Top Gmail Filters to Improve Productivity

Gmail Filters are a great way to improve your inbox productivity. While Gmail filters have been around for years, the average Gmail user hasn’t taken advantage of such a powerful productivity feature.

In this article, we will outline some of the most effective ways to set up your Gmail Filters to maximize productivity. This will include filtering emails based on the email sender, the content of an email, and a few other Gmail Filter use cases.

If you are new to Gmail Filters, you may want to start with our guide on how to create Gmail Filters.

How Gmail Filters Work

Gmail Filters allow you to manually create rulesets that will automatically filter and triage incoming emails for you. The filters you create will be based on information found in an email message such as sender email address, subject, date, and more. Some of the most common email filters will be focused on prioritizing key email senders that you will receive email from; for example, emails coming from your boss may be marked as important and placed in a new folder, or any emails from an online store can be automatically marked as read.

Prioritizing Key Contacts

Let’s be honest, in your workflow, some email senders are more important than others. This could include emails from your project manager, your boss, or even your partner. At the end of the day, some of the contacts in your mailbox will send emails that you will not want to miss. So why not create a Gmail Filter to prioritize key contacts?

How to set up a Gmail filter to prioritize an email sender

1. Log in to Gmail
2. Click the Search Settings icon on the right side of the Gmail search bar
3. Enter a sender’s email address or domain name in the From field
4. Click Search to see a preview of all of the messages from the Sender
5. Click Create filter 
6. To prioritize this sender, click “Always mark it as important”
7. If you want to apply this filter and mark all previous emails as important then check “Also apply filter to matching conversations.”
8. Click Create Filter

Remove Unwanted Email Clutter

While some senders should be prioritized in your inbox, others may be more of a distraction and should be filtered away so you aren’t interrupted in the middle of your workflow. Emails from online store marketing teams, that SaaS tool that you trialed, or from your favorite social media platform can be easily marked and filtered away so you can stay productive. 

When it comes to treating email distractions, you may want to simply mark them as read so you can search them out later, or move them to a new folder to be reviewed later - when you can spare a few minutes and your attention isn’t as critical.

How to set up a Gmail filter to mark as read

1. Log in to Gmail
2. Click the Search Settings icon on the right side of the Gmail search bar
3. Enter some information about the types of emails you want to filter such as the subject or sender.
4. For example, If you want to remove recurring social media digests from your unread count, enter their subject line as a filter
5. Click Create filter 
6. To mark these emails as read as they are received, click “Mark as read”
7. If you want to apply this filter and mark all previous emails as important then check “Also apply filter to matching conversations.”
8. Click Create Filter

‍

How to set up a Gmail filter and assign a new label

1. Log in to Gmail
2. Click the Search Settings icon on the right side of the Gmail search bar
3. Enter some information about the types of emails you want to filter such as the subject or sender.
4. For example, If you want to remove recurring social media digests from your unread count, enter their subject line as a filter
5. Click Create filter 
6. To assign a label these emails click “Apply the label”
7. If you want to create a new label for these emails then click “New Label” to give it a name.
8. Click Create Filter

‍

Mark Certain Types of Emails as Important to Prioritize Them

While some contacts are critical to your workflow, so might be certain types of emails. Emails from your financial institution, bills to-be-paid, or emails about project milestones may be important to keep you productive. 

Thankfully, it isn’t too hard to create an email filter that can query the content of emails to pick out the ones that are important to you. Then it is as easy as ensuring that all of those emails are marked as important moving forward so you never miss the type of content that is critical to you. 

How to set up a Gmail filter to to mark as important

1. Log in to Gmail
2. Click the Search Settings icon on the right side of the Gmail search bar
3. Enter some information about the types of emails you want to filter such as the subject or sender.
4. For example, If you want to prioritize any emails that mention a certain project or task, enter the information in “Has the words”
5. Click Create filter 
6. To prioritize this content, click “Always mark it as important”
7. If you want to apply this filter and mark all previous emails as important then check “Also apply filter to matching conversations.”
8. Click Create Filter

‍

Automatically Forward Emails to Others

A lot of the time an email needs to be forwarded to someone on your team or another part of your company. For example, if you are receiving bills from a vendor that your finance team needs to action, why not set up a Gmail Filter to automatically do the forwarding for you? 

It is important to note that email forwarding can become quite a headache to the receiver that you’re forwarding the emails to if your Gmail filter is incorrect. Be sure to triple-check your filter before setting and forgetting your new auto-forward to avoid passing your clutter to someone else.

How to set up a Gmail filter to auto-forward email

1. Log in to Gmail
2. Click the Search Settings icon on the right side of the Gmail search bar
3. Enter some information about the types of emails you want to forward such as the subject or sender.
4. For example, If you want to automatically forward invoices to your finance team, then enter invoice under subject.
5. Click Create filter 
6. To auto forward this content click “Forward It” and select the email address to forward it to
7. To add a new email address to forward emails to click Add forwarding address
8. Now that you are in settings click Add a forwarding address
9. Upon confirmation of the email address to begin forwarding mail to, you will have to add a verification code sent to the forwarded address
10. Once verified, click Save Changes
11. Click Create Filter

Ensure an Email Sender Avoid the Spam

Sometimes, no matter your best efforts, Gmail may be marking someone as Spam - even if they are not. The most common cause of this is likely since the email sender is operating on a new mail service or domain name that hasn’t developed a rich and trustworthy history of sending good emails. Think of it as a credit score for your email address -- those with a poor score get sent to Spam because they start without any history. 

Thankfully, you can create an email filter for a sender or type of email to ensure that their emails are never sent to Spam and always make their way to your inbox. This is a great use case for someone that you want to receive emails from but shouldn’t be the top priority in your inbox.

How to set up a Gmail filter to never send to Spam

1. Log in to Gmail
2. Click the Search Settings icon on the right side of the Gmail search bar
3. Enter some information about the types of emails you want to ensure will never land in your Spam folder such as a subject or sender.
4. For example, If you want to ensure a certain sender never lands in your Spam then enter their email address in From
5. Click Create filter 
6. To ensure they never land in spam, click “Never send it to Spam”
7. Click Create Filter

Maintaining Your Gmail Filters

Your priorities are always evolving and so should your inbox. Maybe you don’t need to auto-forward emails to Finance anymore, or you have a new boss that should be prioritized. No problem, update your Gmail filters to stay on top of your workflow.

How to update or edit your Gmail Filters

1. Log in to Gmail
2. Click the Gear icon in the top right of your inbox
3. Click See all settings
4. Click Filter and Blocked Addresses
5. From here you can edit and delete any existing Gmail Filters

Use InMoat Smart Filters to Prioritize Your Inbox in 2 Minutes

Setting up and staying on top of a handful of Gmail filters can quickly become a time-consuming and ongoing task. If you want to prioritize key contacts in your inbox, filter out unwanted emails, and stay on top of certain types of emails, you should try InMoat for Free for 30 Days.

InMoat makes email filtering for Gmail as easy as selecting your email priorities. Afterward, all you have to do is continue to use your inbox as usual and important emails will always be front and center in your inbox. Everything else is filtered away for you to review when it is convenient for you. With InMoat you can have a more productive inbox that evolves with you so you don’t have to worry about keeping your Gmail filters updated every month.

‍