Gmail turns 20! Nostalgic images 明らかにする／漏らす what Google's email service looked like when it 開始する，打ち上げるd in 2004 - and how much it has changed since

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Checking your emails with a 選び出す／独身 tap is now so 決まりきった仕事 that some people might struggle to imagine life without it.

But as Gmail celebrates its 20th birthday, MailOnline has looked 支援する over the years to see just how different life online used to be.?

Gmail now 誇るs a staggering 1.8 billion 使用者s across the world, but it wasn't always the 巨大（な） we know today.

First 開始する，打ち上げるd on April 1, 2004, many people 初めは thought the new service was nothing more than an (a)手の込んだ／(v)詳述する April Fools Day joke.?

And, as these nostalgic images 明らかにする／漏らす, the 場所／位置 has come a very long way from its humble beginnings.?

Gmail's 初めの home page as it appeared on March 31, 2004, just a day before the service 開始する，打ち上げるd

In April 2004, Google 問題／発行するd a 圧力（をかける） 解放（する） 発表するing that it would be making its first steps into the world of email.

At the time, the 告示 was 広範囲にわたって thought to be too good to be true.

In its 告示, Google 明らかにする／漏らすd that Gmail would 申し込む／申し出 'a 解放する／自由な search-based webmail service with a 貯蔵 capacity of up to eight billion bits of （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状）, the 同等（の） of 500,000 pages of email. Per 使用者.'

In modern 条件, 解放する／自由な 貯蔵 of 1GB might not seem dazzling, but this was 500 times more than what 競争相手s like Hotmail could 供給する.

At the time, Google co-創立者 Larry Page （人命などを）奪う，主張するd that the inspiration for Gmail was a 一連の （民事の）告訴s from one Google 使用者.

Mr Page wrote: 'She kvetched about spending all her time とじ込み／提出するing messages or trying to find them, and when she’s not doing that, she has to 削除する email like crazy to stay under the obligatory four megabyte 限界. So she asked, "Can’t you people 直す／買収する，八百長をする this?"'

This story certainly fits with Google's 以前は maverik, 解放する／自由な-spirited approach to tech 開発 but, unfortunately, it might not be 完全に true.

Paul Buccheit, Gmail's creator, later 明らかにする／漏らすd that he had been working on the 事業／計画（する） since August 2001 under 明確な／細部 指示／教授／教育s to build an email system.

Gmail's creator Paul Bechheit working at his desk at Google in 1999, years before Gmail was even an 内部の messaging system for the company?

Whatever its origins, what Buccheit created was something truly 革命の.

Not only did Gmail 申し込む／申し出 the 選択 to save far more emails than any other 競争相手s, but it also used Google's 専門的知識 in search to help people sort through their own emails.?

However, when the 場所／位置 開始する，打ち上げるd, Google didn't have the 組織／基盤／下部構造 to 供給する a million people with 1GB of 貯蔵 each.?

This meant that the service was kept の近くにd and 接近 was by 招待 only up until 2007.

Gmail's service was so hyped that people even began selling Gmail 招待s on eBay, with some accounts fetching several thousands of dollars.??

This screenshot of Gmail was taken by a Google developer, Kevin Fox, in April 2004. As you can see at the 底（に届く） of the 審査する, 使用者s were 限られた／立憲的な to 1000 MB of data 貯蔵

While it might have looked different to how you know it now, a lot of Gmail's 核心 利益s were laid out in that first 2004 Beta.

Email conversations were shown neatly in threads, searching for emails was 急速な／放蕩な and 平易な, and 使用者s could send attachments up to 25 megabytes.?

With its 人気 growing, it wasn't long before Gmail had to move from Beta into a fully public Alpha 解放（する） in July 2009.

This 押し進めるd Google into the truly modern email service that we know today, with millions of 使用者s soon 調印 up.

The public 解放（する） was soon followed by a number of cosmetic and 機能の 昇格s.

使用者s could 追加する 主題s to personalise their Gmail account and even create 多重の inboxes to organise their mail.?

Google also began building out the 動きやすい 見解／翻訳／版 of the 場所／位置 for iPhone and Android, although it would be two more years before an iOS app was 解放（する）d.??

In 2009 Google 発表するd that Gmail would be leaving Beta, meaning it was considered to be a 完全にする 製品 and was not in 開発. With Google's classic sense of humour, developers 含むd an 選択 to put the 'Beta' label 支援する on the new Gmail

2009 also brought a number of big updates to the 場所／位置's 外見 and 機能（する）／行事 含むing new '主題s' and 多重の inboxes. This screenshot shows the inbox of Gmail developer Octavian Costache in February 2009

In April 2009, Gmail 開始する，打ち上げるd Gmail for 動きやすい. Although the app wouldn't be 解放（する）d until 2011, this 動きやすい 見解／翻訳／版 of the 場所／位置 覆うd the way for 未来 開発s?

By 2011, Gmail was 井戸／弁護士席 on its way to becoming the most popular email provider as it approached 350 mi llion active 使用者s. That year, Gmail also 明らかにする／漏らすd its 'new look' which 追加するd HD 主題s like this one

In July 2011, Gmail debuted a 'new look', which did away with much of the clutter and on-審査する noise from older 見解／翻訳／版s.?

使用者s got even more 選択s for customisation, 含むing the ability to 追加する HD backgrounds taken from 在庫／株-photo libraries.?

The biggest changes, however, were all about organisation as Gmail 追加するd customisable 航海 tabs on the left-手渡す パネル盤.?

The 2011 update also brought some 重要な 改良s to Gmail's search 機能（する）／行事, 含むing the ability to filter searches.?

2011 saw some updates to how conversations were 陳列する，発揮するd (left) and some big 昇格s to Gmail's search 機能（する）／行事 (権利)

These changes were first introduced in July of 2011, but it wouldn't be until November of that year that the 'new look' would roll out for all of Gmail's 使用者s?

ーに関して／ーの点でs of big design updates, the years from 2011 to 2018 were 大部分は uneventful.?

In 2015, Gmail did 開始する，打ち上げる a number of new 機能（する）／行事s 含むing the ability to send friends money 経由で Gmail.

That same year, 使用者s finally got the 選択 to 'Undo Send' messages,?meaning?emails could quickly be taken 支援する.

It wasn't until 2018 that Google would 明らかにする／漏らす another big design 精密検査する.?

By this time, Gmail was the world's 支配的な email service provider with 1.5 billion active 使用者s globally.

最終的に, Gmail's design 現れるd only わずかに different, with a cleaner aesthetic 存在 the main result.?

One of the bigger changes was the introduction of '仕事s', which?許すd 使用者s to 統合する a to-do 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） with Google Calendar, dragging emails into a 仕事 window to create custom 思い出の品s.?

Attachments, which had 以前 been shown as a 'paper clip' icon, were now shown in the email notification.?

By 2018, Gmail was beginning to look a lot more familiar. In one of its biggest makeovers yet the 場所／位置 追加するd more inbox 選択s, a 雑談（する） tab and 統合，差別撤廃 with Google 会合，会う?

In July 2022, internet communities were 極端に angry that Gmail changed to this new 判型 which 追加するd buttons for 会合，会う, 雑談（する）, and Spaces which Google was trying to make a bigger part of the Gmail Experience?

This meant that you could click 直接／まっすぐに on the attachment itself and open the とじ込み／提出する without needing to go into the email.?

At the time, the general reaction to the changes appeared to be one of 乱暴／暴力を加える.

非常に／多数の articles written in 2018 知らせるd 使用者s how they could 逆戻りする the old 見解／翻訳／版, while the headline of one article in the 大西洋 moaned: 'It Had to Happen いつか: Involuntary Switch to 'New Look' Gmail'.

Four years later, Gmail would 明かす its next big 始める，決める of aesthetic changes.?

While not a lot changed at the surface level, this update's main goal was to bring Gmail in line with the 残り／休憩（する） of Google's 'G-控訴' 製品s.

Gmail now showed tabs for 雑談（する）, 会合，会う, and Spaces and featured more 統合，差別撤廃 with Workspace apps like Docs and Sheets.?

In 2022, Google also began to 拡大する its 範囲 of 'AI' services, 含むing?'意図 matching for 指名するs and email 演説（する）／住所s' which was supposed to help 使用者s make sure they were emailing the 権利 person.?

This update also 追加するd personalised suggestions which customised search results in Gmail based on how often you interacted with a 接触する.??

Finally, we reach 2024 with the 見解／翻訳／版 of Gmail that 存在するs today. 20 years on from its 開始する，打ち上げる the 場所／位置 looks a lot cleaner and has new tabs for 最初の／主要な, Social, and 昇進／宣伝s?

And, with one last 始める，決める of updates, that brings us to 2024 and the 見解／翻訳／版 of Gmail we all use today.

Tabs in the left-手渡す パネル盤 are even more 目だつ with 付加 選択s for customisation.

Emails in the inbox are also sorted more 明確に with 自動車-生成するd tags and more ways to filter emails.

But, although it might have changed a lot over the last 20 years, 味方する-by-味方する the old and new Gmail still have a lot of similarities.

Email conversations are still shown in threads, the search 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 remains in the same place, and mail is still sorted by tabs on the left.

And, now that Gmail is the world's largest email service by an enormous 利ざや, only time will tell how it continues to change into the 未来.?