Gmail automatically organizes incoming emails into tabs (Primary, Promotions, Social, Updates, and Forums) to help users manage their inbox more efficiently. This placement is based on subscriber engagement, email content, and sender information.
Understanding how Gmail categorizes your messages can help boost your visibility, engagement rates, and long-term deliverability.
Gmail Tab Categories
Since 2013, Gmail has introduced five different email tab categories:
Primary - Personal conversations, one-to-one messages, and emails from contacts. This is the most visible tab and the default view of the inbox.
Social - Notifications from social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn.
Updates - Transactional and informational emails such as order confirmations, shipping notifications, receipts, and account alerts.
Forums - Messages from online groups, discussion boards, and mailing lists.
Promotions - Marketing emails, special offers, and bulk messages, even if they are from sources that contacts subscribed to.
Important: Tabs are not the same as spam. Spam emails are filtered out entirely and do not land in the inbox at all. In contrast, tabbed categories still place your email in the inbox, but they may hinder visibility.
One of the most prominent studies by Return Path (now part of Validity) found that only 33% of Gmail users use tabbed inboxes, with 68% using Social tab, 60% using Promotions, 26% using Updates, and 13% using forums. Also, only 20% say they never check the Promotions tab in Gmail.
Although marketing emails are more likely to land in Promotions, Omnisend has no control over Gmail tab placement, and there is no proven way to override Gmail’s algorithms. Only the subscriber can influence placement by moving emails between tabs or consistently engaging with them.
Even though Gmail automatically enables tab categories for users, they can manually adjust their settings by choosing which categories to keep or remove, following Gmail guidance.
How Gmail Decides Your Email Placement
Gmail uses a combination of factors to decide which tab your message belongs to:
Email content and structure – Promotional language, heavy use of images, or specific keywords may trigger the Promotions tab.
Sender reputation – Your sending domain, authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), and overall performance matter. Learn more about SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
Subscriber behavior – Gmail considers how individual users interact with your emails (opens, clicks, replies, deletions).
Past engagement with your emails – Low engagement over time can shift you from Primary to Promotions or Updates.
💡 Gmail’s algorithm is personalized per user, meaning different people may see the same email land in different tabs depending on how they interact with your emails.
Optimizing Email Placement
While there’s no guaranteed way to bypass Gmail’s algorithm, you can improve your chances by following these best practices:
Maintain a Healthy List
Gmail pays close attention to how recipients interact with your emails over time. Sending to disengaged contacts increases the likelihood of Promotions placement. To avoid this:
Regularly exclude contacts who haven’t opened or clicked in a long period.
Use sunset or customer reactivation automation instead of continuing to email inactive subscribers.
Avoid importing cold or outdated lists.
Higher engagement across your list sends stronger positive signals to Gmail.
Use Segmentation
Large, one-size-fits-all campaigns are more likely to be classified as promotional. By using segmentation in Omnisend, you can send targeted emails based on a subscriber’s engagement, purchase history, or browsing behavior, ensuring they receive content that matches their expectations.
More relevant emails generally lead to higher engagement, which Gmail considers when determining tab placement.
💡 Check our Top 10 Segmentation Ideas for Ecommerce.
Encourage Subscribers to Whitelist You
This is one of the strongest signals Gmail uses. Subscribers can guide Gmail on where to deliver your messages. Your subscribers can:
Add your sender email address to their Google Contacts. Emails from subscribers' Google Contacts always land in the Primary inbox. Read Google Help instructions on how to add the From email address to the Google Contacts.
Move your emails to the Primary tab. When a subscriber moves one of your campaigns from the Promotions tab to the Primary tab, Gmail asks whether it should always deliver your campaigns there. If you have engaged subscribers who want your emails to appear in the Primary tab, share these Gmail Help instructions.
Optimize Your Email Content
Email content alone won’t force Primary placement, but it can influence how subscribers interact with your messages, which Gmail evaluates over time.
Avoid content that feels overly promotional or repetitive, such as excessive urgency or identical templates sent to large audiences.
Use A/B testing to identify which email subject lines or content your subscribers engage with the most.
Emails that feel expected and valuable are more likely to be opened, clicked, or replied to, supporting better tab placement for engaged subscribers.
Monitor Your Placement
Inbox placement can vary by user, but testing tools can help identify patterns. To test content and check to which tab on Gmail your email will land, use the Which Gmail Tab? tool from Litmus.
FAQ
What if my emails suddenly move from Primary to Promotions?
This usually happens when subscribers stop interacting with your emails, such as not opening or clicking them. When this happens, Gmail is more likely to treat your messages as promotional. To improve placement, avoid sending regular campaigns to inactive subscribers and attempt one re-engagement email before removing them from your list.
Need further guidance? Our Support Team is just one click away in the app, or you can email [email protected].