I created this video to show how to use Gmail labels to organize your inbox, reduce stress, and never miss an important email again.
Most people treat their inbox like a giant to-do list — but if you’re running a business or juggling multiple projects, this quickly becomes unmanageable. Gmail labels are the secret weapon for inbox clarity. They’re simple, powerful, and totally customizable.
Here’s what I walk through in the video:
Step 1: Create a new label
In the left sidebar of Gmail, scroll down and click “More”, then “Create new label.” Give it a name like:
- Clients
- Invoices
- Affiliate Programs
- Urgent Responses
You can nest labels within others too. For example, I have a main “Clients” label and sub-labels for each individual client.
Step 2: Apply labels to emails
You can manually label emails by selecting them, then clicking the Label icon at the top of your inbox. Or, open an email and apply the label from the right-click menu or toolbar.
I also show how to use filters to automatically apply labels to incoming emails. This is a huge time saver.
Example:
- From: invoices@example.com
- Action: Apply label “Invoices” and skip the inbox
Now, all those emails go straight to your “Invoices” section, keeping your main inbox distraction-free.
Step 3: Color-code your labels
Click the three dots next to any label and choose a color. I use red for urgent items, green for money-related labels, and soft gray for low-priority folders.
Color coding makes it incredibly fast to scan your inbox visually.
Step 4: Use labels with starred emails and multiple inboxes
Gmail allows multiple inboxes and you can configure sections based on labels. For example, you can set one panel to only show emails labeled “Today” or “Follow-Up”.
In the video, I show how to combine starred items, pinned threads, and labels to build a lightweight CRM or task system right inside Gmail.
Are you currently using folders or filters, or is your inbox a catch-all mess like mine used to be?