It's worth updating Gmail. This feature has been requested for years

This is definitely not the biggest update to Gmail for Android. At the same time, it offers something users have been asking for for years. Many people online are surprised that such basic functionality was added to the program a dozen or so years after its premiere in 2008.

After years of user requests, the Gmail app for Android has finally added a feature that lets you select all messages with one click. Until now, this option has only been available in the browser version of Google's email, and – what may be the strangest thing in this case – in the app for iPhone.

Although this seems to be the basic functionality, bulk selection of all messages was not available in the Gmail app before. This only changes with the update that was made available to users at the beginning of January 2024. This is a big help for people who want to mark groups of messages as read or delete them more quickly.

According to Android Police, users who want to use this option must update the Gmail app on their phones normally. Then, just select one message (and hold your finger on it) and the Select All button will appear at the top.

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It is worth making one more observation here. It's about how the “Select All” function works in the Gmail app. Since the default maximum number of messages shown on the screen is 50, pressing the Select All button selects only that number. Although swiping the screen loads additional emails, they remain unselected as long as we don't click Select All again. However, if we load more messages first and then click on them, more of them will be selected as well.