How to Organize Gmail Like a Pro

Label Your Emails

Labels are like folders on steroids. A single email message can have multiple labels, making labels much more flexible than traditional folders. Gmail allows you to add colors to labels to make different kinds of emails distinguishable at a glance.

To create labels in Gmail:

1. Open Gmail in your favorite web browser.
   • You might be asked to log in. If so, enter your email address and password.
2. Select an email by clicking on the checkbox to the left of it.
3. With an email message selected, click on the label icon located right below the search bar. The label icon looks like an arrow pointing to the right.

4. A drop-down menu will appear. Click the “Create new” button located near the bottom.

5. Enter a new label name.
   • You can nest the new label inside of another label, which is the Gmail equivalent of placing a folder inside of another folder.

6. When you’re done, click the “Create” button.
   • The new label will automatically be assigned to the email you’ve selected.
   • All your labels are listed in the menu on the left. To display all emails with a specific label, simply click on the corresponding label.

Archive Emails You No Longer Need

All Gmail users enjoy 15 GB of free storage space. With so much space for emails and attachments, it doesn’t really make sense to delete each and every email just to keep your inbox clean. Instead, you should use the Archive feature, which basically hides emails from your inbox without deleting them. You can still view all archived email by clicking on the All Mail label located in the menu on the left. To archive an email message in Gmail:

1. Open Gmail.
2. Click on an email message.
3. Click the Archive button in the toolbar under the search bar.

To unarchive an email message in Gmail:

1. Click on the All Mail label.
2. Select the email message you want to unarchive.
3. Click the Move to Inbox button.

Learn Gmail’s Keyboard Shortcuts

You can save a lot of time by navigating Gmail using keyboard shortcuts. Yes, it will take some time to memorize them, but you’ll thank yourself for making the effort once you discover just how easier it is to organize Gmail with keyboard shortcuts. Just keep in mind that keyboard shortcuts work differently on PC and Mac computers. On PCs, you'll use Ctrl instead of ⌘. Here’s a short list of some of the most popular keyboard shortcuts:

• Previous message in an open conversation: p
• Next message in an open conversation: n
• Send: ⌘/Ctrl + Enter
• Bold: ⌘/Ctrl + b
• Italics: ⌘/Ctrl + i
• Underline: ⌘/Ctrl + u
• Archive: e
• Mute conversation: m
• Report as spam: !
• Delete: #
• Reply: r

Conclusion

It doesn’t take much effort to learn how to organize Gmail inbox like a pro, and the amount of time you can save just by taking advantage of some of Gmail’s many email management features and bulk email organizers like Clean Email is significant.