The Gmail settings I always change on a new phone to keep my inbox under control

Whenever I set up a new phone, Gmail is one of the first apps I open, and one of the first I tweak.

Between categories, tabs, suggestions, and constant notifications, the default setup doesn’t work for me.

Over the years, I’ve realized that most of Gmail’s best features get hidden behind settings menus that few people ever touch.

So now, every time I get a new phone, I spend a few minutes customizing Gmail. These are the settings I change.

I remove the Meet tab in Gmail

Keep Gmail focused

The first thing I always do is remove the Meet tab from the bottom bar.

Google really wants Gmail to double as a video-calling hub, but I’ve never once opened Meet from inside Gmail on my phone, at least not intentionally. And every accidental tap slows everything down for no reason.

Turning it off immediately makes Gmail feel less cluttered. The bottom navigation shrinks to just Mail, and the interface stops nudging me toward video calls.

To turn it off, I tap the hamburger menu icon in the Gmail app, navigate to Settings, select my account, and look for the Meet option. Uncheck Show the Meet tab for video calling.

When it’s off, Gmail feels cleaner and more focused.

Turn on Auto-advance for faster inbox cleanup

Keep the inbox flowing

One of Gmail’s hidden gems is the Auto-advance setting.

Normally, when you archive or delete an email, Gmail takes you back into the inbox, thereby breaking your flow. Auto-advance opens the next message automatically, allowing you to process emails continuously.

You’ll find it in Settings > General settings > Auto-advance. Select Newer. When it’s activated, deleting or archiving an email automatically pulls up the next one in line, making cleanup feel almost effortless.

It’s a tiny modification, but it makes working through a busy inbox noticeably faster.

Set a simple mobile signature

Give your emails a polished sign-off

One of the first things I do on a new phone is to set a quick Gmail signature. The default is blank, and emails sent from the mobile app can look abrupt without a sign-off.

I keep it short, usually just my name, so replies feel a bit more personal.

You can add it by navigating to Settings, choosing your account, and tapping Mobile signature.

After you set it, every message you send from your phone automatically includes it.

Turn off Smart Reply and Smart Compose

Letting my replies sound like me

With Smart Reply and Smart Compose, Gmail tries to finish your sentences or suggest one-tap replies. While they seem beneficial in theory, in reality, they make my emails sound robotic.

The suggestions rarely match how I actually speak, and I end up fighting the autocomplete instead of writing naturally. I’d rather type a reply in my own way than tap on one Gmail suggested.

You can turn off both in the same place. Open Settings, select your account, and look for the options labeled Smart Reply and Smart Compose.

Switching them off removes the floating suggestions and the ghost-text predictions, so you can type without Gmail nudging you toward canned responses.

Turn off the Social and Promotions tabs

I keep everything in one inbox

One of the first things I do on any new phone is turn off Gmail’s Social and Promotions tabs.

By default, Gmail splits your messages into Primary, Social, Promotions, and sometimes Updates and Forums. It is supposed to keep things tidy, but in practice, it sometimes hides messages I need under tabs I forget to check.

More than once, an important email ended up in Promotions, or a password reset landed in Social because it came from a platform account.

Now, I keep everything in the Primary tab. I go to Settings, select my email account, tap Inbox categories, and uncheck everything except Primary.

It sounds counterintuitive, but it makes my inbox more predictable. I can quickly scan new messages without switching categories, and if something unimportant appears, I archive it immediately and move on.

Closing unnecessary tabs clears my inbox and reduces the mental burden of checking email, particularly on the mobile app, where switching tabs can be cumbersome.

A few tweaks that make Gmail feel faster

These adjustments only take about ten minutes to complete, but they significantly alter the experience of using Gmail on a new phone.

Turning off tabs I don’t need, deactivating smart features that get in the way, enabling Auto-advance, and setting a simple signature all help Gmail feel faster and more predictable.

While none of these changes are dramatic on their own, together they enhance the email experience on a new phone.