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How to Change Gmail Image Display Settings on Desktop, Android, and iPhone

Choose whether Gmail displays external images automatically or asks first, with separate step-by-step paths for desktop, Android, and iPhone or iPad.
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To change whether Gmail loads external images automatically or asks you first, open the Images setting for the platform you use. Desktop settings are in Gmail’s full settings; the Gmail app has a different path on Android than on iPhone and iPad.

Change Gmail image settings on a computer

  1. Open Gmail in a desktop browser and select Settings, then See all settings.

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  2. Scroll to the Images section.

  3. Choose Always display external images to load images automatically, or Ask before displaying external images to decide message by message.

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  4. Select Save Changes at the bottom of the page.

With the ask-first option, open a message and select Display images when you want to load its images. Google’s desktop instructions are at Gmail Help: Change your Gmail settings.

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Change image settings in the Gmail app

The setting is under different menus on Android and iPhone or iPad.

Android

  1. Open the Gmail app and tap Menu.

  2. Tap Settings, then select the account you want to change.

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  3. Under Data usage, tap Images.

  4. Choose Always show or Ask before showing.

If Gmail asks before loading images in a message, tap Show pictures to display them. See Gmail Help for Android.

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iPhone and iPad

  1. Open the Gmail app and tap Menu, then Settings.

  2. Under Inbox, tap Email preferences, then Images.

  3. Choose Always display external images or Ask before displaying external images.

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When prompted in a message, tap Display images to load them. See Gmail Help for iPhone and iPad.

Choose automatic display or ask first

These preferences control the default behavior; they do not override every warning. Gmail may still ask you to confirm images from a sender or message it considers suspicious.

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What Gmail’s image safeguards do—and do not—mean

Google says, “Google scans images for signs of suspicious content before you receive them.” Its Gmail Help documentation describes safeguards intended to prevent image loading from letting senders learn information about your computer or location, set or read browser cookies, or deliver known harmful software. Google also notes that senders may sometimes know whether an image email was opened. Neither setting should be treated as a guarantee that opening an email cannot be tracked. Read Google’s explanation of image display and safety.

If Gmail keeps asking you to load images

First check that the preference is set to automatic display on the platform where you are reading email: desktop, Android, and iPhone or iPad have separate menu paths. If the setting is already automatic, the prompt may be Gmail’s suspicious-sender or suspicious-message exception rather than a failed preference. The wording “load content” may appear in a message or community discussion, but it is not the name of the official Images setting.

Google’s official instructions reviewed for this article do not give a publication date, and menu labels can vary with app version, account, or language. If a label differs, look for the Images option within the corresponding settings area.

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