Firefox Addon: Gmail Unread Message Count in Favicon

If you open your Gmail either with your Internet Explorer or Firefox, you will see the unread message count in your Inbox shown in the title bar as well as the in the tab, e.g. “Gmail – Inbox (3) – xxx@gmail.com”. This feature will give you quick info on how many unread messages are still in the Inbox. However, when you open more tabs within the same page, the heading showing the unread message count will be squeezed or reduced and you probably can’t read it clearly.


Unread message count shown in the Tab heading

Unable to read clearly the unread message count when more tabs are opened

If you are using Firefox, an interesting add on is available to allow users to add the Gmail unread message count on the familiar “red envelop” look in Gmail site favicon. Once this simple script is installed, the numeric number showing the total unread messages in your Gmail Inbox will appear slightly below the Gmail favicon as shown below:

With this little add-on, you can easily see the number of unread messages without needing to switch back to Gmail especially if you have opened many tabs. Furthermore, the unread messages number in the icon glows brighter when the number increases. To get the free Gmail Unread Message Count in Favicon addon installed in your Firefox browser, you will need to first install the Greasemonkey extension.