How to remove those annoying Chat and Rooms tabs from the Gmail app

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Last summer, Google decided it was a good idea to start folding all of its services into Gmail. Google Meet took over from Hangouts and received its own tab in Gmail. Earlier this year, Chat and Rooms also got their own tab, and the interface became ever more cluttered.

It doesn’t make a huge difference if you only use the desktop version of Gmail thanks to a larger screen to spread everything on. If you live in the mobile app though, the bottom of your screen got taken over, even if you never use Chat or Meet.

Here’s how to remove those tabs, so all you have is unfettered access to your inbox.

Here’s how to reclaim your screen space on the Gmail app

Open the Gmail app

Tap the three-line hamburger menu at the top-left, then on Settings on the menu that slides out

Tap on the Google account you want to change

On iOS

Tap the Show the chat and rooms tab to toggle it off (it will go gray)

On Android

Scroll down until you see the Chat category, then uncheck the Show the Chat and Rooms tabs option

While you’re on the same set of menus, scroll down to the Meet category and uncheck the Show the Meet tab for video calling option

Now your inbox is back to how it should be, with email and nothing else to distract you from dealing with it. That doesn’t mean you have to deal with it though, be proud of those thousands of unread emails. Revel in them. Or not. Who are we to tell you how to live your life.

If you find you miss those tabs in your inbox, go back to the same menu and toggle the Chat and Rooms tab and the Meet tab back on.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.