How to Find Unread Emails in Gmail (Web, Android, iOS)

We get lots of emails every day and we can’t read them all. There are promotional emails, marketing emails, and emails from our subscriptions. Over time, these unread emails accumulate, and one day you realize there are hundreds and thousands of them buried deep in your Gmail inbox. In this quick tutorial, we’ll see how to find unread emails in the Gmail app for Android and iOS and Gmail for the web and mark them as read or delete them.

According to Statista, the estimated number of emails exchanged per day in 2023 reached an astounding 347.3 billion. As the internet continues to grow and become more and more accessible, this number will keep ramping up every year.

How to Find Unread Emails in Gmail

If you have lots of unread emails in your Gmail inbox, it’s time to stop ignoring them. Just follow this easy tutorial to delete them.

In Gmail for Web

1. Open Gmail in your desktop browser.
2. Click Settings (gear icon) in the top-right corner of the screen and select See all settings.
3. Click the Inbox tab.
4. Now, click the drop-down next to the Inbox type and select Unread first from the list of options.
5. Next, click the Options drop-down next to Unread and choose the number of unread email items you want to list per page.
6. Finally, click the Save Changes button at the bottom of the Settings page.
7. Now, click Inbox in the left-hand sidebar. You will see all your unread emails under a section called Unread followed by the Everything else section. If you click the Everything else button, it’ll hide other emails and show the unread emails in Gmail only.

You can select the mark all option to delete all unread emails (50 items at a time).

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In Gmail App for Android

If you have an Android device, follow the steps below to show the unread emails in the Gmail app.

1. Open the Gmail app on your Android device.
2. Tap on the hamburger icon (≡) on the top-left corner of the screen.
3. Select Settings found at the bottom of the Gmail app menu.
4. If you are signed in with more than one Gmail account, select the account for which you want to see the unread emails.
5. On the next screen, tap Inbox type and select Unread first from the pop-up box.
6. Now go back to your Gmail inbox and you will find all unread emails there.
7. To delete the unread emails in bulk, tap the profile photo next to the emails you want to delete and then hit the Trash icon.

In Gmail for iPhone and iPad

1. Open the Mail app on your iPhone or iPad and tap the Mailboxes button.
2. You will see the accounts you’re signed into on your device.
3. If you don’t see the Unread option on the screen, tap the Edit option in the top-right corner of the screen.
4. On the next screen, hit the empty circle before the Unread option to select it and tap Done in the top-right corner.
5. You’ll see all the accounts to which you’re signed in. If the Unread option isn’t shown, press the Edit button. This should bring the option to the screen.
6. That’s it. You can now see all unread emails on your iPhone or iPad.

Advanced Methods

Besides the method described above, there are a few more ways to search for unread emails in Gmail. You can use the “is:unread” keyword with different parameters to refine your search in the Gmail app for Android and iOS, and the desktop browser version.

1. Find All Unread Emails

Just type is:unread or is:unread in:inbox in the search box to make Gmail show all unread emails in your inbox. You can use this keyword in both Gmail for smartphones and desktop browsers. Once you see the list of unread emails, you can set different parameters like sender, timeframe, and type of attachments to fine-tune your search.

Similarly, you can use ‘is:unread‘ in the Gmail app on your phone or tablet to find the unread emails.

2. Find Unread Emails in the Primary Inbox

If you want to find your unread emails from the Primary tab only in your Gmail, add a ‘category’ parameter to the ‘is:unread’ keyword. Type the following line in the Gmail search box and hit the enter key. You can use 2 other keyword variations to show a list of unread emails from the Promotions or Social tabs.

category:primary is:unread
category:promotions is:unread
category:social is:unread

You’ll see the list of unread emails from your Primary inbox only. You can also use just ‘is:unread’ and then click the Exclude Social and Exclude Promotions tabs to show unread emails categorically from the Primary tab only.

3. Search Unread Emails by Date Range

If you want to find unread emails between specific dates, you can use the following parameter.

is:unread before:2022/08/23 after:2018/01/01

4. Find Specific Unread Emails

Below is an example to find unread emails from a specific sender.

is:unread from:admin@technastic.com

5. Find Unread Emails from a Domain Name

If you want Gmail to show all unread emails sent to you from a specific domain name, you can use the following parameter.

is:unread from:*@google.com

6. Search Unread Emails by Name

There is another method to search unread messages by the sender’s name.

is:unread from:Tom

7. Search by Combining Different Parameters

Finally, there is yet another potential scenario where you can use multiple parameters to refine your search for unread emails in Gmail. Here’s an example.

is:unread before:2022/08/23 after:2018/01/01 from*@technastic.com

Mark All Unread Emails as Read

In most cases, the very purpose you want to find the unread emails in your inbox is to either mark them as read or delete them. Once you have your unread emails right in front of your eyes, it’s easy to mark them as read. In Gmail for desktop browsers, click the down arrow icon next to the square box used to select emails, select All or Unread, click the 3-dot More icon, and select Mark all as read.

If you want to mark the unread emails as read in the Gmail app for Android or iOS, follow the steps given below.

1. Open the Gmail app on your Android device or iPhone.
2. Ensure you have followed the steps to make Gmail show the unread emails on the screen.
3. Tap the round icon with a letter or image next to unread emails to select them.
4. Now, tap the Unread (open envelope) icon on the top as shown below.

I have mentioned all possible ways to find unread emails in Gmail, mark them as read, and delete them.