Learn about email encryption in Gmail

In Gmail, encryption in transit makes it harder for others to read your email when it travels between you and your intended recipients. If you have a work or school account, additional encryption types may be supported. 

Learn about Gmail encryption types

A static image that shows how TLS works in Gmail. In the image, two people send emails to each other. Each email has a TLS icon on it, which indicates that the emails can't be tampered with while they are in transit to the intended recipients.

Gmail uses TLS by default to encrypt the connection when messages travel between email servers. TLS helps to provide privacy and prevents eavesdropping or tampering with emails while in transit. To use TLS, both the sender and the receiver must use email delivery services that support TLS.

In Gmail, emails that use TLS are also known as standard encryption TLS standard encryption.

Learn more about TLS.

Learn how to verify message security

There are two ways to verify message security:

  • On your computer or Android device, when you compose a message, select Message security .
  • When you receive a message, open the recipient details.

Learn how to check message security.

What to do if an email isn't encrypted

  • If you get a warning that your email isn't encrypted or there's a red lock icon No encryption, the recipient may be using an email service that doesn't support TLS or another encryption type supported by Gmail. Consider removing unencrypted addresses or deleting confidential information from the email before you send it. 
  • If you receive an unencrypted email that contains sensitive content, let the sender know and ask them to contact their email service provider.
  • If you use S/MIME, emails are encrypted in S/MIME whenever possible. To either sign or receive S/MIME-encrypted emails, you need to have a valid S/MIME cert from a trusted root.
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