How to send emails in confidential mode

From today it is possible to send emails in confidential mode with Gmail. Remember Inspector Gadget who, in full Mission Impossible style, received telegraphic communications from his boss that ended with "this message will self-destruct," exploding shortly thereafter?

Google wanted to increase the security of your Gmail e-mail information from unauthorized access by introducing confidential mode, which up and down works a bit like the famous cartoon.

Using Gmail's confidential mode, recipients of your messages will not be able to copy, print, forward, download messages, including attachments.

Content will only be displayed until the set expiration date, with the option to revoke access to messages at any time. Confidential mode prevents recipients from accidentally sharing an email, but this does not prohibit recipients, Google warns, from capturing screenshots or photos of messages or attachments.

Confidential mode is a Gmail feature that we also use for communications within our team. We want to show you in detail how it works so you can use it in your company as well.

How to send emails in confidential mode

• Log in to Gmail, click on Write
• In the bottom right corner of the window, click on Enable confidential mode

• Set an expiration date and a Passcode. These settings affect both the text of the message and any attachments. If you choose No SMS Passcode, recipients using the Gmail App will be able to open the email directly. Recipients who do not use Gmail will be sent a Passcode via email. If you choose SMS Passcode, recipients will receive a Passcode via SMS. Be sure to enter the recipient's phone number, not your own.
• Click Save to confirm your preference.

Open an email in confidential mode

If you receive an email in confidential mode, you can view the message or attachments until the expiration date or until the sender revokes access.

When you receive an email in confidential mode, Gmail will remove the message body and all attachments from the recipient's copy of the message. These are replaced with a link to the content.

Gmail clients make the linked content appear as if it were part of the message. Third-party mail clients display a link instead of the content. Options to copy, paste, download, print, or forward message text and attachments will be disabled.

Remember that you may need to enter a Passcode to open the email.

Revoke access to an email in advance

Have you reconsidered? Do you want to revoke access in advance? Then follow these steps:

• Open Gmail
• On the left, click on Sent Mail
• Open the email in private mode (as the sender you will view it in full)
• Click on Remove access in the lower left corner. If you are a G Suite administrator, you can disable or enable Gmail's private mode for the entire domain or for specific organizational units. Disabling Gmail's reserved mode feature prevents users from sending messages in reserved mode.