Google is closing one of the biggest feature gaps between Gmail on the web and mobile. The Gmail Android app now lets users create new labels directly on their phone, something that was previously only possible on desktop.
Once the update is live on your account, you’ll see a “Create label” option in the navigation drawer. It appears between “Manage subscriptions” and your existing labels. A small “New” tag or even a circular badge on the hamburger menu can indicate that the feature has arrived. Tapping it opens a simple “New label” screen where you just enter the name and save.
Google has also improved label management on mobile. If you go to
Settings → Gmail address → Notifications → Manage labels, selecting a label now gives you the option to delete it directly from the app—no desktop required.
There are still some limitations. Label color customization isn’t available on Android, and users still can’t delete individual emails inside a conversation thread. Even so, this update makes Gmail’s mobile experience far more practical than before.
The feature is rolling out gradually on an account-by-account basis, so it may appear for one Gmail address on your device but not another. Early reports show it live on version 2026.01.26.x of Gmail for Android, while iOS users already have this capability.
For many users, this finally removes a long-standing reason to switch back to the web version of Gmail—at least for label management.
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