If you opened your Gmail today and found your primary inbox overflowing with junk, you definitely aren’t the only one. Millions of users are currently dealing with a major glitch that has turned the popular email service into a chaotic mess. Gmail’s smart filters do a great job of shoving promotional ads and non-urgent social updates into separate tabs, but right now, that system is completely broken.
People are reporting that everything is landing in their main view, making it nearly impossible to find important messages buried under a mountain of newsletters and ads. Even worse, many users are seeing scary-looking security banners at the top of their regular emails. These notices warn that “Gmail hasn’t scanned this message for spam, unverified senders, or harmful software.” While it is normal to see this for a shady message from a stranger, people are now seeing it on ordinary emails from their bosses, friends, and family.
The problems do not stop at messy inboxes. On social media and sites like DownDetector, many people are complaining about massive delays. Some emails are taking forever to show up. This is causing a real headache for anyone trying to log into other services that require a two-factor authentication code sent via email. If that code does not arrive promptly, users are essentially locked out of their other accounts.
Google has officially confirmed the situation. They updated their Workspace status dashboard to let everyone know they are investigating the problem. The company admitted that the glitch is causing emails to be misclassified and is triggering those unnecessary spam warnings.
A Google spokesperson said the team is “actively working to resolve the issue.” In the meantime, they are telling people to stay extra careful. If you get a message from someone you don’t recognize, do not click any links or download any attachments until Google gets the filters back under control. For now, most users have to wait for the engineers to finish their repairs.
