Gmail will now let you react to emails with emojis
What you need to know
- Gmail is adding the ability to react to emails with emojis.
- The reactions are primarily for Gmail users, with users of other email providers getting a limited experience.
- Reactions are turned off by default and can be restricted by Google Workspace administrators in school or work settings.
Google is rolling out the ability to react to emails with emojis in Gmail, it announced in a Workspace Blog post. The feature addition will make sending and replying to an email more like interacting with a chat on a typical messaging platform, like Google Chat or Slack. These emoji reactions will be visible to everyone on the email chain, and could reduce the need for replying to mass emails to confirm receipt.
The company says that email reactions in Gmail can help users “quickly respond, acknowledge receipt of an email, and express themselves more authentically.”
With that being said, email reactions in Gmail may not become as prevalent as you might expect. They are turned off by default, and can be restricted by your school or work in a Workspace domain. For administrators, emoji reactions can be managed by navigating to Admin console > Apps > Gmail > End User Access > Emoji reactions.
Additionally, reactions won’t work properly for those not using Gmail, those who have their conversation view turned off, or those who have an outdated version of the Gmail app. In all these cases, Gmail reactions will come through as a standalone email using the following format: “[Name] reacted via Gmail.”
“Whether you’re using a gratitude emoji to thank a teammate, voting for a team dinner with a food emoji, or congratulating your client for reaching a milestone with a celebratory emoji, emoji reactions provide an expressive and personalized way of responding to emails,” the company explains.
There are also a number of situations where Gmail users won’t be able to react to a message, as explained by a new support document:
- The admin for your work or school account has “Emoji reactions” turned off. Learn more about work or school accounts.
- The message is sent to a group email list.
- A message is sent to more than 20 recipients.
- You’re in BCC.
- You’ve already sent more than 20 reactions to the same message.
- You open the email in another email provider, like Apple Mail or Microsoft Outlook.
- A message is encrypted with Client-side encryption. Learn about Gmail Client-side encryption.
- The sender has a custom reply-to address.
Aside from these limitations, the feature will soon be widely available for all Google Workspace accounts, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and all personal Google accounts.
Rapid release domains will start seeing the feature appear as of now, but it could take 15 days for full feature visibility. Scheduled release domains won’t start seeing Gmail’s emoji reactions until May 13, 2025, and after that it’ll take 15 days for the rollout to complete.
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