potential partnerships
• Teacher-parent- communications
• Grant proposals

Getting started

• Admins: This feature is available by default if both Gemini for Workspace in Gmail is enabled and Workspace Intelligence access to Gmail is enabled.
• End users: This feature is available by default and activated for prompts that have relevant context. Visit the Help Center article to learn more about drafting emails with Gemini in Gmail.

Rollout pace

• Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) started on May 5, 2026

Availability

• Business: Business Starter, Standard, and Plus
• Enterprise: Enterprise Starter, Standard, and Plus
• Consumer: Google AI Plus, Pro, and Ultra
• Education Add-ons: Google AI Pro for Education

Resources

• Google Help: Draft emails with Gemini in Gmail

Your inbox is full of critical information that you need to get your work done, but uncovering it shouldn't mean running endless searches just to sift through fragmented email threads. With AI Overviews in Gmail search, you can now ask natural language questions in Gmail’s search bar and get concise summaries and answers without digging through emails.

In the Gmail search bar, type in questions such as:

• “What are the performance improvements Owen mentioned?”
• “What are the milestones we agreed to for “Project Astro”?
• “Which invoices have I already paid and which are still outstanding to Sandbox Supplies?”
• “What were the latest comments from the UX deck?”
• “What are the details of my upcoming trip to New York?”

You’ll get instant summaries that pull context from across multiple conversations. No more searching your inbox for scattered details—just the answers you need, right when you need them.

Note that we previously launched this feature to users with Google AI Pro and Ultra subscriptions; we’re now bringing it to business and education users with eligible licenses (see availability below).

Getting started

• Admins: This feature is available by default if Gemini for Workspace in Gmail is enabled and Workspace Intelligence access to Gmail is enabled. See our blog post to learn more about admin settings for Workspace Intelligence.
• End users: You must have both “Smart features in Gmail, Chat, and Meet” and “Google Workspace smart features” enabled to access this feature. Visit the Help Center to learn more about enabling smart features and AI Overviews in Gmail search.

Rollout pace

• Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on April 22, 2026

Availability

• Business: Business Starter, Standard, and Plus
• Enterprise: Enterprise Starter, Standard, and Plus
• Consumers: Google AI Pro and Ultra
• Other Editions: Frontline Plus
• AI Add-ons: Google AI Pro for Education

Resources

• Google Help: Get an AI Overview in Gmail search
• Google Workspace Blog: Introducing Workspace Intelligence
• Workspace Updates Blog: Introducing Workspace Intelligence, with admin controls
• Google Workspace Admin Help: Control Workspace Intelligence for generative AI features

We’re expanding Gmail end-to-end encryption (E2EE) to Android and iOS devices for Gmail client-side encryption (CSE) users. With Gmail E2EE, your users can confidentially engage with your organization's most sensitive data from anywhere on their mobile devices while ensuring data remains compliant and with your organizations sovereignty and compliance requirements.

For the first time, users can compose and read these E2EE messages natively within the Gmail app on Android and iOS. No need to download extra apps or use mail portals. Users with a Gmail E2EE license can send an encrypted message to any recipient, regardless of what email address the recipient has.

• Gmail recipients: If the recipient uses the Gmail app, the encrypted message will be delivered as a typical email thread to their inbox.
• Guest recipients: If the recipient doesn’t have the Gmail app, they can seamlessly and securely read and reply in their own native browser, ensuring that all users have a simple and secure interface, regardless of their email service or device.

This launch combines the highest level of privacy and data encryption with a user-friendly experience for all users, enabling simple encrypted email for all customers from small businesses to enterprises and public sector.

Composing a E2EE message in Gmail

Recipient without Gmail app reading in browser

Getting started

• Admins: Admin will need to enable the Android and iOS clients in the CSE admin interface in order for users to have access. This can be done in the Admin Console, visit the Help Center to learn more.
• End users: To add client-side encryption to any message, click the lock icon and select additional encryption, and compose your message and add attachments as normal. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using client-side encryption for Gmail.

Rollout pace

• Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Available now

Availability

• Enterprise: Enterprise Plus with the Assured Controls or Assured Controls Plus add-on

Resources

• Google Help: Learn about Gmail Client-side encryption
• Google Workspace Admin Help: About client-side encryption
• Google Workspace Admin Help: About Assured Controls and Assured Controls Plus
• Google Workspace Blog: New in Gmail: Making end-to-end encrypted emails easy to use for all organizations

Finding time to meet

Finding time to meet often requires numerous back-and-forth emails, particularly when coordinating between multiple internal and external stakeholders. To address this, we are expanding the "Help me schedule" functionality in Gmail (introduced in October 2025) to support group meetings.

Previously, "Help me schedule" was limited to scheduling between two individuals. With this update, users can now coordinate meetings with multiple guests directly from the Gmail compose window.

Gemini in Gmail detects when you are trying to coordinate a time within an email and will surface a Help me schedule button in the toolbar. If there is more than one recipient on the thread, Gemini will propose ideal time slots that work for you and any colleagues, if you have visibility to their calendar. While the initial guest list is pulled automatically from the email thread, users have full control to edit guests as needed.

When a recipient receives the email, they can cross-reference the proposed availability against their own colleagues' schedules. Once a recipient selects a time, a Calendar invite is automatically sent to all guests.

Core capabilities:

• Analyze schedules and suggest meeting times: Gemini proposes ideal time slots that work for you and your colleagues (that you have calendar visibility for), based on their availability, working hours, and other factors
• Manage guest list: The initial guest list for the meeting gets pulled automatically from the email thread, and users have full control to edit the guests
• Automate invites: Once a recipient selects a time, a Calendar invite is automatically sent to all guests, including external participants.

Getting started

• Admins: Visit our Help Center to learn how to manage access to Gemini features in Workspace services.
• End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about scheduling events in Gmail.

Rollout pace

• Rapid Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) started on February 25, 2026
• Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on March 16, 2026

Availability

• Business: Business Standard and Plus
• Enterprise: Enterprise Starter, Standard, and Plus
• AI Add-ons: Google AI Pro for Education
• Other Editions: Frontline Plus

Resources

• Google Help: Schedule events in Gmail
• Google Workspace Updates Blog: Use Help me schedule to easily set up a meeting time over email

Gmail storage and delivery enhancements for Enterprise Plus

We are introducing a significant enhancement to Gmail’s storage and delivery capabilities for Enterprise Plus customers. To support seamless collaboration and high-fidelity file sharing, we are increasing the file size limits for both sending and receiving emails.

• Sending larger files: Users can now attach files up to 50MB directly to an email (doubling the previous 25MB limit). This allows users to send large presentations, comprehensive spreadsheets, and high-resolution PDFs as direct attachments without needing to upload them to Google Drive first.
• Receiving larger files: We are increasing the total incoming message size limit to 70MB to also support large messages and attachments. This ensures that your organization can successfully receive larger emails from external senders, improving interoperability with other email platforms.

We know that today's workflows often involve sharing data-rich files. This new update compliments our existing functionality that allows users to upload to Google Drive and share a link. While Drive is excellent for collaboration, sometimes a direct attachment is the preferred method for external partners, clients, or regulatory workflows.

This update directly addresses two key areas of friction by:

• Streamlining workflow: Users can now simply drag and drop files up to 50MB into their draft window. This reduces context switching and saves time when sharing final versions of documents.
• Improving interoperability: Users who collaborate with partners who are unable to use Drive can now leverage attachments for these larger files, ensuring these critical communications are available regardless of the recipient.

This feature is admin configurable, giving admins more control over your organization's bandwidth and storage policies.

Getting started

• Admins: Visit the Help Center to learn how to configure your settings to unlock 50M attachments for your users.
• End users: There is no end user setting for this feature.

Rollout pace

• Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) started on February 23, 2026

Availability

• Google Workspace Enterprise Plus

Resources

• Google Workspace Admin Help: Gmail receiving limits in Google Workspace
• Google Workspace Admin Help: Gmail message sending limits in Google Workspace

Getting started

• Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
• End users: This feature will be ON by default and can be disabled by the user. Visit the Help Center to learn more about proofreading your email with Gemini.

Example of Conciseness suggestion

Workspace customers will get promotional access to higher usage limits of Proofread, allowing users to experiment with this feature. Per-user usage limits may apply afterward; we’ll provide more information in a future update prior to any changes.

Rollout pace

• Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on February 4, 2026

Availability

• Business Starter, Standard, and Plus
• Enterprise Starter, Standard, and Plus
• Frontline Plus
• Individual
• Google AI Plus, Pro, and Ultra
• Google AI Pro for Education add-on

Resources

• Google Help: Check spelling, grammar & style in Gmail
• Keyword Blog: Gmail is entering the Gemini era

What’s changing

In 2025, we introduced the ability to react to emails in Gmail with emojis. This feature lets users respond quickly to acknowledge receipt of an email in a fun, informal and more authentic way. While initially enabled as an opt-in feature for early customer access, starting February 9, 2026, emoji reactions in Gmail will be enabled by default.

Organizations wishing to disable this feature can do so at any time in the Admin console, and the feature will not be enabled by default for organizations who have previously disabled or modified this feature setting in the Admin console (check the Audit & Investigation tool to confirm).

Whether you’re using a ‘thanks’ emoji to express gratitude, voting for a team dinner with a food emoji, or congratulating your client for reaching a milestone with a celebratory emoji, emoji reactions provide an expressive and more personal way to respond to emails.

Note that reactions cannot be sent in certain scenarios, for example if an email was received via a Google Group email alias or if there is a Google Group on the recipient list. Visit the Help Center to learn more about these scenarios.

Getting started

• Admins: If you do not wish to have emoji reactions on by default, visit the Admin console (Apps > Gmail > End User Access > Emoji reactions) before February 9, 2026, and ensure the setting is unchecked before clicking “Save.” Even if the setting is already unchecked, we suggest clicking “Save” to ensure it does not default to enabled on February 9. Visit the Help Center to learn more about managing Gmail settings for your users.
• End users: Emoji reactions are best experienced via the Gmail app on Android and iOS and via Gmail.com on the web. Visit the Help Center to learn more about replying to emails with emoji reactions and why you may get emoji reactions as an email.

Rollout pace

• Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Admin console setting available now. Unless changed per the instructions above, it will be default enabled on February 9, 2026.

Availability

• Available to all Google Workspace customers.

Resources

• Google Workspace Admin Help: Manage Gmail settings for your users
• Google Help: Reply to emails with emoji reactions

Earlier this year, data classification labels for Gmail became generally available. Admins can use this feature to classify and audit email content according to organizational guidelines (“Sensitive,” “Confidential,” etc.) and apply policies, such as data loss prevention (DLP) rules, to protect sensitive information in email messages.

We have expanded this functionality to include the ability to create a DLP rule that adds a header or footer message to email messages. Critically, header and footer messages will be shown to users outside of your domain, which helps ensure external users are aware of the sensitivity of the message and any handling requirements. DLP rules are applied to outbound messages from your domain based on how you have configured the rule scope and conditions. As a reminder, the actual classification label is only visible to recipients in your domain.

Admins can customize the information shown in the header or footer message, including links to further information on handling information. Headers and footers are visible on all device types, both within and outside of your domain.

Selecting “Add footer message” when creating a rule

Once the email is sent, the banner will appear in the body of the email.

For more information on data classification labels for Gmail, please refer to our previous announcement.

Getting started

• Admins: Visit the Help Center to learn more about getting started with classification labels, Gmail DLP & automatic classification labels, and preventing data leaks in email and attachments.
• End users: No action is required. Footers will automatically be applied to your messages depending on your admin configuration.

Rollout pace

• Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Available now

Availability

Data loss prevention rules with labels as a condition or labels as an action are available to:

• Enterprise Standard and Plus
• Education Fundamentals, Standard, Plus, and the Teaching & Learning Upgrade
• Frontline Standard and Plus
• Cloud Identity Premium (with Workspace plan that includes Gmail)

Resources

• Google Workspace Admin Help: Gmail DLP & automatic classification labels
• Google Workspace Admin Help: About DLP
• Google Workspace Admin Help: Prevent data leaks in email & attachments
• Google Workspace Admin Help: Get started as a classification labels admin
• Google Help: Add classification labels in Gmail

Overview

We’re launching a new integration between Gmail and Google Chat designed to improve team collaboration and productivity. With this feature, you can easily share a conversation from your Gmail inbox to a Chat direct message or space. No need to start your chat conversation with, "Did you see the email I forwarded?" or dig through your inbox to find the message being discussed.

Starting from a Gmail thread, you can initiate a chat with the existing email recipients, a subset, or a new group. The email is automatically forwarded and recipients can open it directly from a link in Chat.

This enables you to switch to Chat for active discussion while preserving the connection to the original message. Two-way linking helps ensure that everyone has the full context they need for a productive discussion and reduces the need to jump between tabs.

This feature is helpful in common scenarios such as:

• Resolving an issue in real time instead of going back and forth over email
• Chatting about an email with a subset of the original group before responding
• Discussing a customer email with coworkers
• Signal boosting an announcement by company leadership
• Sharing meetings notes and action items

Getting started

• Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. Organizations must have both Gmail and Chat enabled for the feature to appear.
• End users: This feature will be on by default for users who have Chat enabled in Gmail, available on desktop at launch and on mobile soon (currently available in limited testing on mobile for selected users). Visit the Help Center to learn more about how to share in Chat from Gmail.

Rollout pace

• Rapid Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on December 2, 2025
• Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on December 9, 2025

Availability

Available for Google Workspace:

• Business Starter, Standard, and Plus
• Enterprise Starter, Standard, and Plus
• Frontline Starter, Standard, Plus
• Nonprofits

We plan to bring this feature to Education customers in the coming months. Please stay tuned to the Workspace Updates blog for an update on availability.

Resources

• Google Help: Share in Chat from Gmail