The confidential mode on Gmail is an underrated feature that lets you do the following:
<ol>
<li>Set an email expiration date. Ranging from 1 week to 5 years.
</li>
<li>Require a verification code for the recipient to read your email.
</li>
<li>Revoke access to the email at any time of your bidding.
</li>
</ol>
To toggle it, you click on the padlock icon - located to the left hand side of the big blue ‘SEND’ button, highlighted in the below image.
<img src="https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1740422097310/70f80781-5e00-4c5d-b3c8-fd9e47290cd7.png" alt="Padlock icon in Gmail" class="image--center mx-auto" />
With the confidential mode on, your messages don't have options to forward, copy, print, and download messages or attachments. That said, it can't prevent the recipients from taking screenshots or photos of your messages and attachments.

The confidential mode on Gmail is an underrated feature that lets you do the following:

1. Set an email expiration date. Ranging from 1 week to 5 years.
    
2. Require a verification code for the recipient to read your email.
    
3. Revoke access to the email at any time of your bidding.
    

To toggle it, you click on the padlock icon - located to the left hand side of the big blue ‘SEND’ button, highlighted in the below image.

![Padlock icon in Gmail](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1740422097310/70f80781-5e00-4c5d-b3c8-fd9e47290cd7.png align="center")

  
  
With the confidential mode on, your messages don't have options to forward, copy, print, and download messages or attachments. That said, it can't prevent the recipients from taking screenshots or photos of your messages and attachments.

Discover how to use Gmail's confidential mode to set expiration dates, require verification codes, and revoke email access easily

The Confidential Mode on Gmail

Protect sensitive information from unauthorized sharing