What are starred emails in Gmail, and how do I find them?

Last reviewed: October 16, 2026 · Markdown version

A star is a marker you put on an email so it is easy to find again. Google's definition: "When you star emails in Gmail, you mark them as important. This helps you remember to look at them later" (Star emails in Gmail, read 16 October 2026). Starred mail is gathered in a list of its own, called Starred, which the next section shows you how to open.

Finding them

Computer: "On the left side of the page, click Starred. You may need to click More first."
Android, iPhone and iPad: open the Gmail app, tap Menu at the top left, then tap Starred (Star emails in Gmail (Android) and (iPhone & iPad), read 16 October 2026).
Search: type is:starred. Google lists it among the status searches, beside is:unread and is:important (Refine searches in Gmail, read 16 October 2026). Searching is the useful route when you want a slice, for example is:starred from:bank, and more pairings are on using Gmail search operators.

To see starred mail every time you open Gmail without searching, change the inbox type. Google's "Starred first" option splits the inbox into "two sections: "Starred" at the top, and "Everything else" at the bottom" (Change your Gmail inbox layout, read 16 October 2026). Changing the inbox type has the steps on each device.

Starring a message

On a computer, click the Star to the left of the message in your inbox, or, "If the message is open, click More Add Star." In the app, "To the right of the message or subject, tap Star." With keyboard shortcuts on, the s key does the same; Google's list calls it "Toggle star/rotate among superstars" (Keyboard shortcuts for Gmail, read 16 October 2026). A filter can also star incoming mail for you, since "star" is one of the actions on Google's filter page (Create rules to filter your emails, read 16 October 2026).

Different stars, and what superstars are

Gmail can use more than the yellow star; Google's shortcut list calls the extras superstars. On a computer, open Settings, See all settings, scroll to the "Stars" section and "Drag stars between "Not in use" and "In use"", or pick a preset of 1 star, 4 stars or all stars, then Save Changes (the Star emails in Gmail page above). With more than one in use, "keep clicking the star icon until you see the one you want to use." Twelve icons are on offer, from the yellow star to a red exclamation mark and a green check, and each has its own search, such as has:red-bang or has:green-check.

A small system goes a long way: one icon for "reply to this", one for "keep for records". The Android and iPhone pages describe a single Star button and no way to choose between icons, so plan on setting and changing star types from a computer.

Do starred emails get deleted?

A star does not protect a message, as far as Google's own pages go. The star page describes starring as a reminder and says nothing about deletion. Google's delete page explains that a deleted message goes to Trash and "After 30 days" is "permanently deleted", and it lists no exception for starred mail (Delete messages in Gmail, read 16 October 2026). Our reading of the two pages together: a star is a label for your eyes, not a lock.

The practical risk is a bulk delete that sweeps starred mail up. Adding -is:starred to the search helps, but Google warns that negative searches work message by message: "if you search for -is:starred, Gmail can find an entire conversation if it contains at least one unstarred message, even if other emails in that same conversation are starred" (the Refine searches in Gmail page above). Before deleting a whole page of results, open any long conversation in it and look for the star.

Stars in Outlook, Apple Mail and other programs

If you read Gmail in another mail program, starred mail shows up as a folder. Google's IMAP documentation lists "Starred" among Gmail's special folders and shows it as [Gmail]/Starred carrying the standard \Flagged attribute (IMAP Extensions, read 16 October 2026). That is why some programs call starred mail "flagged". Whether a folder like it appears in your program is up to that program, and what Show in IMAP means covers how to hide one you do not want.