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How Gmail Marks Mail Important for the Priority Inbox

Gmail studies specific criteria to determine which emails are important to you.

By Heinz Tschabitscher Heinz Tschabitscher Writer University of Vienna A former freelance contributor who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on March 13, 2021 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Email Gmail Yahoo! Mail Gmail doesn't have the priority inbox feature turned on by default. This feature splits the contents of your regular inbox into sections on the screen: Important and Unread, Important, Unread, Starred, and Everything Else. You can choose which of these to use. Gmail decides what you're likely to classify as important and places those emails in the Important and Unread section using criteria such as how you treated similar messages in the past, how the message is addressed to you, and other factors.

Importance Markers

Each email has an importance marker immediately to the left of the sender's name in the Inbox list. It looks like a flag or arrow. When Gmail identifies a particular email as being important based on its criteria, the importance marker is yellow. When it is not recognized as being important, it is just the empty outline of the shape. At any time, you can click the importance marker and change its status manually. If you want to know why Gmail decided a particular email was important, hover your cursor over the yellow flag and read the explanation. If you disagree, just click the yellow flag to mark it unimportant. This action teaches Gmail which emails you think are important.

How to Turn on Priority Inbox

Here's how to turn on Priority Inbox in the Gmail Settings: Open your Gmail account and select Settings (gear icon). Select See all settings. At the top of the Settings screen that opens, click the Inbox tab. Next to Inbox type, select Priority Inbox. In the Importance markers section, select the radio button next to Show markers to activate it. In the same section, select the radio button next to Use my past actions to predict which messages are important to me. Select Save Changes. When you go back to your inbox, you'll see the sections on the screen.

How Gmail Decides Which Emails Are Important

Gmail uses several criteria when deciding which emails to mark as important or not important. Among the criteria are: Which emails you openWhich emails you reply toWho you send emails to and how oftenKeywords that occur in emails you usually readWhich emails you starWhich emails you archiveWhich emails you deleteWhich emails you mark important manuallyWhich emails you mark unimportant manually Gmail learns your preferences from your actions as you use Gmail. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire How to Retrieve Archived Emails in Gmail 10 Best Free Email Accounts for 2022 The 15 Best Hidden Features in iOS 16 Check Why Gmail Classified a Message as Important How to Manage Your Focused Inbox in Outlook for iOS How to Recover Missing Emails in Gmail How to Send Spam to the Spam Folder in Yahoo Mail How to Search Mail in iPhone Mail How to Whitelist a Domain in Mac OS X Mail App How to Send a Reply and Archive With One Click in Gmail How to Flag a Message for Follow-Up in Yahoo Mail How to Find All Unread Messages in Gmail How to Create Rules in Gmail for (Almost) Anything How to Change the Mail Sorting Order in Mac OS X Mail How to Group Messages by Thread in Mac Mail Program How to Use Search Operators to Find Emails in Gmail Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies