Gmail labels: create, nest and colour them
In Gmail, folders are called labels, and they can do more than folders: one email can carry several. Once you understand that, you can build an order that grows with you. Here is how labels work and how to set them up well.
Labels instead of folders
In a classic email program, an email sits in exactly one folder. In Gmail it sits nowhere: it carries tags. «Inbox» is just another label. Archiving removes that tag, nothing more. That is why nothing gets lost when you archive, and why a client's invoice can sit under «Invoices» and «Clients/Miller Ltd» at the same time.
For your structure that means: think about what you will search for later. The kind of email (invoice, enquiry, newsletter) or the sender (client, supplier)? Both work, but a list that mixes both quickly becomes confusing.
You can also manage all labels under Settings → See all settings → Labels. There you decide whether a label appears in the left column and in the message list.
Colours and order
Hover over a label in the left column, click the three dots and choose Label colour. Colours help if you use them sparingly: one colour for everything about money, one for clients, one for internal matters. Nobody recognises twelve colours for twelve labels.
Gmail sorts labels alphabetically. If you want a fixed order, put numbers in front: «1 Clients», «2 Invoices». Not pretty, but reliable.
A label structure that lasts
A flat list with a few broad terms has proven itself:
- Invoices: invoices, receipts, reminders, payment confirmations
- Clients: enquiries, quotes, projects, with a sublabel per large client if needed
- Suppliers and orders: order confirmations, delivery notes, tracking
- Newsletters: everything subscribed that you want to read, but not right away
- Appointments: invitations, reminders, bookings
- Authorities and insurance
A label «Misc» sounds handy but turns into a second inbox. Leave it out. Whatever does not fit stays in the inbox until it is done.
Applying labels automatically
Labels applied by hand only last as long as you stay disciplined. There are two automatic ways: Gmail filters that apply a label by sender or words, or a tool that understands the content and files by your description. The comparison is in How to sort Gmail automatically.
Tidying up: less is more
Once a year, look through your label list. Labels that have not received an email for months can go: deleting a label keeps the emails, they only lose the tag. Merge two labels that mean the same thing («Invoice» and «Invoices») by selecting the emails of one, applying the other label and deleting the first.
