How do I change what swiping does in the Gmail app?

Last reviewed: October 21, 2026 · Markdown version

Each direction has its own setting, and you change them separately. On Android it is Menu, Settings, General settings, Swipe actions; on iPhone it is Menu, Settings, Inbox customizations, Mail swipe actions. The menus differ between the two apps, and so does the list of things a swipe can do. Gmail on a computer has no swipe setting at all; this page is about the phone apps.

On Android

Open the Gmail app and tap Menu at the top left, then Settings.
Tap General settings, then Swipe actions.
Next to "Right swipe" or "Left swipe", tap Change and pick the action.

Those steps are from Google's archive page, which uses them to set a swipe to Archive (Archive Gmail messages (Android), read 21 October 2026). Google's settings page gives the full set of choices: "archive, delete, mark as read/unread, move to a label, or snooze messages" (Change your Gmail settings (Android), read 21 October 2026). Because Swipe actions sits under General settings, the same page's note applies: changes there "apply to all the Google Accounts you've added to your Gmail app."

What that page does not list is a "none" choice, and it describes Swipe actions only as a setting that is on, without saying how to switch swiping off entirely. If you keep swiping messages away by accident, the nearest thing the Android page offers is Action confirmations, which can "Ask for confirmation before some actions", including deleting and archiving.

On iPhone

Open the Gmail app, tap Menu at the top left, then Settings.
Under "Inbox", tap Inbox customizations, then Mail swipe actions.
Tap Right swipe or Left swipe and select the action.

Google's iPhone settings page lists six options: Archive, Trash, Mark as read/unread, Snooze, "Move to..." and None (Change your Gmail settings (iPhone & iPad), read 21 October 2026). None is the one Android does not have, so on an iPhone you can turn a swipe off. The same page explains the default: "Unless you changed "When removing messages, I prefer to..." in your general settings, a left or right swipe archives a message by default." If you use VoiceOver, your custom actions still apply; Google's instruction is to focus on the message and swipe down, with the rotor set to "Actions".

Choosing what to put on each side

The two swipes are the fastest controls in the app, so it is worth giving them the jobs you do most. A pairing we find works for most people is archive on one side and snooze on the other: one clears what is finished, the other pushes back what is not yet. If your inbox is mostly mail you will never need, put delete on one side instead. The trade-off between those two is on archiving or deleting. Mark as read/unread is the right choice if you triage by reading first and acting later.

Swiped the wrong way?

Nothing a swipe does is immediate loss. An archived message "no longer appears in your inbox, but you can still find it under the “All mail” label", and the same page tells you how to put it back: touch and hold it, then More, Move to Inbox (the Archive Gmail messages page above). Google also notes that if someone replies to a message you archived, it returns to your inbox on its own. A deleted message goes to Trash, where "Up to 30 days after deletion" you can still recover it (Delete messages in Gmail (Android), read 21 October 2026). One exception on that page is worth knowing: "When you delete a draft, you can't recover it from Trash." More on getting archived mail back: finding archived emails.