Let’s be real for a second. You’ve probably spent at least ten minutes clicking around your inbox, right-clicking on a crucial thread about your lease or a flight confirmation, desperately looking for a way to Gmail pin email to top. It feels like it should be there. Every other productivity app on the planet—Slack, Telegram, even Apple Mail—lets you stick a message to the top of the list so it doesn't get buried under a mountain of newsletters and "limited time offer" spam.
But it isn't there.
Google hasn't added a literal "Pin" button to the standard Gmail interface, and honestly, it’s kind of baffling. We are talking about a platform used by over 1.8 billion people. You’d think a feature as basic as pinning would be a priority. Instead, we’re left with a bunch of workarounds that sort of do the job, but none of them feel as satisfying as a simple pushpin icon.
If you're looking for a one-click solution that puts a little pin icon next to your email and keeps it at the very top of your chronological inbox forever, you’re going to be disappointed. Gmail just doesn't work that way. It’s built on a "Priority" and "Labels" logic that Google thinks is smarter than us. Whether it actually is? That’s debatable.
Why You Can’t Actually Gmail Pin Email to Top (The Native Way)
The hard truth is that Gmail’s architecture is rooted in the concept of "Stars" and "Importance markers." Back in the day, Google had a product called Google Inbox. It was experimental, sleek, and—most importantly—it had a native pin feature. When they killed Google Inbox in 2019, they ported a lot of features over to the main Gmail app, but for some reason, the pin didn't make the cut.
Google’s engineers seem to believe that their "Priority Inbox" algorithm can predict what you need to see. They want you to trust the AI. But AI doesn't know that your boss's vague email from Tuesday is actually the most important thing in your life right now.
The Starred System: The Closest Cousin to Pinning
Most people use stars. It's the default. You click the little hollow star, it turns yellow, and... well, nothing happens to the position of the email. It stays exactly where it was in the timeline. To actually make this feel like you've managed to Gmail pin email to top, you have to change your entire inbox view.
Go to your settings (that little gear icon that honestly looks more like a flower). Look for "Inbox Type." If you select "Starred first," Gmail will create a dedicated section at the very top of your screen.
Now, every time you star an email, it jumps to that top section. It’s a pin in everything but name. The downside? If you star twenty things, that "top" section becomes just as cluttered as the main inbox. You lose the benefit of the "pin" because you've overused the tool. It’s a delicate balance.
The "Unread First" Strategy for Pseudo-Pinning
I’ve found that a lot of power users avoid stars entirely. They use the "Unread first" setting. This is a bit of a psychological trick. If you have an email you need to keep at the top, you simply mark it as unread.
- Open the email.
- Read it (obviously).
- Click the "Mark as unread" icon (the little envelope).
If your inbox is set to "Unread first," that message stays at the peak. It stares at you. It haunts you. It’s effective because the bold text of an unread email creates a sense of urgency that a yellow star doesn't always manage to do.
But there's a catch. This only works if you are an "Inbox Zero" person. If you currently have 4,329 unread messages, this strategy is a nightmare. You’ll just be pinning your important email to the top of a pile of 4,000 other things. Not helpful.
How to Use Labels to "Pin" Specific Projects
If you are dealing with a specific project, "pinning" a single email might not be enough. You might need to pin a whole conversation. This is where Google’s Label system—which is basically folders but on steroids—comes in.
You can create a label called "00_TOP" or "!!ACTIVE." The punctuation at the start is a pro tip; it forces the label to the top of your sidebar list because Gmail alphabetizes things. While this doesn't put the email at the top of your main feed, it creates a "virtual pin board" in your sidebar.
🔗 Read more: How to See Accounts Linked to Your Email Without Losing Your Mind
Honestly, the sidebar is underrated. You can even drag and drop emails into these labels. It’s tactile. It feels like you’re actually organizing something rather than just shouting into the void of a search bar.
Third-Party Extensions: Is the Risk Worth It?
If you search the Chrome Web Store, you’ll find dozens of extensions promising to let you Gmail pin email to top. Some of them are great. "Gmelius" or "Simplify Gmail" (created by one of the original designers of Google Inbox) are popular choices.
They add the pin button back. It looks beautiful. It works exactly how you want it to.
However—and this is a big however—you have to think about privacy. When you install a browser extension that modifies your Gmail, you are often giving that developer permission to "read, compose, and send" emails. For most people, that’s a dealbreaker. If you’re working in a corporate environment with strict IT protocols, these extensions are likely blocked anyway.
If you’re a freelancer or using a personal account, the risk might be worth the convenience. Just do your homework. Check the "Privacy practices" tab on the Chrome Web Store. If they are selling your data to "third-party marketers," maybe just stick to the star system.
The Search Alias Trick (The Nerd's Way to Pin)
This is a deep cut. Most people don't know you can "pin" a search query to your browser.
If you find yourself constantly looking for the same three emails, don't try to pin them in Gmail. Instead, search for them using a specific operator, like label:work is:important. Once the results are filtered, bookmark that URL in your browser.
Rename the bookmark to "Pinned Emails." Now, instead of opening Gmail and hunting for your messages, you click that bookmark. Boom. Your "pinned" emails are right there. It bypasses the messy inbox entirely. It's fast. It’s clean. It doesn't require any weird permissions.
The Mobile Struggle: Pinning on iPhone and Android
If you think pinning on desktop is a chore, the mobile app is even more restrictive. You can't change your "Inbox Type" easily on the fly. You're mostly stuck with whatever you set on your computer.
On the Gmail mobile app, your best bet for a Gmail pin email to top experience is using the "Snooze" feature.
Wait, hear me out.
If you snooze an email until, say, 8:00 AM tomorrow, it disappears. But when 8:00 AM hits, it pops back to the very top of your inbox as if it were a brand-new message. If you’re a "procrastination-as-productivity" type of person, snoozing is basically a time-traveling pin. It ensures the email is at the top exactly when you actually have the brainpower to deal with it.
Practical Next Steps to Take Control of Your Inbox
Stop waiting for Google to add a dedicated pin button. It’s been years; they clearly have a different vision for how we should consume data. To get the same result today, follow this workflow:
- Switch your Inbox Type: Click the Settings gear, scroll to "Inbox Type," and select "Starred first." This is the most stable way to simulate pinning without using third-party software.
- Clean your Stars: If you have 50 starred emails, the "pin" means nothing. Unstar everything that isn't a "live" task. Be ruthless.
- Use the "Mark as Unread" Shortcut: On desktop, just hit
Shift + Uon a selected email to keep it bold and at the top (if you use Unread First). - Try the Bookmark Method: If you have a specific thread you refer to ten times a day, bookmark the direct URL of that email thread in your browser's bookmark bar.
- Leverage "Multiple Inboxes": This is an advanced setting in the "Inbox Type" menu. You can actually create a custom "pinned" pane that sits to the right of your regular inbox by using a search query like
is:starred.
By shifting your mindset from "I need a pin button" to "I need to manipulate the Starred/Unread priority," you can finally stop losing those critical messages in the digital abyss. Choose one of these methods and stick with it for a week. The muscle memory will kick in, and you'll forget you ever needed a dedicated pin button in the first place.