In what year did Google launch Gmail?

Google launched Gmail in 2004, announcing it publicly on April 1 as a limited beta email service. The date was especially memorable because many people initially suspected the announcement was an April Fools' joke.

Gmail was developed by Google engineer Paul Buchheit under the internal code name “Caribou.” Before its public release, Google employees used the system internally. Its powerful search, threaded conversations, and unusually large 1 GB storage allowance distinguished it from competing email services, which commonly offered only a few megabytes.

Gmail remained in beta for years and received a major mobile Java application in 2006. It later added features such as IMAP support, labels, spam filtering, and integration with other Google services.

Gmail is now part of Google's broader account ecosystem. Its storage is shared with Google Drive and Google Photos, and Google One offers paid storage upgrades. Google Workspace provides business versions with custom domains and administrative controls.