Google says that Gmail enterprise users can now send end-to-end encrypted emails to people who use any email service or platform. To send an end-to-end encrypted email, Gmail users have to turn on the "Additional encription" option when writing the message, which ensures that the email will be automatically decrypted when the recipient is a Google Workspace subscriber. If the recipients are not Gmail users, they will receive a link to sign in and view the email in a restricted version of Gmail. After they click the link, the recipients can view and reply to the encrypted message using a guest Google Workspace account. "Recipients will receive a notification and can easily access the encrypted message via a guest account, ensuring secure communication without the hassle of exchanging keys or using custom software," the company said on Thursday. "This capability, requiring minimal efforts for both IT teams and end users, abstracts away the traditional IT complexity and substandard user experiences of existing solutions, while preserving enhanced data sovereignty, privacy, and security controls." Sending encrypted emails outside Gmail (Google) ​The company started rolling out this new end-to-end encryption (E2EE) model in a beta test for Gmail enterprise users in April 2025. The feature is expected to roll out to all users with an Enterprise Plus subscription and the Assured Controls add-on and reach general availability over the next two weeks. Gmail's new end-to-end encryption (E2EE) capability is powered by the client-side encryption (CSE) technical control, which enables Google Workspace organizations to use encryption keys stored outside Google's servers and under their control to protect sensitive documents and emails. This ensures that the transmitted data is encrypted on the client before being sent to Google's cloud storage, helping meet regulatory requirements, such as data sovereignty, HIPAA, and export controls, by making the sent data unreadable to Google and third-party entities. Gmail CSE was introduced in Gmail on the web as a beta test in December 2022, following an initial rollout to Google Drive, Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Google Meet, and Google Calendar (also in beta). The feature reached general availability for Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Education Standard customers in February 2023.