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Gmail's 'Priority Inbox' to Cut the E-Mail Clutter

by Amar Toor on August 31, 2010 at 10:50 AM

Priority Inbox
We all know that sifting through the mountains of newsletters, spam or utterly frivolous messages that litter our inboxes can be an exhausting task. And, more often than not, truly important e-mails can easily get lost amidst the clutter of fluff. Google, however, has now decided to help Gmail users add some order to their inbox pandemonium with a new feature called the 'Priority Inbox.'

As Google explains, the new Priority Inbox divides a user's inbox into three parts: "Important and unread," "Starred" and "Everything else." When a message is received, Gmail will automatically determine under which umbrella it falls, basing its analysis on the people with whom you communicate most often, and whose e-mails you most frequently answer. And, in the event that the system mistakenly classifies your ex-girlfriend's e-mails as high priority, you can manually correct it by assigning more or less importance to a given contact.

At first glance, it seems like Google's new system of prioritization could all too easily result in overlooked messages or, at the very least, an embarrassing reminder that the only person you regularly e-mail is your mom. Once users get over the growing pains, though, the Priority Inbox could reasonably go a long way toward streamlining our chaotic online lives. Google will begin rolling out the new feature on a gradual basis over the next few weeks, so, once you see a link that reads, 'New! Priority Inbox' in the top right corner of your Google account, you can give it a spin for yourself.

Tags: customize, customized, email, emails, Gmail, google, inbox, Message, messaging, preferences, priority, priority inbox, PriorityInbox, web

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