Can You Filter Emails on Gmail Based on Your Contacts? (11 Steps)
By Brian Hooper
Your Gmail contacts are usually the people whom you have important relationships with and the most frequent communication with, so you want their emails to not get lost in the fray. Setting up a Gmail filter regarding their messages can help. You can’t do this by clicking on Gmail and selecting "Contacts" from your Gmail page. That direct link to your Contacts panel merely shows a list of your contacts. Initially, you must manually indicate to Gmail which messages are from your contacts; thereafter, it will automatically redirect them.
Create Contacts Label
Step 1
Click on the down arrow next to More in the menu on the left.
Step 2
Click on “Create new label.”
Step 3
Type “Contacts” into the “Please enter a new label name” box from the New Label window.
Step 4
Select where you want the Contacts label to go under the “Nest label under” area, and then click on the “Create” button.
Identify Contacts and Filter
Step 1
Put a check mark in the box beside an email message from a contact in your inbox or sent folder.
Step 2
Click on the down arrow next to More and select “Filter messages like these.”
Step 3
Click on the “Create filter with this search” link.
Step 4
Review the list of options and select the actions that you want Gmail to take. You can have emails from the contact bypass your inbox by selecting “Skip the Inbox,” for instance.
Step 5
Check the box titled “Apply the label." Click on “Choose label” and select “Contacts” from the list of choices.
Step 6
Check the box titled “Also apply filter to matching conversation” at the bottom.
Step 7
Click on “Create filter.”
References
Writer Bio
Brian Hooper has more than 10 years of editorial experience. Hooper has provided editorial services for New York publishing houses and currently writes for Fortune 500 companies in Silicon Valley. He holds a Bachelor of Science in business administration.