How to Set up Swipes in the Gmail App for Android
Google released several versions of Gmail for Android this week, as well as a new feature that lets you customize what happens when you swipe left or right on a message from your inbox.
To customize yours, first click on the hamburger icon (these three lines stacked on top of each other) in the upper left corner of the app, then scroll down to Settings. The settings are at the very bottom of the menu, which if you have a complex organizational setup for your inbox could mean you’re scrolling for a while.
Under Settings, click General Settings and then select Swipe Actions on the next page.
By default, the app archives messages that you swipe across, regardless of whether you swipe left or right.
If you click on the right or left swipe box, you can customize it to do something else. In particular, you can choose one of: archive, delete, mark as read / unread, move, postpone, or do nothing.
As someone who regularly accidentally archives messages while using the app, I would recommend that you stay away from the completely delete button. However, saving one swipe to archive and then replacing the other with “Defer” or “Mark Unread” can be very helpful.
Gmail is gradually rolling out this feature to all Android users. If you don’t see this option in your app, double check and make sure you have the latest version.