Applying a Label to an Email Message in Gmail
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This guide was created or last modified prior to 2019, and screenshots or individual steps may now be out of date. If you need assistance with the steps below, please email the Help Desk at ts@dornsife.usc.edu.
The University of Southern California provides several email service options to faculty members. One of those options is USC Gmail for Faculty. USC Gmail for Faculty provides the ability to send and receive your USC email in a Gmail interface.
In order to organize your email messages in Gmail, and to prevent messages from being deleted by the USC email retention policy, you will need to utilize the labels feature in Gmail. Labels are just like folders. You can create labels and then apply them to your email messages.
Note: The Archive option will not prevent messages from being deleted by the retention policy. Selecting the Archive option moves the selected email(s) to a label entitled All Mail. Messages contained within All Mail are subject to the retention policy. A self-created label must be applied to all messages in order to prevent the message(s) from being deleted according to the retention policy.
Archive option in Gmail
Applying a Label in Gmail
Complete the following steps to apply a label to an email message in Gmail.
- After creating the label(s) you want to use, select the first email you want to label. You can select the checkbox next to an email or you can open the email message.
- Select the Labels option. A drop-down menu displays.
- Select the checkbox next to the label you want to use.
- Next, select the Apply option. The label is applied to the email.
Note: You can select the X next to any label to remove it from a message. It is recommended that you remove any system default labels (such as Inbox, Deleted, etc) after you apply your own label. This will prevent messages from being deleted by the retention policy.