why do emails disappear from inbox after being read

In short, this feature works well for the very specific instance of not letting a recipient see the email you've sent them after a certain amount of time, which is what Google explicitly intends it to do.īut does it have the ability to automatically wipe out all trace of the email from the interwebs, as the 'confidential mode' and 'expiring' labels might suggest? So, if people actually use expiration dates, they could prevent data dumps like those from the John Podesta hack, or lawyers' ability to get all email communications in lawsuit discovery, and use messages in incriminating ways, as in the Gawker lawsuit (Opens in a new tab).īut do expiring emails actually achieve this panacea of online communication? Gmail shared a few more details about how it works.

Google suggests (Opens in a new tab) that (potentially incriminating, often innocuous) emails wouldn't be available to prying eyes in the future that your email would not be a forever trove of every online communication you've ever had. But Mashable was curious about how well the self-destructing emails will actually work.

Disappearing messages come through the ability to set expiration dates for emails - which means they will 'disappear' from inboxes after a specified amount of time.Ĭonfidential mode will roll out 'in the coming weeks,' according to Google. This includes the ability to password protect emails, unsend messages, and prevent others from forwarding, printing, copying, or downloading messages. It's part of Gmail's new ' confidential mode,' which will supposedly give users an added layer of security when sending emails. How to upgrade to Google's new Gmail right now

Why do emails disappear from inbox after being read