Turning off Auto Labels

Auto Labels sorts your incoming email into the right category automatically — Action needed, Awaiting reply, and the rest. If it’s doing too much, you have two levers: a single master toggle that turns the whole thing off, and a per-category “Keep in inbox” setting that controls archiving. This guide covers both.

Turn off Auto Labels entirely

The master toggle is the global control. When you switch it off, Chiefy stops applying every system category label to new emails.

1. Open Chiefy settings

   In Gmail, open the Chiefy side panel and choose Settings.

2. Go to Auto Labels

   Select Auto Labels from the settings menu.

3. Switch the master toggle off A

   Toggle Auto Labels off. Chiefy stops labeling new emails right away.

   Chiefy · Settings → Auto Labels

   Auto Labels A Automatically sort new emails into the right category

While the master toggle is off, Chiefy skips system labeling completely — no labels are added or removed on new emails. Turning it back on resumes labeling from the next email onward.

What stays and what stops

Turning off the master toggle changes future behavior only. It’s worth knowing exactly what it does and doesn’t touch.

• New emails stop getting system labels. With the toggle off, Chiefy won’t apply Action needed, Awaiting reply, or any other system category label to incoming threads.
• Existing labels stay put. Threads that were already labeled keep their labels. Turning off the master toggle doesn’t go back and strip labels from past emails.
• Your own categories keep working. Categories you’ve created yourself run independently of the master toggle. They continue to label and, where you’ve set them to, archive — even with Auto Labels’ system categories switched off.

Control archiving per category

If you mostly like Auto Labels but want to stop certain categories from disappearing into the archive, you don’t need the master toggle at all. Each system category has its own Keep in inbox setting.

This setting controls archiving only — it’s separate from whether the label gets applied. When Keep in inbox is on, a matching email is labeled and stays in your inbox. When it’s off, the email is labeled and then archived, so the only place you’ll find it is under its label.

Chiefy · Settings → Auto Labels

Action needed · Keep in inbox Labeled emails stay in your inbox

Promotions · Keep in inbox Labeled emails are archived out of your inbox

To change it, open Chiefy → Settings → Auto Labels, find the category, and switch its Keep in inbox setting on or off.

Changing Keep in inbox only affects future emails. It doesn’t reach back and re-file emails Chiefy has already sorted — an email that was archived under a category stays archived, and one already in your inbox stays there.

Which approach should you use

• Stop all automatic labeling — turn the master toggle off. Best when you want a quiet inbox with no system categories at all.
• Keep labeling, stop a category from archiving — leave the master toggle on and switch that category’s Keep in inbox setting on. Best when the sorting is helpful but you don’t want certain emails leaving your inbox.