Gmail has largely looked and felt the same over the past years. Instead of returning to its old forms by releasing something likeInbox, Google is focusing on smaller refinements to the Gmail experience. The latest in line are emoji reactions, which allow you to send Slack-style emojis in reply to other Gmail users. If you’re annoyed by this addition or afraid you might accidentally send one of those in a professional environment, a new Chrome extension from noted developer Dylan Russouel has your back.
The new extension is called “De-Gmojify,” available on theChrome Web Store, and it does only one thing: It hides the emoji reaction button in the Gmail web app. The simple extension only needs access to Gmail.com and is open source, available for your own review onGithub. Dylan Rousselexplains on X(formerly Twitter) that the idea behind the extension is equally simple: “ I’m annoyed by the fact that it’s impossible to disable the feature. Reactions have nothing to do in an email client. I’m always worried I might send a reaction by mistake in a professional email.”
You read that right — there is currently no native way to disable emoji reactions within Gmail itself. Ina help document, the company writes that you can always undo a reaction, but of course, not accidentally sending a reaction in the first place is the more desirable outcome. Given that the button sits right next to reply (or forward, when you scroll down to the end of an email), it’s easy enough to accidentally hit it instead of the button you meant to hit.
Disabling the emoji reactions on Android and iOS isn’t as simple as installing an extension, unfortunately. You will either have to live with emoji reactions on your phone or switch to athird-party email clientand connect Gmail via IMAP.
What makes handling emoji reactions even more difficult is the fact that they’re only available on Gmail. When you react to someone who doesn’t have a Gmail address or uses Gmail, they will instead receive an email with the reaction in it. That way, email reactions work similarly to how iMessage sends SMS reactions to Android phones. In a sense,Gmail is attempting to do to emailswhat Apple’s iMessage has done to texts.
Of course, there are many more extensions that serve similar purposes, allowing you to redesign Gmail to your liking. you’re able to simplify the interface, add more favicons for senders, and even bring back the good old Inbox feel, at least to an extent. Many of these extensions are heavier and require more drastic changes to the interface, which may make them more prone to break. A lot of them also aren’t open source, which may be a dealbreaker if you’re concerned about your email privacy.
