Emails are missing from your inbox in Gmail? With muted conversations, this can happen even to newly incoming messages. Find out here how to restore muted emails to the inbox in Gmail or unmute a conversation.
First, Only Cut in One Direction
Sawing is the one thing to avoid!
This is among the crucial and useful things we learn preparing for life and impressing our friends with consummate knowledge at the school of archived Pan American instructional videos.
Only cut roast beef toward yourself instead, and do not pierce it for gripping with the meat fork you’re handed. For juices that have escaped to the cutting board cannot be put back into a piece of meat.
That is quite unlike emails that have been muted in Gmail (and thus escaped the inbox); they are easily returned, juices and all:
How to Restore Muted Emails in Gmail
When you mute a conversation in Gmail new replies go directly to the Gmail archive, not your inbox (unless they are addressed to you individually).
Time needed: 2 minutes
To unmute a conversation and restored muted emails in Gmail, both in the desktop browser version and the Gmail app for iOS and Android:
- Locate the muted emails you want to restore.
Search: You can use the Gmail search field (including all Gmail search operators, of course) to find the emails by sender or subject, for example.
“All Mail”: Emails in muted threads also show up in the Gmail archive under All Mail.
All muted: Using a search operator, you can also browse all (and only) muted emails in Gmail; see below. - Open the email conversation you want to unmute.
More than one: You can also check conversations in the list, of course, to restore multiple muted emails at once.
- Click the Move to menu.
Gmail keyboard shortcut: On the desktop, you can press v to open the menu.
- Select Inbox in the menu that has appeared
With the keyboard: Start typing
inboxuntil the menu item is highlighted, then press Enter.
Unmute (But Not Restore) Emails
To only unmute a conversation (so future emails will appear in the Gmail inbox) but not move its existing messages to the inbox:
- Find and open the conversation you want to unmute in Gmail; see above.
Unmute multiples: You can, of course, also mark multiple conversations instead of opening one. - Open the More three-dots menu (⋮ or ⋯).
Gmail keyboard shortcut: On the desktop, press . (period) to open the menu. - Select Unmute from the menu that has appeared.
With the keyboard: Use the arrow keys to navigate the menu, then press Enter to select Unmute.
Without the “More” menu: In lieu of the menu, you can also remove the Muted label in a desktop browser, e.g., by clicking × (multiplication sign) next to Muted.
View All Muted Emails in Gmail
To have Gmail display all muted conversations:
- Click in the Search mail field in Gmail
Gmail keyboard shortcut: With Gmail keyboard shortcuts enabled, you can also press / in a desktop browser. - Type
in:muted.
Alternatives:is:mutedandlabel:mutedwork just as well. - Press Enter.
How to Restore Muted Emails in Gmail: FAQ
Is there a Gmail keypad shortcut for unmuting a conversation?
No.
While there is no direct shortcut, you can use the keys to access the Gmail menu (as above).
(How to restore muted emails in Gmail tested with Gmail in a desktop browser; updated March 2024)