Automatically Organise Your Gmail with AI
(No Coding Required!)

If you're spending hours manually sorting through emails, labelling them by hand, or trying to stay on top of different types of inquiries, there's a smarter way. With the help of AI and a free tool called n8n, you can fully automate Gmail labelling - no tech skills or coding required.

In this article, you'll learn how to set up a smart automation that reads your incoming emails, decides what kind of message it is, and applies the correct label — all in the background, without lifting a finger.

Why This Matters

Manual email sorting is time-consuming and error-prone. Automating it:

• Keeps your inbox clean and organised

• Helps you prioritise faster

• Makes follow-ups more efficient

• Frees up your time for actual work

Whether you're a freelancer, startup founder, assistant, or run a small business, this system will help you get your time and focus back.

What You'll Need

To follow this guide, you’ll need:

• A Gmail account

• An OpenAI account

• A n8n account

Step-by-Step: How to Automatically Label Gmail Emails with AI

Step 1: Log into n8n

Go to n8n and sign in or create a workspace. Click “New Workflow” to get started.

Step 2: Trigger the Workflow When a New Email Arrives

Add the Gmail Trigger node:

• This tells n8n to check Gmail periodically (e.g., every 15 minutes, every 1h).

• Authorise your Gmail account when prompted.

• Configure it to listen for new unread messages.

Step 3: Read the Email Content

Add the “Gmail → Get Message” node:

• This fetches the full content of the incoming email.

• Select the message ID from the trigger step.

Step 4: Send the Content to ChatGPT

Add the “OpenAI → Chat” node:

• Authorise your OpenAI account using an API key.

• In the Prompt box, enter something like this:

  Based on the content of this email, assign one label from this list: Sales, Support, Spam, Newsletter, Follow-up. Respond only with the label name. Here is the email: {{ $json["body"] }}

• This lets AI decide which label fits the email.

Step 5: Match the Label Name with a Gmail Label ID

Option 1: Manually map labels
If you already know your Gmail label names and IDs, use a Set node to match them:

• For example:
  "Sales" → "Label_423", "Support" → "Label_318", etc.

Option 2: Fetch Gmail labels dynamically
If you want to automate label matching:

• Add “Gmail → Get All Labels”

• Use a Function or Code node to compare the AI’s label with your Gmail label list and extract the correct label ID.

Step 6: Apply the Label to the Email

Add the “Gmail → Add Labels to Message” node:

• Use the message ID from Step 2.

• Use the label ID from Step 5.

This applies the AI-generated label directly to the email.

Step 7: Activate and Let It Run

Click “Activate” in the top right corner. From now on, your workflow will run on schedule and keep your inbox intelligently labelled — automatically.

Here’s how people are using this workflow:

• Customer support: Auto-label messages as "Support" vs. "Sales"

• Agencies: Auto-tag clients, prospects, and newsletter leads

• Freelancers: Route emails based on type (collab, job offer, invoice, spam)

• Inbox zero fans: Clean up and structure inboxes using smart labels

What You Can Do Next

This is just the beginning. Once you’re comfortable with this workflow, you can:

• Route labelled emails to Google Sheets or Slack

• Auto-reply to certain categories (like FAQs or spam)

• Create follow-up reminders based on label types

• Sync emails to your CRM

This workflow is a simple but powerful way to integrate artificial intelligence into your daily routine — without paying for expensive tools or writing code. Once set up, it can save you hours per week, help you respond faster, and ensure your inbox stays under control.

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