Gmail includes a toolbar with buttons for common actions such as archiving, deleting, reporting spam, marking messages as unread, and more. By default, many of these buttons appear as icons rather than words.
If you don’t immediately recognize what each icon means, that can slow you down because you may need to hover over a button to see its label before clicking it.
In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to change Gmail’s toolbar buttons from icons to text labels. It only takes a minute to update the setting, and it can make Gmail easier and faster to use if you prefer clear, descriptive buttons instead of symbols.
Video Tutorial
Step-by-Step Instructions
Note: This setting changes the main top action toolbar when you select or view an email. The main navigation panel on the far-left sidebar (Inbox, Sent, Starred) will continue to display its standard companion icons next to their text names.
1. Click the Settings (gear) icon in the top right corner.
2. Click See all settings.
3. Under the General tab, scroll down until you find the Button labels section. Switch the selection from Icons to Text.
4. Scroll to the very bottom of the page and click Save Changes.
5. Your browser will automatically refresh, and your action toolbar (like Delete, Archive, and Mark as Read) will now display as text.
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