How to Change Your Gmail Theme

Have a little fun by customizing your Gmail screen

Picture of the Gmail logo on a red background

FixtheFocus/Flickr.com

by Marziah Karch
Excels at serious game design and develops online help systems and manuals.
Updated March 31, 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.

Change the Theme on Gmail

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

Use this link to the theme gallery to jump right to Step 4.

  1. Open Gmail and log in if prompted to do so.

  2. Click 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.

  3. Select Themes in the drop-down menu.

  4. Scroll through the photos and select a theme to preview it instantly. To see more pictures than are currently visible, click More Images at the end of the short list of themes. If you find one there, click Select to preview it.

  5. When you find a theme you like, click or press Save to make the change permanent.

Beneath the images in the Pick your theme window is a selection of solid color and patterned backgrounds. Select any of them just as you would a picture and press or click Save.

Depending on the theme you choose, a few more options show up at the bottom of the theme window that you can use to customize your theme: Text Background, Vignette, and Blur.

Tips on Changing the Gmail Theme

  • 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.
  • Some of the images you can choose from Gmail's theme gallery include options for additional adjustments. You can select any of them to personalize your theme further. The adjustment icons appear at the bottom of the Pick your theme window when you choose an image they can be used on. If the image you select doesn't work with them, the icons disappear.
    • Text Background: Pick a light or dark theme to apply to the text background, which is the background behind your list of emails.
    • Vignette: Adjust the slider to make the corners of your Gmail theme darker.
    • Blur: Add blur to the theme with this slider option.

Using a Personal Photo as a Gmail Theme

Another option is to click My Photos to select a custom Gmail background image from your Google Photos account. If you have a photo on your computer that you want to use, upload it to your free Google Photos storage and then select it as your Gmail background theme.

If you haven't used Google Photos before, learn how to get started with Google Photos.