Many users of Gmail are not satisfied with the interface.  Gmail like many other companies seem to be switching to an icon based interface instead of text based.  I’ve been using Gmail for a decade and am fine with the old look.  Making Gmail look like it did originally can be done in two different ways.

Revert Gmail to old look

It’s actually pretty easy to do, just click the gear or wheel on the top right corner of your Gmail inbox.  There will be an option to revert back to the old look.  However, I’m not sure how long this will last.  There’s an info pain on the top that says the old look will be going away soon.  I’ve been using the old look instead of the new one for months, so I’m not sure how accurate this statement is.  If they do force you to use the new look, there is however another option to help make the interface easier to use.

Use text instead of icons

The new Gmail theme uses icons for buttons like spam, compose email, and just about everything else.  If you’re like me and just want to read what a button is going to do instead of visualize it, there’s hope yet.

Click the gear in the top right corner and navigate to settings.  Under the mail settings tab you will see an area that says button labels.  Select text instead of icons.  Now even if they do force the new changes upon their users at least it will still somewhat feel like the old one.