Gmail won't show you misclassified emails anymore
26 Jan 2026

Google has fixed a technical glitch in Gmail, after users flagged that the platform's email filtering system was malfunctioning.

The issue led to a flood of promotional and update emails in users' inboxes.

Messages usually sorted into the Promotions or Updates tabs were landing directly in the primary inbox, causing confusion among many.

Google acknowledges Gmail's filtering issues
Official response

Google acknowledged the problem on its Workspace Status Dashboard, noting that it began on Saturday.

"We are experiencing an issue with Gmail beginning on Saturday, 2026-01-24 05:02 US/Pacific," the company said.

"We are aware that some Gmail users are experiencing misclassification of emails in their inbox and additional spam warnings," it added.

Google advises caution
User safety

As the glitch affected Gmail's filtering system, Google advised users to be careful while opening emails from unknown senders.

"As always, we encourage users to follow standard best practices when engaging with messages from unknown senders," the company said.

It also promised to keep users updated as the situation evolves.

Gmail's filtering system has been a long-standing feature
System history

For years, Gmail's automatic filtering system has kept promotional content separate from personal emails, greatly reducing notification overload. Users have become used to this system since Google introduced the tabbed inbox in 2013.