How to find archived emails in gmail
Matthew Matthew is a freelancer who has produced a variety of software articles for sites such as Bright Hub. He has an A – Level in ICT, at grade C, and is proficient with a number of software packages. Check out his book at Battles of the Pacific War 1941 -1945 recalls where, when and how the Pacific War was won and lost within the battlefields of the Pacific. Read more January 3, 2018
Gmail enables its users to both delete and archive their emails. When you archive an email, it disappears from your inbox. However, the archived message is still saved. As such, you can still recover any accidentally archived emails in Gmail if you need to.
Deleting Gmail emails isn’t entirely the same. The messages go in a Gmail bin for one month. However, Gmail automatically erases the trashed emails after that month. So have you accidentally archived or deleted a number of Gmail emails that you now need to open? If so, this is how you can recover them.
Recover Archived Gmail Messages via All Mail
If you need to restore an accidentally archived email, first open your Gmail webmail page. Click More to expand a list of further folders. Android users will need to press a hamburger button at the top left first. Then click All Mail to open a list of email as shown in the snapshot directly below.
All Mail lists all the emails in your inbox and archived messages. The archived emails listed there don’t include “Inbox” in the subject line. You can select any archived email there to open it in Gmail.
Alternatively, right-click an archived message and select Move to Inbox to restore it. If you need to move lots of archived emails to your inbox, it’s quicker to select multiple emails by clicking their check boxes. Then you can press the Move to Inbox button to restore them.
Utilize the Search Bar
You can also utilize Gmail’s search bar to recover archived email. You can filter out all the inbox, drafts and note emails in All Mail by entering a specific search operator. That search will then display just your archived emails instead.
You can recover archived emails by entering this search operator in Gmail’s search bar: -label:inbox -label:sent -label:drafts -label:notes -in:Chats. Then press the blue search button. That will filter out sent emails, inbox emails, drafts, notes and chats as shown in the snapshot below. This leaves you with a list of archived emails that you can open or restore in your inbox.
Recover Deleted Emails via the Bin
If you also need to restore a few deleted emails, they might still be in Gmail’s bin. However, as previously mentioned, deleted emails only remain there for one month. You can open a list of erased emails by clicking More and Bin on the left of the Gmail page. That will open a list of deleted messages as shown in the snapshot directly below.
Now you can restore erased emails listed there by selecting their check boxes. Then right-click an email there and select Move to Inbox. The messages will then be in your inbox once more.
You can also restore deleted emails by entering ‘in:trash’ in Gmail’s search bar. That search operator will list erased emails when you press the magnifying glass button. Then you can select deleted emails and restore them in your inbox.
Recover Deleted Gmail Emails with EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard
If you deleted emails more than a month ago, you won’t find them in Gmail’s bin. However, there’s still a chance you can recover them with file recovery software. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free Edition is file recovery software that might retrieve deleted emails. This is how you can recover emails with that software.
- First, open this website page and press the Free Download button there to save the EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard to Windows.
- Open the EaseUS installer to add the software to Windows.
- Open the EaseUS Data Recovery software in Windows.
- Then select a drive and storage folder that includes deleted emails. As Gmail shares the same folder as your browser, select to scan your browser’s directory with the software.
- Press the Scan button to initiate a quick scan. A deeper scan then follows that might list deleted emails.
- Once the deep scan is done, click the Email button to list just the email file types.
- Then click the found email check boxes to select them, and press the Recover button.
- Choose a path to save the restored emails to. Then you can open the recovered EDB emails with software such as Exchange EDB Viewer or a universal file viewer.
So that’s how you can recover deleted and accidentally archived Gmail emails. Note that you can also save second copies of messages to Google Drive. This article provides further details for how to save PDF copies of Gmail messages in Google Drive, which you can then open if you delete the original emails.
Deleting emails from your Gmail account is final—they’re lost forever once you empty your trash folder. If you want to hide emails, rather than delete them, you can archive the messages instead. This allows you to find and retrieve the emails at a later date.
How to Archive Emails in Gmail
To archive an email in Gmail, you simply need to select an email (or multiple emails) and then click the Archive button.
When you select emails on the Gmail website, the “Archive” button appears in the menu directly above your list of emails.
In the Gmail app for iPhone, iPad, or Android, tap the Archive button in the top menu that appears. The Archive button has the same design as the button shown on the Gmail website.
Any email you archive will disappear from your main Gmail inbox, including from any of the focused categories you might have.
You’ll still be able to view them under any separate folder you create using Gmail labels, however.
Using the All Mail Label to Find Archived Emails in Gmail
As we’ve mentioned, archived emails disappear from the typical Gmail view. One option to find archived emails in Gmail is to switch to the “All Mail” folder view.
This will list all of your Gmail emails in one, long list, including priority emails, as well as any emails that have been categorized automatically. You can view this list by clicking the “All Mail” view label in the left Gmail menu on the Gmail website.
To do this in the Gmail app, tap the hamburger menu icon in the top-left corner. From here, scroll down and tap the “All Mail” label.
There’s an obvious downside to this, especially if you have a large number of emails—the sheer number of emails you’ll have to go through. This option is fine if you’ve only recently archived an email, but you might need to use the Gmail search bar to specifically locate archived emails instead.
Finding Archived Emails in Gmail Using the Search Bar
Unfortunately, there’s no “archive” label you can use to search for when you’re using the Gmail search bar at the top of the Gmail website or in the Gmail app.
You’ll need to know the topic, sender, or subject of your archived email to search for it manually. Alternatively, you can use advanced Gmail search filters to search for emails that aren’t in typical folders like your inbox folder, sent folder, and drafts folder.
In many cases, this should list your archived emails. To do this, type “-in:Sent -in:Draft -in:Inbox” in the search bar. You can do this in either the Gmail app or on the Gmail website.
You can also add the “has:nouserlabels” to your Gmail search query to remove any emails that already have a category label. If they’re categorized, you can view the email in your labeled folder, even if they’ve been archived.
This method isn’t foolproof, but it should help you narrow down your archived emails if you’re struggling to find them using a basic search or in the “All Mail” folder.
Did you lose an important message? It might be archived
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What to Know
- Click the All Mail label to see all mail, including what’s been archived.
- Select any you want to recover, and click Move to Inbox.
- The process is virtually the same for the browser and app versions of Gmail.
This article explains how to access archived emails from a browser and the Gmail mobile app.
How to Retrieve Archived Emails in a Browser
Although archived messages are removed from your Inbox, these messages are still stored in your Gmail account and can be retrieved in a few steps. These messages also remain indexed and appear when you search for Gmail messages. You can view emails while they’re archived, but if you plan to continue the conversation, move the messages in the conversation to the Inbox.
In a web browser, go to Gmail, then hover over the navigation icons at the left of the screen to open the navigation panel.
In the navigation panel, select More to display additional options.
Select All Mail.
Select the emails you want to return to the Inbox. The emails that are in the Inbox are labeled Inbox in front of the subject line.
In the main toolbar above the emails, select Move to Inbox.
A confirmation appears that verifies the emails have been moved to the Inbox. Select Undo to reverse the process.
Retrieve Archived Emails Using the Mobile App
To find the All Mail option on the mobile Gmail app, tap the message and open the menu button located in the upper-right corner of the screen.
Open the Gmail app on your mobile device to view the Inbox.
Tap the three-line icon at the top of the screen and select All Mail in the panel that opens.
Tap the email you want to retrieve.
Select the 3-dot icon at the top of the email that opens.
Tap Move to Inbox.
Tips to Avoid Accidental Archiving
It’s can be easy to accidentally archive a message. Avoid this by taking the following precautions:
If you’re looking to clean up your Gmail inbox but don’t want to delete anything permanently, then choosing the archive option is your best bet. Whenever you archive an email, it is removed from your inbox folder but remains accessible. Here’s how to access any emails you have archived previously, as well as how to move such messages back to your regular inbox for fast access.
Related articles
- Inbox full of spam? Here’s how to block an email address in Gmail
- How to change your Gmail password
- How to recall an email in Gmail if you accidentally sent it
Finding archived emails via the web
If you access Gmail via a web browser, it is a straightforward process to recall any emails you may have archived. For starters, if you choose to use the search bar at the top of the page, search results will include any archived emails. Alternatively, you can access all of your available mail, including archived pieces, under the All Mail option.
Step 1: Visit the Gmail website and sign in.
Step 2: On the left side of the screen, scroll down, and select More.
Step 3: Select the All Mail option.
Step 4: On the right side of the screen, you may now browse your email; it will include all emails in your account, including archived content.
Finding archived emails via mobile apps
If you are using the Gmail mobile app on your iOS or Android device, you can also access archived content easily. As on the web, you can use the search bar displayed above your mail to initiate a search; it will include archived content. Otherwise, if you wish, you can access all of your available mail, including archived content, under the All Mail option.
Step 1: Open the Gmail app on your device.
Step 2: At the top of the screen, tap the Menu button; it is displayed as three horizontal lines.
Step 3: Scroll down if needed and select the All Mail option.
Step 4: You may now browse your emails on-screen; it will include all emails in your account, including archived pieces.
Moving an archived email to the inbox via the web
If you change your mind, you can always move any archived content back to your inbox. Follow these steps to move archived email back into your inbox using the Gmail website:
Step 1: Visit the Gmail website and sign in.
Step 2: Locate the email you wish to relocate.
Step 3: To the left of the email, check the small box.
Step 4: At the top of the screen, select Move to Inbox.
Your archived email will then be moved back to the inbox for regular viewing. If you wish to return the piece of mail to archived, hover over the email once again and select the Archive button (pictured as a small box with a down arrow).
Moving an archived email to the inbox via mobile apps
You can also change your mind about archived emails while you are out and about using Gmail’s available mobile apps for iOS and Android. Follow these steps to move the archived email back into your inbox within Google’s official Gmail app for Android:
Step 1: Open the Gmail app on your device.
Step 2: Locate the email you wish to relocate and tap on it.
Step 3: Tap the More button in the upper corner (shown as three vertical dots).
Step 4: Tap the Move to Inbox option.
Your archived email will then be moved back to the inbox for regular viewing. If you wish to return the piece of mail to archived, reopen the email and tap the Archive button (pictured as a small box with a down arrow).
Note: For iOS devices, the process is a bit different. Here’s how to do it according to Google:
Step 1: Find the email you want in All Mail.
Step 2: Tap the sender’s Profile icon on the left of the screen.
Step 3: Tap the More icon (three dots).
Step 4: Select whether you want to Move to Inbox or Move To > Primary.
Archiving an email vs. muting an email
You may have heard of the ability to mute an email and archive an email discussed in the same breath. Both features will remove messages from your inbox to keep things tidy, but archived emails will return to your inbox if someone replies to them. On the other hand, muted messages will stay out of your inbox permanently. Follow these steps on either the web or mobile app if you wish to mute an email:
Step 1: Access your Gmail account.
Step 2: Open the email you wish to mute.
Step 3: Select the More button (shown as three vertical dots). For the web, it is important that you click on the More button that is located towards the top of your screen, just under the Search box.
Step 4: Select the Mute option.
The above instructions will also work for Android and iOS devices. For iOS devices, however, the More icon will appear as three horizontal dots instead of vertical.
If you wish to unmute an email conversation, you can do so on the web by following the steps given above, but select the Unmute option in step 4. You’ll still need to select Move to Inbox if you want the email to return to your inbox. Only selecting Unmute will just unmute the email but leave it in All Mail.
You can also search quickly for all muted conversations by typing “is:mute” into the Gmail search bar.
If you’re looking to clean up your Gmail inbox but don’t want to delete anything permanently, then choosing the archive option is your best bet. Whenever you archive an email, it is removed from your inbox folder but remains accessible. Here’s how to access any emails you have archived previously, as well as how to move such messages back to your regular inbox for fast access.
Related articles
- Inbox full of spam? Here’s how to block an email address in Gmail
- How to change your Gmail password
- How to recall an email in Gmail if you accidentally sent it
Finding archived emails via the web
If you access Gmail via a web browser, it is a straightforward process to recall any emails you may have archived. For starters, if you choose to use the search bar at the top of the page, search results will include any archived emails. Alternatively, you can access all of your available mail, including archived pieces, under the All Mail option.
Step 1: Visit the Gmail website and sign in.
Step 2: On the left side of the screen, scroll down, and select More.
Step 3: Select the All Mail option.
Step 4: On the right side of the screen, you may now browse your email; it will include all emails in your account, including archived content.
Finding archived emails via mobile apps
If you are using the Gmail mobile app on your iOS or Android device, you can also access archived content easily. As on the web, you can use the search bar displayed above your mail to initiate a search; it will include archived content. Otherwise, if you wish, you can access all of your available mail, including archived content, under the All Mail option.
Step 1: Open the Gmail app on your device.
Step 2: At the top of the screen, tap the Menu button; it is displayed as three horizontal lines.
Step 3: Scroll down if needed and select the All Mail option.
Step 4: You may now browse your emails on-screen; it will include all emails in your account, including archived pieces.
Moving an archived email to the inbox via the web
If you change your mind, you can always move any archived content back to your inbox. Follow these steps to move archived email back into your inbox using the Gmail website:
Step 1: Visit the Gmail website and sign in.
Step 2: Locate the email you wish to relocate.
Step 3: To the left of the email, check the small box.
Step 4: At the top of the screen, select Move to Inbox.
Your archived email will then be moved back to the inbox for regular viewing. If you wish to return the piece of mail to archived, hover over the email once again and select the Archive button (pictured as a small box with a down arrow).
Moving an archived email to the inbox via mobile apps
You can also change your mind about archived emails while you are out and about using Gmail’s available mobile apps for iOS and Android. Follow these steps to move the archived email back into your inbox within Google’s official Gmail app for Android:
Step 1: Open the Gmail app on your device.
Step 2: Locate the email you wish to relocate and tap on it.
Step 3: Tap the More button in the upper corner (shown as three vertical dots).
Step 4: Tap the Move to Inbox option.
Your archived email will then be moved back to the inbox for regular viewing. If you wish to return the piece of mail to archived, reopen the email and tap the Archive button (pictured as a small box with a down arrow).
Note: For iOS devices, the process is a bit different. Here’s how to do it according to Google:
Step 1: Find the email you want in All Mail.
Step 2: Tap the sender’s Profile icon on the left of the screen.
Step 3: Tap the More icon (three dots).
Step 4: Select whether you want to Move to Inbox or Move To > Primary.
Archiving an email vs. muting an email
You may have heard of the ability to mute an email and archive an email discussed in the same breath. Both features will remove messages from your inbox to keep things tidy, but archived emails will return to your inbox if someone replies to them. On the other hand, muted messages will stay out of your inbox permanently. Follow these steps on either the web or mobile app if you wish to mute an email:
Step 1: Access your Gmail account.
Step 2: Open the email you wish to mute.
Step 3: Select the More button (shown as three vertical dots). For the web, it is important that you click on the More button that is located towards the top of your screen, just under the Search box.
Step 4: Select the Mute option.
The above instructions will also work for Android and iOS devices. For iOS devices, however, the More icon will appear as three horizontal dots instead of vertical.
If you wish to unmute an email conversation, you can do so on the web by following the steps given above, but select the Unmute option in step 4. You’ll still need to select Move to Inbox if you want the email to return to your inbox. Only selecting Unmute will just unmute the email but leave it in All Mail.
You can also search quickly for all muted conversations by typing “is:mute” into the Gmail search bar.
When I switched from Microsoft Outlook to Gmail, one of the first questions I had was about finding my archived emails in Gmail, because I could not find a label called archived emails.
So I did a bit of research and found out some interesting things Gmail do with archived emails.
So How to find archived emails in gmail?
Archived emails disappear from your Gmail Inbox and stay forever in All Mails label until you manually delete them. These archived emails can be easily found under “All Mails” label in Gmail. You can also use Gmail filters to easily find specific archived emails.
To find your archived emails, first click on “More” link in the left hand navigation of your Gmail as shown below (it works for both personal Gmail and Google Workspace subscription)
Here you will see a label called “All Mail”, click on it to see all your emails including the ones you archived.
Use Gmail filter to find specific archived emails
Now you already know that you can go to All Mail label and find your archived emails there, but what if you want to find a specific email from someone that you archived?
You can use “in:all” filter which will show you all the emails including archived ones, You can also add more criteria to this filter to find specific archived emails.
For e.g If I want to find an archived email which was sent to me from Microsoft and had an attachment, I can use filter like
in:all from:microsoft.com has:attachment
It will show me all such emails as shown in the screenshot below.
How to find archived emails in Gmail on Android
To see archived emails on your Android device —> open your Gmail app —> click on the hamburger icon on top left, and then click on All Mail label.
Here you will see all archived emails as shown in the screenshot below.
Gmail Email Archiving Functionality
Email archiving functionality in Gmail is indeed very thoughtful work by Google, it would be helpful to understand how does gmail archive folder work so you can easily use it for your advantage.
I am sure you would like to keep your Gmail inbox as clean as possible, but we all get hundreds of email now a days, you can of course delete the emails that are of no value to you, but what about emails that are not relevant today, but might be in the future?
Thats where you can use Gmail’s email archiving functionality, as soon as you archive an email, it disappears from your Inbox and goes to All Mail label. It helps keeping our Inbox clean without losing or deleting the email that we might need in the future.
Delete vs Archive Emails – When should you use them?
To understand when should you archive vs delete emails, you should first understand the fundamental differences between them.
| Feature | Delete Email | Archive Email |
|---|---|---|
| Default Behavior | When you delete an email in Gmail, it goes to your Trash label. | When you archive an email in Gmail, it essentially remove the inbox label from that email which makes it disappear from Inbox, and land in All Mail label. |
| Email Retention | Deleted Emails are retained in Trash label for 30 days, after 30 days they are deleted permanently and can not be recovered. |
Recommendation :As Gmail offers enough storage to keep thousands of emails, I would recommend you to delete emails only when you are sure you won’t need them in future. If you are dicy, then it’s better to archive them.
Not all emails are important enough to keep in your inbox for instant retrieval at any time. But maybe you’re not ready to delete these emails, either. Most email providers have an archive feature for messages that could be useful for later reference but aren’t very important to you right now.
You can save these emails to the archive folder so they’re still accessible whenever you need them. Archiving is the best way of cleaning up overflowing inboxes without having to delete emails. Like other email providers, Gmail also lets you archive emails. In this article, we’ll explain the best way to do this and how to find your archived emails in Gmail.
- How do you find archived emails in Gmail?
- If you’re using the Gmail desktop app
- If you’re using the Gmail Android app
- If you’re using the Gmail iPhone app
- How do you archive messages in Gmail?
- “Archiving” with the Gmail desktop app
- “Archiving” with the Gmail Android app
- “Archiving” with the Gmail iPhone app
How do you find archived emails in Gmail?
Although you can archive emails in Gmail, there’s no dedicated email archive folder in your Gmail account. This might sound confusing, but it’s actually not that complicated. Any emails that you archive in Gmail are automatically moved to the “All Mail” label. This folder contains all mail from your inbox and outbox as well all your drafts. The “All Mail” folder is basically an archive of your entire Gmail account.
Not happy with Gmail’s features? Some Gmail alternatives might offer better capabilities.
If you’re using the Gmail desktop app
The “All Mail” label is somewhat hidden on your Gmail user interface:
Step 1: Open your Gmail account as usual.
In the side bar on the left, underneath “Inbox,” “Starred,” “Important,” “Sent” and “Drafts,” you’ll see the option “More,” which has an arrow next to it. Click on this arrow.
Click “More” to display further labels in the folder structure of your Gmail account. Now you can see more labels like “Spam,” “Trash”, “Drafts” and the “All Mail” label.
Step 2: Click “All Mail.”
The “All Mail” label is displayed in the expanded folder structure. Click this label to view archived emails in Gmail.
If you’re using the Gmail Android app
Here’s how to find the “All Mail” label in the Gmail app on your Android device:
Step 1: Open the Gmail app as usual.
Open the folder structure by tapping the three-line menu icon. Now you’ll see all Gmail folders and labels such as “Inbox,” “Spam,” “Trash” and “All Mail.”
Step 2: Tap “All Mail.”
By tapping “All Mail,” you can view all archived messages.
If you’re using the Gmail iPhone app
Although not many people use Gmail on their iPhone, the Google email app is available for download in the Apple App Store. To find archived emails in the Gmail app on your iPhone, proceed as follows:
Step 1: Open the Gmail app as usual.
Tap the three-line menu icon to display the folder structure. Now you’ll see further labels such as “Inbox,” “Spam,” “Trash” and “All Mail.”
As on other devices, the “All Mail” label is essentially an archive folder on the iPhone.
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How can you find emails in Gmail when you archive them? Don’t worry. This post can help you, telling you everything about archive as well as finding archived emails in Gmail.
How do you find archived emails in Gmail? Don’t worry. Those archived emails are not deleted. This post is very helpful. You are able to find whatever about Gmail archive as well as finding archived emails in Gmail.
Question: How to archive Emails in Gmail?
If you want to clean up your inbox without deleting your emails, you can archive or mute them. Your emails are moved to a label called “All Mail.” How to archive emails in Gmail?
Archive an email on computer
1. On your computer, go to Gmail.
2. Point to the message.
3. On the right, click Archive.
Note: For classic Gmail, select the message, then go to the top and click Archive.
Archive a message on Android phone
Make archive settings
1. On your Android phone or tablet, open the Gmail app.
2. In the top left, tap Menu button.
3. Tap Settings > General settings > Gmail default action.
4. Tap Archive or Delete. Deleted messages are permanently removed from the Trash after 30 days.
5. Scroll down to the “Action confirmations” section and choose if you want confirmation before archiving or deleting messages.
Archive emails in Gmail (Android phone)
1. From your inbox, swipe the message from the right to left.
2. From inside a message, tap on Archive option.
3. To archive multiple messages, select the messages, and then tap Archive.
Note: Even if you chose Delete in the default setting above, you can archive a message by opening it and tapping Archive.
Archive emails in Gmail (iPhone & iPad)
Archive a single message
1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Gmail app.
2. Open the message.
3. Tap Archive.
Tip: Also, you can swipe the message to the left from your inbox.
Archive multiple messages
1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Gmail app.
2. On the left, tap the sender’s profile image next to the messages you want to archive.
3. Tap Archive.
Find your archived emails in Gmail
When you search in Gmail, your results will include any messages that have been archived.
Or, you can find archived gmail messages by openning the label of “All mail”.
The All mail label is added to any message. If a message has been archived, you can find it by opening the All mail label.
1. On your Android phone or tablet, open the Gmail app.
2. In the top left, tap Menu.
3. Tap All mail.
And all archived emails are included here.
How to Find Archived Emails in Gmail using a Faster Way
Cannot find your archived emails in Gmail? Maybe your archived emails are deleted. Don’t worry. You can still get back the emails. Here’s a better and faster way to help you find archived emails in Gmail.
Never miss one professional third-party tool, Aiseesoft Data Recovery.
Now, let’s see how it work to help you recover archived or deleted Gmails on your computer.
Step 1 Free download Aiseesoft Data Recovery on your computer. Install and run the program immediately.
For now, Aiseesoft Data Recovery software only supports Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP (SP2 or later).
If you want to recover the text files on your other devices, you need to plug the device to your computer, so that this software can detect it automatically.
Step 2 In the main interface, you need to select the file type, and here you can check the “Email” option.
In the location, you need to select the drive where the emials are stored.
Then click Scan to start the quick scan on the target device.
Step 3 If the Quick Scan does not find emails, the Deep Scan feature will work, deeply scanning all emails stored on your computer.
Step 4 After checking the emails you want to recover, you need to click Recover button to save the emails, including the archived emails in Gmail.
If you want to clear more space, you can read the post to stop spam emails in Gmail.
How to Recover Archived Emails with Gmail Website
At first, you need to sign into your account in the Gmail website.
After that, you will have to search for the archived message through the search box located at the top of the page. The archived messages can still appear in the search result if you use the proper keywords.
You can also search the labels for archived emails. Even if you have archived the message by accident, this message will still show under the label where it was tagged.
If the label you are looking for is not easily seen in the left-side tab, navigate to MORE option > All Mail. This option enables you to view all emails in Gmail, regardless of the messages are labeled or not.
How to Recover Archived Email with mobile Gmail app
Open the Gmail app in your smartphone and sign in to your Gmail account.
Use the search box to search for the archived email in Gmail. Like the way of Gmail website, you can use the keyword to search for archived emails as long as you input the sender, part of the message body, subject, or any other parts of the message.
There are labels appearing in the Gmail app as well. If you cannot find the archived emails in Gmail app, go to All Mail for a try.
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May 04, 2018 08:02 / Posted by Amanda Brown to File Recovery
This article shows you how to import contacts to Gmail. You can learn how to import Outlook/Yahoo/iPhone contacts to Gmail after reading.
Forget Gmail password? How do I change my Gmail password? Learn how to change/reset Gmail password and Gmail password recovery here.
How do I delete a Gmail account from my phone? Read this post, and you will find the answer.
View all your archived emails in the Gmail app on iPhone and Android
A rchiving an email is always a good idea than simply deleting an email in Gmail or any other email service. That’s because when you archive an email in Gmail, it simply gets hidden from the Inbox and can be accessed anytime later. Whereas the delete option removes the certain email forever from your Gmail account.
We usually archive old emails and those that are of less or no importance. Having said that, those using Gmail on Android or iPhone often tend to accidentally archive an email through the swipe gesture. Such emails can include important messages that you cannot afford to miss.
For some reason, Gmail no more allows users to directly view archived messages, neither on desktop or mobile app. Earlier there used to be a dedicated “Archive” label in Gmail which is not present anymore. As a result, Gmail users can’t find the list of emails they have archived over time, and cannot restore or delete them.
Though, one can look for archived emails or manually search for a specific email by exploring the “All Mail” label. Needless to say, that is a tedious and unintuitive way.
How to View Archived Messages in Gmail
Fortunately, there is an easy workaround to retrieve archived emails in Gmail on desktop, iPhone and Android. To do so,
- Open Gmail on mobile or desktop.
- Enter the below query in the search box and hit enter. (Tip: Use Copy & Paste)
has:nouserlabels -in:Sent -in:Chat -in:Draft -in:Inbox - Gmail will now list all your previously archived emails.
You don’t need to navigate to the Inbox or All Mail tab for the above command to work. It works irrespective of the label you are viewing. Moreover, the search performed stays in the recent searches so you don’t need to type it frequently.
Tip: On a computer, you can alternatively visit to see all the archived emails in Gmail.
How to Unarchive an Email in Gmail
On Mobile
- Open the email you want to unarchive.
- Tap 3 dots from the top right.
- Select “Move to Inbox”.
On a Computer
- Go to Gmail.
- Find all the archived emails by entering the above search query.
- Open the email and click on the “Move to Inbox” icon.
To unarchive multiple emails at once on desktop or mobile, check the box next to the messages and select Move to Inbox. The selected messages will then be restored and can be accessed right from the Inbox.
Tip to avoid archiving an email accidentally
The swipe action feature in the Gmail app offers a quick way to perform a certain action in the email list. You can configure the swipe actions for Gmail on mobile to avoid any accidental action such as Archive. To do the same,
- Go to Gmail app and make sure you’re logged into your account.
- Tap the menu (hamburger icon) at the top left.
- Scroll down to the bottom and open Settings.
- Tap General settings > Swipe actions.
- Change the action for the right and left swipe to either none or anything else but Archive.
That’s it! Now there won’t be a chance to archive an email in Gmail app by mistake.
