Advanced search Gmail allows users to conduct advanced searches using either the Advanced Search interface or through search operators in the search box. Emails can be searched by their text; by their ‘From’, ‘To’ and ‘Subject’ fields, by their location, date and size; by associated labels, categories and circles, by whether or not the message is read, and by whether or not the message has an attachment. There are also a large number of advanced search operators. By default, Gmail combines search terms with an invisible "AND". Gmail allows the use of
Boolean operators such as "OR" for finding messages that match at least one of the more search terms.
Filters Gmail allows users to create rules (‘
filters’) for the automatic organization of incoming mail. Filters are created using the Advanced Search interface using the same criteria as those used for searching. Gmail can perform any combination of the following actions upon an email that meets all the specified criteria in a filter: • archiving (i.e. removing the message from the Inbox) • adding a star • marking as read • marking as important • applying a label • moving to the bin • forwarding to another e-mail address
Labels Labels provide a flexible method of organizing emails since an email can have any number of labels (in contrast to a folder-based system in which an email can belong to only one folder). Labels are much like tags on a blog post. Labels can also do the work of folders if an email is moved to a label – this is the equivalent of applying a label to it as well as archiving it. By default, labels appear on the message list and can be customized with a color. Users can also create sub-labels beneath a label to create a hierarchy or nested labels. Labels can be used as a search criterion and all emails having a particular label can be viewed together through the side menu. Gmail has often received praise for replacing the limitations of hierarchical folders with the flexibility of labels.
Archiving Gmail allows users to 'archive' emails. Archiving removes a conversation from the inbox and can be accessed via the 'All Mail' section. In Gmail, the 'All Mail' section displays all of a user's emails, excluding the ones in Spam and Bin. Technically, when a message is archived, the 'Inbox' label is removed from it. Archiving presents a better alternative to deleting as it helps to tidy up the inbox without deleting messages permanently. Archiving, however, is limited to message threads and individual messages cannot be archived. Moreover, archiving is available only for the inbox, and messages in other places such as Sent Mail cannot be archived. However, according to
About.com, this limitation can be overcome by accessing Gmail through IMAP.
Importance markers Marking of emails as important is more or less automatic. Users can ‘train’ Gmail in recognizing important messages by manually marking messages as important. Gmail takes into account a number of signals to determine whether a message is important or not. Messages from people who are emailed to or replied to a lot, and messages of the type that are always opened or were recently marked as important or starred, are likely to be marked as important automatically. Also, messages that are sent to a user directly and not through a mailing list, and messages containing certain keywords (password change, transaction details, shipment delivery, ticket confirmation, etc.) are marked as important. Messages of the type that were recently archived or deleted, or are rarely opened are less likely to be marked as important. Important emails can be searched for using the operator “is:important”. Uninterested users have the option to turn off the entire feature. In a review for
Lifehacker, Adam Pash writes that Gmail is only as good at recognizing important emails as any context-ignorant computer can be. However, in another review for
Lifehacker, Whitson Gordon calls Priority Inbox "one of Gmail’s most unsung features". He writes that Priority Inbox can be quite helpful as long as users give it a chance to learn from their habits.
Inbox tabs and category labels Beginning June 2013, Gmail allowed for the usage of
tabs in the inbox for automatically categorizing emails by five general categories: • Primary (Person-to-person email conversations) • Social (from social networks, online dating services and media-sharing sites) • Promotions (solicitations, marketing and one-way mailing lists) • Updates (confirmations, receipts, bills and updates) • Forums (discussion threads from forum boards) Users have the choice to hide one or more of the tabs or disable the entire feature. Even if the use of tabs is switched off, all emails are sorted into one of the five categories, which can be used as automatic labels. Like labels, categories can be used as a search criterion and be made to appear as labels on the message list. All emails with a particular category can be seen together through the side menu. == Conversation view ==