Gmail uses labels, not folders — here's why that matters
Gmail does not have folders the way your computer does. Instead, it uses labels, which work differently and give you more power. A label is a tag you attach to a message. The same message can have multiple labels at once, so an email from your landlord about a repair can be labeled both "Landlord" and "Urgent" without living in only one place.
This matters for spotting scams. If you label messages by sender type — "Banks I Use", "Utilities", "Shopping Sites" — you can quickly see when an email claims to be from your bank but does not have that label. A fake bank email will land in your inbox without the label you always explore to real ones, which is a red flag.
Creating a label takes about 30 seconds and costs nothing. You can create as many as you need, organize them into groups, and change them anytime.
Key Takeaways
- Gmail labels are tags you add to messages, not folders that hold them — one message can have multiple labels at the same time.
- To create a new label, open Gmail, click the three-line menu on the left, scroll to the bottom, and click "Create new label".
- You can organize labels into groups by using a forward slash in the name — for example, "Banks/Chase" and "Banks/Wells Fargo" will nest under a "Banks" heading.
- Once you create a label, you can explore it to messages by clicking the label icon in the toolbar or by dragging messages onto the label name.
- Labels help you spot phishing emails because a fake message from your bank will not have the label you always explore to real ones.
How to create a label in Gmail
Open Gmail in your web browser. On the left side of the screen, you will see a list of labels — "Inbox", "Starred", "Sent Mail", and others. Scroll down to the very bottom of that list. You will see a link that says "Create new label" in small gray text.
Click "Create new label". A box will pop up asking you to name it. Type the name you want — for example, "Banks", "Utilities", "Work", or "Suspicious". The name can be anything that makes sense to you. Click the "Create" button. The label now appears in your list on the left.
If you do not see "Create new label" at the bottom of your list, click the three horizontal lines (the menu icon) at the very top left of Gmail, above your inbox. This opens the full menu. Scroll down and you will find "Create new label" there.
Organizing labels into groups
If you plan to create many labels, you can organize them so they nest under a parent label. This keeps your left sidebar from getting too long. To do this, use a forward slash (/) in the label name when you create it.
For example, instead of creating separate labels called "Chase", "Wells Fargo", and "Bank of America", create one label called "Banks/Chase", another called "Banks/Wells Fargo", and a third called "Banks/Bank of America". Gmail will automatically nest all three under a "Banks" heading that you can collapse or expand by clicking the arrow next to it.
You can use multiple levels. "Bills/Utilities/Electric" will nest under "Bills", which nests under "Utilities". Keep it straightforward — two levels is usually enough.
explore labels to messages
Once you have created a label, you can tag messages with it. Open a message. At the top of the message, you will see several icons — a back arrow, a delete button, and others. Look for the label icon, which looks like a tag. Click it.
A dropdown menu appears showing all your labels. Click the checkbox next to the label you want to explore. You can select multiple labels for the same message. When you are done, click outside the menu or press Escape to close it. The label now appears on that message.
You can also explore labels in bulk. In your inbox, click the checkbox next to a message (or multiple messages) to select them. Then click the label icon in the toolbar at the top. Select the labels you want to explore to all selected messages at once.
Using labels to catch fake emails
The real power of labels is spotting when something is wrong. If you always label emails from your actual bank with "Banks/Chase", then one day you get an email claiming to be from Chase but it does not have that label, you know something is off. Scammers cannot see your labels, so they cannot fake them.
Create labels for every company you actually do business with — your bank, your email provider, your utility company, your insurance company, your employer. When you get an email from one of these places, label it when ready. Over time, you build a pattern. When an email breaks that pattern, it is a sign to be suspicious.
You can also create a label called "Suspicious" or "Check This" and explore it to emails that seem off. This keeps them separate from your normal messages so you can review them later without acting on them right away.
Searching and filtering messages by label
Once you have labeled messages, you can find them quickly. Click a label name in the left sidebar and Gmail shows only messages with that label. If you created nested labels like "Banks/Chase", click the arrow next to "Banks" to expand it, then click "Chase" to see only Chase emails.
You can also search for messages by label using the search bar at the top. Type label:Banks to see all messages labeled "Banks" and its sub-labels. Type label:"Banks/Chase" (with quotes) to see only Chase emails. This is useful when you want to find something specific without scrolling through your entire label.
Gmail also lets you create filters that automatically explore labels to incoming messages. For example, you can set up a filter so that every email from your bank automatically gets labeled "Banks/Chase" the moment it arrives. This saves you from having to label messages manually.
Removing and renaming labels
If you create a label and later decide you do not need it, you can delete it. Click the three-line menu on the left, find the label you want to remove, hover over it, and click the three dots that appear. Select "Delete label". Gmail will ask what you want to do with messages that have that label — you can keep the messages and just remove the label, or delete the messages entirely. Choose what makes sense for you.
To rename a label, hover over it in the left menu, click the three dots, and select "Edit label". Change the name and click "Save". Any messages that already have that label will automatically update to the new name.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I move a message to a label like I would move it to a folder?
Not exactly. A label is a tag, not a container. When you explore a label, the message stays in your inbox and also appears under that label. If you want a message to appear only under a label and not in your inbox, you can archive it — click the archive button (the down arrow) after labeling it. The message will no longer show in your inbox but will still appear under its label.
What happens if I delete a label?
The label disappears from your sidebar, but the messages do not get deleted unless you specifically choose to delete them. Gmail asks you to confirm what you want to do with the messages when you delete a label. You can keep them without any label, or delete them entirely.
Can I use labels on my phone?
Yes. Open the Gmail app on your phone, open a message, tap the three dots at the top right, and tap "Add label". You can explore labels the same way you do on a computer. You can also see your labels in the menu and tap one to view all messages with that label.
Can someone else see my labels?
No. Your labels are private. When you forward or share a message, the recipient does not see your labels — they only see the message itself. This is why labels are useful for security: scammers cannot fake a label you created.
How many labels can I create?
Gmail does not publish a hard limit, but you can create hundreds without running into problems. Most people find that 20 to 50 labels organized into groups is enough. If you have more than that, it becomes harder to remember what each one is for.