# How Do You Return Gmail to Basic HTML Permanently?



## LEDAdd1ct (Sep 28, 2011)

I've been using Gmail for a few years now, strictly in the Basic HTML mode. It is clean, it is without clutter, and its inherent simplicity is ideal. When Yahoo! Mail tried to force a change, I found out how to get it to stay in its own "Classic" mode.

While checking my Gmail email a short while ago, I needed to view the header of an email, and I read that you had to switch to the standard view in order to see this information. I switched, and was able to find the information I sought. However, I am now confounded: I cannot find a setting to switch back to Basic HTML, and it is extremely frustrating. The previous setting which locked it to "Basic HTML" mode was not dependent upon a cookie, because it stuck across computers, browsers, and operating systems. I cannot believe that by clicking the "standard" link I have somehow permanently and irreversibly condemned myself to using the complex and in your face UI of the "new" Gmail.

Please, fellow CPF'ers:

Does anyone know how to return Gmail to its "Basic HTML" mode, and make it stick, across browsers, across operating systems, across computers?


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## brembo (Sep 28, 2011)

Click this link.

https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=html&zy=h

Okay, that setting does not hold unless you click the bar near the top. I like that HTML display but I can't cherry pick items to delete as a group. Unless Ctrl+mouse click works.


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## LEDAdd1ct (Sep 28, 2011)

Hi, brembo, and thank you for your help.

When I click the link, it allows me to log in, for that session only, to Basic HTML. However, it does not provide an option to _permanently_ return Gmail to "Basic HTML," and make it stick, across browsers, across operating systems and across computers.


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## LEDAdd1ct (Sep 28, 2011)

brembo said:


> Okay, that setting does not hold unless you click the bar near the top.


 
Where is the bar near the top? I cannot find it.


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## brembo (Sep 28, 2011)

It says "Set HTML as default" or the like, it's a hyperlink. Want me to get a screenshot of it?


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## LEDAdd1ct (Sep 28, 2011)

I can't find the link. I am trying on Firefox 3.6.8 on one computer, and on IE 6.0 on another machine.

That link is the very object of my search, and I cannot seem to produce it.


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## brembo (Sep 28, 2011)

http://webpages.charter.net/brembo/gmailshot.JPG


Your image is too large and has been replaced with a link. Please resize and repost.
See Rule #3 If you post an image in your post, please downsize the image to no larger than 800 x 800 pixels. - Thanks Norm


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## LEDAdd1ct (Sep 28, 2011)

Grrr...why can't I see that link?

What browser are you using?


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## brembo (Sep 28, 2011)

Chrome, that might be why as it likely plays better with Gmail.


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## LEDAdd1ct (Sep 28, 2011)

I just downloaded Chrome, installed it, clicked the link, logged into Gmail under "Basic HTML," and no dice: it says "You are currently viewing Gmail in basic HTML. Upgrade your browser for faster, better Gmail


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## brembo (Sep 28, 2011)

Does my screen shot look like the HTML you are after?


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## LEDAdd1ct (Sep 28, 2011)

Your screen shot is exactly what I am trying to get on my machine. What I desire are the words "Set basic HTML as default view."

They will not appear, and I don't know why.

EDIT: I opened a clean install of Windows XP. I downloaded Chrome, and clicked your link. It still won't let me set HTML as default view. 

It does not make any sense.


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## brembo (Sep 28, 2011)

That is bizarre. Someone at Google can probably get it fixed with no issue, they are big on keeping folks happy.


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## LEDAdd1ct (Sep 28, 2011)

I am trying to think what the variables are that have been omitted. You used Chrome, I used Chrome. You used the link, I used the link.

There must be some other difference responsible for your getting the option to make "Basic HTML" stick for good and me getting the utterly useless and frustrating "Upgrade your browser for faster, better Gmail"

Technology isn't magic, so there must be some other variable unaccounted for. 

*scratches head*


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## brembo (Sep 28, 2011)

I just fired up a laptop that hasn't been on in weeks and the Gmail setting held for it as well. I do not know why your account is being such a jerk. If you wanna send via PM your password I can see if it's some browser setting.


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## LEDAdd1ct (Sep 28, 2011)

I deeply appreciate your offer, but I am not comfortable giving that out. Just the nature of the medium.

But if it is something browser specific, then perhaps trying myriad browsers will do the trick.

While not bleeding edge, Firefox 3.6.8 and Chrome should report user agent strings that make Gmail happy.


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## vbuskirk (Sep 28, 2011)

I can reproduce the same behavior. When logging into http://mail.google.com/mail/h/ from Safari, I do not have access to the the option to permanently override the default view either.


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## brembo (Sep 28, 2011)

One last thing to try I suppose. Dunno if this is a link to MY account or what

https://mail.google.com/mail/h/neswcrvrrjpa/?&redir=?&a=pbhtml&at=AF6bupPPpaGBH3r7bWlEHQ2HMVaYNXVItg, but it's the link Gmail lists to set my account to HTM permanently.


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## LEDAdd1ct (Sep 28, 2011)

It didn't work. Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and IE 6.0, all down for the count.

I appreciate your help, brembo. I think I am going to try for a few more minutes, and then call it a night. I don't want to turn in feeling frustrated.

If we can wrangle a solution out of this, I am sure it will benefit other folk in the same situation. I am sending you a PM right now.


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## brembo (Sep 28, 2011)

Pm replied


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## brembo (Sep 29, 2011)

The issue has been narrowed down to a setting within GMail itself, multiple browsers and operating systems were tried. Settings were also compared closely and total emulation of the known working settings did not bring about the desired change. 

To change GMail to the HTML set all that is needed is to add /h/ to the link, but it's just a stylesheet of sorts and does not modify the universal(login) settings. Anyone know of a radio-button or hidden setting that needs to be changed to make this a permanent change?


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## LEDAdd1ct (Sep 29, 2011)

The following two threads show individuals similarly frustrated:

One
Two

In addition to Firefox, Opera, Chrome, and IE 6 not producing the "Set basic HTML as default view" link at the top of the screen, booting a computer with Slax, an entirely different operating system, and running both Firefox and Konqueror produce the same result. I am convinced that someone at Google is either nuts, or, my account is possessed. 

On a positive note, I spent 40 minutes on the phone with Mr. brembo, and he is a gentleman.

EDIT: I created a junk mail account and sent the user name and password to brembo via PM. He was able to view the coveted link at the top, and permanently set the junk account to basic HTML. I was not.

I pulled out an old laptop with K-Meleon and Firefox 3.0b2. I plugged in the phone cord, and used an old dial-up account, thinking that perhaps switching ISPs would help. When I tried to log in to my account, I could not view the link to make basic HTML permanent. When I entered the junk account, it was as brembo set it, with basic HTML as default.

Different browsers, different operating systems, different computers, different ISPs...no change.


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## xtramyle (Oct 8, 2011)

vbuskirk said:


> I can reproduce the same behavior. When logging into http://mail.google.com/mail/h/ from Safari, I do not have access to the the option to permanently override the default view either.



This worked but it is not yet permanent


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## LEDAdd1ct (Oct 9, 2011)

Yes, that is what I have been doing, typing it in manually each time. It is very annoying.

I cannot understand what would motivate Google to remove the link allowing you to set Basic HTML permanently.

Why do they care?

Hopefully, they will add back the link.


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## nbp (Oct 10, 2011)

When I punch in my username and password and hit login, for the moments it takes to log in, I have a link show up to tell it to show in HTML format. I don't know if it is permanent, but it might be an easy workaround. One extra click in the login process.


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## LEDAdd1ct (Oct 11, 2011)

Yes, that is true. The link pops up for anywhere from a split second to twenty or more seconds if you are on dial-up, in which case it will prompt you to switch to Basic HTML. Unfortunately, that link is also not permanent.

It's a good suggestion, though, and it is worth mentioning and keeping in this thread for reference.


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## TooManyGizmos (Oct 12, 2011)

~

Check in your Computer's /Control Panel/Internet options/Advanced Tab ......

are there any relevant settings there about HTML operation and/or defaults ?

Also you should Google search ... "Gmail HTML"

I found several Help links there about the options for Gmail .

~


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## LEDAdd1ct (Oct 12, 2011)

Hi, TMG. 

1) It has nothing to do with one's computer. I've tried different machines, four physical and one virtual, as well as accepted brembo's help. He logged into my account from his machine hundreds of miles away with no difference.

2) Before starting this thread, I searched Google until there were no more pages to search—I went to the end of all relevant (and many, many irrelevant) search results. All "solutions" involve either changing a setting (which I cannot see on my account) or using a different URL to log in (a workaround). 

It is endemic to the account itself.


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## TooManyGizmos (Oct 12, 2011)

~

Sorry I couldn't be of help to ya Add1ct .....

I wish_ I knew more about it so I could offer you a solution .


I guess it does no good to change your Google Mailbox Bookmark to this ... 

_http://mail.google.com/mail/h/._


That takes me to a "basic HTML" page with a choice box at the bottom.



I do wish you luck and success in your attempts .......... TMG

~
_


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## LEDAdd1ct (Nov 8, 2011)

The Gmail gods must be smiling down upon me:

I am on a really slow wifi hotspot, and it asked if I wanted to view as Basic HTML because it was loading at a snail's pace. I said yes. I had used my old dial-up connection to make things load very slowly several times before to provoke the same result. The past billion times I clicked the link, though it did take me to Basic HTML view, it did not offer to make the change permanent, as my default view.

This time it did!

Why did it work this time? I have no idea. But hopefully, for other people who are having this problem, the answer is that you might get lucky, and be offered the link if you try loading Gmail in a different location. I cannot think of anything else.


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## TooManyGizmos (Oct 30, 2012)

~

Standard view and basic HTML view 

~


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## MojaveMoon07 (Nov 1, 2012)

I have two ideas.

In Firefox when I use a larger minimum font size, sometimes a link or a button on the website does not appear and is inaccessible until I reduce the minimum font size.

If you use Adblock Plus or NoScript, sometimes I have had to temporarily turn either one of them or both of them off in order for a link or a button on the website to either appear or be accessible.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

tools -> options -> content -> font & colors: advanced -> minimum font size


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## LEDAdd1ct (Nov 10, 2012)

Well, it's been a year now, and everything is just fine.

Thanks for the posts, guys. It is/was not a font issue, as different browsers, different operating systems, and different versions of different operating systems made no difference. 

This thread is the sixth hit on Google when searching "gmail basic html" so I hope that the potential solutions listed here continue to help others who are as aggravated as I was a year ago.


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## Minni (Dec 12, 2019)

I know this thread is years old, but I found it via keyword search & my case is relevant to the OP's. So i'm weighing in just for the record. (Been a long time since I was las here.)

I've been trying out a new Win-10 laptop that's higher speed than my previous XP and Win7 laptops.
On my XP and Win7 laptops, I was using Firefox.

But this Win10 system came with MS Edge, and I didn't download FF yet, since i'm still trying out the laptop.

Frankly, I'm unsure if the defective HTML-view issue (in my case) is related to my using the Edge browser vs. firefox, 
...or else related to my "upgrade" to Win-10.

In the past, during login, during the brief period that Gmail flashed the blue-link enabling the switch to HTML view, the switch was successful, BUT NEVER PERMANENT (even if successful at every login).

But now, EVEN THOUGH that blue-link still displays, and EVEN THOUGH I RUSH to click on it (due to my speedier Win10-MS-Edge)…
...it still directs me to their horrible standard view. I absolutely HATE standard-view, which doesn't enable me to control it, rather it controls me, and is NOT intuitive. I hate composing emails via standard view & so on and so forth.


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## LEDAdd1ct (Nov 20, 2021)

Hi, all.

I want to offer a ten year update to this thread.

Either because of a behavior on my part, perhaps clicking something that sent GMail into "standard" mode, or, something on Google's end, the account setting once more got tweaked, and my account is no longer permanently set to Basic HTML mode.

The other popular hacks widely documented across the Internet are still valid:

1) Bookmark this URL

https://mail.google.com/mail/h

2) Disable JavaScript

etc...

—but they do not permanently restore Basic HTML to the default view at the account level.

I don't understand what possible benefit removing this choice could confer.

I prefer the dynamic, modern, "new" version for emails at my work Google email account, because of the auto-update feature, presence feature, etc., but *much* prefer the Basic HTML version for my personal Google email account.

Has Google permanently removed the ability to set Basic HTML as the default view?

It appears that way. :-(


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