Gmail is an incredibly popular email client that is used by over a billion people across the globe.
Google consistently updates Gmail – these range from subtle tweaks to more dramatic overhauls.
The software is renowned for its simplicity and variety of functions that are easily accessible.
The client received a redesign back in April that altered its aesthetics and added a host of new features.
One of the biggest additions was the new side panel that appeared on the right-hand side of the app that allowed users to quickly access features from other Google software.
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By default Google Calendar, Google Tasks and Google Keep were pinned to the side bar.
This meant tools were quickly on-hand for users and presented a new level of integration between G Suite apps.
But now a new update has presented users with the ability to turn off the side bar if they do not make use of it.
This will free up space and allow the rest of the email client to fill the screen.
First spotted by 9to5Google, the subtle new update adds an arrow that will appear when the user places their cursor over the side panel.
An option to “hide side panel” will then be displayed.
Once this has been pressed the bar will then disappear – such a decision will be remembered until the user turns it back on.
This means the side bar will not have to be disabled every time Gmail lovers log on.
When Google launched the new version of Gmail earlier this year it promised users would be able to be more productive than ever before.
One of the biggest new features to arrive was “Smart Compose” that suggests phrases that aim to complete user sentences as they write them.
An “offline mode” for the client was also introduced that allowed Gmail lovers to respond to messages even if they lack an internet connection.