How to Ungroup Emails in Gmail

Most people’s inboxes are full of messages from other people. It doesn’t matter if you use email for personal or business purposes, sending electronic messages is one of the easiest ways to share information with others.

With so many messages, many email service providers do what they can to keep your inbox organized. If you have Gmail, that means they group your emails.

However, not everyone likes this setup. If you are one of them, you may be wondering how to ungroup emails in Gmail.

When asking how to separate emails in Gmail, there are certain steps you’ll need to follow. The process isn’t overly complicated, and you can achieve your goals using a laptop or desktop computer, or even your smartphone. By the end of this article, you’ll be able to structure your Gmail inbox in a way that works best for you.

How to Ungroup Emails in Gmail and Separate Threads

Having grouped emails can make it easier to find the information you’re looking for, but if the conversation gets too long or there’s only a certain part of it that you need to respond to or forward to another person, you may be asking how to separate emails in Gmail.

Before getting into the steps to separate emails in Gmail, it’s important to realize that this action can’t be undone. Once you go through the steps to separate an email thread, they will remain divided.

If that’s how you want your inbox to be organized, you’ll need to follow these steps:

Step 1: Log in to Gmail

The first thing you’ll need to do when wondering how to ungroup emails in Gmail is to log in to your Gmail account.

Using a laptop or desktop computer and whatever browser you prefer, type in your username and password in the appropriate boxes.

Step 2: Open the Email Conversation

Once you’ve gained access to your Gmail inbox, you’ll then need to open the email conversation that you want to separate.

To do this, you’ll need to click on the sender’s name or the subject of the email from your list of messages.

Step 3: Click on the Three Dots

When wondering how to separate emails in Gmail, after opening the thread, you’ll then need to click on the three dots that appear near the address and subject lines of the message.

Step 4: Split the Thread and Choose the Messages to Separate

When the list of options appears, you’ll want to select Split Thread.

You’ll then be prompted to choose which messages you want to separate from the thread.

Step 5: Move the Messages

When learning how to ungroup emails in Gmail, after selecting the messages you want to move from the thread, you’ll then need to click the “Move Messages to New Thread” option.

Step 6: Enter a New Subject Line

Deciding to move the messages to a new thread will require adding a new subject line. Type this into the appropriate box, then click Done.

Your messages will now be ungrouped and added to a new thread, which can help you keep track of new conversations or organize your inbox in a way that works for you.

How Do I Stop Gmail from Grouping Emails?

When wondering how to ungroup emails in Gmail, after going through the process of separating a thread, you might also be wondering: “How do I stop Gmail from grouping emails?”

To prevent the grouping from occurring in the first place, there are certain steps you’ll need to follow. We are going to assume that you are stilled logged in to your account on a laptop or desktop computer, but if you aren’t, that’s the first thing you’ll need to do.

Once you’ve gained access to your Gmail inbox, to stop Gmail from grouping your emails, here’s what you need to do:

Step 1: Open Settings

To open your Gmail Settings, you’ll need to click on the gear icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.

Step 2: Uncheck Conversation View

When the Settings drop-down menu appears, scroll down to the bottom and look for the section titled “Email Threading.”

Beneath that is a checkbox that says, “Conversation View.” When wondering how to ungroup Gmail emails, you’ll need to uncheck this box.

Step 3: Reload Your Email

Unchecking the “Conversation View” box will open a new dialogue box that explains that for the changes to take place, Gmail will need to reload.

If you’re serious about wanting to know how to ungroup Gmail emails, click the Reload button.

When your inbox reappears, your messages should be ungrouped.

How to Ungroup Emails on iPhone

In addition to being able to ungroup Gmail emails on your laptop or desktop computer, you can also achieve this goal on your smartphone. If you have an iPhone, these are the steps you’ll need to follow:

Step 1: Open the Gmail App

The first thing you’ll need to do to ungroup emails on your iPhone is to open your Gmail app.

Navigate to where it’s located on your phone and click on it.

Step 2: Open Settings

After gaining access to your inbox, you’ll then want to tap on Settings.

Click on the three lines in the upper left-hand corner of your screen. When the menu appears, scroll down to the bottom. You’ll see the gear icon next to the word Settings.

Step 3: Click on Your Email Address

Clicking on Settings will open a new menu on your phone, and you’ll want to click on your email address.

Step 4: Turn Off Conversation View

From the Settings menu, you will see an option that says, “Conversation View” with a toggle next to it. To ungroup the messages on your iPhone, you’ll need to click this option and turn the toggle off.

A message will appear on your screen letting you know that you have turned Conversation View off and that if you want to turn it back on, you’ll need to access it from Settings.

Click “Got it” to go back to your inbox.

At this point, it may take a moment to get back to your messages as Gmail will need to restart and resync to update to the latest changes.

How to Ungroup Emails in Gmail on Android

If you happen to have an Android phone and are wondering how to stop grouping emails in Gmail, you’ll need to follow these steps:

Step 1: Open the Gmail App

Navigate to where the Gmail app is located on your phone and click on it.

Step 2: Open Settings

Once you’ve gained access to your inbox, you’ll need to click on the three lines that appear at the top of the screen.

When the menu appears, scroll down to the bottom and click on Settings.

Step 3: Click on Your Email Address

A new menu will appear on your phone, and when you’re trying to ungroup emails, you’ll need to click on your email address.

This should appear at the top of the screen.

Step 4: Go to Conversation View

Clicking on your email address will bring up yet another menu, and you’ll need to scroll down until you see “Conversation View” with a checkbox next to it.

To turn off this feature, you need to make the blue and white check mark disappear.

A message will pop up on your screen letting you know that you have turned off the Conversation View and that if you want to turn it back on, you’ll need to access Settings.

If you truly don’t want to group your emails in Gmail, click the “Got it” link.

Your Gmail app will need to restart and reset to display the latest changes. When you get back to your inbox, your messages should be ungrouped.

Some Things to Keep in Mind When Learning How to Ungroup Emails in Gmail

Gmail usually groups messages by default with the hope of keeping your inbox organized, but they also offer other organizational options as well. Some of the other ways you can organize your Gmail inbox include the following:

Default (which can be customized to your specifications)
Important first
Unread first
Starred first
Priority Inbox (can be customized)
Multiple Inboxes (can be customized)

Choosing any of these options will change how your messages are displayed to make them easier for you to find and respond to.

Keep in mind that when you ungroup your emails, it does not change the type of inbox you have — to an extent.

One area where you might see an impact on how your messages are displayed in your inbox includes if you have a “Starred first” setup. When the messages were grouped together, clicking the star on the far-left of the message would then move the entire threaded message to the top of your inbox.

If you ungroup your messages and separate them, the star you added might disappear completely. The messages would then get moved to the “Everything Else” section of your inbox. Should you find that you still need to have certain messages from that thread at the top of the page and easy to find, you’ll need to locate them in your list and click on the star.

Once you’ve starred your important messages, you may need to refresh your inbox to ensure they appear at the top of the page.

If you have a reading pane, this will also not be affected when you ungroup your emails.

Should you have any rules or filters applied to your emails, ungrouping the messages should not change where these messages are sent.

Play around with ungrouping to see how it impacts your inbox organization, then make the necessary changes to ensure you have the inbox that makes your life easier.

An Inbox that Works for You

Sending messages through email is the fastest and easiest way to stay in contact with others, whether you’re using it for personal or business matters. By default, Gmail groups messages together, but if you find that you don’t like that setup, you may be wondering how to ungroup emails in Gmail. It’s easy if you follow these steps: