The Gmail You Use for Work is Getting a Refresh Thanks to Chat and Meet

Google is continuing to evolve Gmail as we know it, especially for those who use it within a Workspace account, which used to be GSuite and is the version of Gmail used by work professionals. In a note posted yesterday, Google laid out upcoming plans to further tweak the Gmail web UI to make it easier to move between their other integrated services, like Chat, Meet, and Spaces.

The new UI will give you dedicated tabs to jump between Mail, Chat, Spaces, and Meet, rather than try to manage those areas through those tiny little boxes tucked off to the left like you do now. Instead, Google wants there to be big buttons to get into a new area that allow you the full experience of each service without having to open a bunch of tabs.

There will also be notification bubbles to let you know of a pending item in another service, “the full array of Mail and Label options” you love about Gmail (without the cramping of Chat, Spaces, and Meet areas below), and soon-to-be-seen email and chat results in search.

Here is a preview of what you can expect:

When will this change happen for Google Workspace users? Pretty soon. Starting February 8, you can opt-in to test the new experience. By April of this year, if you have not opted-in, you just might seeing the new UI by default with the option to revert back. By the end of Q2 of this year, the UI above will become the “standard experience for Gmail.”

To recap, a new Gmail experience is coming to Workspace users and will be the default by the end of Q2. Hope you like it!