Gmail offers a feature that categorizes your email into tabs like Main, Promotions, and Updates. If you turned it on by mistake or prefer to view all your emails together, here’s how to remove tab categories in Gmail.
Although Gmail syncs customizations (like labels) and settings across all your devices, tab categories aren’t one of them. If you use Gmail on multiple devices, you’ll need to enter and disable tab categories on each device (and each account) individually. Do not worry. It is easy to do.
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Contents
- How to remove tab categories in Gmail for web
- How to Delete Tab Categories in Gmail for iPhone and Android
- How to view all emails without deleting tab categories
How to remove tab categories in Gmail for web
If you’re used to how the Inbox works in Outlook or Apple’s Mail app, you might be used to seeing your email in a single Inbox view. Gmail allows you to disable tab categories in settings (you can disable one or all of them).
First, open the Gmail website in your favorite browser. Click on the Settings icon in the upper right corner (it looks like a gear.) and choose the “See all settings” option.
In the settings, go to the “Inbox” tab. In the Categories section, uncheck the category you want to remove. You can disable the “Social”, “Promotions”, “Updates” and “Forum” categories.
Once you’ve unchecked the tabs you want to remove, scroll down and click the “Save Changes” button.
Gmail will now reload and you will see that the tab categories have been updated based on your selection. If you unchecked all categories, your inbox will show all emails in one view, without any tabs (as you can see in the screenshot below).
How to Delete Tab Categories in Gmail for iPhone and Android
In the Gmail mobile app for iPhone and android, the tab categories appear in the sidebar menu. Although the interface between the Gmail app on iPhone and Android is slightly different, the process for deleting tab categories is the same.
Tab categories can be disabled in the Inbox section of the Gmail app settings for each account. If you are using multiple accounts, you will need to repeat this process for each account.
Open the Gmail app on your Android smartphone and tap the Menu button (three parallel lines) in the top left corner of the screen.
Scroll down and choose the “Settings” option.
Next, tap the email account on which you want to disable tab categories.
In the Inbox section, choose “Inbox Categories”.
Uncheck the tab categories you want to hide (such as ‘Updates’, ‘Promotions’, ‘Social’ and ‘Forums’). If you’re using an iPhone, you’ll see toggle switches instead. Then, use the “Back” button in the upper left corner to return to the Gmail home screen.
When you get there, you’ll see the updated inbox view with the categories selected. If you unchecked all categories, you will find that all categories in the sidebar are gone and your inbox will now show all available emails directly.
How to view all emails without deleting tab categories
Don’t want to remove all category tabs, but still want a way to see all your emails in one list? We have a tip for you.
You can do this using the All Mail label or folder in Gmail. You will find it in both the web client and the mobile apps.
On the web, you’ll find the “All Messages” option in the sidebar. If you can’t find it, you may need to enable the label in Gmail settings.
On your iPhone or iPad, just tap the menu button (three parallel lines) in the Gmail app to see all the labels.
Next, choose the “All messages” option.
After that, you will see all your emails in one list.
Good reading!
