Why can't I invite my friends to join Gmail?

Dave, this is driving me crazy! I've been on Gmail for almost a month now, but I still don't have an invitation box: how can I invite my friends to get their own Gmail accounts?

Dave's Answer:

This is one of the most common questions I see, actually. I've written quite frequently about Google's Gmail service, including the most relevant article to this question: How Do I Invite People to Join Gmail, but i haven't talked much about how Google doles out invitations.

First off, let me say that when you get a Gmail account, don't expect to immediately get invitations so that you can invite your friends and associates to get Gmail accounts too.

I believe that there are two reasons for this reticence on the part of Gmail: First, they cut down significantly on spammers spawning dozens of fake email addresses by simply making it slower to get accounts (versus hotmail, for example, where you could spawn a few dozen addresses in an hour or less), something I'm glad about.

Secondly, thought perhaps it's a bit less relevant now than it was when the Gmail service first appeared, Google can keep a bit of mystery, a bit of perceived mystique, by having the Gmail service be a bit exclusive. Since you can't just sign up and get an account, it makes having a Gmail account more cool.

Be that as it may, if you've just received a Gmail invitation, this still leaves you probably more than a bit frustrated when your pals ask for their invites and you can't send any. The bad news is that I have heard of people who have had to wait 3-4 months before they see their first invitation box:

The solution? Probably just to have some patience with the service. I wouldn't be surprised that using Gmail more would get your invites to show up faster too, though I have no proof of that.

Finally, if you have just one or two friends who are desperate for an account, they are welcome to email me, asking for an invitation, as I seem to get a good quota from Google every week. Ask them to send requests to d1taylor at Gmail.

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Categorized: Computer and Internet Basics (Article 4142, Written by Dave Taylor)
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Reader Comments To Date: 34

abhishek said, on August 23, 2005 9:55 AM:

hey i have an account in gmail. but i dont have an option of intiving my friends. what should i do now?

Vinaya HS said, on September 1, 2005 5:07 AM:

Let me know if you need a GMail invite. I have plenty.

Raymond Curry said, on September 2, 2005 12:25 AM:

Hi Dave I really would like to have a Gmail account but it seems like google keeps changing the rules on me. Anyway I was reading your newsletter Ask Dave Taylor and you said to send you an email and you would help the guys friends to get an invite,well I'm not a friend of the guy who asked you for help but I'm goin to ask you anyway to help me get an gmail account. I know this won"t help me but I did buy your book Creating Cool Web Sites. rayshawn285@sbcglobal.net

Joe said, on September 2, 2005 12:32 AM:

there are sites that give away gmail accounts thats how i got mine. just sarch google for free gmail account.

J.Petrahn said, on September 4, 2005 9:27 AM:

Would be great if you have another Gmail account available.
Thank you in advanced.

shatheeshl said, on September 10, 2005 4:16 PM:

i wanna invite friend option

shady said, on September 16, 2005 1:38 AM:

dear dave i dont have the invitation box in my account so i cant invite any one. what's the matter? what should i do?i need immediately. thanx

Priscah said, on September 18, 2005 9:27 AM:

Dear Dave, I would like to have I nvite a Friend option on my gmail account.

jayakumar said, on September 22, 2005 7:45 AM:

hey i have an account in gmail. but i dont have an option of intiving my friends. what should i do now?

Pavithran said, on November 7, 2005 11:32 AM:

I have heard that there is an URL which provide gmail invitations. Can I have that address ???

bharath r said, on November 11, 2005 1:18 PM:

i have an account in gmail but i dont have option of inviting friends to gmail.what should i do now?

suchithra p surendran said, on December 6, 2005 5:11 AM:

pls give me avaliable things to invite my friends to gmail.

Loverboy said, on January 13, 2006 12:14 PM:

I've been having 2 gmail accounts that are at least 1 year old. Just after I registered my accounts..I had the invite window available and I sent invites to my pals...the more invites I was sending the more I was getting back.A few days ago I noticed that the invite window disappeared.I haven't invited someone since a long time ago...but I don't think that's the reason...

Josh Green said, on May 21, 2006 7:45 PM:

hi! you don't know me as well as i you, but u've helped me a lot!!!

ramanna said, on June 9, 2006 10:23 AM:

hi.. i have gmail account.. i dont have invitation to invite my friend.. plz help me..

sunil saprsh said, on June 27, 2006 10:23 AM:

I have not find ant invite link or windows in my gmail account. how i invite to my friends to try out gmail.
how can get invite soonest.
please suggest me

sunil sparsh

eashan said, on July 22, 2006 12:43 AM:

gmail should give an invitation or two every month or two months atleast to their current users , or infact the ones that use it quite often: regularly

B.Ramachandran said, on July 29, 2006 8:32 AM:

The service is really execellent,congrats.

dhiraj said, on August 10, 2006 1:26 PM:

Hi,

When will the invitation box will appear in my account because my friends what to know and how come i know after sending the request it will be implemented and how come i'll know about it

Thanks

dhiraj said, on August 10, 2006 1:30 PM:

Hi,

I have a account in gmail and i can't invite my friends and i have pasted the request long back and i'm tired requesting for it i didn't expected this from the google i know you are the biggest search engine and there are lots of other jobs than this but please look at this and how come i know when i can invite my friends..

Thanks

kannan said, on August 12, 2006 7:28 AM:

Hi

I am using gmail for more than one year.

Still now i am unable to send a invitation.

What went wrong in this

mallesh said, on August 15, 2006 11:28 PM:

Hi dave,
I got 15 invitations in my invitation box.. After i was sending 10 invitations , there i have 5 more.
But in the last week i found that i missed my invitation box. how can get back my invitation box
please give me an instruction.

renita said, on August 23, 2006 12:12 AM:

Hi, I want invite a friend option

mathi.m said, on August 23, 2006 4:53 AM:

hello i have gmail account.but no invite option.i have been using gmail last 1 year.

paul said, on September 1, 2006 8:19 AM:

i dont have a invite friend box, how do i get that, plz give a single solution/answer pleaaaaase

thanks

nakul said, on September 9, 2006 7:29 AM:

invitation box mising in my inbox, kindly tell me how can i get that invitation box back to my inbox

supraja said, on September 13, 2006 4:46 AM:

hi.. i have gmail account.. i dont have invitation to invite my friend.. plz help me..

pragnesh said, on September 26, 2006 5:30 AM:

hey i have an account in gmail. but i dont have an option of intiving my friends. what should i do now?

sajjan said, on September 28, 2006 2:29 AM:

i haven t sent invetation even to 10 of my friends but now i am not able to send any of the ivetation. What can i do now ?

vinod prajapati said, on October 12, 2006 5:56 AM:

i have using g mail since last one year i was not able to send an invitation for my friends plz give me access invitation

mohamed suheel said, on October 26, 2006 4:56 AM:

hii.. i am using gmail account for long now and i am still not able to invite my friend.. could you help me..

kamesh said, on February 16, 2007 4:46 AM:

hi.. i have gmail account.. i dont have invitation to invite my friend.. plz help me..

saharfarbood said, on July 24, 2008 2:33 PM:

dear dave
one of my friend sent me invitation gmail but can,t accept it pls help me!
thanks

maharshi said, on July 13, 2009 1:42 PM:

How can I make a friend on gmail please tell me.
I want to make friend.

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

Why can't I invite my friends to join Gmail?

Reader Comments To Date: 34

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

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