How to Change the Default Reply Action Gmail Setting

If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of a “reply all” nightmare then you know how bad it can be. This could happen because someone clicked “Reply All” instead of “Reply” but it’s also possible that their email application is set up that way.

If you are concerned about this happening to you, or if you want to use Reply All by default, then our default reply action Gmail guide will show you where to find and change this setting for your account.

How to Switch Gmail’s Default Reply Behavior

  1. Sign in to Gmail.
  2. Click the gear icon.
  3. Choose See all settings.
  4. Select your preferred Default reply behavior.
  5. Click Save changes.

Our guide continues below with additional information on changing the default reply action Gmail setting, including pictures of these steps.

Becoming familiar with when you should reply or reply all in an office setting is typically something that happens quickly, especially if you select the wrong option by mistake.

Many corporate environments have a tendency to send messages that are copied to many of the people in the organization, and a series of “reply alls” to that email can cause a little bit of chaos. In fact, in some cases, it can even be a punishable offense.

For this reason, the typical default reply behavior will have you only replying to the actual sender of the message. However, some environments may dictate that “reply all” is the superior option, so you may be looking for a way to ensure that this is your setting. Our guide below will show you how to change the default reply behavior in Gmail.

How to Choose Between Reply and Reply All By Default in Gmail (Guide with Pictures)

The steps in this guide will change a setting in Gmail that controls what happens when you click the reply button in response to an email. You can choose to either make it “Reply” or “Reply All.”

Step 1: Sign in to your Gmail account at https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox.

Step 2: Select the gear icon at the top-right of the window, then click the Settings option.

In newer versions of Gmail, you will need to click “See all settings” instead of just “Settings.”

open the gmail settings menu

Step 3: Click the Reply or Reply all option to the right of Default reply behavior.

If you select the Reply option, you will only reply to the sender of the message by default. If you select the Reply all option, you will reply to everyone else that was copied on that message.

how to change default reply behavior in gmail

Step 4: Scroll to the bottom of the menu and click the Save changes button.

click the save changes button

By following these default replay action Gmail settings you should now have Gmail set up so that whenever you reply to an email it will either by replying to everyone or just the sender each time.

Note that changing this default reply behavior won’t prevent you from using the other reply option. It just

Do you find it difficult to locate emails in Gmail because the application is grouping them by message conversations, rather than as individual emails? Find out how to turn off conversation view in Gmail if you are finding it to be difficult to navigate your inbox.

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