For the 3 billion users of Google’s world-leading email platform, there is a major change coming and it’s one update you really need. As spam and malware continue to plague the platform — and the new threat of AI attacks takes shape, it’s clear new approaches are needed to take back some control from a user perspective.

As users continue to report their Gmail accounts have been hacked, here’s how you can get real human support from Google rather than just online forms to fill.

Gmail's default 15GB of storage can fill up fast, since it's shared with Google Drive and Photos. You can get around this by archiving your current inbox contents to a new, secondary Gmail account. You'll have to visit that archive at least once every two years if you don't back up your email using Google Takeout.

You'll soon see a big change in how your Gmail account is secured and your two-factor authenticated logins are handled. Google has said it's planning to stop sending 2FA codes via text message to verify Gmail accounts in favor of security tools such as passkeys and QR codes that you would scan with your device.

This free trick provides an easy, hassle-free way to archive all your Google messages and media, regardless of your account type.

One fun feature of Gmail is the ability to change its appearance through themes. Themes range from solid colors to photos to drawings, and incorporate the colors of your background into the UI elements of Gmail. Themes help you make Gmail your own and make it exciting to log in each time.

In an earlier APK teardown of the Gmail app, Android Authority contributor AssembleDebug found a string of code saying “If you don’t set a mobile signature, Gmail will use your web signature instead.” It appears this feature is now starting to roll out and has been spotted by Artem Russakovskii of Android Police.

In the General tab, scroll down to Google Workplace smart features and click on the button. Turn off smart features in Google Workspace and click Save. This will block Gemini AI from Gmail, Chat, Meet and Drive. You can remove Gemini from Google Maps, Wallet, Google Assistant and the Gemini app, too.

This major Gmail change will certainly take some getting used to if you rely on SMS codes for authentication. It’s worth noting that you can already use a trusted device like your phone or tablet to log into your account so that you don’t have to be bothered with entering an authentication code each time you log into your account.

Gmail will soon ditch SMS codes for two-factor authentication, and use QR codes instead. This will reduce the impact of global SMS abuse.

SMS-based two-factor authentication has security issues. That's why Google is finally replacing it with something better soon.

Cyber criminals have launched a large-scale phishing attack, putting nearly two billion Gmail account holders at risk. By sending fraudulent web pages