How To Filter Emails In Gmail

If your Gmail account is connected to many apps and software, you may be receiving numerous emails each day. These might be in the form of social media updates, newsletters, ads, and personal emails from various senders.

When this is the case for you, looking for a specific email or thread may be a difficult thing for you to do. However, there are a few solutions you can use: using the search bar and filtering emails. In this guide, you will learn more about the latter.

Filtering messages help you see only the important emails you’re looking for through a specific keyword or criteria. Read on to learn more about the process.

Using the Options Button

The filter button can be found on the right side of the search bar. As it’s what’s immediately visible to many Gmail users, people frequently use this button when filtering. Below are the steps you can follow.

1. Go to Gmail then sign in to your account.

Open your web browser, type Gmail into the search engine, and sign in with your Google credentials.

2. Click the options button on the right side of the search bar.

If you’re in the inbox section, you’ll see a search bar above the email lists. A pop-up window will appear if you click the options button on the right side of the search box.

3. Input the criteria for the emails you want to filter.

Enter the criteria for your filter messages in this pop-up window. For example, enter his or her email address in the “From” box. Another is that if you want to filter emails based on specific words, simply enter them in the “Include words” box.

If you want to make the filter as specific as possible, don’t hesitate to fill in the details for all the sections or spaces in the pop-up window.

4. Select the “Create Filter” option at the bottom of the pop-up window.

After you’ve input all of the criteria for your filter messages and are certain that everything is correct, there are two options you can choose from — “create filter” and “search.” Click the “Search” button if you just want them to be specifically listed down on your inbox list.

Otherwise, click the “Create Filter” button at the bottom right of the pop-up screen. Then, follow the next steps in this guide.

5. Choose what you want the filter to perform.

You will be given several options for how you want your filter to function, such as sending the received email to the archive, deleting, labeling, starring, or automatically forwarding it, and so on. Choose anything you wish to use.

6. Click the “Create Filter” button to save the changes made.

After you’ve decided what you want to apply to filter your messages, click the “Create Filter” button to save all of your modifications.

Using a Particular Email

You can filter messages from a certain sender by following the steps outlined below. This is the simplest method of email filtering.

1. Tick the box next to the email you want to filter.

Look for the email that you wish to filter, then mark the checkbox next to it.

2. Click the three vertically-stacked dots for more options.

After you’ve marked the email, click the three dots in the toolbar to bring up a drop-down selection.

3. Select the option “Filter messages like these.”

There will be six options: mark as unread, not important, add a star, filter messages, mute, and forward attachments. You must select the “Filter messages like these” button from this list, which will open a new pop-up window.

4. Edit the filter criteria then click the “Create Filter” option.

The sender’s email address will be put automatically in the “From” portion of the pop-up window, but if you want to add more criteria for filtering your messages, you may do so by entering more details in their respective sections. Following that, select “Create Filter.”

5. Choose what you want the filter to do then click the “Create Filter” button.

Choose the particular action you want your filter messages to take. It might be to automatically forward, delete, or star the email, for example. After selecting one, click the “Create Filter” button to apply all of the criteria you’ve entered.

Keep in mind that when you set a filter to forward messages, it only affects new emails. Furthermore, if someone replies to a filtered message, the reply will only be filtered if it satisfies the same search criteria as the original message.

Final Thoughts

If you’re previously having trouble with specifically bringing out important emails, now you won’t have to worry much about looking for them! Filters make everything easier for you, no matter what it is you’re searching. However, remember that you need to put in the correct criteria for you to have accurate results.

For example, typing a different email address than the one you need will provide you with a different email list. Therefore, always make sure to be careful with details!