# How do I mark an email as unread in Gmail? — Adinand Email Cleaner Last reviewed: October 16, 2026. HTML version: https://adinandemail.com/answers/mark-an-email-as-unread-in-gmail **On a computer, tick the box to the left of the message and click Mark as unread at the top. In the Gmail app, open the message and tap Unread at the top right.** Google gives the reason you would want to: "If you want to remember to read a message later, you can mark it as unread" ([*Mark messages as read or unread*](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/12516), read 16 October 2026). This page is about doing that to one message, or a handful. For the opposite job across a whole mailbox, see [marking all Gmail as read](https://adinandemail.com/answers/mark-all-gmail-as-read). ## On a computer

Google's steps are three lines: go to Gmail, "On the left of the message, check the box", then "At the top, click Mark as unread or Mark as read" (the *Mark messages as read or unread* page above). Tick several boxes first and the one click covers all of them. Google's computer page gives no separate steps for a message you already have open, so the checkbox route is the documented one.

## On Android, iPhone and iPad

The app steps are identical on both platforms: open the Gmail app, "Open the message", and "At the top right, tap Unread." Google adds a shortcut for the list view: "If you want to stay in your inbox, tap the sender's profile image", which selects the message without opening it ([*Mark messages as read or unread (Android)*](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/12516?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid) and [*(iPhone & iPad)*](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/12516?co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS), read 16 October 2026). Tap more profile images and the Unread button acts on every message you picked.

If you do this often, make it a gesture. Both versions of the page offer "Mark as read/unread" as a swipe action. On Android it lives under Menu, Settings, General settings, Mail swipe actions, where you tap Change next to "Right swipe" or "Left swipe". On iPhone and iPad it is Menu, Settings, then under "Inbox" Inbox customizations, Mail swipe actions, and Done when you have picked. One oddity: Google's own sentence introducing that setting says it lets you "quickly archive messages", which is the wrong action for this swipe. The steps themselves pick Mark as read/unread.

## Keyboard shortcuts

With keyboard shortcuts switched on (Settings, See all settings, then "Keyboard shortcuts on" in the "Keyboard shortcuts" section, and Save Changes), Google lists **Shift + u** for "Mark as unread" and Shift + i for "Mark as read" ([*Keyboard shortcuts for Gmail*](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6594), read 16 October 2026). The same table has a less known one, the underscore key, described only as "Mark unread from the selected message". Inside a long conversation that is the one to try when only the later replies are the part you still owe a look. Google gives that single line and no more detail, so check the result the first time.

Google also warns, at the top of that page, that "Keyboard shortcuts aren't supported by all languages or keyboards." If Shift + u does nothing, that, or the setting being off, is the first thing to check.

## What the read and unread page leaves out

Gmail groups replies together: "When people reply to an email, Gmail groups their responses together in conversations" ([*Group emails into conversations*](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/5900), read 16 October 2026). Yet the *Mark messages as read or unread* pages, all three versions, never say whether the toolbar button marks one message or the whole conversation unread. Nor do they say whether the change reaches a mail program such as Outlook or Apple Mail that is connected to the same account. Google's page on adding Gmail to those programs says only that "your messages and labels are synced with the email client" ([*Add Gmail to another email client*](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7126229), read 16 October 2026). If a message still shows as read on another device, give it a refresh before deciding something is wrong.

## Better tools for "read this later"

Unread is a weak reminder when you get a lot of mail, because new messages pile on top of it. Two Gmail features are built for exactly this. Snooze removes the email from your inbox "temporarily" and brings it back "to the top of your inbox when you want it to" ([*Snooze emails until later*](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7622010), read 16 October 2026); the full steps are on [snoozing an email](https://adinandemail.com/answers/gmail-snooze). A star keeps a message findable for as long as you like, covered on [starred emails in Gmail](https://adinandemail.com/answers/starred-emails-in-gmail). And to pull up everything you have left unread, the search `is:unread` is explained on [seeing only unread mail](https://adinandemail.com/answers/see-only-unread-emails-in-gmail).

Related: [Seeing only unread mail](https://adinandemail.com/answers/see-only-unread-emails-in-gmail) · [Marking everything as read](https://adinandemail.com/answers/mark-all-gmail-as-read) · [Snoozing an email](https://adinandemail.com/answers/gmail-snooze) · [Starred emails in Gmail](https://adinandemail.com/answers/starred-emails-in-gmail)