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Is Gmail secure?
Does Google encrypt emails?
Is email Secure?
How does Gmail protect you from malware and phishing attacks?
Discover how Gmail keeps your account & emails encrypted, private and under your control with the largest secure email service in the world.
- Google Support
If you receive an unencrypted email that contains sensitive...
- Google Workspace
Stay safe with the most secure email for business. With...
- Learn about Gmail Client-side encryption
Learn about Gmail Client-side encryption - Gmail Help....
- Google Support
- Overview
- Check if a message you're sending is encrypted
- Check if a message you received is encrypted
- What the encryption icons mean
- I see the red lock icon
- Learn more about encryption
S/MIME is used to support enhanced encryption in transit, and automatically encrypts your outgoing emails if it can.
Important: These steps only work if you have S/MIME enabled on your account.
1. Start composing a message.
2. Add recipients to the "To" field.
3. To the right of your recipients, you'll see a lock icon that shows the level of encryption that is supported by your message's recipients. If there are multiple users with various encryption levels, the icon will show the lowest encryption status.
4. To change your S/MIME settings or learn more about your recipient's level of encryption, click the lock, then View details.
1. Open a message.
2. On an Android device: Tap View details View security details.
On an iPhone or iPad: Tap View details.
3. You'll see a colored lock icon that shows you what level of encryption was used to send the message.
When you're sending or receiving messages, you can see the level of encryption a message has. The color of the icon will change based on the level of encryption.
• Green (S/MIME enhanced encryption) . Suitable for your most sensitive information. S/MIME encrypts all outgoing messages if we have the recipient's public key. Only the recipient with the corresponding private key can decrypt this message.
• Gray (TLS - standard encryption) . Suitable for most messages. TLS (Transport Layer Security) is used for messages exchanged with other email services who don't support S/MIME.
• Tip: TLS support is not guaranteed. Support is inferred from past communications with the email service.
If you're writing a message and see the red lock icon, consider removing these addresses or deleting the confidential information. To see which address is unencrypted, click View Details.
If you received a message with the red lock icon and the message contained particularly sensitive content, let the sender know and they can contact their email service provider.
Why some emails might not be encrypted
If the person you’re emailing is using an email service that doesn’t encrypt all messages using S/MIME or TLS, their emails might not be secure. However, messages are encrypted in S/MIME whenever possible.
For S/MIME to work, to either sign or receive S/MIME encrypted mail, a user must have a valid S/MIME cert from a trusted root.
S/MIME (enhanced encryption)
S/MIME is a long standing protocol which allows encrypted and signed messages to be sent using standard mail delivery SMTP.
It uses public key cryptography to:
Stay safe with the most secure email for business. With AI-powered threat defenses, enterprise-grade security and privacy controls, and Google’s security-by-design cloud infrastructure, Gmail...
- Proton Mail – Secure email in Switzerland. Switzerland. 15-500 GB. $3.49/mo. Up to 1 GB. Proton.me. 33% Off Coupon >> Proton Mail is a Switzerland-based email service that enjoys a great reputation in the privacy community.
- StartMail – Private email hosted in The Netherlands. The Netherlands. 10-20 GB. $3.00/mo. 7 day trial. StartMail.com. 50% Off Coupon >>
- Mailfence – Fully-featured secure email in Belgium. Belgium. 5-50 GB. €3.50/mo. Up to 500 MB. Mailfence.com. Mailfence is a fully-featured secure email provider offering calendar, contacts, file storage, and PGP encryption.
- Tutanota – Private and secure email in Germany. Germany. 1 – 1,000 GB. €3.00/mo. Up to 1 GB. Tutanota.com. Tutanota is a Germany-based secure email service run by a small team of privacy enthusiasts, with no outside investors or owners.
- ProtonMail. ProtonMail is the most well-known secure email provider. It’s open source, based in Switzerland, and provides end-to-end asymmetric encryption.
- Mailbox.org. Mailbox.org is a secure email service aimed at business users looking for an alternative to Google or Microsoft tools. In addition to email, it offers encrypted cloud storage, video conferencing, an address book, a calendar, and a task planner.
- HubSpot. HubSpot is typically known for its all-in-one business solution that offers everything from email hosting and marketing services to customer support and content management.
- Zoho Mail. Zoho Mail has a free version that anyone can use, but the service is precious for business users. The Workplace plan offers a word processor, spreadsheet software, webinar platform, chat feature, and other collaboration tools.
Phishing protections. Many malware and phishing attacks start with an email. Gmail blocks more than 99.9% of spam, phishing attempts, and malware from reaching you. Safe Browsing protects you by identifying dangerous links in email messages and warns you before you visit the site. Proactive alerts.
Learn about Gmail Client-side encryption - Gmail Help. Google Workspace uses the latest cryptographic standards to encrypt all data at rest and in transit between its facilities. In addition,...
