How to Keep Important Emails Out of Gmail’s Promotions Tab

Don't miss a critical email if it lands in the Promotional tab in Gmail. Use these tips to move important emails to the Primary tab instead.

Whether you're applying for a new job or signing up for a newsletter you're highly interested in, keeping emails out of your promotions tab in Gmail can be crucial to getting the content you need.

Let's learn how to move your emails from the Promotions tab to the Primary tab so that you don’t lose your important emails in the bog.

Drag and Drop Emails Into the Primary Tab

The simplest way to stop important emails from landing in your Promotions tab is to drag and drop that email into your Primary tab.

1. Open Gmail and find the email in your Promotions tab.
2. Drag and drop the email from Promotions to Primary. You'll see the Primary tab turn red when you've done this successfully.

After moving your email from Promotions to Primary, you’ll also see a temporary popup in the corner. It asks whether you want Google to move future emails coming from this email address directly to your Primary tab instead of the Promotions tab.

Select Yes to make the change permanent.

Otherwise, make sure to open any emails that are from this sender when they arrive in your Primary tab. This helps Google understand that you value these emails and that they deserve to be in the Primary tab.

If you don't, Google could assume that as you aren't opening these emails, they are promotional and should be continued to be automatically categorized under your Promotions tab in the future.

Creating a Filter

Another way is to add a filter for the sender's email address. This ensures that all the emails you don't want to miss will be automatically moved from your Promotions tab to your Primary tab.

1. Find the email in your Promotions tab and click it to open.
2. Click on the three dots and then click on Filter messages like this.
   
3. Double-check the sender address to ensure it is correct, and click the Create filter button. If you don’t see the sender address in the From field, simply copy the address from an email you received from them and paste it here.
   
4. Check the Never send it to Spam and Categorize as options from the list.
5. Select the Primary option from the dropdown list next to Categorize as.
6. Click on the Create filter button.
   

Once you have created this filter, every single email that is sent from this exact address will be automatically sent to your Primary tab. You have the option to edit your filters later if you need to adjust your settings.

Add Emails to Your Contacts

If a company or person you know is sending emails to your inbox, but they keep ending up in the Promotions tab, add them to your contact list so that all future emails will be sent to your Primary tab.

1. Open the email in your Promotions tab.
2. Hover your mouse over their sender address or profile picture. Click on Open detailed view.
   
3. Click on the icon that has a person with a plus symbol next to them.

Once you click on the icon, it will add that sender address to your personal contacts, and you'll see a popup at the bottom of your screen confirming the action.

You can always manage these contacts in Gmail at a later time if you decide, in the future, you'd like to remove the sender from your contacts.

Using the “Not Promotions” Button

On the left-hand side of your screen in your email inbox, you'll see default and custom sections for all your emails. Learning the different terms and areas of your Gmail inbox will make it easier in the future to navigate and find what you're looking for.

1. Click on More to expand the list. Click on the Categories section to expand again.
2. Click on Promotions.
   
3. Find the email and click to open it.
4. Click on the Not "Promotions" button at the top left.
   

This will keep any emails from this sender from ending up in your Promotions tab. You won't be able to see the button in your regular Promotions tab, so you will have to navigate to this specific section of your inbox to see this option.

You'll notice that this section has all the current emails in your Promotions tab, but it also includes all the emails sent to your Promotions tab over time. It's a great chance to delete the older messages you no longer need and clean up some space in your inbox.

Disable Your Promotions Tab

You can choose to disable your Promotions tab altogether if none of the above options work out. This solution is the last resort, as disabling the specialized tab will move all promotional emails into your Primary tab.

Though, this option will give you the ability to filter your own messages without relying on Google to do all the work for you.

1. Click on the gear icon next to your thumbnail picture.
2. Click on See all settings.
   
3. Navigate to the Inbox section of your settings.
4. Uncheck the Promotions option. You can also manage other tabs you want to show in your inbox.
   
5. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save Changes.
   

Now you can click back into your inbox and double-check that the Promotions tab has been disabled. All your emails should move from Promotions directly into your Primary tab from here on out, and it will be up to you to sort your Gmail inbox.

You can always navigate back to this area of your settings to manage your tabs if you decide it's too much to filter out all messages on your own.

Disabling your Promotions tab may help you manage your inbox more effectively if you're receiving emails you don't want by unsubscribing and decreasing the number of emails you receive.

Move Your Emails From Promotions to Primary in Gmail

You have several options for keeping important emails out of your Promotions tab, depending on who the sender is and your relation to them. You can drag and drop the email, create a filter, add the sender to your contact list, and more.

It’s easy to move emails from Promotions to Primary once and for all. Knowing all your options will help you fine-tune your email filters so that Google doesn't take free rein of your inbox.