Gmail desktop app: your options on Mac and Windows
Google's Gmail help sends computer users to the Gmail website and offers the Gmail app for Android, iPhone and iPad, so on a Mac or Windows PC a "Gmail app" is one of three things: a website installed as an app from your browser, a mail program that talks to Gmail over IMAP, or a wrapper built around mail.google.com. For most people the browser-installed app is the right answer, because Google's sign-in is built for browsers. A wrapper made with Pake is possible, but Google may refuse the sign-in inside it.
The three kinds of "Gmail app"
Google's Gmail sign-in help says to go to the Gmail website on a computer and to add your account to the Gmail app on a phone or tablet. It does not describe a Gmail program for Mac or Windows, which is why every option below is a workaround.
| Option | Sign-in | Own window and Dock or taskbar icon | Cost of setup |
|---|---|---|---|
| Browser tab | Normal | No | None |
| Chrome site installed as an app | Normal, in the browser's engine | Yes | A few clicks |
| Safari Add to Dock | Normal | Yes | A few clicks |
| Mail program over IMAP | Sign in with Google | Yes, and its own interface | Add the account |
| Wrapper such as Pake | Depends on Google accepting the web view | Yes | A build |
Install Gmail from your browser
This is the shortest route. Sign-in runs in a full browser, avoiding the restrictions on embedded web views.
In Chrome, open mail.google.com, click the three-dot menu, choose Cast, save, and share, then Install page as app.... On some sites an Install icon also appears at the right end of the address bar. Google's Chrome help lists both, as read on 19 October 2026.
In Safari on macOS Sonoma 14 or later, open Gmail and choose File, Add to Dock, or use the Share button and pick Add to Dock. Apple's support page says you name the web app and it is saved in the Applications folder in your home folder, opening from the Dock or Spotlight.
What you get is Gmail in its own window with its own icon. What you do not get is a different Gmail: it is the same website, so offline behavior and features come from Gmail, not from the install.
Use a mail program instead
If you want a real mail interface, add the account to a mail program. Google's help page says IMAP access is always turned on for personal Google Accounts, and that Gmail no longer allows third-party apps that need your username and password, with "Sign in with Google" as the safer route. It also says app passwords are not recommended and are unnecessary in most cases, and that an older client may not support the security standards Gmail recommends, so update the client first.
Mail programs fit when you want one inbox for several providers, or system-level mail handling. Your messages and labels sync, but you read them in the client's interface, not Gmail's.
How a Pake build of Gmail works
Pake wraps an address in a small desktop app. The CLI copies a Tauri template, writes your options into its config, compiles it and uses the web view your system already has: WKWebView on Mac, WebView2 on Windows, WebKitGTK on Linux. How Pake works walks through the steps. Because Pake does not ship a browser, Gmail runs in the system engine, and what the page sees as a browser is that engine plus Pake's user agent string.
The command, after setting up the CLI, is:
pake https://mail.google.com --name Gmail --width 1200 --height 800 --show-system-tray --hide-on-close--name sets the app name, --width and --height the starting window (1200 by 780 by default), --show-system-tray adds a tray or menu bar icon, and --hide-on-close keeps the app running when you close the window, which is already the default on macOS and off on Windows and Linux. That matters for mail, since new-message alerts only arrive while the app is running. The window guide covers the other options.
Google sign-in inside a web view
This is the step that decides whether the wrapper is worth it. Google's OAuth policy says a developer must not direct an authorization request to an embedded user-agent under the developer's control, and a Pake app is a window around the system web view. Pake's own FAQ says that Google properties may fail to sign in even with --new-window or --multi-window, that this is provider policy and not a packaging bug, and that the normal browser, a browser-installed app or a native client is the answer for those sites.
Pake's docs do not promise that a Gmail build can sign in, so try it before you rely on it. Changing --user-agent is not a documented way around the policy, as the sign-in guide and the user agent guide explain; use it only for a site that merely sniffs the string. If the sign-in is refused, install Gmail from your browser instead.
Notifications
A Pake app answers the page's notification request itself, reports permission as granted and hands the alert to the operating system, so there is no browser "Allow" prompt. Whether Gmail uses new Notification or web push decides whether anything shows, and Pake's code bridges only the first. Details and a console test are in Website notifications in a desktop web app. A browser-installed app uses the browser's own permission, so check the site settings there.
Gmail has its own switch on top of either. Its notification help says to open Settings, then See all settings, scroll to Desktop notifications, choose New mail notifications on, Important mail notifications on or Mail notifications off, and click Save Changes. If you use inbox categories, new-mail alerts cover only the Primary category, so an app that stays quiet may only be receiving mail in Promotions or Social.
Several Google accounts
Google's help page says you can sign in to several accounts at once and switch from the profile image at the top right of a Google page, using Add account. That works in any of the browser routes above.
With Pake, each app has its own identity and storage, so two accounts mean two apps with different names, as Use two accounts on the same website with Pake explains. That only helps once sign-in works at all. The Pake desktop app for Mac and Windows is still in development, and its manual describes Add Another Account in My Apps, which copies the settings and icon and starts signed out.
Which one to pick
Pick the browser-installed app if you only want Gmail in its own window. Pick a mail program if you want one place for several mailboxes. Pick a Pake build if you already know the sign-in works, or if you want a specific window size, tray icon or injected CSS, and accept that Google can change its mind about embedded web views.
FAQ
Is there an official Gmail app for Mac or Windows?
Google's Gmail help covers the website on a computer and the Gmail app for Android, iPhone and iPad, and does not describe one for Mac or Windows. The options are the browser install, a mail program or a wrapper.
Does an installed Gmail app work offline?
That is up to Gmail and the browser, not the install. Google's offline help says Gmail offline works only in a Chrome window that is not in Incognito mode, after you tick Enable offline mail in Gmail's offline settings and choose how many days to sync. So the Chrome-installed app can use it, while Safari's Dock app and a Pake build, which are not Chrome, cannot.
Why not just use --user-agent with a Chrome string?
For Google sign-in it is not a supported fix, because the policy concerns embedded browsers, not the string.