Gmail‘s Archiving System Remains a Pain Point for Users, Years After Initial Complaints
Mountain View, CA – Despite ongoing user frustration spanning years, Gmail’s archiving system continues to be cumbersome and unintuitive, falling short of competitors like Microsoft Outlook, Yahoo Mail, Proton Mail, and Apple Mail. A recent report highlights the persistent issue of archived emails being arduous to locate without relying on search operators, a problem many users have experienced since the service’s inception.
The core of the issue lies in gmail’s “all Mail” folder, which aggregates all messages, including those archived. While functional, this system lacks a dedicated, easily accessible “Archive” shortcut within the Gmail app and web interface. As noted by one commentator, a simple solution would be to automatically label archived emails and provide a direct access point, allowing users to remove messages from their inbox without losing track of them.
“Archived emails should be automatically labeled and accessible through an Archive shortcut on the Gmail app. It’s that simple,” the author stated.
Beyond accessibility, users are also requesting greater customization options for swipe actions. Currently, swipe-to-archive is a standard function, but the ability to reassign this gesture to actions like starring or applying custom labels is limited, a feature desired by many ”power users.”
The author expressed skepticism about Google addressing the issue, stating, “I can’t fathom why Google has ignored Gmail’s archiving system for so long…so I’d much sooner trust pigs to fly than Google to remedy it.”
