Creating a new label takes three clicks and works across all your devices

A label in Gmail is a folder that you can assign to emails — but unlike folders in other email programs, one email can have multiple labels at once. To create a new label, open Gmail on any device, click the three-line menu on the left side, scroll to the bottom, and click "Create new label". Type the name you want (like "Receipts" or "Work Projects"), then click Create. The label appears when ready in your sidebar and you can start using it right away.

Labels stay synced across your phone, tablet, and computer, so a label you create on your phone shows up on your desktop without any extra steps. This makes them far more flexible than the folder system most email providers use — you can tag a single email as both "Urgent" and "Client: Johnson" at the same time, then search or filter by either label later.

Key Takeaways

  • Create a label by clicking the three-line menu, scrolling to "Create new label", typing a name, and clicking Create.
  • One email can have multiple labels, so you can organize by project, client, urgency, and category all at once.
  • Labels sync when ready across your phone, tablet, and computer — no manual syncing needed.
  • You can assign a label to an email by opening it, clicking the label icon, and checking the box next to the label name.
  • Nested labels (labels within labels, like "Clients/Johnson") keep your sidebar organized when you have many labels.

Assigning labels to emails you already have

Once you create a label, you need to actually attach it to your emails. Open any email, then click the label icon — it looks like a tag and sits in the toolbar at the top. A dropdown menu appears showing all your labels. Check the box next to any label you want to add. You can add as many as you want to a single email. Click outside the menu when you are done, and the labels stick to that email.

If you have dozens of old emails that should all have the same label, you can label them in bulk. Click the checkbox next to the first email in your inbox or search results, then hold Shift and click the checkbox next to the last email in the group you want to label. All emails between them are now selected. Click the label icon and check the box for the label you want to add to all of them at once.

Using nested labels to keep your sidebar clean

When you create many labels, your sidebar gets crowded. Gmail lets you nest labels — create a label inside another label — so related labels group together. To do this, create your main label first (like "Clients"). Then create a new label and type the name as "Clients/Johnson". The forward slash tells Gmail that "Johnson" is a sub-label of "Clients". In your sidebar, "Clients" now has a small arrow next to it. Click the arrow to expand and see all the sub-labels underneath.

You can nest labels as deep as you want — "Clients/Johnson/2024" works fine — but most people find two levels (main label and sub-label) is enough. Nesting does not change how labels work; an email can still have multiple nested labels, and searching works the same way.

Automatic labeling with filters

Instead of manually labeling emails one by one, you can set up a filter that labels emails automatically. Open Gmail and click the search box at the top. Type in search terms that match the emails you want to label — for example, "from:boss@company.com" to catch all emails from your boss. Click the search icon, then click the three-dot menu in the search results and select "Create filter". A dialog box opens. Scroll down and check the box next to "explore the label", then choose which label you want to add. Click "Create filter".

From now on, any new email matching those search terms gets the label automatically. The filter does not go back and label old emails — it only works on messages that arrive after you create it. If you want to label old emails too, search for them first, select them all, and label them manually using the bulk method described earlier.

Removing and renaming labels

To remove a label from a single email, open the email and click the label icon. Uncheck the box next to the label you want to remove. To delete a label entirely, click the three-line menu on the left, find the label you want to delete, click the three-dot menu next to it, and select "Delete label". Gmail asks whether you want to delete the label only or delete the label and all emails with that label. Choose "Delete label only" unless you actually want to remove the emails themselves.

To rename a label, click the three-dot menu next to the label name in your sidebar and select "Edit label". Type the new name and click Save. If the label has sub-labels, they stay attached to it — renaming "Clients" to "Accounts" does not break the connection to "Clients/Johnson".

Labels versus Gmail's built-in categories

Gmail also has built-in categories like Primary, Social, Promotions, and Updates. These are different from labels — Gmail sorts incoming emails into categories automatically based on what it thinks they are. You cannot create new categories, but you can turn them off if you do not want them. Labels, by contrast, are entirely under your control. You decide what they are, what they are called, and which emails get them.

Many people use both: they let Gmail's categories sort incoming mail, then use labels to organize emails by project, client, or urgency within the Primary category. You can add a label to an email that is already in a category — the two systems work together, not against each other.

Searching and filtering by label

Once you have labeled your emails, you can find them quickly. Click on any label in your sidebar to see only emails with that label. If you want to search within a label, click the label first, then use the search box at the top. You can also search by label name directly: type "label:Receipts" in the search box to find all emails labeled Receipts, or "label:Clients/Johnson" to find emails in a nested label.

You can combine label searches with other search terms. Type "label:Work from:boss@company.com" to find emails from your boss that you tagged as Work. This is much faster than scrolling through your inbox, especially if you have thousands of emails.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I change the color of a label to make it stand out?

Yes. Click the three-dot menu next to any label in your sidebar and select "Label color". A palette appears with color options. Pick the color you want and it applies when ready. Colored labels are easier to spot in your inbox and sidebar, especially if you use them to mark priority or status.

What happens to emails if I delete a label?

The emails stay in your inbox — only the label is removed. When you delete a label, Gmail asks whether you want to delete the label only or delete the label and all emails with it. If you choose "Delete label only", the emails remain, just without that label attached.

Can I move an email to a label like it is a folder?

Not exactly. Labels are not folders — an email stays in your inbox and also has the label. If you want emails with a certain label to feel separate, you can click the label in your sidebar to view only those emails. Some people use the Archive button to remove emails from their inbox after labeling them, which makes the label feel more like a folder.

Do labels take up storage space in my Gmail account?

No. Labels are just tags — they do not use any of your storage quota. Only the actual emails use storage. You can create as many labels as you want without affecting how much space you have left.

Can I share a label with someone else?

No. Labels are private to your account. If you want to share organized emails with someone, you can forward them or create a shared folder in Google Drive and put the emails there as attachments or screenshots.