How To Get The Old Look of Gmail Back [GUIDE]

Gmail has got a new minimalist look and now users don’t have the option to switch back to old interface. Many users were really liking the old look. If you’re also searching for a way to get Gmail’s old look back, then here is an extension and some more tweaks that you can follow to get back the old interface.

Installing a User Script

User scripts are small scripts that helps in doing various tasks. “The Return of Old Gmail” is such an unofficial user style or call it as a custom style sheet using which you can get back the old look of Gmail back. There is no official way of doing this as Gmail has stopped displaying switch to old look option and therefore this user style can come to the rescue.

This user script works on Google Chrome and also on Mozilla Firefox. Get it from userstyles.org.

To use this style, you need to first click on “install Stylish” link.

After Stylish has been installed, refresh the same page and click the “Install with Stylish” button to install the style sheet.

That’s it. Now you can refresh Gmail and see the changes that this style sheet has made. Yes, that’s your old or traditional Gmail.

Whenever a new update is released by Gmail, this third-party user stylesheet may not work well. So if you don’t want to use this stylesheet then below are some tips which you need to follow manually.

Replace Icon Buttons with Text Buttons

Gmail has replaced the good old text buttons with icon buttons. If you prefer it the old way, then don’t worry, there is a setting hidden deep using which you can get back the text labels.

To get back the old text labels back, click on the gear icon from top right side of Gmail and click on “Settings”. From the “General” tab, locate the “Button labels” section and select the “Text” option.

Click on “Save Changes” from the bottom of the page to save this setting. Note that this small tweak won’t restore the old layout but it definitely makes more comfortable to work on Gmail with text labels.

Change Gmail’s Theme

Gmail’s default theme is the new “Light” theme. If you want your Gmail to resemble like old version to some extent, then you can change the theme to “High Contrast”. This can be done by clicking on gear icon and then click on “Themes”.

All you need to do is to just click on “High Contrast” theme. You can also try changing to other themes, but this theme looks more like Gmail’s old theme.

Change to Compact View

The new look of Gmail displays less information compared to old look. By default, Gmail displays “comfortable” view. To get a more denser view, click on the gear icon from top right side and then click on “Compact”.

This new view is compact and displays more information compared to default view.

Try out these small tips and get your old Gmail back. Have any more suggestions ? Let’s hear them in the comments.