Using Gmail smart categories

Gmail's smart categories (Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates, Forums) don't sync to third-party apps like Missive. But you can recreate this behavior using Gmail filters to keep your Missive inbox focused on important emails.

The approach

Create Gmail filters that automatically move categorized emails to labels. These labels sync to Missive, giving you the same inbox separation Gmail provides.

Example setup:

• Promotions + Social → Ads & Social label

• Updates + Forums → Feeds label

Your primary emails stay in your inbox. Everything else goes to these secondary labels.

Setup

1

Create the Ads & Social label in Gmail

1. Open Gmail

2. In the left sidebar, scroll down and click + Create new label

3. Name it Ads & Social

2

Create a filter for promotions and social

1. In the Gmail search bar, type:

   (category:promotions OR category:social)

2. Click the dropdown arrow on the right side of the search bar

3. Click Create filter

3

Configure the filter

Check these options:

• Skip the Inbox (Archive it)

• Apply the label: Ads & Social

• Also apply filter to matching conversations (optional, to apply retroactively)

Click Create filter.

4

Create the Feeds label

Repeat step 1 to create a label named Feeds.

5

Create a filter for updates and forums

Repeat steps 2-3 with this search:

(category:updates OR category:forums)

Apply the Feeds label instead.

6

Pin the labels in Missive

In Missive, the new labels appear in your mailbox list. Pin them to your sidebar for quick access:

1. Find the label in your mailbox list

2. Right-click and select Pin to sidebar

Result

Your inbox now only receives primary emails. Promotions, social updates, newsletters, and forum notifications go to their respective labels. Check them when you want, not when they arrive.