Adverts and promotional content are everywhere nowadays-from websites and apps to social media platforms. Luckily, there are ways and tools that let people hide or remove such things altogether.

Gmail users also receive promotional emails daily, but thankfully, these emails aren’t permanent in the inbox. There are different ways to delete all promotion emails in Gmail, and this article will discuss each, so please read on.

What Are Custom Tabs In Gmail?

In Gmail, custom tabs (or simply tabs) are sections in the inbox. Google analyzes the nature of incoming emails and groups such messages into categories (e.g., Primary, Promotions, Social). Moreover, a tab represents a category in the inbox, and both have the same name or identifier. The tab also collects and displays the emails that belong to that particular category.

Gmail enables this feature by default, but the option to turn it off is always there. On the Gmail website, these tabs are accessible via the top part of the inbox. Such tabs are also available in the left main menu pane, although users will have to click more things to get there.

What Each Tab Represents?

Since there are many types of emails, Gmail also has different categories or tabs in the inbox. Today, users can find five visible and two hidden tabs on the Gmail website, namely the following:

1. Primary

All of the regular emails will fall under the Primary category or tab. Such emails are typically from people or saved contacts; however, these can also be messages that Gmail hasn’t figured out (type or purpose not identified). Gmail considers it the default destination, and emails under it don’t appear in other tabs.

2. Promotions

As the name suggests, the Promotions category or tab displays messages from brands, marketers, and other related organizations or individuals. Gmail sends emails that it considers product/service offers or deals and parts of brand awareness campaigns to this tab.

3. Social

Social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook love to send emails to users, and most of these messages will go to the Social tab. If not configured, such platforms will send email notifications for friend requests/new followers, DMs, likes, comments, and more. However, Gmail will show an email in the Primary tab if it’s about account security (new login or attempts, password change, etc.).

4. Updates

The Updates tab is a significant section for it shows emails like receipts, bank statements, utility bill reminders, and subscription payment summaries. A message in this tab can also be an important notification from an email address that Gmail considers owned by a business, agency, or another related entity.

5. Forums

According to Google, the Forums tab is the destination for emails about activities on online groups and discussion boards. Examples of emails in this tab can be an alert for a comment reply in a blog or an upvote to a Reddit post. Forums also show newsletters from companies as well as online personalities.

6. Reservations and Purchases

The “Reservations” category shows emails, including flight confirmations, restaurant table reservations, and hotel room bookings. On the other hand, order confirmations, shipping status, and delivery reminders fall under the “Purchases” category.

Both “Reservations” and “Purchases” aren’t visible in the inbox, and users can’t enable any of the two. However, one can use these categories when searching emails or creating filters.

How To Remove Tabs In Gmail

Users can remove all visible tabs in the inbox by changing the inbox type:

1. On Gmail, click the settings icon and then press the “See all settings” button.

2. Go to the “Inbox” section and then choose an item (except for the “Default” option) in the “Inbox type” row.

3. Scroll down to the bottom and then click the “Save Changes” button.

It’s also possible to remove only one or two tabs in the inbox:

1. Go to Gmail’s settings section and then navigate to the “Inbox” view.

2. Check (show tabs) or uncheck (hide tabs) items in the “Categories” row.

3. Scroll down to the bottom and then click the “Save Changes” button.

What Are Promotional Emails?

Promotional emails are typically messages from businesses, marketers, and other related individuals or entities. A promotional email can be about a store sale, product/service advertisement, or it’s simply an email that’s part of a brand awareness campaign.

On Gmail, such emails fall under the “Promotions” category and will show up in the “Promotions” tab of the inbox. Users can receive promotional messages from previously transacted brands or other companies that want to acquire new customers.

How Does A Gmail Detect A Promotional Email?

To detect promotional emails, Gmail employs intelligent algorithms that scan every incoming message in the inbox. It also uses filters, which detect promotional emails by inspecting the email address, subject, email body, attached files, and links.

Gmail is developed by Google, a leader in the AI field and owner of arguably the world’s smartest search engine. Accordingly, it’s no wonder why it has intelligent promotional email detection algorithms. Also, Google owns the Google Ads marketing platform, which likely helps Gmail determine advert emails.

Why Delete Promotional Emails?

Unlike messages from individuals, receipts, bills, bank statements, and many more, there isn’t a solid reason to keep promotional emails. Typically, these emails just contain marketing words and content, meaning there’s no important information or detail inside.

If a user deletes all promotional emails, the inbox will be cleaner than before, making browsing more comfortable. New and important messages will also be easily recognizable, especially if tabs are not enabled, which means all emails appear in one section. Lastly, deleting promotional and old emails helps Google continue using renewable energy to power Gmail servers, as storing emails requires significant power.

How to Delete Promotions On Gmail

Google knows its users receive many messages about adverts every day. For this reason, it offers several ways to delete chats and promotional emails, including the ones below.

How to Delete Promotions in Gmail On Desktop

Google allows its users to empty all promotions in Gmail, which is especially easy to do on desktop:

1. Visit the Gmail website and wait for the inbox to load.

2. Look for the “Promotions” tab and open it.

3. Click the “Select” box to select all promotional emails.

4. Click the trash icon or right-click any email and then press the “Delete” option in the pop-up.

5. Press “More” in the left main menu pane and then click the “Trash” item.

6. Click the “Empty Trash now” text to delete the promotional emails permanently.

How to Delete All Promotions In Gmail On Mobile

There are billions of people that rely on smartphones and tablets to access Gmail. Accordingly, Google allows users to delete all promotions on mobile:

1. Open the Gmail mobile app and wait for the inbox to load.

2. Click the hamburger menu and then go to “Promotions.”

3. Click the profile photo of each email to select messages and then press the trash icon up top.

4. Press the hamburger menu and then scroll all the way down to see and open “Trash.”

5. Click the “Empty trash now” text to delete the promotional emails permanently.

How to Delete All Promotions In Gmail At Once With Boxysuite

Boxysuite is the best Gmail app for Mac. It preserves Gmail’s interface and functions, so deleting all promotional emails is also a familiar process:

1. Launch Boxy for Gmail (Boxysuite’s dedicated app for Gmail).

2. Go to “Inbox” and then click the “Promotions” tab.

3. Click the “Select” box to select all promotional emails.

4. Press the delete icon up top.

5. Press “More” in the left main menu pane and then click the “Trash” item.

6. Click the “Empty Trash now” text to delete the promotional emails permanently.

How To Get Rid Of Promotions In Gmail Before They Land In Your Inbox

While it’s not hard to clear all promotions in Gmail, it’s still great to never see this type of email in the inbox again. Luckily, Google offers an option to automatically delete spam and other emails, particularly promotions, using filters:

1. Open the Gmail website and click the “Show search options” button.

2. Click the dropdown icon of “Search” and then select “Promotions” in the pop-up.

3. Press the “Create filter” text.

4. Check the “Delete it” box and then click the “Create filter” button.

Final Words

Gmail is undoubtedly an excellent email service; it even makes it easy to delete all promotional emails at once. However, its official website isn’t ideal to use if you want to get work done and avoid slowing down your computer.

Thankfully, there is an app that lets you fully take advantage of Gmail while being productive-and it’s called Boxysuite. Unlike browsers, Boxysuite provides a clean and distraction-free working environment for Gmail, as well as Google Calendar, Contacts, and Keep.

Boxysuite is the first and only native Gmail macOS app, so it will run smoothly and won’t drain your device’s battery. It offers helpful and exclusive features like Email Tracking Detection, Reader Mode, Task Managers Integration, Desktop Notifications, and more. Do you want to improve your Gmail workflow? If yes, then try Boxysuite for free today!