How to automatically label emails in Gmail: Your ultimate declutter guide

With email at the core of everyday communication, both professional and personal, our inboxes are constantly overflowing. Essential messages get buried under a barrage of newsletters, social updates, and promotional emails.

And it’s not just a minor annoyance; studies show that professionals spend a significant portion of their week manually sorting through emails, time that could be better spent on focused work. Even with diligent effort, human error and hitches could still occur, reducing productivity.

Gmail helps address this issue with the auto-labeling feature, allowing you to bring order to the chaos and reclaim your inbox. In this guide, you’ll learn exactly how to automatically label emails in Gmail. We’ll also introduce you to Notion Mail, a tool that leverages AI to make this process even more efficient.

Gmail labels are a flexible way to organize your emails. Unlike folders, they allow you to categorize your messages without removing them from your inbox. You can also apply multiple labels to a single email to categorize it within different contexts. Here’s a summary of their key benefits:

To auto-label emails in Gmail, you begin by creating a new label. There are several ways to do this: 

1. Via Gmail settings

2. From Gmail’s Labels section

3. Directly from an email

To create a label in Gmail settings, take these steps:

Step 1: Navigate to the top of your inbox and click the Settings icon, then See all settings

Step 2: Select the Labels tab to reveal a list of all your labels

Step 3: Scroll down to the Create new label button and click it

Step 4: Type a name for your label, describing what it is for

Step 5: If you wish to attach the label to an already existing one, click the checkbox beside Nest label under, then select the parent label in the empty field below it

Step 6: Once satisfied, click Create

To create a label from the main screen, take these steps:

1. Open Gmail and navigate down, then left

2. In the Labels section, click the plus + icon

3. Enter a name for your label and click Create when done

If you’re reading an email and want to add it to a new label, take these steps:

1. Navigate to the top of the email and click the vertical ellipsis icon

2. Click Label as on the pop-up menu

3. On the next menu, click Create new and fill in the label name

4. Click Create to save

Automating your labels only takes a few steps. You’ll need to create rules—known as Gmail filters—that apply labels to emails automatically based on the criteria you set. 

This way, instead of adding a label to emails by yourself, you teach Gmail what label you want to apply to emails matching your criteria.

Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Click the three-slider icon in the Gmail search bar

Step 2: Type in your preferred search criteria for the emails to which you want to apply the labels. For instance, you can apply labels to every email from a particular sender or to a specific recipient

Note: You can also apply labels to emails with a certain keyword. In the image above, we’re creating a filter for all emails with the keyword “Content Marketing.”

Step 3: After you’ve specified your criteria, click Create filter

Step 4: In the new window, click the drop-down next to Apply the label and choose which label you want to auto-apply on your filtered list

Step 5: If you already have emails in your inbox that meet the filter criteria, tick Also apply filter to matching conversations, and the label will also be applied to the emails

Step 6: Once done, click Create filter to finish up

Unlike traditional folders, applying a label to emails doesn’t automatically move them out of your primary inbox—it only tags them.

This means the emails will be visible in your primary inbox and within the label you applied to it. If you want to move them from one label to another, try any of these options:

1. Use the Move to button

2. Skip the inbox

This is the fastest option for moving multiple emails to a label in Gmail. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Open Gmail and navigate to the left sidebar

2. Click on the label you want to transfer emails from, then navigate to the email list

3. Select the ones you want to move to a new label or click the check box at the top of the list to select all the items in the label

4. At the top of the list, navigate slightly to the right and click the Move to icon

5. Transfer the emails by selecting the new location

Use the Skip the inbox rule to move incoming emails from your primary inbox. Gmail will bypass your inbox and place the email within your desired label alone. Here’s what to do:

1. Begin with the steps on how to apply Gmail labels automatically

2. In the Apply the label section, select Skip the inbox in addition to the other criteria for your labels

3. Complete the process to save changes

Once this rule is set, all emails that match your criteria will skip your inbox and be placed within the assigned label. You can also find the email in your Archive (the All Mail category).

Gmail’s advanced search feature makes it easy to label emails from specific categories. To label emails from a sender, run a search to identify all the sender’s emails, and then apply the tag. Follow these steps:

Step 1: Click the three-slider icon at the top of the home screen

Step 2: Type the sender’s name or email address in the From field, then click Search

Step 3: In the email list that appears, click the check box at the top to select all the emails from the sender

Step 4: Click the three-dot icon at the top of the list and select Label as

Step 5: Choose your preferred label or create a new one from the pop-up menu

To automate this label, do the following:

1. Click the three-slider icon and enter the sender’s name

2. Click Create filter > Apply the label [Choose the label] > click Create filter again

Once this process is complete, the label will be applied to all incoming emails from this sender.

Unfortunately, you can’t create filters in the Gmail mobile app. Since auto-labeling is done through filters, you can only achieve this through the desktop version. 

Once you’ve created the labels on your computer, you can manually assign them to an email via the mobile app. Here’s what you need to do based on your device: 

Gmail label management crucial for extensive inbox organization. Auto-label management keeps your inbox running smoothly and filters working as they should. It also shows you when some labels become obsolete, faulty, or need an update.

Managing your auto-labels mainly involves modifying or deleting them. Here’s how to do both:

1. Open Gmail and click on the gear or Settings icon

2. Select See all settings

3. Click the Filters and Blocked Addresses tab

4. To delete a filter, click the Delete option and confirm by clicking OK

5. To edit a filter, click Edit, update your preferences, and click Continue

6. Select Update filter

Keep reading: Find out how to delete unwanted Gmail labels when they become obsolete.

Gmail labels get the job done, unless you’re a power user or professional managing a high volume of emails and complex workflows.

Some common limitations users have noted include: 

• Manual effort is required to maintain an organized labeling system, and the learning curve for using filters and labels can be steep.

• Gmail doesn’t always “learn” from user actions. One user pointed out that Gmail does not auto-categorize their calendar invite responses, leading to repeated manual labeling.

Relying solely on labels and filters can also be cumbersome as your needs and priorities evolve. Even after setting up your filters, you still need to make frequent adjustments to them to remain effective. You also need to monitor your spam folder to ensure crucial emails don’t get misclassified and end up there.

If you want a more intuitive and automated solution that goes beyond the generic capabilities of labels, Notion Mail offers a compelling alternative.

Notion Mail is an AI-first email client that streamlines workflows by automating much of the manual work involved in traditional email management. It allows you to organize your inbox with better precision and less effort. Here’s how you can achieve this through Notion Mail’s core features:

• Use AI auto labeling for advanced automated categorization: Instead of creating complex filter rules, leverage the power of AI through natural, simple prompts to show Notion Mail how to categorize your incoming emails. You can use a prompt like Label all emails with ‘order,’ and all your orders will automatically have your preferred label—no manual configuration needed.

• Build inboxes within your inbox: Use Notion Mail’s custom views feature to create tailored inbox views based on labels, sender, project, and other criteria. This helps segment your inbox into a focused workspace so you can prioritize and manage your specific tasks.

From your interactions, Notion Mail learns to auto-sort and prioritize important messages to support your day. In addition to its advanced auto-labeling features, the platform also offers:

• Advanced AI-writing assistance to help you respond to and draft new emails

• Automated scheduling and follow-up emails

• Email summaries for easier processing

• Keyboard shortcuts and other productivity tools

Notion Mail currently works as a Gmail client, so use your Gmail or Google account to sign up.

Notion Mail is free to use and available on iOS, Android, and Windows devices, and offers the Notion ecosystem upon signing up. It is also fully integrated with your Notion Calendar for seamless meeting scheduling directly within your email.

To get started, visit the signup page. If you’re interested in exploring more AI automation, you can also get the Notion AI add-on. 

Bonus read: Want to take your Gmail organization to the next level? Learn more using our guides and tutorials: 

• How to create folders in Gmail

• How to find unread emails in Gmail

• Gmail account not receiving emails

• Gmail not syncing with the iPhone Mail app

• How to delete all promotions in Gmail

• Does Gmail delete old emails?

• How to recover a deleted email from Gmail