No more waiting: Gmail will now show images automatically

Gmail users, you will never have to press “display images below” again.

Google on Thursday announced that Gmail will now shows images in emails automatically, freeing up users from having to give permission to display pictures every time they get an email from a person or service they haven’t exchanged messages with before.

The update to the email service will roll out to the desktop version of Gmail on Thursday, Google said, with users seeing it in the mobile app versions of Gmail in early 2014.

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Previously, Gmail asked users for permission to display pictures in order to protect them from unknown senders who might try to include viruses or malware in the images. Google said Gmail has now been improved so that images won’t be able to carry those harmful pieces of software.

The update should make Gmail more secure. It will also be a timesaver for users.

Google said users who still want to approve images before seeing them can enable the function by going into their settings and clicking on the “General” tab. There, they can choose the “Ask before displaying external images” option. This will be enabled by default for users who already have the “Ask before displaying external content” option selected.

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