How to use shared labels in Google Groups

Gmail labels vs Google Groups shared labels

Gmail labels belong to one account. Google's Gmail help puts it plainly: only you can access your labels. If three people sort the same kind of email, each keeps their own labels and nobody sees the others'.

Google Groups works differently. When a group has shared labels turned on, a label applied to a conversation is seen by anyone who can view that conversation. That makes a group address, such as press@ or events@, the one place in Google Workspace where a team can sort email together without another tool.

Turn on shared labels

You need the Owner or Manager role in the group.

1. Open Google Groups and select the group.
2. Click Group settings.
3. Under Shared labels, check Enable shared labels for this group.
4. Save.

Shared labels are off for every new group until someone turns them on. If Groups is missing from a work or school account, a Google Workspace administrator has to turn on Groups for Business first.

Create, apply, and delete labels

Once shared labels are on, any group member can create or delete labels:

• Create: in the left panel, open the menu next to Labels, choose Add label, enter a name, and click Add. Names cannot contain spaces or certain special characters, so use Press or PressRequests, not Press requests.
• Apply: select one or more conversations, click Label in the upper right, and check the labels you want. You can create a new label from the same box. Applying labels requires the "Who can view conversations" permission.
• Remove: open the conversation and click the X on the label at the top.
• Delete: open the menu next to Labels and choose Delete label. Conversations that already carry the label keep it until someone removes it.

Members can then search and filter the group's conversations by label.

Pick labels the team will actually use

The rules that make Gmail labels work for a team apply here too: name labels after the work, not the sender, keep the set to five to eight, and write a one-line definition of what belongs in each. Our guide to organizing Gmail labels for a team has a starter set and a definition table you can copy.

Add assignment with a collaborative inbox

Labels say what a conversation is about, not who owns it. Turning the group into a collaborative inbox adds that: members can assign conversations to each other and mark them complete, so the team knows what is still open. See our Google collaborative inbox comparison for what it does and does not cover.

Where shared labels stop working

• One address per group. Labels sort the mail sent to that group. A team that also answers from personal Gmail accounts or a second shared address has several places to look.
• Groups interface only. Google's help describes labels inside Google Groups, so the team works there instead of in Gmail.
• Labels are applied by hand. Every conversation waits for someone to read it and pick a label.
• No drafting or approval. Groups sorts and assigns; replying is up to each member.

One label set across every Gmail account

A shared inbox removes those limits. In Tutti, the workspace keeps one label set with a definition for each label. AI reads every new conversation across all connected Gmail accounts, files it under the right label, and mirrors that label back to the original Gmail account, so teammates who stay in Gmail see the same organization. Labels can also turn on auto-drafting, and a person approves every reply before it sends.

Only conversations that match a label are imported; everything else stays in Gmail. Tutti is $250 per month per workspace for up to 5 teammates, with a 14-day free trial. Start with how to set up a shared inbox in Gmail.

Frequently asked questions