How to Turn Off Conversation View in Gmail

Conversation view groups replies into a single thread. Turning it off shows every message as its own line in the inbox, in the order it arrived.

Open quick settings

Click Settings (gear icon) at the top right of Gmail. A panel opens on the right side of the page with the most common options.

Switch off email threading

Scroll down in the panel to the Email threading section and uncheck Conversation view. Gmail reloads the page, or prompts you to reload it, and the inbox then shows individual messages instead of threads.

Use the full settings page instead

If the panel does not show the option, click See all settings at the top of the panel. Stay on the General tab and scroll down to the Conversation View row. Select Conversation view off.

Save the change

Scroll to the bottom of the settings page and click Save Changes. Gmail returns to the inbox with threading off. Replies now sit as separate rows, and each shows the subject with a Re: prefix rather than a count in parentheses.

Turn it back on if needed

Repeat the same steps and check Conversation view in the quick settings panel, or select Conversation view on under General and click Save Changes. Nothing is lost either way; the setting only changes how the list is displayed.

In the Gmail app. Tap the menu icon at the top left, then Settings. On Android, tap General settings and uncheck Conversation view. On iPhone, the same toggle sits under your account name in Settings.

Threads are still connected. With conversation view off, clicking a message opens only that message. To see the rest of the exchange, search for the subject line or click the sender's name and use the search options to filter by that address.