Web extension which modifies Gmail™ to bring back the features and uncluttered design you knew and loved from Google's discontinued Inbox.
- Chrome & Microsoft Edge: Chrome Web Store
- Firefox: Firefox Add-ons
- Built-in dark mode — works with any Gmail theme setting
- Emails grouped by date (Today, Yesterday, This month, …)
- Email bundling by label, with Inbox's classic colored bundle icons
- Clean interface returning to the simplicity of Inbox
- Emails sent to yourself displayed as reminders
- Colored avatars based on the sender's name (with BIMI brand logos where available)
- Calendar events displayed on a small card, with inline responses
Click the extension's icon at the top right of your browser to adjust its behavior. Changes apply immediately — the page refreshes itself when needed.
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Dark Mode | Toggles the extension's built-in dark theme. No need to change Gmail's own theme setting. Applies instantly, no refresh. |
| Reminders | How emails sent to yourself are treated: every self-sent email, only those with the subject "Reminder", or none. |
| Email Bundling | Groups inbox emails by label (see Email Bundling below). Sub-options: bundle even single emails; move bundles to top. |
| Avatars | Shows a colored circle with the sender's first initial next to each email. |
| Hide Priority Inbox Headings | Cleans up the section headings when Gmail's "Priority Inbox" type is enabled. |
Using these settings will more closely replicate the visual style of Inbox:
- Settings → Inbox → Categories → Leave only Primary ticked
- Settings → Inbox → Inbox Type → Default or Starred First
- Settings → Advanced → Multiple Inbox → Disabled
- Settings → Advanced → Preview Pane → Disabled
- Settings → General → Maximum Page Size → 100 conversations per page
- Settings → General → Personal level indicators → No indicators
- Settings → Inbox → Importance markers → No markers
Bundles are built from the labels on your inbox emails:
- Any label shared by two or more inbox emails collapses into a single bundle row. Tick "Show bundle if only one email" in the options to bundle single emails too.
- Clicking a bundle row opens that label's view, just like Inbox did.
- Starred emails always stay out of bundles, so important mail never gets hidden.
- Only mail that is actually in the inbox can be bundled — labels applied to archived mail don't create bundles.
- Bundles named Purchases, Social, Updates, Forums, Promotions, Finance, Trips automatically get their original Inbox colored icons. Any other label gets a neutral bundle icon.
- To keep a label out of bundling entirely, create a label called
Unbundledand nest the label underneath it.
Google Inbox shipped with default bundles (Purchases, Social, Updates, Forums, Promotions). Here's how to get them back:
-
Disable inbox category tabs — bundles only form in the inbox itself:
- Settings → Inbox → Categories → leave only Primary ticked → Save
-
Show Social, Promotions, and Forums in the message list — this makes Gmail tag inbox emails with those category chips, which the extension bundles like any label:
- Settings → Labels → Categories → click show next to Social, Promotions, Forums
- Leave Updates hidden: Gmail classifies almost all automated mail as Updates, so showing it would collapse most of your inbox into one giant bundle.
-
Recreate Purchases with a label + filter. Gmail's smarter sections (Purchases, Subscriptions, Trips) are classified on Google's servers and expose nothing the extension can read, so build your own:
- Create a label named
Purchases. - Settings → Filters and Blocked Addresses → Create a new filter → in "From",
list your common store/receipt senders, e.g.
auto-confirm@amazon.com OR shipment-tracking@amazon.com OR service@paypal.com OR transaction@etsy.com - Choose Apply the label: Purchases and tick Also apply to matching conversations. Do not tick "Skip the Inbox" — bundles only form from inbox mail.
- Create a label named
The same label + filter recipe works for any bundle you want — Shipping, Receipts,
Newsletters, work projects, family. Filters apply the label as mail arrives, so your
bundles maintain themselves. Name a bundle Finance or Trips and it even gets the
matching Inbox icon.
- No bundles appearing? Check that the label is visible in the message list (Settings → Labels → "Show in message list") and that at least two inbox emails carry it (or enable "Show bundle if only one email").
- An email isn't joining its bundle? Starred emails are excluded by design.
- A Gmail category won't bundle? Categories like Purchases only exist server-side; use the label + filter recipe above.
- This extension works best in English because it relies on specific date formats.
- No external network requests.
- No analytics platforms.
- The code is open source, ready for you to audit.
In other words, you are not being tracked, and your data is not leaving the page to be processed or stored anywhere else. This extension just sits as a layer on top of Gmail™, modifying the style and behavior of the page.
Requires Node.js. Then:
npm install # once, to install build/lint dependenciesnpm run build:chrome:unpacked # unpacked folder on your Desktop: inbox-reborn-chrome
npm run build:firefox:unpacked # unpacked folder on your Desktop: inbox-reborn-firefox
npm run build # store-ready zips for both browsers- Chrome/Edge: go to
chrome://extensions/, enable "Developer mode", click "Load unpacked", and selectinbox-reborn-chromeon your Desktop. - Firefox: go to
about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox, click "Load Temporary Add-on", and select themanifest.jsoninsideinbox-reborn-firefoxon your Desktop.
npm run lint # ESLint + Stylelint + Prettier check
npm run format # auto-formatIf you need more help, reach out on GitHub Issues!