But we’re going to try.<\/p>\n
I’ve tested out pretty much every free inbox zero Gmail tool<\/strong>\u00a0on the market to figure out which ones can help you empty out your cluttered inbox, finally get your email management under control, and maybe even maintain a clean inbox into the future.<\/p>\n Plus, I\u2019ve got the best Gmail settings<\/strong>\u00a0that will help you get your Gmail inbox under control and get to inbox zero.<\/p>\n So let\u2019s see what we can do\u2026<\/p>\n Inbox zero, at least as we define it today, is keeping an empty inbox \u2014 when a message comes in you reply, archive, or delete it.<\/p>\n Technically, that’s not how the inbox zero method began.<\/p>\n In 2007, when a productivity guru named Merlin Mann gave a\u00a0Google Tech Talk<\/a>\u00a0on the concept, the initial idea was that your inbox shouldn’t serve as a to-do list, serve as a source of stress, or take up any of your active brain space.<\/p>\n But over time, the concept has evolved to encapsulate the idea of completely clearing out your inbox<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The inbox zero process often takes place over the course of a day. You delete\/archive\/reply to easy emails<\/strong>\u00a0as you get them, then handle more complex emails at a designated time<\/strong>.<\/p>\n By the end of the day, you\u2019ve addressed every message you\u2019ve received and your email inbox is empty.<\/p>\n That path to inbox zero can also include prep work like:<\/p>\n It\u2019s really tough. Mann even\u00a0admits<\/a>\u00a0it\u2019s gotten harder to keep our inbox clean with the volume of messages today (especially since we now have so many more inboxes, from email to Slack to message apps).<\/p>\n And for many of us, we have this overflowing inbox problem in both our personal email and work email.<\/p>\n But\u2026 the inbox zero approach is not impossible<\/strong>.<\/p>\n And with these apps, you actually have a shot at getting your Gmail inbox under control<\/strong>.<\/p>\n You may not get to inbox zero every day, but you can probably get there on a lot of days \u2014 or, more important, make sure you\u2019re always promptly responding to crucial emails and they aren\u2019t getting lost.<\/p>\n Here are five\u00a0<\/strong>free<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0apps<\/strong>\u00a0you can use in your quest to get to inbox zero in Gmail on a daily (or semi-daily) basis.<\/p>\n The Reply Project is a free tool we made here at GMass that thousands of people are now using<\/strong>\u00a0to get through their email replies somewhere between 5 and 20 times faster than ever before.<\/p>\n We\u2019re pretty sure it\u2019s the fastest way anyone\u2019s ever created to reply to an inbox full of emails<\/strong>. (Or archiving emails\/deleting messages if replies aren\u2019t needed.)<\/p>\n You log into The Reply Project with your Gmail account or Google Workspace account and it opens all your emails<\/strong>\u00a0awaiting reply on one screen.<\/p>\n From there you can type a quick reply<\/strong>\u00a0to each message. Or, you can use templates<\/strong>\u00a0for faster replies or let ChatGPT<\/strong>\u00a0knock out responses for you.<\/p>\n The smartest thing you can do: Bookmark the site and keep it in your bookmarks bar.<\/strong>\u00a0Seriously.<\/p>\n What we\u2019ve seen is people try The Reply Project\u2026 they love it\u2026 but then they forget to use it. Because email clients are habit forming. So if you keep The Reply Project in your bookmarks bar, you\u2019ll remember to use it when you have a bunch of replies to get through.<\/p>\n And it will save you literal hours per week and get you to inbox zero faster than you\u2019ve ever gotten there before.<\/p>\n Check out\u00a0<\/strong>The Reply Project<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n With Cleanfox you connect your mailbox, it finds every newsletter to which you\u2019re subscribed, then gives you the option to automatically delete current and\/or future emails from that list<\/strong>. (It won\u2019t unsubscribe you; the emails just skip your inbox to the trash.)<\/p>\n Getting rid of as many marketing emails as possible is really helpful for inbox zero. With less clutter, you can get through your unread email faster.<\/p>\n The catch here is they are collecting and selling anonymous data (unlike some other similar apps, like Unroll.me, which weren\u2019t anonymizing the data).<\/p>\n If you want an email unsubscribe app that doesn\u2019t collect data, you\u2019ll have to pay. Since we\u2019re going for free, I figured anonymized data was the less objectionable route.<\/p>\n Check out\u00a0<\/strong>Cleanfox<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Going back to the inbox zero method\u2019s roots, the goal was to keep you from feeling overwhelmed by email.<\/p>\n One good way to do that? Not having an endless stream of emails (and email notification pop-ups) coming in through the day. (And, better yet, killing your temptation to stop whatever task you’re doing to click over to the Gmail app to see if any new messages came in.)<\/p>\n Pausing your inbox is useful for the inbox zero approach because it allows you to tackle your incoming messages in batches<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Boomerang is a Chrome extension with tons of features; for our purposes here, we\u2019re just going to focus on the nice Pause Inbox button it puts in the left column of Gmail.<\/p>\n Check out\u00a0<\/strong>Boomerang<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n One of the biggest enemies of inbox zero is your inbox getting clogged up with \u201cgraymail<\/a>\u201d. That\u2019s email that\u2019s not quite spam but also not quite anything you actually want.<\/p>\n It’s unnecessary email\u2026 you want fewer emails\u2026 you’re suffering from email overload\u2026 and yet, you still can’t quite quit these.<\/p>\n ManyMe offers a service that, essentially, prevents any of the above from happening. With ManyMe, you can use different email aliases whenever you sign up for\u00a0<\/strong>anything<\/strong><\/em>. Then they\u2019ll either send the messages along to your real account or filter them, based on your preferences.<\/p>\n It takes some management work and it can be a tough habit to form, but if you use the service right, it\u2019s a handy buffer and quarantine zone between the messages people send you and your inbox.<\/p>\n (And note: If you use Apple Mail, Microsoft Outlook, or any others, ManyMe will work with those as well; it’s not Gmail exclusive.)<\/em><\/p>\n Check out\u00a0<\/strong>ManyMe<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Sleek is an app that groups your messages by sender or domain<\/strong>, which allows for quick archiving, deleting, and\/or unsubscribing.<\/p>\n That makes it especially great to use at the beginning of your inbox zero project<\/strong>, when you\u2019re staring down something like 12,000 emails in your inbox.<\/p>\n For new email, Sleek can also help automate your email management process by adding labels to selected incoming email messages from various senders to route them to labels rather than the inbox.<\/p>\n Sleek is another \u201cemail client replacement\u201d type of tool, so it can be tricky to get used to using it \u2014 but at a minimum, it\u2019s good for your email triage<\/strong>\u00a0work. And the free plan allows you to use all of Sleek’s features for one email account.<\/p>\n Check out\u00a0<\/strong>Sleek<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Now that you\u2019ve got your apps in place, you can also tweak Gmail a bit to make sure it\u2019s set up to help you achieve a clean slate every day.<\/p>\n Gmail\u2019s filters and labels can form a potent combo for keeping emails out of your inbox \u2014 but without losing track of them entirely.<\/p>\n Go to the Gmail settings and click\u00a0Filters and Blocked Addresses<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Then click\u00a0Create a new filter<\/strong>.<\/p>\n For instance, you could create an email filter for every message that contains the word \u201cunsubscribe.\u201d<\/p>\n Or every message that comes from LinkedIn or Amazon or any of those other high-volume senders you don\u2019t want to unsubscribe from (but don\u2019t want to bother with constantly either).<\/p>\n You might even want to set up a filter for things like Google Calendar reminders or notifications on edits on shared Google Docs .<\/p>\n Then you\u2019ll have the options to tell Gmail what to do with your message.<\/p>\n You can choose\u00a0Skip the Inbox (Archive It)<\/strong>\u00a0to really send those messages away \u2014 but in those cases, consider also using\u00a0Apply the label\u00a0<\/strong>so you can view the messages in bulk at your convenience in the corresponding folder.<\/p>\n You could also choose\u00a0Categorize as<\/strong>\u00a0to send it to one of Gmail\u2019s tabs like Promotions.<\/p>\n Or, most extreme, you could choose to\u00a0Delete it<\/strong>.<\/p>\n You don\u2019t need to set up a ton of these filters or filter\/label combos \u2014 but even a few strategic ones should help keep your email flow way down<\/strong>\u00a0and make inbox zero more achievable.<\/p>\n Gmail\u2019s Priority Inbox feature can help focus your inbox zero efforts.<\/p>\n Priority Inbox groups your messages based on their relevance<\/strong>. By default, the first section will show you any important message that’s also unread. The next section will be messages you\u2019ve starred. And from there, you\u2019ll get a section with everything else.<\/p>\n The goal here is to rank your emails by importance; the byproduct is that Priority Inbox also works well with the inbox zero task as well<\/strong>.<\/p>\n When you use Priority Inbox, generally the important email messages in the first groups will require attention and replies<\/strong>; most in the bottom group will take an instant archiving or deletion.<\/p>\n (I\u2019ve also found this works more logically than the Gmail multiple inbox option for inbox zero.)<\/p>\n If you\u2019re reading this, there\u2019s a decent chance you\u2019re in email marketing or cold outreach \u2014 that\u2019s who uses GMass and you\u2019re reading this on the GMass blog.<\/p>\n So, by default, Gmail\u2019s categories and tabs make you angry. After all, they\u2019re keeping\u00a0your<\/em>\u00a0messages from your recipients by burying them in tabs. (Even though the numbers have shown that\u2019s not quite true, and people really do check their tabs.)<\/p>\n But from an inbox zero perspective and for you as a Gmail user as opposed to a marketer\u2026 categories are quite good for getting you to a totally clean inbox faster<\/strong>.<\/p>\n You can\u2019t use Priority Inbox and categories, so pick one (or neither, of course). But if you do go the categories route, I recommend checking all five options. (And don’t forget to click the Save changes<\/strong>\u00a0button.)<\/p>\n Keep your inbox as clean as possible from the start, then check those tabs once it\u2019s emptied out<\/strong>.<\/p>\n And finally, here\u2019s a quick and easy Gmail setting to adjust that can save you lots of clicks when you\u2019re cleaning things up.<\/p>\n In the Gmail settings, in the default\u00a0General<\/strong>\u00a0section, choose to\u00a0Show \u201cSend & Archive\u201d button in reply<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Now you\u2019ll get a new blue Send button in the reply window that allows you to archive the original message and conversation once you reply.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s a lot faster than having to go back to your inbox and archive messages manually.<\/p>\n Achieving inbox zero Gmail status can seem impossible \u2014 if you let your guard down for even one day, emails can hopelessly pile up.<\/p>\n However, with the right free apps and the right Gmail settings, it\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0possible.<\/p>\n The best free apps for the inbox zero method are:<\/p>\nInbox Zero Gmail Apps: Table of Contents<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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What Is Inbox Zero?<\/h2>\n
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5 Best Free Inbox Zero Gmail Apps<\/h2>\n
The Reply Project – for the fastest way to get through replies<\/h3>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/replyproject-gif-new1-1.gif\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Make](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image6.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nCleanfox – for reducing newsletter and mailing list clutter<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Cleanfox's](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image3.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nPause inbox (via Boomerang) – for batch processing emails\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/emailproductivity-boomerangpause-tinified.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nMany Me – for keeping your inbox from getting overloaded<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"ManyMe's](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image5.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n
Sleek – for grouping messages for fast archiving or deleting<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Sleek's](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image1.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nMore Techniques for Implementing Inbox Zero in Gmail<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Using labels and filters in Gmail for inbox zero<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Settings](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image2.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nUsing Priority Inbox<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Inbox](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image4.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nUsing Gmail\u2019s categories and tabs<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Using](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image7.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nEnabling \u201cSend and archive\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Adding](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image8.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nInbox Zero Gmail: Takeaways and Next Steps<\/strong><\/h2>\n