Gmail has introduced a range of useful organizational features in an attempt to help users get control over their packed inboxes. These include labels, nested labels, filters, and something called archiving. There are many advantages to archiving emails, but are you familiar with what it actually is?
Archived emails on Gmail disappear from your primary inbox until someone replies to them. You can access archived mail in the mobile app or on your desktop by choosing ‘All Mail’ in the left sidebar. Your archived mail will then appear, and you can use the search bar to find what you need.
Let’s take a closer look at archived emails, including their purpose, where they go, and how to get them back. Before you know it, you’ll be using the archive like a pro.
What Are Archived Emails?
Although many people confuse archived emails with deleted emails, they’re very different things. Archived emails are just removed from your inbox until the point when someone replies to the email thread, and then they come back again.
This is a concept offered through Gmail, so bear in mind that other mail providers may not offer the same system, and you may be forced to choose between deleting and keeping the emails in your inbox.
Where Do Archived Emails Go?
Archived emails go to the ‘Archive’ folder, but this folder doesn’t automatically appear on the screen so many people end up thinking the emails are lost forever.
Although the folder doesn’t show up alongside the other labels, you don’t need to worry — the emails are there and will reappear if there are any new additions to the discussion.
Using Archived Emails and Labels as “Folders”
By using archived emails along with labels, you can create a sidebar on the lefthand side of the Gmail app that starts to feel a bit like a filing cabinet. You can quickly access the emails that need your attention while storing away the ones that don’t, with Gmail conveniently moving the archived emails as soon as they become more pressing.
How to View Archived Emails From Your Web Browser
It’s very easy to view archived emails from Gmail in your web browser. If you go to the lefthand side of the screen and scroll down, you’ll see something saying ‘All Mail’. Click this to open it up, and you’ll see all of your mail, including the messages that have been archived.
If you’re looking for a specific message from the archives, you can search for the email address of the sender or a key phrase in the search bar. The archived email thread should pop to the top of the screen. You can then always choose to unarchive the email if you want to — simply choose the ‘Move’ option and move it back to your primary inbox.
How to View Archived Emails From Your Phone
If you have the official Gmail app for Android or iOS, then the process for viewing archived emails is exactly the same. Open up the left sidebar on your phone, choose ‘All Mail’, and you’ll be viewing the archived mail too. You can then type in search terms, just like on a desktop.
Unfortunately, there’s no way to view only the archived messages. You have to view them alongside everything else, so bear that in mind when you choose to archive mail.
What’s the Purpose of Archived Emails?
The purpose of archived emails is to keep your inbox clean and tidy. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the number of emails that come in on a daily basis, so Gmail (and other email servers, such as iCloud) have worked to make some easy organizational features that can help their users stay on top of things.
It also helps you to prioritize emails that may be more important. You can archive emails where another person owes a response, not you, so it’s easy to forget about until it pops back up in your inbox when it’s your turn to reply.
Lastly, it provides a great alternative to the trash folder. In the trash folder, emails are automatically deleted after 30 days. However, you may want to remove an email from your inbox without worrying that it will be permanently gone soon, and that’s where the archive comes in. This way, you can still access the information after some time without the clutter.