Gmail Will No Longer Support Chrome Version 53 and Older

In a recent blog post, Gmail announced its plans to encourage users to upgrade Chrome browsers to the current version (as of this writing, Version 56). According to Google, users who are using version 53 or older will see a banner on their Gmail account urging them to update Chrome starting on February 8, 2017.

Newer versions of Chrome have significant security updates designed to protect users from cyber threats and also help protect user logins and passwords when logging in to Gmail.

Windows XP and Windows Vista users are currently unable to upgrade to any version of Chrome newer than version 49, so this means that Vista and XP users will not be able to access Gmail with Chrome after the end of this year.

To check your version of Chrome, click on the menu icon (three vertical dots in the top right corner), click “Help” “About Google Chrome”  and you’ll see this:

According to Google’s Blog Post:

Starting February 8, 2017, we will show a banner at the top of the Gmail interface for users who are still on Google Chrome Browser v53 and below to encourage upgrading to the latest version of Chrome, currently on version 55. Chrome Browser v55 contains several important security updates.

Gmail users that are still on Windows XP and Windows Vista are the most likely to be affected, because v49 was the last released version which supported those operating systems. As previously announced in April 2015 and November 2015, these systems are no longer maintained by Microsoft, and we strongly encourage you to migrate to more secure and supported systems.

What happens if users continue to use Chrome Browser v53 and below?

• Gmail will continue to function on Chrome Browser v53 and below through the end of the 2017. 
• If you continue to use older versions of Chrome Browser now that support has ended, Gmail will be more vulnerable to security risks and users will not have access to new features and bugfixes.
• Users who remain on Chrome v53 and below could be redirected to the basic HTML version of Gmail as early as Dec 2017.

Recommendation

• If you manage Chrome Browser for your users, we strongly encourage you to update users to the latest version of Chrome. Depending on what operating system your users are on, you may need to migrate them to a supported system to get the latest version and features.

Please note: Google does not typically announce when we discontinue support for older versions of Chrome browser because of our current supported browser policy, which states that only the most recent version of Chrome is supported. This announcement was made given the expected impact on Windows XP and Windows Vista users and known security risks.