Gmail adds new search filters, powerful and easy to use

Gmail is known for its very generous storage space, security, simplicity of the interface, but not the ease with which you can find important messages, especially if it’s been a while since they arrived in your inbox. Google hopes to address this shortcoming by including a new carousel with easy-to-use search filters.

More than a search function, the new toolkit allows you to filter messages by easy-to-understand criteria, such as the subject and address of the sender / recipient, the type or name of attachments added, and the length of time it was sent / received. Properly chosen, all these options could return a personalized list that will, with a little luck, include the desired message. And if this approach does not lead immediately to the searched message, try the Search function, to further reduce the displayed list.

The new filter set is hidden by default, appearing only when using the inverted pyramid-shaped button, displayed on the right side of the screen, in the profile picture area. However, to ease the current testing stage, the message selection filter carousel is automatically displayed, inviting as many users as possible to try its functionality.

Properly implemented, the new message filtering / searching feature could reduce the pressure on obsessively deleting messages in your Inbox, a habit that many Gmail users adhere to. But even for them, the “cleaning” does not end until the Trash folder is emptied. In the meantime, more desperate searches can be extended to include deleted but not permanently deleted messages by adding the “in: trash” parameter.