Some of what I removed is just straight-up clutter - elements like the Google app icon and notification counter, typically in Gmail's upper-right corner, and all the terms and policy silliness in the site's footer - while some of it is legitimately functional stuff that I'd just as soon not have on my screen, such as the giant "Compose" button that normally resides in the site's upper-left area. Quite a change from the default Gmail view, eh? As you can see, I've stripped away most of the superfluous text and buttons and left only the elements I actually need for my day-to-day email management.
Pictures are worth at least 997 words in situations like these, so let me begin by showing you what my own Gmail inbox looks like right now, in the days since I moved back into it from Inbox and set out to make the transition tolerable: JR
Just as you can recreate Inbox's best features in Gmail - and make the Gmail Android app a touch more pleasant to use - with a teensy bit of effort, you can pare down Gmail's desktop interface and transform it into a calm and uncluttered center for email productivity. So now that Inbox is on the way out, what's a discerning email user to do?įear not, my friends, for there is hope yet. Plain and simple, the Gmail desktop site is busy and cluttered, particularly if you've spent any time working with its far more minimal and aesthetically pleasing Inbox cousin.
Update July 29th, 2021, 4:20PM ET: This article was originally published on July 7th, 2020, and it has been updated to allow for changes in the features and interface of Google Tasks.Google's recently revamped Gmail website has a lot of good things going for it - but the service's interface could still use some serious improvement. The tasks you add in through this sidebar will be synced with the mobile apps, and you’ll also see them if you open up Tasks through another app, like Drive or Calendar.
To mark a task as complete, click on the circle to the left of the task.