Why are some Labels prefixed with "[Gmail]/" and others not?

[JohnDohe]

Why are some Labels prefixed with "[Gmail]/" and others not?





In my screenshots above, there are many Labels in my Gmail account prefixed by "[Gmail]/" .

But others are not.

Why?

Why are some Labels prefixed with "[Gmail]/" and others not?

Is this absolutely necessary?

If not, how may I get rid of the "[Gmail]/" prefix?

Thanks!

 

[Barman58]

The way that Gmail works these are not folders but labels that act as folders

In basic terms consider them as if they are just sub folders of the gmail folder, you could create new folders move the contents from the sub folders to the new folders and then delete or hide the gmail folder tree,

I'm not certain if the Gmail Tree would be rebuilt and new items added to the folders as the system expects the structure, but it does not look like and none of the ones I've removed have returned, but I run IMAP not old POP3 so may work differently .

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Not sure but labels are nothing but folders you have created or at least in my case folders that I created and put emails in them to easily find.

There are of course some default folders
If you don't want to see them use hide or remove and use your own labels to organize

 

[Lance1]

In Settings under Actions click Edit and remove it if it's bothersome.

 

[JohnDohe]

@ Lance1

I'm using Gmail through a browser; no email client.

That interface has "Settings" but not "Action" so what are you referring to?

Thanks!

 

[JohnDohe]

ThrashZone

Yes, I understand the concept of a Gmail "Label" vs an email client-app's "Folder".

I assign one or more label(s) to an email, which makes it easy to search for that email:
no need to copy the "Master" email and put a copy or copies into the one (or more) folder(s)
the particular email applies to.

I also know about hiding default folders.

But hiding a default folder is not what I'm talking about.

In my original post you'll see pic's of what I've got.

There are several folders prefixed with [Gmail]/
and I didn't create those labels that way.

So how did [Gmail]/ get added to my label?

:huh:

 

[Lance1]

@ Lance1

I'm using Gmail through a browser; no email client.

That interface has "Settings" but not "Action" so what are you referring to?

Thanks!

Refer to your #1 post. Look under Action.

 

[JohnDohe]

@ Lance1

Ah, yes, right, right!

However, "Actions" does not answer my dilemma.

There are several folders prefixed with [Gmail]/
and I didn't create those labels that way.

So how did [Gmail]/ get added to my label?

 

[Barman58]

I've got rid of mine a long time ago but I seem to recall when I first set-up the Gmail account everything was under the label Gmail except for some general items such as sent, bin etc Adding new labels did so as a sub label of the Gmail one

It may have been due to my using a local IMAP email Client, (outlook or Thunderbird, I've used both extensively ), and was checking more than one account (others were non Gmail), I think there were other top level Id's assigned to the other accounts so it may not be a Gmail thing but related to use of a 3rd party desktop mail client to check multiple Imap accounts with the desktop client assigning them and IMAP duplicating them in gmail

once I had the labels in place I then followed the set-up wherever I added a new label - I did this for many years until a few years ago when I re-organised my email from account based to subject based (I now collect all accounts through the gmail account and rarely use a desktop client)

Not sure if this applies in your case

 

[Lance1]

@ Lance1

Ah, yes, right, right!

However, "Actions" does not answer my dilemma.

There are several folders prefixed with [Gmail]/
and I didn't create those labels that way.

So how did [Gmail]/ get added to my label?

I think your looking at the code end of Gmail. If you want to get that deep start here---> List all Gmail labels

 

[JohnDohe]

@ Barman58

You sound like you've got it right.

I was using Outlook Express, Mac Mail and MS Outlook 2010 years ago.

Each of them had their limitations so I just stopped using them and went
100% with the Gmail web interface.

So I suppose you've got it right that it was those email clients that caused
the [Gmail]/ to be prefixed to various labels.

But ... why weren't ALL labels prefixed the same way?

Only some.

Hmmm :banghead:

 

[JohnDohe]

@ Lance1

Thats an interesting link; thanks.

However, I'm not a coder and have absolutely NO idea of what that link is talking about

From the link I got that,
"System labels, which are labels created by Gmail, are reserved and prefixed by “[Gmail]” or “[GoogleMail]” in the list of labels."

Ok ... I can understand that the [Gmail]/ prefix will be added as a prefix to (Gmail's) System labels.

But riddle me this Batman!

Have a look at a more complete listing of my labels, which I recently edited
to remove the [Gmail]/ prefix from as many of my labels as Gmail would allow:







As you can see, its not just System Labels that have the [Gmail]/ prefix.

Some labels that I created have the [Gmail]/ prefix ... others don't.

Other labels that I created have an [IMAP]/ prefix ... others don't.

Another thing: under System labels I've got one "Drafts" label.

But I've also got:
[Gmail]Drafts,
[Imap]/Drafts,
All Mail/Drafts

In total, four (4) "Drafts" labels.

For "Trash" I've got the one System label.

But I've also got:
[Imap]/Trash,
Inbox/Trash,
Trash/Sent Mail

Four (4) "Drafts" labels.

Similarly I've got one "Sent Mail" label under System labels.

But I've also got:
[Imap]/Sent,
All Mail/Sent Mail,
Inbox/Sent,
Sent Messages,
Trash/Sent Mail

A total of six (6) "Sent" labels variously named.

How come?

I can't change their labels either.

If they've got a prefix, I can't change or delete the prefix.

I have the option to "remove" a label, but how did all these different
labels that, on the surface seem to serve the same purpose, get
created in addition to Gmail's System label having the basic name?

Any thoughts on why?

Thanks!