# Does anyone else hate Gmail's new look?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-gmails-new-look/605182
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [December 5, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-gmails-new-look/605182 "2011-12-05T21:12:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-gmails-new-look/605182/1 "2011-12-05T21:12:13Z")
I know it’s not a **huge** difference between the old and new looks, but dammit, I really liked it how I had it. Add in YouTube, and Google’s been making a lot of unnecessary aesthetic changes lately.
Also, inb4 the threadshitters who respond, “If you don’t like it, take your money elsewhere,” “Are you bitching about something that’s free?” etc., etc. Go threadshit elsewhere.
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### Author:  [@Bloodless\_Turnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bloodless_Turnip)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-gmails-new-look/605182/2 "2011-12-05T21:21:23Z")
Yes.
I found though that if I made one small change it was much more readable. Let me double check what that was.
**Click on the gear icon thing, then change the Display Density and see if that helps.** I set mine on compact with the theme set as the default light and it helped a lot.
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### Author:  [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-gmails-new-look/605182/3 "2011-12-05T21:21:26Z")
Well, they’re not _unnecessary_, at least from Google’s POV. They’re standardizing all their sites to a single aesthetic. Documents and Calendar got the makeover too, and they seem to be trying to get rid of Picasa entirely in favor of +'s photo system.
I think it looks like crap too.
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### Author:  [@malkavia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malkavia)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-gmails-new-look/605182/4 "2011-12-05T21:21:32Z")
I feel like Google Plus, and to a lesser extent the new Gmail, allows for an unnecessary amount of space between content on its pages. I just feel like everything could be 10-20 pixels closer than it is, if that makes sense.
I’m sure that if I keep using Gmail every day, I will eventually forget what it used to look like and will re-calibrate my expectations to the new normal, but for now I don’t like it. :mad:
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### Author:  [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-gmails-new-look/605182/5 "2011-12-05T21:21:51Z")
I’m pretty much used to it by now, but it was a little confusing at first.
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### Author:  [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2011, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-gmails-new-look/605182/6 "2011-12-05T21:25:02Z")
> [@Bloodless\_Turnip](#):
>
> Yes.
>
> I found though that if I made one small change it was much more readable. Let me double check what that was.
>
> **Click on the gear icon thing, then change the Display Density and see if that helps.** I set mine on compact with the theme set as the default light and it helped a lot.
I’m not finding the Display Density option. Which tab is it under?
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### Author:  [@Critical\_Mass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical_Mass)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-gmails-new-look/605182/7 "2011-12-05T21:28:25Z")
I’ve stopped paying attention to functional and decorative changes with Gmail.
Whatever it is today, it will change again in a number of weeks.
And then it will change again.
I don’t get attached to any one format. I can still sort through my email and find what I need. Good enough.
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### Author:  [@Bloodless\_Turnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bloodless_Turnip)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2011, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-gmails-new-look/605182/8 "2011-12-05T21:31:30Z")
[Here](http://www.screencast.com/t/nmTHtoUs1vNo) is a pic of the gear you click on.
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### Author:  [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-gmails-new-look/605182/9 "2011-12-05T21:37:55Z")
> [@Bloodless\_Turnip](#):
>
> [Here](http://www.screencast.com/t/nmTHtoUs1vNo) is a pic of the gear you click on.
I know the gear… which tab under the gear?
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### Author:  [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2011, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-gmails-new-look/605182/10 "2011-12-05T21:39:31Z")
I dislike the look strongly. It’s a minor loss in user-friendliness with no increase in functionality. Put another way, they’re fucking with shit that wasn’t broken, and that bodes not well for the long run.
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### Author:  [@Bloodless\_Turnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bloodless_Turnip)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-gmails-new-look/605182/11 "2011-12-05T21:53:01Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#):
>
> I know the gear… which tab under the gear?
There are two gears on the page. The one up by your email address/login (that gear is Options) and the one below (the Settings gear). The one you need is the one Settings gear below. I have no tabs, just a list.
Display Density is what you want to change.
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### Author:  [@malkavia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malkavia)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-gmails-new-look/605182/12 "2011-12-05T23:20:57Z")
> [@Bloodless\_Turnip](#):
>
> There are two gears on the page. The one up by your email address/login (that gear is Options) and the one below (the Settings gear). The one you need is the one Settings gear below. I have no tabs, just a list.
>
> Display Density is what you want to change.
Oh. My. Gosh. “Compact” was exactly what I was looking for. Thanks, Straight Dope!
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### Author:  [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2011, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-gmails-new-look/605182/13 "2011-12-06T00:44:41Z")
I sometimes have a hard time finding “Calendar”… I have to click the Google icon, then at the bottom, I have to click on “More” and THEN I see Calendar. It used to be right up at the top. And it still is on some of my accounts. But the new ones, it’s hidden. I don’t like the changes.
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### Author:  [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2011, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-gmails-new-look/605182/14 "2011-12-06T00:52:24Z")
I dislike it, and I usually don’t care about changes to websites. But the icons don’t pop at all, and text labels aren’t an option that I can find. I find myself looking at each icon and deciphering it when I need to do something, instead of glancing at the page as a whole and knowing where to click. It just isn’t intuitive, although I suppose it will grow on me.
And yes, it wastes space, although the Compact feature helps with that a lot. Wasn’t aware of that until now.
I went back to the old look, just in case that’s a data point they care about.
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### Author:  [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2011, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-gmails-new-look/605182/15 "2011-12-06T04:09:51Z")
I haven’t seen much reason to care much. It gets me my e-mail that that’s about all I do there.
I would note, though (and have noted in other threads) that I do something much bigger to keep my web experience under control: I _always run my browser with JavaScript disabled except when I really know I’ll need it_ (like, for paying bills on-line).
And I have my gmail set up to run in plain-old-fashioned “basic html” mode as opposed to “standard” mode.
These options have done wonders for my browsing experience, including using gmail. A large number of ads disappear. The incessant downloading of who-knows-what (mostly more ads) is greatly reduced. I can open multiple pages in multiple windows (or tabs), without the sum total of all their JavaScripts reducing my computer to the speed of tectonic drift. Those google ads that are based on the content of the e-mail have disappeared. Everything is cleaner, less cluttered, less sluggish.
A lot of things don’t work, but they are mostly bells and whistles that I can live without. For example, right here on SDMB, I can’t click on all those little smiley icons or the tools at the top of the edit window. If I do, nothing happens. I have to manually type in all the BB codes. So I don’t use too many, and I learn how to type the few that I do use now and then. Much of my web experience elsewhere follows this pattern. Simple, clean, no-frills.
Also, I right-click on the picture ads that I get. Firefox has an option to block all future images from the same place. One can quickly build to a black-list of sites to NOT show pictures from that covers most of the pics you don’t want to see (again, ads mostly). This cleans up your screen, makes pages display faster, and reduces download times. Y’all should give it a try.
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### Author:  [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2011, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-gmails-new-look/605182/16 "2011-12-06T07:07:22Z")
I hate it too. Everything seems much more blocky and square, like Windows 3.1. Also, the buttons are too big and there’s too much space. It doesn’t work that well on a small laptop screen, even on compact view. Oh well, I guess I’ll get used to it eventually. That is, when they formally force me to (still on old look right now).
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### Author:  [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-gmails-new-look/605182/17 "2011-12-06T17:51:35Z")
> [@Bloodless\_Turnip](#):
>
> There are two gears on the page. The one up by your email address/login (that gear is Options) and the one below (the Settings gear). The one you need is the one Settings gear below. I have no tabs, just a list.
>
> Display Density is what you want to change.
Got it now. Thank you.
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### Author:  [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-gmails-new-look/605182/18 "2011-12-08T03:01:50Z")
I don’t really see the point of this. It seems to be just, slightly different, and where it is different it doesn’t seem to be any better.
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### Author:  [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2011, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-gmails-new-look/605182/19 "2011-12-08T05:32:48Z")
I don’t like it either. As said, it was not broke.
They also killed off ‘hot linking’ in Picasa… Boo Hiss !!! I use that a lot…
I had Google Plus & did not like it, might need to go back if I can hot link the pictures in the albums I upload…
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### Author:  [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2011, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-gmails-new-look/605182/20 "2011-12-08T05:43:45Z")
I love it. Cleaner and simpler IMO. The only degradation I’ve noticed is a delay in adding a new mail to an existing thread if one comes in in real-time while you’re reading it.
However, they should have defaulted the density to ‘compact’ after the change. Caused me a great deal of frustration until I found the second gear icon.
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