Google calendar updates are the bane of my inbox

August 24, 2018 6:31 AM

Is there a way to send everything from google calendar (invitations, declined invites, updates, etc) to a separate folder or non-inbox location? (Gmail)

I still want to get them because sometimes I need them, but I want them out of my main inbox because I get a lot of them and they're clutter. I've tried to do a filter but since they come directly from the email address of the person who created them I can't figure out an effective way to do that.

Ideally they'd be an inbox tab of their own or go to the "updates" tab, but a folder of their own would also be fine. Help?

posted by geegollygosh to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

I have been wanting a way to do this as well. This post over at Webapps StackExchange suggests a way to do this.

From: 
To: 
Subject:          "invitation" OR "accepted"
                  OR "rejected" OR "updated" OR "canceled event" 
                  OR "declined"
Has the words:    when where calendar who organizer
Doesn't have:
has:attachment

There are some more options in that thread that you can tweak for your specific circumstance.
posted by jessamyn at 6:43 AM on August 24, 2018

Response by poster: Thanks Jessamyn! I've now successfully created a filter. But I can't figure out how to get those filtered emails to go directly to a different tab-- "label"-- or directly to their own folder. There's gotta be a way to do that, right?
posted by geegollygosh at 8:28 AM on August 24, 2018

Response by poster: Okay, I actually think I answered that question. For posterity-- create a filter as Jessamyn directed. Then go to settings --> filters ---> edit on the calendar filter---> click "continue" when the filter pops up in the search bar ---> check "categories" and pull down to "updates".

No calendar updates have come in yet so I can't check but this seems to have done the trick.
posted by geegollygosh at 8:35 AM on August 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

Here's another way to segregate these into their own "folder" (gmail doesn't really use folders like Outlook does, but labels are essentially folders in this example)

1. Create a label called "Calendar items" or something similarly meaningful.
2. Build your filter as in jessamyn's example, and click "create filter".
3. On the "when a message arrives that matches this search" screen of the filter builder, check "Apply the label" then choose "Calendar items". This will essentially put all your calendar-related emails into their own "folder" by automatically giving them that label.
4. If you don't want to see them in your main inbox at all, and want to send them straight to their own "folder", click "Skip the Inbox (Archive it)". This will make them go away from your main inbox, but they'll be accessible from the list of labels on the left side of the screen.
5. If you want them in your inbox, either do nothing more or click "mark as read" if you want to cut down on unread notifications bugging you (having too many unread calendar notifications make me itch).
posted by pdb at 2:38 PM on August 24, 2018