Gmail profile picture not updating? How to fix it

You’ve uploaded a new photo, but Gmail still shows the old one, or your colleagues still see a letter in a circle. It’s almost always one of the causes below. Work through them in order.

1. Give it time

A new Google profile picture reaches your own account quickly, usually within minutes. Other people’s apps keep a cached copy of your picture, though, and it can take a day or two before they see the new one. If you’ve only just changed it, wait before changing anything else.

2. Check you changed the right account

Many people have more than one Google Account, such as a personal Gmail and a work account. The picture belongs to one account only. In Gmail, click your picture in the top-right corner and check the email address shown is the one you updated. If it isn’t, switch accounts and update that one too.

3. Refresh your own view

Your browser can hold on to the old picture:

• Reload Gmail with a hard refresh (Ctrl + Shift + R on Windows, Cmd + Shift + R on a Mac).
• Or sign out of Google and sign back in.
• On a phone, close the Gmail app fully and reopen it.

4. Check the upload actually saved

Open myaccount.google.com and look at Personal info. If the old photo is still there, the change didn’t save: upload it again and make sure you press Save after cropping. If the new photo is there, the change worked and the rest is caching or other people’s settings.

5. They may be seeing a contact photo instead

If someone saved you as a contact and gave you a photo, their photo for you wins over yours. They’ll need to remove the photo from your contact card. You can’t change this from your side.

6. They may not be using Gmail

Your Google profile picture shows next to your emails in Gmail. People reading your email in Outlook, Apple Mail or other apps usually won’t see it, however long you wait. Those apps use their own contact photos or just show initials.

7. Work accounts: an administrator may control photos

In Google Workspace organisations, an admin can prevent users from changing their own picture or set everyone’s picture centrally. If your changes don’t stick, or the option is greyed out, ask your IT administrator.

If your animated picture isn’t moving

That’s usually not a fault. Many places show an animated profile picture as a still of its first frame, particularly small avatars such as the inbox list. See how to make your Gmail profile picture animated for where the animation does play.

Still stuck? Try a fresh image

Occasionally an upload fails quietly because of the file itself: too large, or an unusual format. Re-export your photo as a square JPEG or PNG under 5 MB and upload it again. The Google profile picture generator will produce one in a few seconds.