What you need to know
- Google has started rolling out colorful new gradient icons for Gmail, Drive, Docs, Calendar, and more.
- The redesigned Workspace icons drop Google’s strict four-color style for a softer gradient look.
- New icons are already visible in Google’s web app launcher, though apps still show older versions for now.
Just ahead of Google I/O 2026, Google has started rolling out redesigned gradient icons for its Workspace apps, including Gmail, Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Calendar, Tasks, and more.
Last month, a leak suggested that Google was preparing a major visual refresh for its Workspace icons, nearly six years after the last redesign. The leak claimed that apps like Gmail, Drive, Calendar, Sheets, and Slides would all receive updated icons with a much stronger focus on gradients and blended colors.
The leak also suggested that Google was moving away from its stricter color separation across icons, and those refreshed icons are now finally starting to appear for users.
Now, if you open Google’s website and head into the quick app launcher in the top-right corner, you’ll start seeing the new Workspace icons there. Interestingly, the icons haven’t fully rolled out across the apps themselves yet. For example, Gmail and Drive still show the older icons inside the apps, but the new ones are now visible from Google’s main homepage and launcher menu.
And just like the leak suggested, these icons are much more colorful and gradient-heavy than before. The Google Drive icon now mainly focuses on green, yellow, and blue, dropping the small red corner detail from the older design. Similarly, the Docs, Slides, and Sheets icons now have a much softer gradient appearance instead of the flatter look from before.
The Google Calendar icon is also shifting back toward a more blue-focused design. Gmail still keeps the familiar envelope-shaped ‘M’ logo, but now uses gradients instead of solid colors.
The Google Meet icon appears to have shifted to a much more yellow-heavy gradient style. Meanwhile, Keep and Tasks also look noticeably different, with Google simplifying and softening their overall appearance.
Since these icons have already started appearing on Google’s homepage, we expect a broader rollout across the Workspace apps themselves either during Google I/O week or shortly after.
Android Central’s Take
I really like the direction Google is heading with these new icons. The Calendar icon especially looks much cleaner now, and dropping the strict four-color branding makes the whole Workspace suite feel a lot more modern. That said, I’m still not sold on the new Meet and Tasks icons.
