How to Find Unread Emails in Gmail

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Written by Darlene Antonelli, MA

Last Updated: June 4, 2024

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This wikiHow will show you how to find unread emails in Gmail using the website as well as the mobile app.

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

Searching For Unread Emails on the Mobile App

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This app icon looks like a red and white envelope that you can find on one of your Home screens, in the app drawer, or by searching.
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You'll see this three-line menu icon in the top left corner of your screen.

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3
Tap the search bar. Your keyboard will slide up from the bottom of your screen and suggestions will appear below the bar.
- Tap a suggestion if you want to use it.
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This will prompt your Gmail to show you every email that is unread. If you want to refine the search, you can enter the label (label:EXAMPLE).

Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

Displaying Your Unread Emails First using a Computer

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Go to https://gmail.com in a web browser. You can use any web browser to set up your Gmail inbox to display unread messages first.
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Click

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. You'll see this gear icon in the upper right corner of the page.
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3
Click to select Unread first . This is nestled under the "Inbox Type" header.
- Your change will automatically save.
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This icon is in the upper right corner of the Quick settings menu.

Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

Searching For Unread Emails on a Computer

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Go to https://gmail.com in a web browser. You can use any web browser to search for unread emails.
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You'll see all your labels next to icons of tags. You can also click All Mail to look at all of your mail.
3

Click inside the search bar. This is at the top of the page and might contain the label you're inside in "label:EXAMPLE" format.
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4
Add "is:unread" to the search bar. After the label, if there is one, you should type "is:unread" to find only the emails in that label that are unread. Your search bar might look like this: "label:EXAMPLE is:unread."
- If you're searching "All Mail," you won't see "label:EXAMPLE."
- Press Enter or Return when you're ready to see the search results.

Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

Displaying Your Unread Emails First using the Mobile App

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This app icon looks like a red and white envelope that you can find on one of your Home screens, in the app drawer, or by searching.
{"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/b\/bf\/Find-Unread-Emails-in-Gmail-Step-14.jpg\/v4-460px-Find-Unread-Emails-in-Gmail-Step-14.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/b\/bf\/Find-Unread-Emails-in-Gmail-Step-14.jpg\/aid12061628-v4-728px-Find-Unread-Emails-in-Gmail-Step-14.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":546,"licensing":"<div class=\"mw-parser-output\"><p>License: <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\" class=\"external text\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fair_use\">Fair Use<\/a> (screenshot)<br>\n<\/p><\/div>"}

You'll see this three-line menu icon in the top left corner of your screen.
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This is next to a gear icon that you'll find at the bottom of the menu.
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If you have more than one Gmail account that you want to display differently than the default setting, you'll need to repeat this process for each account.
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You'll see this under the header "Inbox."
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6
Tap Unread first . This is usually the third menu option down from the top of the list.
- Your changes are automatically saved; tap the back arrow to navigate back to your inbox.

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How to Find Unread Emails in Gmail

Steps

Searching For Unread Emails on the Mobile App

Displaying Your Unread Emails First using a Computer

Searching For Unread Emails on a Computer

Displaying Your Unread Emails First using the Mobile App

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