Google’s email filtering on Gmail appears to be on the fritz today, as messages that would normally be routed to the Promotions or Social tabs are appearing in the Primary inbox.
In a statement, a Google spokesperson said the company is “aware that some Gmail users are experiencing misclassification of emails in their inbox and additional spam warnings. We are actively working to resolve the issue. As always, we encourage users to follow standard best practices when engaging with messages from unknown senders.”
Trouble started a few hours ago, with users on social media complaining about the “extremely annoying” glitch.
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“The @gmail spam filter broke this morning for me, absolute e-mail armageddon,” one X user wrote. “Woke up to @gmail filters not working right and an overloaded inbox. Just deleting like crazy,” added another.
The support team handling tweets directed at the Gmail X account doesn’t appear to understand what’s happening. People who complained in the last few hours about Gmail filtering being broken or spam detection “acting a bit weird” are being directed to a support page or encouraged to DM the account with details.
On my personal account, LinkedIn notification emails are showing up in the Primary inbox, as are promotional emails from retailers and select newsletters that I’d relegated to Promotions.
Promotional emails appearing in the Primary inbox (Credit: Chloe Albanesius/Google)
The tabbed inbox option on Gmail has been around since 2013 and lets you wall off the influx of marketing emails in their own inbox so important messages don’t get lost.
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If you’re seeing emails in the wrong tab, you can drag them to the correct one and tell Gmail to send all further messages from that email there, too. Ideally, Google will roll out a fix soon, so you don’t have to spend your Saturday dragging and dropping. The spokesperson encouraged people to keep tabs on its status dashboard for updates.
Editors’ Note: This story was updated with comment from Google.
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About Our Expert
Chloe Albanesius
Executive Editor, News
Experience
I started out covering tech policy in DC for The National Journal, where my beat included state-level tech news and all the congressional hearings and FCC meetings I could handle. I later covered Wall Street trading tech before switching gears to consumer tech. I now lead PCMag’s news coverage and manage our how-to content.
Getting my start in DC means I still have a soft spot for tech policy; Congressional hearings can sometimes be as entertaining as a Bravo reality show, for better or worse. But PCMag is all about the technology we use every day, as well as keeping an eye out for the trends that will shape the industry in the years ahead (or flop on arrival). I’ve covered the rise of social media, the iOS vs. Android wars, the cord-cutting revolution that’s now left us with hefty streaming bills, and the effort to stuff artificial intelligence into every product you could imagine. This job has taken me to CES in Vegas (one too many times), IFA in Berlin, and MWC in Barcelona. I also drove a Tesla 1,000 miles out west as part of our Best Mobile Networks project. Of late, my focus is on our hard-working team of reporters at PCMag, guiding and editing their robust coverage of satellite internet efforts, electric vehicles, the latest cyberattacks, AI, and more.
I wouldn’t consider myself an early adopter; I hung on to my iPhone XR until I traded up to an iPhone 15. My aging Apple Watch Series 4 was finally replaced by a Series 10 last year. On the desktop, it’s all Windows for me. I’ve tried macOS, but alas it is not for me.
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