If you have seen the “news” that Google is sunsetting Gmail, don’t panic: it isn’t true. It’s just a dumb hoax that has gone viral on social media, forcing Google to deny the claim.
Why Do People Think Gmail Is Shutting Down?
On June 25, 2025, a screenshot of an email started spreading around the web like wildfire. The email claims that Google is sunsetting Gmail on August 14, 2025.
One of those who shared the screenshot was Chris Bakke, who claimed to be the SVP of Product at Google. Alongside the official-looking email announcement, he recounted a story about how, due to a miscommunication, Gmail was going away for good.
None of this is true, obviously.Google HAS sunsetted the Basic HTML version of Gmail, meaning everyone will be forced to use the Standard version going forward. But that’s it. Gmail itself is safe and not going anywhere.
How We Know Gmail Isn’t Shutting Down
Google acted quickly to deny the suggestion that it was sunsetting Gmail. Its denial came in the form of a perfectly worded post on X, the same platform Bakke and many others used to disseminate the hoax.
Even before Google issued its formal denial, X users had sought to add context using the Community Notes feature (formerly Birdwatch). Which is a useful tool given the amount of misinformation that springs up on the platform before being spread to other sites.
While Bakke was far from alone in sharing this fake email screenshot, his reach of 205k followers certainly helped it propagate. For context, Bakke works for X, and is known for joking around on social media. Meanwhile, his boss Elon Musk, who now owns X (formerly Twitter) has, as reported byForbes, publicly criticized Google’s Gemini AI.
Google has been known to kill products and shut down services suddenly, and without warning, over the years. However, Gmail is, according toStatista, the most popular email service in the world, with 1.5 billion active users as far back as 2018. So Google would be crazy to shut it down.
