For years, Gmail’s search function has been frustratingly basic—but that’s about to change.
On Thursday, Google announced a new AI-powered search upgrade for Gmail, designed to deliver more relevant results, according to Mashable.
Instead of simply listing emails chronologically based on keyword matches, the improved search will now consider factors such as recency, most-clicked emails, and frequent contacts. This means users are far more likely to find the emails they need at the top of their search results, rather than sifting through hundreds of irrelevant messages.
The update comes as part of Google's broader effort to enhance its suite of AI-driven productivity tools.
In recent months, the company has rolled out AI-powered features like email summarization, Smart Compose, and Smart Reply to help users manage their inboxes more efficiently. Additionally, Google’s Gemini AI has been integrated into Gmail to assist users with drafting emails, organizing conversations, and even generating contextual responses.
Gmail’s search function has long been a pain point for users, especially those with cluttered inboxes filled with promotional emails, newsletters, and years of archived messages. Previously, searches often surfaced outdated or irrelevant emails, forcing users to scroll endlessly to find what they needed. With this new AI-driven upgrade, search results should be significantly more intuitive and useful.
In addition to ranking emails based on relevance, Google has introduced a new toggle option, allowing users to switch between “most relevant” and “most recent” search results. This feature provides greater flexibility for those who need to locate time-sensitive emails quickly.
The AI-powered search enhancement is rolling out globally to users with personal Google accounts and will be available both on the web and in the official Gmail app for Android and iOS. Business and enterprise users can also expect similar improvements as Google continues refining its AI-driven search capabilities across its Workspace ecosystem.
As AI becomes increasingly integrated into everyday productivity tools, Google is positioning itself to compete with Microsoft, which has also been embedding AI into its Outlook and Office 365 suite.
