Gmail Training and help.
Modified on Wed, 9 Jul at 5:27 PM
Tips to optimize your Gmail inbox
On this page:
- Tips for filtering & sorting emails
- Organize emails in categories
- Manage multiple accounts
- Delegate access to email
Tips for filtering & sorting
Step 1: Create a label
- On your computer, go to Gmail.
- On the left, scroll down, then click More.
- Click Create new label.
- Name your label.
- Click Create.
Step 2: Create a filter that automatically labels emails
- In the search box at the top, click the Down arrow
.
- Enter terms to match specific messages. For example, to filter and label emails from an account, in the From: field, enter the email address.
- At the bottom of the search window, click Create filter.
- Scroll to Apply the label: and choose a label.
- Click Create filter.
Summarize with Gemini
- If the side panel is open, Gemini summarizes the email thread when you click What’s this email about?
- If the side panel is closed, at the top of an email thread, click Summarize this email.
In the side panel, you can also prompt to ask for a summary.
- Examples:
- “Summarize this email.”
- “Create a list of action items for me based on this email.”
- “Explain this email to me like I’m 5 years old.”
Automatically archive a message you're sending
Enable "Send & Archive"
- Open Gmail .
- At the top right, click Settings
See all settings.
- Scroll to the Send and Archive section and select Show "Send & Archive" button in reply.
- Click Save Changes.
- Open an email you want to respond to and click Reply.
- Compose your message and click Send+
.
Snooze an email until later
- On your computer, go to Gmail.
- Point to the email.
- On the right, click Snooze
.
- Choose a later day and time to get the email.
Tip: To snooze multiple messages:
- Select the messages.
- At the top, click Snooze
.
- If you can’t find "Snooze," click More
Snooze.
- If you can’t find "Snooze," click More
Filter Calendar invites from your Inbox
Set up a filter for Calendar responses
- Open Gmail.
- In the search box at the top, click Show search options
.
- In the To field, enter your email address.
- Next to Has the words, enter invite.ics OR invite.vcs.
- Check the Has attachment box.
- Click Create filter.
- Check the Apply the label box and choose a label to automatically sort incoming event response messages.
- Check the Skip the Inbox (Archive it) box to move response messages out of your inbox. Don’t worry, you can still view them later if needed.
- Click Create filter.
Organize emails in categories
Move promotional or social emails to tabs
Turn on default tabs
- On your computer, open Gmail.
- At the top right, click Settings
See all settings.
- At the top, click Inbox.
- In the "Inbox type" section, select Default.
- In the "Categories" section, check the box next to a category.
- To show starred messages in the “Primary” category, check the box next to “Include starred in Primary.”
- To allow top promotions in the “Promotions” category, check the box next to “Enable bundling of top promo emails in Promotions.”
- At the bottom of the page, click Save Changes.
Train your tabs
If an email ends up in the wrong tab, you can move it. Drag an email to the tab you want.
Tip: To remember to follow up on an email in another tab, mark it with a Star so that it appears in your Primary tab, too.
Split emails into sections using Priority inbox
Turn on Priority inbox
- On your computer, go to Gmail.
- To configure your inbox, go to the top right, then click Settings
.
- In the "Inbox type" section, select Priority Inbox.
- To customize priority inbox setting, click Customize.
- Choose the inbox sections you want to show
Save Changes.
Reorder existing sections
- On your computer, go to Gmail.
- At the top right, click Settings
See all settings.
- At the top, click Inbox.
- Go to Inbox sections, and next to the section you want to change, click Options.
- Select the new section you want to use.
Note: The Everything else section always appears last. - At the bottom of the page, click Save Changes.
Train Priority inbox
Gmail uses several signals to decide which messages to automatically mark as important, including:
- Whom you email, and how often you email them
- Which emails you open
- Which emails you reply to
- Keywords that are in emails you usually read
- Which emails you star, archive, or delete
Add a label section to Priority inbox
Step 1: Turn on Priority inbox
- On your computer, go to Gmail.
- To configure your inbox, go to the top right, then click Settings
.
- In the "Inbox type" section, select Priority Inbox.
- To customize priority inbox setting, click Customize.
- Choose the inbox sections you want to show
Save Changes.
Step 2: Create a label-based section
Before you begin: Create the label.
- On your computer, go to Gmail.
- At the top right, click Settings
See all settings.
- At the top, click Inbox.
- Next to the inbox section you want to label, click Options or Add section.
- Click More options.
- Click the label you want to use. You can search to find a label name.
- Click Save Changes.
Create a separate inbox for a label
Step 1: Create the label you want an inbox for
- On your computer, go to Gmail.
- On the left, scroll down, then click More.
- Click Create new label.
- Name your label.
- Click Create.
Step 2: Create an inbox for the label
Follow steps at the Gmail Help Center to create your inbox. For the search criteria, enter label:name of label.
To implement a zero inbox, create a separate inbox using each of these search criteria:
label:action
label:follow-up
label:later
Step 3: Apply labels as you read your email
To apply the labels you created for a zero inbox:
- On your computer, go to Gmail.
- As you read each message, at the top, click Labels
.
- Select one of the following labels: action, follow-up, or later.
Manage multiple accounts

Easily switch between Gmail accounts
Add and switch accounts on the web (Chrome Browser)
- On your computer, open Chrome.
- At the top right, select Profile
Add new profile.
- If you choose to sync to your Google Account, your profile name will automatically be your Account name.
- Choose a name, photo, and color scheme.
If you choose to turn sync on in Chrome with a Google Account for the new profile, your bookmarks, history, passwords and other settings will sync automatically.
Note: If you’re unsure which account you’re currently using, click your name and see which profile is at the top.
Add and switch accounts from Gmail
- Open Gmail.
- In the top corner, click your profile photo and then click Add account.
- Sign in to your other account.
- In the upper-right corner, click your name and select a different profile to switch accounts.
Manage multiple signatures
Create a signature
- Open Gmail.
- At the top right, click Settings
See all settings.
- In the General tab, scroll to Signature and click Create new.
- Name your signature, then click Create.
This name is not your actual signature, but is a name for the signature template. - In the text box at the right, add your signature text.
- (Optional) To add text colors, links, and images, use the format bar.
- At the bottom, click Save Changes.
Choose a signature for a message

Make your logo and signature appear side-by-side
Add your signature and logo in Google Docs:
- On your computer, open a Google Doc.
- Click Insert
Table and create a 2x1 table.
- (Optional) To resize the table columns so that the column with the name is smaller than the column with the logo, drag the table border to the right.
- In the left cell, click Insert
Image and insert your logo.
- In the right cell, enter your signature.
- Click Format
Table
Table properties.
- Click Color and change the table border to white.
- Click Edit
Select all.
- Click Edit
Copy.
Upload your signature and logo in Gmail:
- Open Gmail and follow steps 2 to 4 in Create a signature.
- In the text box at the right, right-click
Paste.
- At the bottom, click Save Changes.
Create variations of your email address
Step 1: Create a variation of your address
Just add a plus sign (+) and any word before the @ sign in your address.
For example, if your email address is cassy@solarmora.com, use cassy+news@solarmora.com or cassy+urgent@solarmora.com.
Step 2: Automatically sort incoming messages based on the address
Set up a filter to automatically label and sort messages based on the address.
For instance, a filter can automatically archive and apply the News label to all incoming newsletters sent to cassy+news@solarmora.com. When you're ready to read them, click News in your list of labels to find them.
- Open Gmail.
- In the search box at the top, click Show search options
.
- Under To, enter your task-specific email address, such as cassy+news@solarmora.com.
- Click Create filter.
- Choose what you want Gmail to do to these messages, such as archive, apply labels, and marking as important.
- Click Create filter.
Delegate access to email
Give someone access to your inbox
- At the top right, click Settings
See all settings.
- Click Accounts and Import.
- In the Grant access to your account section, click Add another account.
Note: Your organization may restrict email delegation. - Enter the email address of the person you want to add and click Next Step.
- Click Send email to grant access.
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