Check your email security

To protect your messages, Gmail encrypts them during transfer, and you can often check their security.

Learn what the encryption icons mean

When you send or receive messages in Gmail, a lock icon shows and indicates the encryption level. Learn about email encryption in Gmail.

  • Standard encryption : Transport Layer Security (TLS) protects your email. This is the standard for most emails and prevents interception of your message in transit. For TLS to work, the email providers for both the sender and recipient must use TLS.
  • No encryption : The message isn’t secure. Do not send sensitive information, like passwords or financial details in unencrypted messages.

If you use Gmail with a work or school account, you can send or receive messages with:

  • Enhanced encryption : With Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME), you get an additional level of protection that encrypts the message using keys provided by you and your recipients. These keys are hosted by Google, and they encrypt and decrypt the message.
  • Additional encryption : With client-side encryption (CSE), your organization manages keys to encrypt and decrypt messages. Google never accesses private keys or decrypted message content.

Check encryption for incoming messages

A static image that shows where to look for security details in an email that you receive. In the image, after a user taps the arrow, this reveals additional details about the email, including the type of security used.
  1. In Gmail, open an email.
  2. At the top, next to the recipient, tap Show details .
  3. Check the encryption type:
    • Standard encryption (TLS)
    • Enhanced encryption (S/MIME)
    • No encryption supported

Learn why some emails aren’t encrypted

  • If a sender’s email provider doesn’t support TLS, the email may not be encrypted.
    • If you receive an unencrypted email with sensitive information, notify the sender.
  • You may get a warning even when your email is encrypted if:
    • Encryption hasn't worked for a specific email provider in the past.
    • You send an email from a custom domain name and not @gmail.com. For example, name@yourdomain.com.

Related resources