How to remove those annoying Chat and Rooms tabs from the Gmail app
We’ll show you how to remove the Meet tab as well.
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
The instructions are slightly different depending on if you’ve got an iPhone or an Android, but the end result is the same. Some Android phones might have a slightly different set of options as well.
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Open the Gmail app
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Tap the three-line hamburger menu at the top-left, then on Settings on the menu that slides out
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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
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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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