Archiving an email in Gmail is a swipe or click away. However, finding the email you archived can prove to be a hassle. If you recently archived an email accidentally and are having a hard time locating it, here’s how you can find archived emails and unarchive them on Gmail’s web and mobile apps.
Accessing Archived Emails on Gmail Web
Unfortunately, Gmail doesn’t offer a dedicated “Archive” section to find your archived emails. This can make it difficult to locate important messages that you’ve archived for later reference. However, there is a workaround to access these emails swiftly. Follow the steps below to find and unarchive emails in Gmail:
- Open Gmail in a web browser and from the left panel, click on More to expand the menu.
- Click on All Mail from the left sidebar. This section shows all your emails, including the ones you have archived.
Once you are in the All Mail section, you will see all your emails listed together. This includes archived emails, which are not in your Inbox but are still accessible. To better locate the emails you need, you can utilize search filters.
Using Search Filters to Find Archived Emails
Another effective way to locate your archived email is through search filters. By using specific search queries, you can narrow down your results significantly. Here’s how:
- In the search box, type the following filters for better chances of tracking down your archived email:
-in:Sent -in:Draft -in:Inbox has:nouserlabels.
This search query helps to filter out emails that are in your Sent folder, Drafts, or Inbox, allowing you to focus solely on your archived messages. Once you have located your email, you can easily move it back to your Inbox.
Unarchiving Emails on Gmail Web
After locating your archived email, you can unarchive it with just a few clicks. Select the email and then click the Move to Inbox icon from the top toolbar. Alternatively, you can right-click on the email and select Move to Inbox to restore it to your main email view.
Retrieving Archived Emails on Gmail Mobile App
To find and unarchive an email in Gmail’s mobile app, tap the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) and choose the All mail option. Similar to the web version, you can use search filters in the app to find archived emails quickly.
Identifying Archived Emails on Mobile
In the All mail section, you will see all emails that are not marked as “Inbox.” These are your archived emails. To find one, simply scroll through the list or use the search function.
Moving Emails Back to Inbox on Mobile
After locating an archived email, long-press to select it, and then tap on the vertical three dots menu at the top-right corner of the screen. From the list of options that appears, choose Move to Inbox to restore the email back to your primary Gmail inbox.
It’s almost surprising how Gmail doesn’t have a dedicated Archive section in 2024. While we wait for a dedicated section to quickly access archived emails, we hope this guide helps you undo archived emails right now. If you have any further queries, take to the comments down below, and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
