How to use Gmail as a desktop app

1. Add a shortcut to launch

To open Gmail like a normal application, create a shortcut and place it on your desktop, taskbar, or dock. Here's how to do it:

Open in Chrome.
Go to Menu → More Tools and select Create Shortcut.
Check the box next to "Open in a separate window" and click the "Create" button.
On Windows, the shortcut will appear on the desktop; on macOS, it will appear in Launchpad.

2. Turn on offline mode

Since Gmail is now an app and not an online service, it should work even without the Internet. To do this, you need to enable offline mode.

Open your Inbox, click on the gear icon and select Settings.
Go to the "Offline" tab and check the box next to "Enable offline access to mail."
Click "Save Changes" at the bottom of the page.

3. Set Gmail as your primary client

To prevent the system from transferring it to the standard client when processing mail links, you need to set Gmail as the default mail application. Windows and macOS do this differently.

Windows

Launch the start menu and click the gear icon.
Go to Applications → Default Applications.
Select Google Chrome as your main email program.

macOS

Open the Mail app.
Go to "Settings" → "General".
Select Gmail.app from the Mail Client drop-down list.

4. Turn on notifications

Your email client won't be complete without new email notifications. Gmail supports this feature and is able to display notifications on the desktop like all applications. This is configured as follows.

Open "Inbox", click the gear icon and select "Settings".
On the "General" tab, go to the "Desktop notifications" section and check "Enable new mail notifications".
Click the "Save Changes" button at the bottom of the page.

5. Use hotkeys

Shortcuts greatly speed up the work, allowing you to quickly clear up the blockages of mail and respond to letters. Like the online version of Gmail, the desktop application supports hotkeys. All you need to do is enable the feature in the settings.