Gmail changes default star and important label to blue

Gmail has decided to change the color of importance markers and stars from yellow to blue.

Millions of Gmail users are finding an unexpected look in their inboxes. Google has decided to change the default color of importance markers and stars from the traditional yellow to blue. A change that the Gmail team says is meant to follow accessibility standards, in the sense that blue is more easily visible on all kinds of screens than yellow.

That explanation, however, won't appease users who feel “betrayed” when they look at their inbox - especially those who already had things set up with different color codes and were already using blue stars for other purposes.

We updated our default star and “Important” label colors from yellow to blue to meet modern accessibility standards. This change ensures inboxes are clearer, easier to read, and more inclusive for everyone.

Thanks for your support in building a better, more accessible Gmail 💙

— Gmail (@gmail) September 16, 2026

Although Google may have good intentions, the truth is that Gmail has allowed users to configure star colors for more than a decade, and there is no excuse for make all its users go through this abrupt, forced change.

They could just as well have applied the change for new accounts and shown existing users a notice suggesting they update - though it would be my guess that most people would prefer to stay with the system they were already used to. After all, anyone who wasn’t happy with yellow would have changed it to another color long ago. Now hundreds of millions of Gmail users are getting the change whether they want it or not.