How to create a folder in Gmail

Among many of the practical tools that it offers us gmail folders play a prominent role. Through them it is easier to organize our emails and classify the different messages. We'll see how to create a folder in Gmail and all the advantages that we are going to achieve if we use them correctly.

It is worth spending some time to put our emails in order, not just to work better with them and have more efficient access to information they save, but also to get a clearer and cleaner view when we open the screen of our e-mail.

In this way it will be necessary to create new folders, name them correctly and, above all, use them well. That is, save the emails that we receive in the corresponding folder. If we are minimally methodical, we will avoid falling back into the previous chaos.

Gmail labels

There is a difference between Gmail's folder organization system and those of other email managers. Actually, it's a simple matter of naming: you don't call them folders, but labels.

A folder (or label, in the case of Gmail) is a space dedicated to storing and organizing certain types of information within a computer system. Gmail labels are a method for Mark emails and group them according to their subject.

The tag system proves to be much more practical than the folder system, as it allows us to assign multiple labels to the same email. The folders used by other email managers don't allow that flexibility. In them, to include a message in two folders, it would be necessary to create several copies of the same message and then save them in each of the folders created for each subject. In short, the tags allow the classification system to be more efficient and the search mode more agile.

Create Gmail folder (or Gmail label)

Once the difference between folders and labels has been clarified, as well as the advantages of one over the other, it is time to explain how to work with the latter. But since both terms are often used as synonyms, here we will speak interchangeably of create folder in gmail or create label in Gmail.

We can do it from any device, although the computer is probably what is used the most, especially when e-mail is used for professional purposes. These are the steps to follow:

First, we access our email. On the home screen we go to the left column, where a list of default labels (social, notifications, forums, promotions) is displayed. There you have to scroll down and select the option "More". There, as shown in the screenshot above, we must click on the option "new label".

Next, a box will open in which we write the name of the new label and the location to which we want to assign it. Actually, nest tags is another way of saying “create subtags or subfolders”. Using this option, the newly created label is classified within another higher label or category.

Then we click "Create". Finally, with the label already activated, it only remains to select the emails that we want to mark with it.

Finally, if we want to see all the emails assigned to a certain label, we have to go to the left column and search the list for the label in question (you may have to click on the “More” button to see it). We can also see the labels next to the subject of the email in the different trays.

Tricks to take advantage of Gmail labels

Here are some tips that will help us organize and manage labels in Gmail more efficiently:

colored labels

Assigning different colors to each label is a very visual and simple way to easily identify our emails. For example, many users use the color red to mark priority or urgent emails.

To add a certain color to a label, follow these steps:

1. We first hover over the left sidebar label.
2. Then we click on the three point icon displayed next to the tag name.
3. select "Label Color" in the menu and choose one of the colors from the list or choose the option "Add custom color".

Rename tags

If what we want to do is change the name of a label, the steps to follow are similar to those of the previous section:

1. We click on the three point icon next to the tag name in the left sidebar.
2. Then we select the option "Edit" and write a new name for your tag.
3. This name will automatically apply to all emails marked with that label.

nested tags

We said above that Gmail offers us the possibility of establishing a certain hierarchy in its label system with the “nesting” option. In this way, they can create labels and sub-labels at different levels. This is a very practical function. Imagine a simple example: a top tag called "invoices" that can contain other nested tags corresponding to each month of the year, each client, etc.

This is how to create sublabels or nested labels in Gmail:

1. Again we go to the label and click on the three point icon next to the tag name.
2. In the options that appear, we choose "Add sublabel".
3. In the box that appears, the option "Nest tag in". In the dropdown at the bottom you can choose other locations.

Automatically assign labels to new messages

This is a very practical function with which you can automate part of the work of organizing and classifying your emails. To benefit from it, we enlist the help of the gmail filters. The idea is to set up a filter so that emails received that meet certain criteria are automatically applied a certain label.

The steps are as follows:

1. We click on the icon Settings in Gmail (up to the right).
2. In the menu, we select "See all settings."
3. Let's go to the tab "Filters and blocked addresses", in which we click on the option "Create a new filter".
4. In the pop-up window you have to set filter criteria and then assign the tag.
5. Finally, we click on "Apply filter".

Show and hide labels

In the left sidebar of Gmail there is enough space to hold 500 labels. Even if we are not going to need so many, sometimes it can be more comfortable to show only the ones we need or use regularly, hiding the rest. This is the process to follow:

Once again, we go to the label's three dots icon in the left sidebar. There we check the box  "show hide" in the position that we want according to our preferences.

Remove tags

If we no longer need a particular tag, we can easily remove it, since emails associated with it will not be deleted. Of course, when you delete a tag, all the subtags nested in it will also disappear.

To remove a label in Gmail, simply go to the label's three-dot icon again and select "Remove tag". That easy.