How to disable emailing via Google+ with Gmail

By Allyson Kazmucha
last updated

Google recently made some changes to Gmail and Google+ that lets anyone that has you on Google+ send you an email, even if they don't know your email address. While some of us may be okay with this, some of us may find it to be an invasion of privacy and quite frankly, a little creepy. Luckily, Google does give you a way to disable it. Here's how:

  1. Launch a web browser and go to www.gmail.com. You can do this from an iPhone or iPad in Safari or from any computer. If you're doing it from an iPhone or iPad, make sure you aren't using the mobile version of Gmail.
  2. Log in to the Gmail account you use with Google+.
  3. In the upper right hand corner, click on the gear icon and then click on Settings in the dropdown menu.
  4. Under the General tab find the Email via Google+ section. This is where you can change the setting for who can email you via Google+. Change it here to the preference you want and then click Save at the bottom of the Settings page.

That's all there is to it. Even though Google says no one sees your actual email unless you respond, it may just be more of an issue of privacy for many. Do you plan on turning off the feature or does it not bother you? Let us know in the comments!

Allyson Kazmucha
Allyson Kazmucha

iMore senior editor from 2011 to 2015.

9 Comments
  • Am I the only one that kind of hate Google+? Sent from the iMore App
  • No everyone does.
    Google is burring down the house if their effort to force people on to Google +. I'ver gotten off all Google services except gmail because of this but its finally time to dump gmail too. This was the last straw.
  • How about showing us how to cancel our Google+ accounts completely? I have it but never use it. That leaves GMail as the only Google service I use, and if I didn't have so many passwords and accounts attached to it I would be completely Google free.
  • This is what your looking for: https://support.google.com/plus/answer/1044503?hl=en The actual problem is that if you delete G+ and you like to comment on YouTube the comments will be disabled. That happened to me. But if you don't comment and don't care about Google+ well go ahead. Also, make sure you just delete the G+ profile not your Google account. Sent from the iMore App
  • I took this info to delete my Google+ account. This is so dumb to be automatically on and Google+ is useless anyways. Sent from the iMore App
  • Thanks for the tip. I'm not a user of Google+ Sent from the iMore App
  • The whole concept of Google "plus you" is not that hard of a pill to swallow. Google as a service should be a search engine that takes your online and offline activity, aggregates it and puts it into meaningful hubs of data that work together in concert to improve your life. Even the thought of taking said data and anonymously submitting it to data brokers for more meaningful advertising is not bad. I'm not opposed to emailing Google+ folks - it isn't yet another way to be tracked and monitored. Instead, this is an ease in communications. The privacy risk is always there - you can be emailed / messaged through just about any service. Whether you choose to allow it or restrict it is up to you. This just makes it more convenient. For the record, I hate Google.
  • Google+ is absolutely useless to me, as no one I know uses it and I myself don't find it attractive at all. Letting people email strangers without having to know their email first is definitely creepy and leaves users exposed to stalkers. If someone doesn't have my email address, it may simply be because I don't want to receive emails from them and Google should have given that more thought before opening up such a huge door to all kinds of weirdos to get into my inbox.
  • Thanks for the tip. Doing it now on my Gmail account.