Using Labels instead of Folders

Actually, Gmail doesn't use folders. To help you organize your mail more effectively, Gmail uses labels instead.

Here's why we think labels are better than folders:

Labels

A conversation can have more than one label

A conversation can be in several locations (Inbox, All Mail, Sent Mail, etc.) at once, making it easier to find later

You can search conversations by label

Learn how to create, edit, delete, and search labels.

Folders

You can only put a message in one folder

You have to remember where you filed a message to retrieve it

You can't always do folder-specific searches 

Using labels

Labels help you organize your messages into categories -- work, family, to do, read later, jokes, recipes, any category you want. Labels do all the work that folders do, but with an added bonus: you can add more than one to a message.

Only you can see your labels, so whether you mark a message with "Best friend" or "Read later," the sender will never know.

Click here to see detailed instructions on how to use labels