Create and manage labels in Gmail

To organise your emails into categories like 'Work', 'Family' or 'To-do', you can create labels in Gmail.

Labels are different from folders. Only you can access your labels. The people you email don't get them. When you delete an email, it's removed from every label and your inbox.

Create a label

Important:

• You can create up to 5,000 labels.
• If you create labels with the Gmail API, learn how to use the API for label creation.

1. On your computer, go to Gmail.
2. On the left, next to 'Labels', click Create new label .
3. Enter a label name.
4. Optional: To include your label in another label, tick the box next to 'Nest label under'.
5. Click Create.

Tip: Label visibility depends on your conversation view settings.

• If you turn on the conversation view, the label applies only to the existing messages, not to new replies.
• If you turn off the conversation view, labels appear only on the specific messages that you label.

Edit and delete labels

Edit a label

1. On your computer, go to Gmail.
2. On the left side of the page, move to the label's name.
3. Click More .
4. Edit your label.

Delete a label

1. On your computer, go to Gmail.
2. On the left side of the page, hover over the label's name.
3. Click More Remove label.

Change label colours

1. On your computer, go to Gmail.
2. On the left side of the page, move to the label's name.
3. Click More Label colour.
4. Select the label colour that you want to use.
   • Or, to create your own label colour, click Add custom colour.

Tips:

• You can create up to 100 custom colours for your Gmail labels. Each combination of a custom background and text colour counts as one of your 100 colours.
• If you find that a new custom colour does not save, you may have reached the limit. You can apply a standard label colour or reuse an existing custom colour for the label.

Add a label

Add a label from your inbox

1. On your computer, go to Gmail.
2. Tick the box next to the email that you want to label.
3. At the top, click Labels .
4. Select the label that you want to apply.

Add a label to a new email that you want to send

1. On your computer, go to Gmail.
2. Click Compose.
3. At the bottom right, click More options Label.

Move an email to another label

1. On your computer, go to Gmail.
2. Tick the box next to the email.
3. At the top, click Labels .
4. Untick the current label.
5. Select a new label.

Show or hide labels

You can show or hide the labels that appear to the left of your inbox.

1. On your computer, go to Gmail.
2. At the top right, click Settings See all settings.
3. At the top, click Labels.
4. Next to a label, click Show or Hide.

Related resources

• Create rules to filter your emails
• Group emails into conversations