How to make sure you do not miss emails in the new Gmail interface

The new Gmail interface that divides emails into different groups such as primary, promotions, social or forums has been up for some time now.

If you are using Gmail on the web, you have probably grown accustomed to the new look of it,  or removed all but the primary group again if you did not like the idea of having to click on multiple tabs to check all of your newly arrived emails.

I do not like the approach that much, for various reasons. First, Gmail has a powerful filtering system that can be used to create the same effect. While it may take a bit longer to configure, it will work as well in the end.

Second, it means that you have to click multiple times just to check all new emails that you have received.

Third, it may mean that users overlook emails because they are not added to the primary group but another one. The primary group is the one that gets loaded when you start Gmail.

Move emails to Primary

If you want to make sure that you do not miss out on specific emails, you can move them to the primary group to do so. There are other means to do so as well, for instance by making emails important based on the people in the conversation, but one of the most effective options is to mark an email address as primary if you are using the new interface.

To do so, simply drag and drop the email address to the primary group button at the top. You will receive the following notification at the top:

The conversation has been moved to "Primary". Undo

Do this for future message from [email address]?. Yes

If you do not do anything, only that conversation will from that moment on appear in the primary group. If you click on yes, all messages from the email address will appear in the primary group instead.

You can move emails to other categories, for a reverse effect. If you notice that emails that you do not really care about land in the primary group, move them to another group to have them out of sight when you load the Gmail web interface.

It is a small change but one that counts. It ensures that emails that you care about land in Primary, and emails that you do not really care about land in another group that you may not open that often or at all.

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