Sorting email by a label (Inbox, Starred, etc.) vs. Searching for an Email

‘Label’ your email

You can add labels to your email from the inbox view or when viewing a message or conversation.

To apply a label to a message in the inbox view, follow these steps:

1. Select the checkbox next to the message(s) you want to label.
2. Select the label name from the Labels icon drop-down menu (or you can label a single message while you're reading it by using the drop-down menu or the keyboard shortcut L).  
3. You can select multiple labels from this menu.
4. Click Apply to add the labels to the message.
   

Another way you can add labels is by dragging:

1. You can also drag a Label's name onto the message.
2. You can also drag a message to a label's name to move that message to a label.  When you drag the message onto a label the label is applied and the message is archived. This is the same action as using the "Move To" function. If you would like to apply multiple labels, drag the message again to the other label names.
   

When you are reading a message, you can also add a label by selecting the label name from the Labels icon drop-down menu. 

If you would like to "move" your email message to your label and out of the inbox, use the Move to button and label drop down menu. This is the same action as if you applied a label and archived the message.

Reference Label your email