How To Upload Themes To Gmail

If you lot're like me, yous spend a good chunk of your day within your Gmail inbox, or at to the lowest degree subtly noticing it in the groundwork of your peripheral vision as it remains open on your 2d monitor.

And if you're like many Gmail users, you're stuck dealing with the default groundwork of the Gmail email customer—a patently, white and gray canvas.

Fortunately, Gmail offers a user-friendly way for you lot to change your background, and so y'all tin alter your mood, meliorate your focus, or but brand your twenty-four hour period more than interesting.

Here'due south a pace-past-pace guide on how to change your Gmail background.

Gmail Themes

The way to alter your Gmail background is via Gmail Themes.

Here'due south how to do it.

i. Caput to the Settings carte. In the upper-right corner of the desktop app, click on the gear icon and click Settings.

gmail settings

2. Click on Themes. Then, click "Gear up theme." Here, you'll have the ability to choose from one of several dissimilar background images, pulled from Google'south stock photos. Many photos here are of natural scenery (like plants, animals, rivers, etc.). Nevertheless, you'll also accept the ability to cull basic themes, like a dark theme (which could be easier on your eyes) or a high contrast theme (to help you meet things clearer).

Gmail themes: Set theme - how to change your Gmail background

iii. Choose and adjust a theme. Choose a photo or a theme. If y'all choose a photo, y'all'll also be able to adjust a few options related to how your image is displayed. At the lesser of this screen, you'll see options for Text, Vignette, and Mistiness. The Text choice will let you to choose the Text groundwork as Lite or Dark. The Vignette volition provide you with a sliding scale that allows you lot to darken the corners of your background image. The Blur volition provide you with a sliding scale that allows you to mistiness the background paradigm (which is neat for a photo with excessive detail).

choose Gmail theme

4. Click Save. In one case you've chosen a photo or a theme for your background, and adjusted the options associated with it, click Save. Your changes will be applied. Note that you lot can ever return to the default theme if yous want to go back.

Gmail themes: how to change your Gmail background

How to Change Your Gmail Background to Your Own Photo

You may besides notice that you have the option to cull a background from "My photos." If you want to upload a custom photo to use as your Gmail groundwork, you lot tin—merely you'll have to do information technology through Google Photos.

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Here's how to do information technology:

one. Open Google Photos. Head to Google Photos. If you aren't already signed into your Google Account, you'll need to.

two. Upload a photo. Next, you lot'll need to upload a photo (or several).

upload photo gmail

3. (optional) Create an anthology. You can too create albums in Google Photos to keep your photos amend organized. For example, you could create an album titled "Background photos for Gmail."

create album

One time y'all've uploaded photos to your Google Business relationship, they'll be available the side by side time y'all attempt to change your Gmail groundwork. When you lot click "My photos," you lot'll be able to navigate to the various albums and photos in your business relationship, select the photo yous want, and click Save to apply the alter.

That's it!

Why Change Your Gmail Groundwork?

Now that you lot know how to alter the background of your Gmail, let'south explore some of the reasons why this is oftentimes a adept idea.

About people accept one of the following motivations:

Eye strain and clarity. Staring at a computer screen all day can be exhausting, and upshot in computer vision syndrome if you aren't careful. And for some people, the default Gmail theme is hard to read. Changing the background could solve i or both problems, making your screen easier to read and easier in terms of centre strain.
Mood. Some people want a unlike color or a different image considering it has the power to ameliorate or alter their mood. For example, would you rather expect at a blank white background, or the calming image of a beautiful forest? What about a family unit photo that reminds you why y'all're putting in these extra hours?
Something different. After using Gmail for many years, many users are simply ready for something different. Looking at the same background for hours a day, every day, gets sometime, to the signal where almost whatsoever image or new color looks better.

Experiment with unlike backgrounds to meet how yous respond—yous might be surprised to learn how much more productive, attentive, or happy y'all are with one specific background image over another. And if you're looking for how to change the background of an actual electronic mail you send (such as for marketing purposes, exist sure to run into these electronic mail header templates.

Desire to further modify your Gmail? Run across our guide on how to change your proper name and email accost in Gmail. And now that you know how to change your background in Gmail, if you're interested in getting an even better experience with Gmail, information technology'due south helpful to measure and analyze your electronic mail activity with a tool similar EmailAnalytics.

EmailAnalytics integrates with Gmail and provides you with interactive data visuals that help you measure your entering and outbound electronic mail rates, your response rates, and more. Sign up for a free trial today, and learn how you can meliorate your e-mail habits!

Jayson is a long-time columnist for Forbes, Entrepreneur, BusinessInsider, Inc.com, and various other major media publications, where he has authored over 1,000 articles since 2012, roofing technology, marketing, and entrepreneurship. He keynoted the 2013 MarketingProfs University, and won the "Entrepreneur Blogger of the Twelvemonth" laurels in 2015 from the Oxford Middle for Entrepreneurs. In 2010, he founded a marketing agency that appeared on the Inc. 5000 before selling information technology in January of 2019, and he is now the CEO of EmailAnalytics.