Gmail’s confidential mode gives you a way to send email that expires after a set time and can be revoked later, and it can require a one‑time SMS passcode to view. It’s useful for things you don’t want sitting in someone’s inbox forever, but it has important limits you should know about.
What confidential mode does
When you enable confidential mode on a message, you set an expiry date after which the recipient can no longer view the email or its attachments. You can also add an extra layer of access control by requiring an SMS passcode — the recipient gets a text message with a one‑time code before they can open the content.
Within the Gmail viewing interface confidential mode tries to stop basic actions: it prevents recipients from forwarding, copying, printing or downloading the message and attachments from that interface. You can also revoke access at any time before the expiry, so a message you send today can be blocked tomorrow.
How to use it
1. Compose a new message as usual. 2. Look for the confidential mode control in the compose window (it’s an icon in the toolbar). Turn confidential mode on. 3. Choose an expiry time for the message and decide whether to require an SMS passcode. If you pick the passcode option you’ll need to supply the recipient’s phone number. 4. Send the message. Depending on the recipient’s email service, they’ll either open the message directly in Gmail or be directed to a secure viewer hosted by Google; if you chose SMS passcode they must enter the code from the text message to view the content. 5. If you want to revoke access before the message expires, open the sent message in your Sent mail and use the message’s access control to remove viewing rights.
Confidential mode works across platforms — the sender controls expiry and access, and recipients have to follow the viewing flow Google provides.
What it doesn’t do (important caveats)
Confidential mode is not the same as end‑to‑end encryption. Google still hosts the message content on its servers, and anyone with access to your Google account could potentially access those messages. The mode prevents in‑viewer actions like forward or download, but it can’t stop recipients taking screenshots or photos of their screen, or retyping or otherwise copying the information by hand.
Also, if you require an SMS passcode the recipient needs to have a phone number available and capable of receiving texts — that can be awkward with shared or work accounts.
In short: confidential mode is a handy way to limit how long an email remains accessible and to add a basic access check, but don’t rely on it for protecting highly sensitive data. For truly private messaging, consider end‑to‑end encrypted tools instead.
This article has been restored to the What's New On The Net archive as part of the site's relaunch.
