How Gmail Will Sort Your Email for You

GOOGLE HAS announced a new kind of inbox for Gmail that automatically sorts mes­sages into categories, or "tabs.” Updates from Google+ and other networks go into a Social tab, deals and offers into a Promotions tab, forum messages into a Forums tab, and receipts and bills into an Updates tab. Most other types of messages will be in the Primary tab.

On the desktop, the new tabs will appear just above the inbox, so you can switch between them with one click.

On Gmail for Android (4.0 and up) and iOS, non-Priority tabs appear in the left side­bar menu, and as teasers in the main inbox view.

The auto-sorting inbox isn't mandatory. In a blog post, Google says users will be able to switch back to the Classic

How Gmail Will Sort Your Email for You

view, or use Priority Inbox.

The new inbox does seem reminiscent of Priority Inbox, which launched nearly three years ago. With Priority Inbox, Gmail attempts to figure out which messages are most important and brings them to the top. (The feature's recep­tion has always been mixed.)

For users who don’t receive a lot of deals and notifica­tions, the additional tabs may be a hassle, as they'll require more effort to sort through.

And we’ll have to see whether Gmail's algorithms work properly and don't end up putting important email into non-Primary tabs.

At this writing, Google says it's rolling out the new inbox gradually. On the desktop, look for a 'Configure inbox' option beneath the gear icon.