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Labels & Organization

MailPrism uses your existing Gmail labels — the same ones you see in Gmail. Apply and remove them here, and they sync straight back to your mailbox.

Applying and removing a label​

Use the label action on an email's toolbar (or in the email view) to open the label picker:

  • Add a label — the picker lists your labels that aren't already on the email.
  • Remove a label — it lists only the labels currently on the email.
  • Start typing to filter the list, then click a label or press Enter to apply it.

Each label shows its color so it's easy to recognize. See Email actions for where the label button lives on the toolbar.

Creating a new label

The picker shows the labels in your Gmail account. To create a brand-new label in MailPrism, go to Settings → Gmail Accounts and use Create Label on the account. (Labels you create in Gmail also appear here after they sync.)

User labels vs. Gmail system labels​

Gmail has two kinds of labels:

TypeExamplesIn MailPrism
Your labelsClients, Receipts, TravelShown on emails and offered in the label picker.
System labelsINBOX, IMPORTANT, STARRED, SENT, CATEGORY_*Hidden by default — they have their own controls.

System labels are kept out of the picker on purpose: actions like Star, Important, and Archive already manage them directly, so listing them again would only add noise.

Showing system labels​

If you want to see Gmail's built-in labels on your emails, turn on Show Gmail system labels under Settings → Appearance. It's off by default because most people find labels like INBOX and IMPORTANT distracting (under Settings → Appearance).

Finding email by label​

To pull up everything with a given label, use the search box with Gmail's label: operator. Search only looks inside the current tab, so switch to the All Mail tab first — otherwise results are limited to the tab you're on (on the Inbox tab, only labelled mail that's still in your inbox). For example:

label:clients

Combine it with other terms to narrow further. See Search & filters for the full syntax.

Nested labels​

If you organize Gmail with nested labels (a parent label with sub-labels, like Clients/Acme), MailPrism shows the label name exactly as Gmail stores it, and you can search for it the same way:

label:clients/acme

Automating labels​

Rules can apply or remove labels for you — for example, label every newsletter or tag anything from a key client automatically. See Actions reference.

→ Next: Search & filters