How to Move Labels in Gmail: Organization, Renaming, & More

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The labels feature in Gmail lets you organize your mail into different categories, such as “Personal” and “Work.” Once you’ve created some labels, there are a few different ways you can reorganize them. In this article, we’ll talk you through several simple techniques you can use to reorder your labels, show or hide them, or group them into related nests, as well as how to move your messages from one label to another.

1

Reorder your labels by renaming them.

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    This means you can’t drag and drop them to reorder them, but you can change their order by renaming them. To do this, open Gmail in a browser on your computer, then hover your cursor over the name of the label you want to edit. Click the down arrow â–¼ or menu button … that appears next to the label and select Edit from the menu that pops up, then change the name of the label and click Save . [1]
    • For instance, if you want to have multiple “Work” labels, you can organize them by labeling them “Work1,” “Work2,” “Work3,” and so on. Or, put letters at the beginnings of folders with different names to change their display order—e.g., “A-Work,” “B-Receipts,” and so on.
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2

Drag labels you use less often into the More section.

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    To move a label under the More section, open Gmail in a browser, then click and hold the label you want to move. Drag it down the list of labels under the word More at the bottom of the list (or Less , if you have that section expanded). [2]
3

Group related labels with the nesting feature.

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    To create a new nested label, open Gmail in your web browser and click Settings
    Windows Settings
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    in the upper right corner of the window. Click the See all settings button and then select the Labels tab at the top of the Settings window. Scroll down and click the Create new label button, then type in the name of your label. Check the box next to Nest label under: , then select the parent label from the dropdown menu. [4]
    • The new label will now be displayed under the parent label in your list of labels on the left-hand menu bar in Gmail. You can collapse or expand the list of sublabels under each label.
    • If you want to nest a label that’s already been created, hover over it with your cursor and then select the More button â‹® . Select Edit from the pop-up menu, then check Nest label under: and select the parent label from the dropdown menu.
    • The menu under the More button â‹® will also give you the option to add a new sublabel to an existing label. Scroll to the bottom of the menu and click Add sublabel , then fill in a name for your new label and click Create .
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4

Drag and drop messages to move them to the desired label.

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    To get started, open your Gmail account in a browser. Click and hold the message you want to move, then drag it to the label you want in the menu on the left side of the screen. [5]
5

Open a message to change it to a different label.

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    If you’re on your computer, open Gmail in a web browser and click the message you want to move to a new label. Once the message opens, click the label icon
    Android 7 Label
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    at the top. Uncheck the current label(s) and check the new one(s) you want to apply to the message, then click Apply . The message will now appear under the new label(s). [7]
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      References

      1. ↑ https://support.google.com/mail/answer/118708?hl=en
      2. ↑ https://support.google.com/mail/answer/9259770?hl=en#zippy=%2Clearn-how
      3. ↑ https://support.google.com/mail/answer/118708?hl=en
      4. ↑ https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9260550?hl=en
      5. ↑ https://support.google.com/mail/answer/9259770?hl=en#zippy=%2Clearn-how
      6. ↑ https://support.google.com/mail/answer/118708?hl=en
      7. ↑ https://support.google.com/mail/answer/118708?hl=en

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