Now You Can Secure Emails in Gmail on Your Phone — If You’re a Big Business, Not Just Some Regular Joe

Google has announced an expansion of its end-to-end encryption (E2EE) feature in Gmail, and now enterprise users can send and read encrypted emails directly in the mobile app — on both Android and iOS devices. Previously, this was only possible in the web version.

The new capability went live this week, and encrypted messages land right in the recipient’s regular inbox — provided they’re using the Gmail app. If the recipient doesn’t have Google’s mobile client, they can still read the email through any browser, no matter which email service they use or what device they’re on. Google emphasizes that this is the first time you can create and read end-to-end encrypted emails without needing to install extra software or go through a special email portal. Speaking of which, Google has finally allowed changing your name in Gmail as well.

The new option isn’t meant for just any Gmail user — it’s only available to those using client-side encryption (CSE) with Enterprise Plus licenses and the Assured Controls or Assured Controls Plus add-ons. In plain English, that means paid corporate accounts. Plus, an organization’s admins need to enable the feature via the Google Admin console. Only after that will employees see the option to turn on “additional encryption” when composing an email in the mobile app — just tap the lock icon.

Technically, the mechanism relies on the organization managing its own encryption keys. The keys aren’t stored on Google’s servers — they stay under the client company’s control. The messages and attachments themselves are encrypted on the sender’s device before they ever reach Google, so neither the search giant nor any third party can read the content of those emails. End-to-end encryption for the web version of Gmail first appeared back in December 2022 as a beta, and by February 2023 it became generally available for Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Education Standard customers. In April 2025, Google started beta testing E2EE on mobile devices, and now the technology has officially rolled out for all supported platforms.

On one hand, this is a logical and long-awaited step for the business segment. On the other hand, ordinary free Gmail users still won’t get end-to-end encryption for emails directly in the app. For everyday correspondence, Google uses standard encryption in transit (TLS), but not E2EE. So if you’re not on a corporate plan with add-ons, this feature will remain out of reach.

What do you think — should Google make end-to-end encryption in Gmail free for everyone, or is it only justified for paid corporate accounts? Share your thoughts in the comments.