GoKawiilBrady Snyder / Android Authority
To date, I’ve mostly ignored the Gemini features in Google Workspace. I’ll occasionally consult Gemini when I need to extract a specific piece of information from a lengthy PDF, or ask it to format a spreadsheet or Google Docs template. The popular AI features, like Help me write and the Gemini sidebar, weren’t enticing.
However, I recently gained access to AI Inbox in Gmail, and it’s the first AI tool in Workspace that does more than take up space.
If you’re the kind of person who keeps their inbox empty and completes every action item immediately, I’ll say right off the bat that AI Inbox might not be for you. I wish I were that person, but instead, I’m the one with inboxes full of over 100,000 emails. Before subscribing to Google AI Pro, I’d declutter just enough to get under the free storage limit — but never more. It’s only fitting that AI Pro also gave me access to AI Inbox, the feature that’s giving me more control over my incoming messages.
Do you want AI in your email inbox? 5 votes Yes, for summarizing and sorting 40 % Yes, for writing and chatting 20 % No, I don't want it 0 % I don't care 40 %
AI Inbox cuts out the noise with curated updates
Brady Snyder / Android Authority
I first noticed AI Inbox hit my Gmail when a third button appeared in the app’s bottom navigation bar. Usually, you have the inbox and Google Meet buttons there, but AI Inbox adds a new one in the middle. It broke my muscle memory at first, which led me to give AI Inbox a shot. Early on, what made the feature useful wasn’t something it added — it was everything it removed.
Emails are frustrating in 2026. You can’t buy a product online without being added to a marketing campaign, and your inbox fills up with promotional slop. Throw in spam and phishing attempts, and I end up missing the emails that are actually important in between the nonsense. One of AI Inbox’s best qualities is that it completely ignores these kinds of messages by default.
Specifically, AI Inbox only highlights emails in Gmail’s Primary tab. If an email is sorted into the Promotions or Social tabs, it won’t appear in the AI Inbox. Better yet, AI Inbox filters out spam and anything you previously chose to archive, delete, mute, or snooze. The end result is an AI Inbox that only includes the most important emails, which is what the Primary tab should’ve been in the first place.
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