Gmail for Android now shows search filters when viewing labels and folders

Abner Li | May 26 2022 - 4:25 pm PT

Back in September, Gmail introduced a useful way to further refine search results on Android, and those filters now appear when viewing labels.

Opening a label or default folder (e.g, Starred, Sent) in Gmail for Android reveals a carousel underneath the search bar. These filters start by noting the current label you’re viewing and give the ability to add more, though this takes you to the search interface instead of just simply viewing a label.

This information is followed by: From, To, Attachment, Date, Is unread, and Exclusive calendar updates. Those are the same ones that appear in Gmail search results, which now (on Android) has the label filter appear in the first position.

You can “Hide filters” from the top-right, but this setting isn’t sticky and reappears if you switch to a new label.

The carousel is a rather useful addition that makes finding emails by filters much easier in those cases when Gmail search fails. It rolled out on Android with version 2022.05.01 of Gmail that widely rolled out last week. We’re not seeing it in the iOS app at this point.

Meanwhile, the carousel also appears on the web when viewing labels or folders. We’re not sure when it became available outside of the search UI, but the label filter does not appear in the first position like on mobile (or in Advanced search, though you can manually add “label:” in the bar).