Gmail – Nested labels have disappeared when I removed “parent” label. Where did they go

gmail-labels

I created a label in my Gmail labels and nested other labels under it. When I went to remove the created label this message appeared:

The following labels will be removed from your messages and then deleted. No messages will be deleted.

I went ahead and clicked "remove" thinking only the so-called "parent" or "top" label would be removed and all the other labels nested under it would be returned to the top level, but alas they disappeared too. What happened to the nested labels? Also how can I un-nest a label, to stand alone as it did before nested?

Best Answer

As you've discovered, removing a parent label removes all of its child labels as well. This is a design decision and I'll wager that they researched whether more people would expect the children to be removed or moved up one level to the top. I also expect that it's much easier to code. (Can you imagine how complex it would be to manage a four-level deep nested label when you delete a parent at level two?) The warning message could probably be clearer.

As to your second question, un-nesting a label:

  1. Go to "Settings"
  2. Choose the "Labels" tab
  3. Find the label you want to "un-nest". Click edit
  4. Uncheck the "Nest label under:" checkbox (see screen shot below)
  5. Click "Save"

edit label screen shot

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