How to Switch from Gmail to Google Inbox
Understand how "Labels" and "Bundles" help you sort your inbox., Open the Google Inbox menu (☰) to see all of your labels., Tap the "Create new" button at the bottom of the menu to make a new label. , Give the label a descriptive name., Select "Add"...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Understand how "Labels" and "Bundles" help you sort your inbox.
These two concepts are the backbone of the Google Inbox system, and taking a little time to understand how they work will make transitioning from Gmail to Google Inbox much simpler.
Labels are a way to sort your incoming mail automatically by using rules and applying categories to messages.
These work very similarly to labels, rules, and filters in Gmail (your old labels and rules are even still here).
Bundles are collections of new messages in your inbox that have the same labels.
These bundles are a sort of holding area for your incoming messages, and help keep your inbox from overflowing with individual messages.
Opening a bundle will allow you to see all of the new messages you have received with that bundle's label.
Bundling is enabled on a label-by-label basis. -
Step 2: Open the Google Inbox menu (☰) to see all of your labels.
Google Inbox has several premade labels that it will attempt to sort the bulk of your email into, such as purchase receipts, travel itineraries, social media updates, and more.
Each of the premade labels has a unique icon.
Any labels that you had previously created in Gmail will be listed below the premade ones. ,, You'll want to be able to know at a glance what kind of messages the label will contain. , Select "From" to choose the type of rule you want to add.
From
- Any email sent from the email address or name you specify will be added to the label.
To
- Any email addressed to the email address or name you specify will be added to the label.
Subject
- Any subject that matches the subject you enter will be added to the label.
Includes
- Any message body that has the keyword(s) you specify will be added to the label.
Excludes
- Any message body that doesn't have the keyword(s) you specify will be added to the label. , You can add multiple rules to one label to really customize the types of messages that get sorted into it.
Only emails that meet all of the rules for the label will get sorted into it. , Any future emails you receive that match all the label rules will be added to that label.
Emails that you have already received will not be automatically sorted into the label. , You can find a list of all your labels in the Google Inbox menu (☰).
All of the labels that are currently bundled, such as your premade bundles like Travel and Finance, will be listed under the system folders (Sent, Spam, etc.).
Labels that are set to skip the inbox entirely are listed next.
Labels that you do not have bundled are listed at the bottom of the menu. , This is located at the top of the open label. , When bundling is enabled, any messages received in that label will be collected together in your inbox.
The collection will be labeled with the label's name, and unread messages will be bolded.
Expanding the bundle will let you see all of the messages in that bundle that have not yet been marked as Done.
When bundling is disabled, new messages with that label will not be gathered in one place in your inbox, and will appear at the top when they arrive.
If bundling is disabled, you can check the "Skip the inbox" box and any message with that bundle will automatically be marked as Done (archived). , By default, bundles are set to appear at the top of the inbox when a new message arrives in that label.
You can change this to once a day or once a week.
If you set the interval to daily or weekly, you will not be notified when new messages arrive.
Instead, the bundle will appear at the top of your inbox at the designated time if new messages have arrived.
If your label has important messages, you should probably set the bundle to appear as soon as new messages arrive.
This will ensure that you receive your important messages immediately. , You can turn notifications on or off for each bundled label.
This can only be done from mobile devices.
If enabled, you will receive a notification whenever the bundle appears back in your inbox. , The "Move to" button looks like three stacked dots.
Google Inbox works best when the majority of your emails are labeled.
This allows you to use the bundle settings to keep your inbox clean. , You can create a new label by selecting "Create new" at the bottom of the list. , This will ensure that all new messages from that sender will be paced in the label as well. , Marking a message as Done will remove it from your inbox.
It can still be found at any time.
Doing this for all the messages you no longer need will keep your inbox very clean. , Swiping a bundle of messages will mark all of the messages in that bundle as Done at once. , You can click the Checkmark for a bundle to mark every message in the Bundle Done at the same time. , Messages that have been marked as Done can be found in the Done folder of the Google Inbox menu (☰), or in their specific label's folder. , Snoozing a message or reminder will allow you to deal with items at a later time, or set an email to appear when you arrive at a location.
When an email or reminder reaches its Snooze time, it will reappear at the top of your inbox.
Snoozing an item hides it from your inbox until the set date and time. , You will be prompted when you want to Snooze the item until. , You will be prompted when you want to Snooze the item until. , Want a certain message to appear when you get to work? Need a shopping list to come up when you get to the store? You can use the Snooze function to hide a message until you reach a specific destination.
Click here for detailed instructions.
You need to enable location services for Google Inbox on your mobile device before you can set location-based Snoozes. , If you use your computer to check your email, start visiting inbox.google.com instead of mail.google.com.
At the time of this writing, the Google Chrome browser is the only one supported.
Support for more browsers will be available soon. , If you're using the Google Inbox mobile app, you'll want to turn off any Gmail notifications so you don't get bombarded when receiving new messages.
Android
- Open the Gmail app, tap the Menu button and select Settings from the bottom of the menu.
Select your Google account and uncheck the Notifications box. iOS
- Open the Settings app and tap Notifications.
Find and open the Gmail option.
Toggle Notifications off. , If necessary, hide your old Gmail app or even uninstall it.
There are very few things that you can't do in the Google Inbox app that you can in Gmail. -
Step 3: Tap the "Create new" button at the bottom of the menu to make a new label.
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Step 4: Give the label a descriptive name.
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Step 5: Select "Add" to create rules that will sort incoming mail into your new label.
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Step 6: Select the "And" button to combine multiple rules.
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Step 7: Select "Save" to save your new label rules.
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Step 8: Open a label to change its bundle settings.
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Step 9: Tap or click the Settings button.
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Step 10: Tap or click the "Bundle messages in the inbox" slider to toggle bundling on or off.
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Step 11: Select the "Show bundle" option to change when your bundle appears.
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Step 12: Toggle bundle notifications on or off if you're on a mobile device.
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Step 13: Tap or click the "Move to" button for an email that you want to move to a label.
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Step 14: Select the label that you want to move the message to.
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Step 15: Select "Always do this" when prompted.
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Step 16: Mark messages as Done when you are finished with them.
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Step 17: Swipe a message to the right in the mobile app to mark it as Done.
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Step 18: Click the Checkmark button in the browser inbox to mark a message as Done.
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Step 19: Find your Done messages in the Done folder or in your labels.
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Step 20: Snooze messages so that they reappear in your inbox when you need them.
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Step 21: Swipe an email to the left in the mobile app to Snooze it.
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Step 22: Click the Snooze button in the browser inbox to Snooze a message.
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Step 23: Snooze the message until you reach a destination.
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Step 24: Visit the Google Inbox site instead of the Gmail site.
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Step 25: Turn off Gmail notifications on your mobile device.
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Step 26: Use the Google Inbox app exclusively.
Detailed Guide
These two concepts are the backbone of the Google Inbox system, and taking a little time to understand how they work will make transitioning from Gmail to Google Inbox much simpler.
Labels are a way to sort your incoming mail automatically by using rules and applying categories to messages.
These work very similarly to labels, rules, and filters in Gmail (your old labels and rules are even still here).
Bundles are collections of new messages in your inbox that have the same labels.
These bundles are a sort of holding area for your incoming messages, and help keep your inbox from overflowing with individual messages.
Opening a bundle will allow you to see all of the new messages you have received with that bundle's label.
Bundling is enabled on a label-by-label basis.
Google Inbox has several premade labels that it will attempt to sort the bulk of your email into, such as purchase receipts, travel itineraries, social media updates, and more.
Each of the premade labels has a unique icon.
Any labels that you had previously created in Gmail will be listed below the premade ones. ,, You'll want to be able to know at a glance what kind of messages the label will contain. , Select "From" to choose the type of rule you want to add.
From
- Any email sent from the email address or name you specify will be added to the label.
To
- Any email addressed to the email address or name you specify will be added to the label.
Subject
- Any subject that matches the subject you enter will be added to the label.
Includes
- Any message body that has the keyword(s) you specify will be added to the label.
Excludes
- Any message body that doesn't have the keyword(s) you specify will be added to the label. , You can add multiple rules to one label to really customize the types of messages that get sorted into it.
Only emails that meet all of the rules for the label will get sorted into it. , Any future emails you receive that match all the label rules will be added to that label.
Emails that you have already received will not be automatically sorted into the label. , You can find a list of all your labels in the Google Inbox menu (☰).
All of the labels that are currently bundled, such as your premade bundles like Travel and Finance, will be listed under the system folders (Sent, Spam, etc.).
Labels that are set to skip the inbox entirely are listed next.
Labels that you do not have bundled are listed at the bottom of the menu. , This is located at the top of the open label. , When bundling is enabled, any messages received in that label will be collected together in your inbox.
The collection will be labeled with the label's name, and unread messages will be bolded.
Expanding the bundle will let you see all of the messages in that bundle that have not yet been marked as Done.
When bundling is disabled, new messages with that label will not be gathered in one place in your inbox, and will appear at the top when they arrive.
If bundling is disabled, you can check the "Skip the inbox" box and any message with that bundle will automatically be marked as Done (archived). , By default, bundles are set to appear at the top of the inbox when a new message arrives in that label.
You can change this to once a day or once a week.
If you set the interval to daily or weekly, you will not be notified when new messages arrive.
Instead, the bundle will appear at the top of your inbox at the designated time if new messages have arrived.
If your label has important messages, you should probably set the bundle to appear as soon as new messages arrive.
This will ensure that you receive your important messages immediately. , You can turn notifications on or off for each bundled label.
This can only be done from mobile devices.
If enabled, you will receive a notification whenever the bundle appears back in your inbox. , The "Move to" button looks like three stacked dots.
Google Inbox works best when the majority of your emails are labeled.
This allows you to use the bundle settings to keep your inbox clean. , You can create a new label by selecting "Create new" at the bottom of the list. , This will ensure that all new messages from that sender will be paced in the label as well. , Marking a message as Done will remove it from your inbox.
It can still be found at any time.
Doing this for all the messages you no longer need will keep your inbox very clean. , Swiping a bundle of messages will mark all of the messages in that bundle as Done at once. , You can click the Checkmark for a bundle to mark every message in the Bundle Done at the same time. , Messages that have been marked as Done can be found in the Done folder of the Google Inbox menu (☰), or in their specific label's folder. , Snoozing a message or reminder will allow you to deal with items at a later time, or set an email to appear when you arrive at a location.
When an email or reminder reaches its Snooze time, it will reappear at the top of your inbox.
Snoozing an item hides it from your inbox until the set date and time. , You will be prompted when you want to Snooze the item until. , You will be prompted when you want to Snooze the item until. , Want a certain message to appear when you get to work? Need a shopping list to come up when you get to the store? You can use the Snooze function to hide a message until you reach a specific destination.
Click here for detailed instructions.
You need to enable location services for Google Inbox on your mobile device before you can set location-based Snoozes. , If you use your computer to check your email, start visiting inbox.google.com instead of mail.google.com.
At the time of this writing, the Google Chrome browser is the only one supported.
Support for more browsers will be available soon. , If you're using the Google Inbox mobile app, you'll want to turn off any Gmail notifications so you don't get bombarded when receiving new messages.
Android
- Open the Gmail app, tap the Menu button and select Settings from the bottom of the menu.
Select your Google account and uncheck the Notifications box. iOS
- Open the Settings app and tap Notifications.
Find and open the Gmail option.
Toggle Notifications off. , If necessary, hide your old Gmail app or even uninstall it.
There are very few things that you can't do in the Google Inbox app that you can in Gmail.
About the Author
Jerry Griffin
A passionate writer with expertise in practical skills topics. Loves sharing practical knowledge.
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