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    Essential Skills
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    4 min read 5 stepsApril 19, 2026Verified April 2026

    How to Use Gmail Labels to Organize Your Email

    Color-code and sort your Gmail inbox with labels — they work like folders but let one email belong to multiple groups at once.

    At a Glance

    Category
    Essential Skills
    Difficulty
    Beginner
    Read Time
    4 min read
    Steps
    5
    Topics covered
    gmail
    email
    organization
    labels
    inbox

    In this guide (5 steps):

    1. 1.Create a new label
    2. 2.Apply a label to an email
    3. 3.Color-code a label
    4. 4.Find all emails with a label
    5. 5.Set up automatic labeling with filters
    1

    Create a new label

    ~25s
    On the Gmail website, scroll down the left sidebar until you see "More," then click it. Scroll further until you see "Create new label." Click it, type a name for your label (like "Doctor" or "Bills"), and click Create. On the Gmail app, tap the three lines (menu) in the top left, scroll down, and tap "Create new."

    Quick Tip

    Keep label names short and clear. "Medical" is easier to scan than "All My Doctor and Hospital Emails."

    2

    Apply a label to an email

    ~31s
    Open the email you want to label. On the website, click the label icon (looks like a tag) near the top of the email, check the box next to the label you want, and click Apply. On the app, tap the three dots in the top right corner of the email, tap "Move to," and choose your label. You can apply more than one label.

    Quick Tip

    You can also label multiple emails at once on the website: check the boxes to the left of each email in your inbox, then click the label icon above the list.

    3

    Color-code a label

    ~20s
    On the Gmail website, hover your mouse over a label name in the left sidebar. A three-dot menu appears to the right of the label name — click it. Select "Label color" and choose a color from the options. Now that label (and any emails wearing it) will show a colored dot or background, making it easier to spot at a glance.
    4

    Find all emails with a label

    ~20s
    Click the label name in the left sidebar on the Gmail website, or tap it in the menu on the app. Gmail will show you every email that has that label, no matter when it arrived or whether you've read it. This is a fast way to find all your bill emails or all messages from a particular person.
    5

    Set up automatic labeling with filters

    ~33s
    On the Gmail website, click the Settings gear icon in the top right, then click "See all settings." Go to the "Filters and Blocked Addresses" tab and click "Create a new filter." Enter the sender's email address (or a keyword) in the appropriate field, then click "Create filter." On the next screen, check "Apply the label," choose your label from the dropdown, and click "Create filter." Now Gmail will label matching emails automatically as they arrive.

    Quick Tip

    Automatic filters save a lot of time if you get regular emails from the same places — like a pharmacy, utility company, or newsletter you like.

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    If your Gmail inbox feels like a pile of unsorted mail on the kitchen table, labels can help you bring order to it. Labels work a lot like folders — you can group emails about a specific topic, person, or project into one place. But labels have an extra advantage: one email can have multiple labels at the same time. For example, a message from your doctor about a bill could be labeled both "Doctor" and "Bills."

    Labels also show up in the left sidebar of Gmail, so you can click on any label to see all emails with that label at once. You can color-code labels, which makes it even faster to spot what's what. For instance, you might make your "Family" label green, your "Bills" label red, and your "Medical" label blue.

    Labels don't move emails out of your inbox unless you choose to archive them — so you can still see everything in one place while also having it organized. Many people use labels to track things they're waiting on, flag messages that need a reply, or group emails from a specific club, organization, or subscription.

    You can create as many labels as you want, and you can apply them by hand or set up filters so Gmail automatically applies a label whenever an email arrives from a certain sender or contains certain words. For example, every email from your electric company could automatically get a "Utilities" label.

    Labels are free, built into every Gmail account, and work on both the Gmail website and the Gmail app on your phone.

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    Official Resources

    GCFGlobal — Free Digital SkillsAARP Technology TipsSenior Planet

    Sources used to create and verify this guide. View all sources →

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    How to Use Gmail Labels to Organize Your Email — Step-by-Step Guide | TekSure