Find and use the “Starred” label

Star important messages

Add a star

You can easily flag important messages using "Stars" in gmail. You can assign stars to special conversations or messages, or use them as a visual reminder that you need to follow-up on a message or conversation later.

 

To star a message from your inbox, click the star icon located to the left of the sender's name on a message:

 

 

You can also use the keyboard shortcut "s" key to quickly add a star.

 

To star a message from the message view by clicking the star icon next to reply button in a message.

Please note: Stars apply to a single message within a conversation. When you star one message in a conversation, that message will automatically be open when you open the conversation next.

 

You can search for particular stars using "has:" with the star's name (you can find these names on the General tab of the Settings; just hover your mouse over each star icon). For example, you can search for "has:blue-star", "has:red-bang", or "has:orange-guillemet".

Superstars

You can also choose to use multiple types of stars to indicate different types of messages. For example, use a green star for messages where you need a reply, or the exclamation mark for messages that you need to follow up on. You can access up to 12 star icons.

 

To turn on these additional icons, follow these steps

1. Click the Gear icon in the upper-right corner of Gmail.
2. Click Mail settings.
   
3. On the General tab, find the Stars section. There, you can select the number of stars you'd like in your rotation.
   
4. Use the Presets to choose from 1 star, 4 stars, or all stars simply drag the stars you wish to use from the “Note in use:” area to the “In use:” area.
5. Drag the stars into the order you wish them to appear. 
   
6. To use one of these stars on a message, click on the star next to email message at the top or use the (‘s’) keyboard shortcut. The stars will rotate in the order you place them when you click successively.
   

Use the search operator "has:" to find all messages with your superstar (e.g. "has:red-bang", "has:blue-star"). 

 

Learn the name of a superstar by hovering over its image in the "General" Settings page.

 

Add a Quick Link to bookmark your search so you don’t have to remember the names of the stars.

Reference Star important messages