Enable Message Preview Pane in Gmail

If you have used an email client like Mozilla Thunderbird or Microsoft Outlook, then you know what a message preview pane is. A message preview pane shows the preview of an email message as you click on the message in the list. This feature is very handy and you do not have to open the email messages in separate windows. Now Gmail has also added this feature to their web based interface. This feature, called Preview Pane, is presently available from Gmail Labs. Here is how you can enable the Preview Pane in Gmail :

  1. Visit http://mail.google.com/ and logon to your Gmail account.
  2. Click on the gear like settings icon and then choose Mail settings on the top-right.

    Increase number of mails displayed in Gmail

  3. On the Mail settings page, select the Labs section if not already selected.
  4. Scroll down and find the Preview Pane Lab setting. Select the Enabled option.

    Enable Preview Pane in Gmail

  5. Scroll down at the bottom of the settings page and click on the Save Changes to save the changes.

    Increase number of mails displayed in Gmail

  6. Back in your Gmail inbox after saving Gmail settings, you would see a toggle button in the top-right corner of your message list, which lets you switch between preview and list views. You can choose to split the preview pane and message list either horizontally or vertically.

    Enable Preview Pane in Gmail

  7. Once you have selected to display the preview pane, you can click on any message in the list and its preview (actually the whole message) is shown in the preview pane. The preview pane is shown much better if you have a widescreen display monitor.

    Enable Preview Pane in Gmail

  8. If later you want toggle the preview pane, just click on the toggle button on the top-right and select No Split. If you want to completely turn off the preview pane, then you have to disable the Preview Pane in the Gmail Lab settings.