The Unread Count feature used to be an experimental feature in the Gmail Labs settings. After Google retired Gmail Labs, the Unread Count feature was promoted to be part of Gmail’s main settings.
Enable Unread Count in Gmail Favicon
Log in to your Gmail account.
Click the Gear icon on the top-right side of the screen.
A Quick Settings box will show up. Click on the “see all settings” button.
Once you are in the Settings page, go to the “Advanced” tab.
At the end of the list, you will see the option “Unread message icon.” Select the “Enable” option.
Lastly, click the “Save Changes” button. Gmail will now reload, and you should now see the unread count on the Gmail favicon. The following image shows the favicon without an unread count.
This image shows the favicon with unread count.
In the Advanced section of Gmail’s settings, you can also enable other options like Auto Advance (move to the next message after you deleted/archived the current one), Template (save your frequently typed message as a template), Custom Keyboard Shortcuts (remap and customize your keyboard shortcuts) and Right Side Chat (move the chat box to the right side). If you are looking for more features, you can turn Gmail into a desktop app if you prefer it over a browser or enable read receipts for your mail.
