The Android app for Gmail recently received an update. It adds a bit more color than the previous version by using avatars (or generic substitutes) of the sender to take up some of the app’s limited real estate. Also part of the update, the developers decided to hide the Delete button by default. My frustration at its departure was growing a little bit each day until today when I decided to look under the settings menu and was pleasantly surprised to find a straight-forward setting.
In order to delete a message you would have to be inside the message, hit the Menu button, and then select ‘Delete’ from the context menu. The archive button was allowed to remain even though you could swipe a message left or right in order to archive it. Don’t worry, the row becomes an ‘undo’ button right after you swipe in case you find that feature accidentally.
In order to restore the Delete button so it takes fewer taps to delete a message: From the main Gmail screen, hit the menu button and then navigate: Settings -> General settings -> Archive & delete actions. From there, you can select to ‘Show delete only’ which will remove the Archive button and add a trash can icon or you can choose ‘Show archive & delete’ which will add the delete button back.
You can also select multiple messages by tapping the avatars in the conversation list view. With a message selected, you will now have the option to archive, delete, mark as read, or more under the dot menu. If you are looking at a single message, the Delete button will now join the Archive button at the top of the screen.
While you are in General Settings, below Swipe to archive is a setting called Sender image. If you would like the app to revert a little closer to what it was before the update, you can uncheck that boxes to remove the avatars from the Conversation list view.