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Stop your inbox filling up with the same emails using Gmail filters

Newsletters, receipts and app alerts bury the emails that matter. Get filter rules and labels that sort them automatically from now on.

Updated 17 Oct 2026

The prompt · ChatGPT

Help me set up Gmail filters so my inbox only shows what matters.

Emails that clog my inbox: [e.g. shop offers, delivery updates, school newsletters, app notifications, receipts]
Senders I never want to miss: [e.g. school office, my boss, the GP surgery]
Emails I want to keep but read later: [e.g. receipts, bank statements]
Emails I never read: [e.g. old shop newsletters]
Sender addresses or words I've copied from my inbox: [paste them]

Before you start, ask me up to 3 short questions if anything important is missing. Wait for my answers.

Then:
1. Up to 8 labels to create, with short names (e.g. Receipts, School, Later).
2. Up to 8 filter rules as a table: what to search for (From, Subject or words, using what I've pasted), and what the filter should do (apply a label, skip the inbox, star it, or delete it).
3. Senders I'd be better off unsubscribing from myself rather than filtering.
4. A 2-minute weekly tidy of the labels.
5. A warning for any rule that could hide something important, like a school or bank email.

Only use what I've typed, and leave blanks where I haven't given a sender address. UK English.

Stay in this ChatGPT chat. Do not turn on apps or connectors, and do not use memory from another chat.

A short example

Fill the blanks, then paste. e.g. school office, my boss, the GP surgery: a short note you already have. e.g. receipts, bank statements: a short note you already have. Leave the rest of the prompt as written.

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