How to See Multiple Views Side by Side in Gmail

Email & Messaging

Updated July 10, 2019

You may switch between Gmail labels, the inbox, starred mail, your drafts, and, occasionally, the trash, often.

It's possible to keep track of labels or searches like recent messages from your boss, even if they've slipped to your Gmail inbox's second screen. It's not tabs exactly, but you can put additional collections next to your Gmail inbox — below, above or next to the standard view.

See Multiple Views, Labels and Searches Side by Side in Gmail

To place additional views (for drafts e.g., a label or search results) next to your Gmail inbox:

Click the Settings gear in Gmail.
Click Settings.
Click Advanced.
Make sure the radio button next to Enable by Multiple Inboxes is selected.
Click Multiple Inboxes.
On this page, you'll set search terms for each pane you want. Valid search terms include "to:" to include all messages you've sent to a specific address, "is:" to pull specific labels you've created, and "from:" to sort out all messages you've received from a specific person. The Panel title will be a label at the top of the new windows.

You can use any Gmail search term and operator.
Below your search terms, you'll see some other options. Maximum page size lets you put a limit on how many conversations the new pane will display. Extra panels positioning determines where the new windows will appear.
Click Save Changes when you're done. Depending on what you chose by Extra panels positioning, you'll see your new windows either below, above, or next to the inbox.

"Right of the inbox" creates separate windows, and the other options arrange all of the headings in a single column with the panel titles you chose.
You can return to the Settings menu to add or delete panels as you want.

If the Panels Don't Appear

The tabs at the top of your inbox may stop your extra panels from appearing. Here's how to fix the issue.

Under the Settings menu, click Inbox.
Under the Categories heading, uncheck all of the boxes except for Primary to turn off the other tabs.
Click Save Changes to return to your inbox. Your panels should appear now.