How to Create Filters and Labels in Gmail to Organize Your Inbox Automatically

Labels are Gmail’s version of folders, and filters are rules that apply them (and other actions) to incoming mail automatically. Together they keep your inbox sorted without manual effort.

Why: A label tags a message so you can find it later; a filter watches for mail matching your criteria — a sender, a subject word, an attachment — and acts on it the instant it arrives. Set them up once and receipts, newsletters, or a client’s mail get labeled, starred, or archived on their own.

Step 1: Create a label

Do this first so the filter has somewhere to send mail.

1. Open Gmail on a computer.
2. In the left sidebar, scroll down and next to Labels, click Create new label. (If you don’t see it, click More to expand the sidebar.)
3. Enter a label name.
4. To file it under an existing label, check Nest label under and pick the parent.
5. Click Create.

You can create up to 5,000 labels. To color-code one, hover over it in the sidebar, click the three-dot menu, and choose Label color.

Step 2: Build a filter that applies the label

1. In the search box at the top, click Show search options (the sliders icon on the right).
2. Enter your criteria — for example, an address in the From field, a word in Subject, or check Has attachment.
3. Click Search first if you want to confirm it matches the right mail, then reopen the search options.
4. At the bottom of the search window, click Create filter.
5. Choose the actions: tick Apply the label and select the label from Step 1. You can also combine Skip the Inbox (Archive it), Mark as read, Star it, or Forward it.
6. To organize mail already in your account, also tick Also apply filter to matching conversations.
7. Click Create filter.

New mail matching the filter is now labeled (and archived, starred, etc.) automatically.

Step 3: Edit or delete a filter later

1. Click the Settings gear (top right) → See all settings.
2. Open the Filters and Blocked Addresses tab.
3. Next to any filter, click edit to change its criteria or actions, or delete to remove it.

FAQ

Will a filter move emails I already received? Only if you checked Also apply filter to matching conversations when creating it. Otherwise it affects new mail only.

What’s the difference between a label and a folder? A message can carry several labels at once, and labeling doesn’t move it out of All Mail. A “folder” feel comes from a filter that also archives (Skip the Inbox) so labeled mail bypasses the inbox.

Can I apply a label by hand? Yes — check a message, click the Labels icon at the top, and tick the label.

Sources: Gmail Help — Create rules to filter your emails, Gmail Help — Create & manage labels in Gmail