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How to prevent random people on G+ from emailing you: opting out of Google's creepy new system

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By Daniel Petrov

Published: Jan 10, 2014, 9:49 AM

How to prevent random people on G+ from emailing you: opting out of Google's creepy new system

Google's incessant G+ push reached a creepy level today, as the search giant devised a way for random folks present on its social network to get messages on your Gmail address without even having it. If you haven't received a new email from Google on your phone or tablet's Gmail app, you will be soon, and it will basically inform you that now you can send Gmails to Google+ connections, which will appear when you type in the email's address bar.

There's a flip side to this, of course, as anyone can send you emails, too, and that can potentially become a pretty annoying feature, though the sender won't see your actual email address, unless you respond to them.

If you are looking for a way out of it on your mobile device, don't, as despite having a link to settings for opting out, the ones you need can be found only if your access the desktop version of Gmail. So, go to your computer, and do the following, if you want none of it:

Go in your Gmail account
Click the gear at the top right corner of the screen to access the Settings option.
You should be in the "General" tab of the Settings menu by default, click on it if you aren't.
Go down the screen until you see the new "Email via Google+ section," which looks like this:

5. In the drop-down menu you will see the four options above - Anyone on Google+, Extended circles, Circles or No one - with the default being Anyone, which we don't really want. From here, just choose No one, click the "Save Changes" button at the very end, and that's that.

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Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena from 2010 to 2025, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.