The new Gmail user interface will become available to G Suite users starting in July 2018. According to the search giant, administrators will have three options in deploying the redesigned email service once the new Gmail launches to general availability next month. The first option available to G Suite administrators is to immediately transition all users to the new Gmail, although people will still have the option to temporarily return to the older version of the email service’s user interface. The second option, on the other hand, is to let users opt-in to the new Gmail UI when they are prepared to transition to the new user interface. However, the default setting on the G Suite administrator’s console is to wait for four more weeks before allowing users to switch to the new Gmail. If this setting was chosen by the administrators, users will not have the option to switch to the new user interface until four weeks after the general availability launch of the redesigned email service.
Even if G Suite users do not immediately transition to the new Gmail, they will be automatically transferred to the new user experience eight weeks after the redesigned email service goes into general availability. They have the option to return to the older version of Gmail’s user interface for four more weeks. However, all users will be transferred to the new Gmail twelve weeks after the new user interface goes to general availability, and by that time, users will no longer have the ability to switch back to the old UI and will be required to stick with the new design changes that Google has pushed out.
The new Gmail includes a number of useful features that make it easier for people to communicate and accomplish tasks. Among the features of the new Gmail is the native support for offline functions, which by default, downloads user’s messages for the past 30 days. This feature allows users to write, archive, delete, and search for emails even if the computer is not connected to the internet. The new Gmail will also bring a confidential mode to G Suite users, which allows people to send emails that cannot be forwarded, copied, downloaded, or duplicated. However, Gmail offline and confidential mode are both turned off by default, and the latter feature is scheduled to launch at a later date.