New Gmail Problems: The 5 Biggest Issues With Google's Update To Its Email Service

The revamped Gmail for desktop is slowly rolling out to users, and like its Google Reader and Gmail app for iOS cousins, it has a few problems.

Aside from aesthetic complaints about the fields of empty white space, the new Gmail has some functional problems, too: Some things are distracting; some are annoying; and some just don't make sense.

Below are our top five biggest complaints about the new Gmail. Breathe in, relax and check out what we're not liking in Google's new layout. Then, if you're not deterred, you can also check out some of the biggest changes that Gmail has undergone here.

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Icons Without Labels

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In the old Gmail, there were five basic options above each email message: "Archive," "Spam," "Delete," "Move To" or "Label." Messages in the new Gmail have the same options, except they've been replaced by icons. Unless you have memorized the order and function of the buttons above Gmail messages, you have to mouse over each icon to find out what each one of them does. Each time I see those buttons, I think: "There's no words on it!" And I am left, as ever, to do it live.

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In the old Gmail, there were five basic options above each email message: "Archive," "Spam," "Delete," "Move To" or "Label." Messages in the new Gmail have the same options, except they've been replaced by icons. Unless you have memorized the order and function of the buttons above Gmail messages, you have to mouse over each icon to find out what each one of them does. Each time I see those buttons, I think: "There's no words on it!"

And I am left, as ever, to do it live.

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Comments

[walt970]

09:12 PM on 11/20/2011

The "New Look" doesn't work on all machines. My reasonably powerful 32 XP machine at work is an example. When trying to scroll the new look the page falls apart and doesn't display properly. Type transposes itself on top of other type and blocks of messages disappear. It becomes a real and unusable mess. The problem is immediately rectified by going back to "old" look. This is an otherwise good graphics machine. No answer in the forums for this one.

Works fine so far on all my Win 7 machines.

The new scrollable folders on the left are not perfect, but they are an improvement. Prior to this, one had to scroll the entire page to see hidden folders, which was ridiculous. At least now the page stays static while you scroll up and down in the folders list. Not crazy about the disappearing scroll bars.

I have absolutely no use for any of the themes. I want simple, direct, functional, uncluttered, clean. Not crazy about what they've come up with, but I'll go with the black and white for now.

The ads, including the side ads and the ad bar at the top are perfectly fine. I use Gmail twenty times a day, it is indispensable for me and it is free. Someone has to pay for this and if Google wants to get its payment by placing a small and totally innocuous at at the top of my screen I think I can live with that.

[drrrumz]

03:37 AM on 11/08/2011

(1) The first line of the a new message is visible in the preview, but when you open the message, there is no text at all anymore. (2) Messages labeled before the redesign are not labeled anymore. Dozens of messages with reminders and other personal labels can't be find anymore. ---- Just two more issues. This would be ok for a beta version, but not for for an officially launched redesign.

[justfine]

03:33 PM on 11/09/2011

As you cannot write ..at all..why would you have an interest in some form of email?

Go back to school for several years and then come back here to post a comment.

[drrrumz]

03:07 AM on 11/10/2011

Thanks for the encouragement! An erudite person like you knows of course that all posters here share the same mother tongue.
Besides the compliments, any comment to the purpose, or is it just fine with you?
Have a nice day.

[g9]

08:39 PM on 11/10/2011

it only took 2 strokes to get like this your turn is next............. go away

[jackintheboxmaryhad]

08:14 AM on 11/07/2011

when i open a g-mail i've received in their "updated" g-mail program, there's no "send" icon to click on to actually send the reply? does anyone know where it is or how to access it? i've been having to use the small "new window" icon at the top right of the g-mail, open the new window and reply from there. this can't be correct. if anyone knows, please let me know? [e-mail]

[kcunning]

06:00 AM on 11/06/2011

This type of change is typical from programmers who care that the page/site looks "clean"-well it didn't look dirty before & it worked much more "cleanly" & easily! The FUNCTION is what matters, dear IT people. The new GMail design sucks. In the last year they made it harder to sign-off & to remove highlighting. Now it looks ugly & why -so I can choose more pretty pictures? Let's hide everything & it will be very, very clean.

[kcunning]

05:44 AM on 11/06/2011

The new GMail design sucks. In the last year they made it harder to sign-off & to remove highlighting. Now it looks ugly & why -so I can choose more pretty pictures? Let's hide everything & it will be very, very "clean."

[dirtfarmer7]

08:29 AM on 11/04/2011

You should be able to figure out what the archive,report spam, and delete icons mean after a couple of hours of use. The button has a trash can on it, pretty clear to me. The disappearing chat/labels is cool and intuitive.

[arcanepsyche]

08:04 PM on 11/03/2011

This is really dumb. Your complaints are opinions, and bad ones at that.

[flyinggerbil]

09:11 AM on 11/04/2011

couldn't agree more. the icons don't need labels as they are fairly straight forward. you can block the new ads (adblock+ which you should be using anyway). the disappearing labels/chat comment is just dumb as you won't be using both at the same time anyhow. and who needs an icon for reply?

[silkphoenix]

06:20 PM on 11/03/2011

I have been using the new design for a couple of days now and love it. The only thing I think Gmail should improve is to give users a choice to choose icon or text or both for the menu bar, which at this point, it's only icons. For new Gmail users, this could be very confusing. One thing I love the most is the ability to see the whole Custom Theme. In the old version, you can only see the Theme on the top portion, now you can see the whole thing, those it's transparent if you are in the Inbox. But if you are in the Trash and it's empty, you'll see the whole theme.

Other than the menu bar icons, I have no complaint.

[BarryWolk]

04:30 PM on 11/03/2011

Not to mention Google+... I have it and I filled it up with circles of friends, however, I have NO idea what it is or how it works!

[arcanepsyche]

08:04 PM on 11/03/2011

That would be your problem, not Google's.

[RMichaelWall]

02:31 PM on 11/03/2011

The labels/Chat issue is a simple fix. Just go to Google Labs and use the tool that allows you to move your chat list to the right.

[paul4tA]

02:25 PM on 11/03/2011

Sorry, HuffPost, but if these are the "biggest issues" you take away from the redesign, it must be a slow news day for you. (It's not, by the way.)

The cursor isn't intuitive enough? Really???

And how often are you actually trying to navigate your labels while simultaneously looking to see who's online to chat?

This is just a poor excuse for an article.

[abuja19]

01:36 PM on 11/03/2011

It's fine! Google's updated Gmail is well-executed. There are no problems. Jeez, people are nitpicky..........

[petben]

12:18 PM on 11/03/2011

None of these are problems, unless you're not very bright to begin with.

[Benjamin Fischer]

12:12 PM on 11/03/2011

If this is the extent of the problems that the Huffington Post can come-up with, then I call it a win. Even the writer admits that some of these "issues" are minor. It is important to remember that this is still in Beta.

[ShesaidWhat]

11:43 AM on 11/03/2011

I access my Gmail on my phone a lot so much of this doesn't even apply to me.