Gmail is an awesome email service. That's to be expected, since it's from Google. But there's this whole section of its settings that most people don't really touch called Labs that lets you get some cool new features that make it even better!

Today, we're going to talk about a cool option within Labs called Unread message icon. It will show you how many unread messages you have right in the favicon of Gmail. It's a small tweak, but it's quite cool!

First, you'll need to get access to Labs. To do so, click the Gear icon, then click Settings. From there, you'll see all of different option tabs. Click the one labeled Labs (it's the third to last option).  From there, scroll to the one labeled Unread message icon and click Enable. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Save Changes. 

Everything in Labs is considered experimental, but I've been using this feature for a quite a while and haven't had any problems. Google says, "They may change, break or disappear at any time."

This feature will work with Chrome, Firefox, and Opera.

Is this a feature you'll be using? Got any other cool Gmail features to know about? Tell us in the comments below!

Image Credit: Alexey Boldin via ShutterStock