Reading & organizing
Mail groups messages into conversations, so a back-and-forth reads top to bottom in one place. This page covers reading mail and keeping the inbox under control.
Read a conversation
Section titled “Read a conversation”- Pick a folder on the left (you start in Inbox).
- Click a conversation in the thread list — the whole exchange opens in the reading pane.
- Use the toolbar above the conversation for actions: star, archive, trash, Summarize thread, Read aloud, Add to Tasks, and Add to Calendar.
Unread conversations appear bold in the list; opening one marks it read.
Folders
Section titled “Folders”| Folder | What lands here |
|---|---|
| Inbox | New mail addressed to you |
| Starred | Everything you’ve starred, across folders |
| Sent | Mail you’ve sent |
| Drafts | Messages you started but haven’t sent |
| Archive | Mail you’ve archived — out of the inbox, never deleted |
| Spam | Mail the filter flagged — see Spam & security |
| Trash | Mail you’ve trashed |
Star, archive, and trash
Section titled “Star, archive, and trash”- Star a conversation to pin it into the Starred folder — useful as a lightweight “needs my attention” list.
- Archive removes a conversation from the inbox without deleting it. It stays searchable and readable under Archive, and comes back if someone replies.
- Trash moves a conversation to the Trash folder.
Labels
Section titled “Labels”Labels are colored tags that cut across folders. Any labels present on your mail show up in the left sidebar beneath the folders — click one to filter the thread list to conversations carrying that label.
Attachments
Section titled “Attachments”Files attached to a message appear as chips beneath the body. Click one to download it. Incoming attachments are also filed into Drive automatically, so you can find them later without digging through mail.
Listen instead of reading
Section titled “Listen instead of reading”Click the speaker button in the reading pane to have the conversation read aloud. Knobs cleans up the text as it reads — links are spoken as “a link at example.com” instead of a letter-soup URL. Click again to stop. You can also read aloud a thread’s AI summary — see AI in Mail.
Act on a conversation
Section titled “Act on a conversation”Two toolbar buttons connect Mail to the rest of your workspace:
- Add to Tasks creates a task linked back to this thread — it shows up in Tasks with a source card pointing home.
- Add to Calendar drafts a calendar event from the thread and opens the event editor pre-filled — see Calendar invites in Mail.