You have to enable Gmail’s new package tracking

Abner Li | Jan 29 2023 - 12:56 pm PT

Back in November, Google announced that Gmail would directly show package and delivery tracking in your inbox. If this feature isn’t live yet, you can manually enable it in Gmail settings.

This new Gmail package tracking shows when a delivery is arriving directly in the inbox view underneath an email. There’s a truck icon and “Arriving [date]” in green.

Additionally, Gmail has redesigned the information that appears when you open a message. It’s now housed in a card with Dynamic Color used for the background. In the top-left corner, you get an image preview, name, and delivery date (“From the carrier”) again. You might also see a store-specific “Order number” with the ability to quickly copy. Underneath that is an order timeline with shortcuts to “Track package” on the web and “Order details.”

Compared to the previous design, you actually see less information with “Items” truncated if you have multiple items.

When this feature was announced in early November, Google said it was rolling out on Android and iOS in the coming weeks. Once available, there’d be a “Track your packages in Gmail” card at the top of your inbox.

For those that haven’t been prompted by the card, you can (on Android) open Gmail Settings from the navigation drawer > select your email address > scroll to “General” > Package tracking — “Google will share tracking numbers for your packages with shipping carriers. You’ll get status updates here in Gmail.”

On iOS, open the redesigned settings and scroll to “Data privacy” near the bottom.

You can disable it if you prefer the old view, while Google plans to “proactively show a delay label and bring the email to the top of your inbox” in the coming months. It’s also coming to Gmail on the web.