How to Change Your Gmail Theme

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Updated December 19, 2019

Change the way Gmail appears when you're logged in from a computer by adding a theme or changing the existing one. Pick from the themes that are included with Gmail or use one of your own photos as your Gmail background.

In addition to changing the background image, you can tweak a few other settings to customize Gmail's appearance, such as an option to add blur to a picture or to darken the edges of the background.

Instructions in this article apply to Gmail using Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, and Mac Yosemite (10.10) and up.

Change the Theme on Gmail

Gmail's theme gallery is just a few clicks away in the Settings menu.

Open Gmail and log in if prompted to do so.
Select the Settings icon in the upper right corner of the page. The icon looks like a gear and is located above your messages and under the search bar.
Select Themes in the drop-down menu. The Pick Your Theme dialog box will open.
Scroll through the photos and select a theme to preview it instantly.
Select More Images at the bottom of the gallery to see more theme options.
Scroll down further to view plain colors, patterns, and graphic design themes.
Select the Text Background button at the bottom of the Themes box to choose Light or Dark text.
Select the Vignette button and adjust the slider to make the corners of your Gmail theme darker.
Select the Blur button and add blur to the theme with this slider option.
Select Save to apply it to your Gmail inbox.

You can go back and change your theme as often as you like.

You can't change your Gmail theme on a mobile device, only on a computer.

Using a Personal Photo as a Gmail Theme

If you have a photo on your computer that you want to use, upload it to your free Google Photos storage to use it as your Gmail background theme. If you haven't used Google Photos before, learn how to get started with Google Photos.

Select My Photos at the bottom of the Pick your theme window. The Select your background image window will open with My Photos selected.
Find the image you have uploaded to Google Photos that you want to use as the background for your Gmail inbox.
Select the image and then choose the Select button to apply it to your Gmail inbox.