How do I get rid of the red circle with a number in it in the Mail Icon on gmail?

Hello sigschmidt,

Welcome back to Apple Support Communities!

We can help get rid of the unread mail count showing in your dock.

This is called the "Dock unread count". You can use the steps here to toggle the feature on or off:

"Choose which mailboxes to include in the count of unread messages (the red circle, called a badge, that’s shown on the Mail icon in the Dock).

The count appears only if “Badge app icon” is selected for Mail in Notifications settings. To open Notifications settings, choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Notifications in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.)"

This Apple Support page has the full details: Change General settings in Mail on Mac - Apple Support

This will help turn off the Dock unread count for Mail so you're not longer seeing the red number like you want.

Cheers!

Hello sigschmidt,

We'd like to learn more to see how we can help. Are you seeing this in the built-in Mail app or in the third-party Gmail app? Do you have any unread emails for that account? If so, that would explain why you're seeing the red badge app icon. Learn more about how notifications work on your Mac here: Change Notifications settings on Mac - Apple Support

Thanks!

The red ball with the number indicates the number of unread emails.

Any Application Icon you do not want in your Dock can be dragged off. if dragged onto the desktop, it will go poof and disappear. You can add back any that you prefer.