Group emails into conversations

You can choose whether replies to emails are grouped in conversations, or if each email shows up in your inbox separately. 

Note: To learn how to customize Gmail to look like Outlook, visit section 2 of the Learning Center.

Choose your conversation settings

When people reply to an email, Gmail groups responses together in conversations with the newest email on the bottom.

A conversation breaks off into a new conversation if the subject line changes or the conversation gets to more than 100 emails. You can customize conversations for your account or for individual IMAP/POP accounts per device.

Change conversation settings for your Google account

  1. Open the Gmail app Gmail.
  2. In the top left, tap Menu Menu and then Settings.
  3. Tap your account address.
  4. Check or uncheck Conversation view.

Change conversation settings for your IMAP/POP accounts on your device

  1. Open the Gmail app Gmail.

  2. In the top left, tap Menu Menu and then Settings.
  3. Tap General settings.
  4. Check or uncheck Conversation view.

When Conversation view is on messages will be grouped. When Conversation view is off messages won't be grouped.

How Gmail groups automated emails

Important: Emails are grouped when your conversation view setting is turned on.

If you manage a system that sends automated email notifications to a group of people, Gmail might automatically group them into the same conversation. 

Emails are grouped if each message meets the following:

  • The same recipients, senders, or subject as a previous message
  • A reference header with the same IDs as a previous message
  • Sent within one week of a previous message

To prevent grouped emails:

  • Create a new subject for each message that you don’t want to group.
  • Send each message with a unique reference header value that doesn’t match a previous message.  
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