Why I Turned Off The New Gmail Inbox

I was slightly annoyed with the new Gmail inbox, but after a few days I got used to it. I didn’t mind having my junk emails sorted to the “Promotions” tab, and it was pretty cool having all my Facebook update emails sorted to the “Social” tab. When I learned that you can “teach” Gmail where to sort emails from a given sender, I thought that could be pretty useful.

gmail inbox

 But, if you look over my shoulder while I am checking my Gmail, this is what you will see:

why I turned off the new gmail inbox

I turned off the new Gmail inbox when I realized it wasn’t saving me any time. It actually was taking me more time to check my email, because I had to click on each tab to check all of my emails.

If I were confident that the “Promotions” tab only had junk email (like the daily email from Road Runner Sports), maybe I wouldn’t check that one every time, but other emails that I did want to see right away were being sorted there too.

gmail inbox

And, I never quite figured out why certain emails were sorted to the “Updates” tab instead of the “Social” tab or the “Promotions” tab. It also was annoying that some blog comment emails would stay in the primary inbox, while others would be sorted to the “Social” tab. But, even if I knew that all of my Facebook and blog emails would be under the “Social” tab, I still would check that tab frequently, adding another step to the whole email checking process.

With the new feature turned off, I can see all of my new emails at a glance, and decide which to read now, which to read later, and which to delete unread (sorry Road Runner Sports, but I’m not sorry!). If my inbox is crowded with emails that I don’t need to read, I think unsubscribing (or remembering to “unfollow” Facebook posts) is a better option than creating another inbox monster.

While the pre-sorting algorithm of the new Gmail inbox didn’t work for me, I do sort my emails into folders after I’ve read them. I can’t get a screenshot of more than a few folders, but these are at the top of my folder list.

organizing gmail

You can see that I have different folders and sub-folders, all designed to make it easier to find an email later.  It saves so much time, since I don’t have to scroll through page after page of emails looking for that one with the code for inserting Youtube videos into a blog post. (Why can’t I ever remember that? It’s very simple!)

My email housekeeping isn’t perfect, but I do a pretty good job of keeping my Gmail inbox to a manageable level.

Do you use Gmail? 

What do you think of the new Gmail inbox?

Have you ever deleted all of your emails to start fresh?

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9 Responses to Why I Turned Off The New Gmail Inbox

  1. Miz says:

    I turned off IMMEDIATELY.
    but Im an old dog that way 🙂
    no new tricks unless I DECIDE.

  2. nhrunner says:

    I LOVE it!! I had too many promotions clogging my regular mail, and could miss an important one. I don't want to unsubscribe to the promotions, but now can easily scan and love that they are in a separate place. Yes, you can drag emails to show gmail what box to put them in, and I did that with a few and it has worked.
    I like R with P on Facebbok.. and I also see you in my Updates.. second most important after Primary. It's amazing how few primary emails I have, since total emails are 100 a day.

  3. I had never used gmail until just recently and it is a new account that I just set up for a new business venture that we are kicking off. I haven't even looked at enough to realize there were different tabs – I will probably not use that feature but I love the folders for after reading!!!

  4. Elle says:

    I quite like it after I TEACH where to put my messages! I can delete more quickly the ones I don't necessarily read every day.

  5. Michelle says:

    I'm getting use to it and am liking it more now that it is "learning" where to put things. My big complaint is that I cannot just delete a whole page of Promotions messages at once – that would save me time! (And too funny about Road Runner – I feel the same way!)

    • nhrunner says:

      Michelle, you can delete a whole page at once just by checking the box in the upper left to "all" and then delete. That's one of the big advantages of the new system, I think… all the promotions are lumped together and easily deletable, (or you can easily save what you want). It's amazing how much this has cleaned up all my boxes but "personal". (I went from 10000 unread emails to 1000.. and as I go thru those 1000 they are old and in the personal by accident..)

  6. confettidrop says:

    I turned mine off too. But I fear it's going to eventually give us no choice in the matter and force the switch. Boo. I hate change. What was wrong with it before, right?
    Gaye

  7. notsosuddenlysusan says:

    I have to say that I have loved the new gmail. There have only been a few that come up under updates or promotion that I've had to tell to permanently place in my primary box, but I spend so much less time checking email it's been fabulous. It took me about a week to settle into it and get all the emails going where I wanted. I only have my phone notifications to alert me of primary updates, so I find myself checking so much less.

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