Gmail’s new 'Purchases' tool lets you keep tabs on online purchases

Gmail has a neat little feature for delivery tracking that you may have noticed before. At the top of the inbox, Google will show you packages that are set to arrive within the next 24 hours, a helpful feature for the forgetful. Google announced this week that it's improving that feature by adding a whole new section where you can view all of your online purchases, regardless of their shipping status. 

“We’re rolling out a new view that brings all your purchase and delivery updates together in one place,” said Chris Doan, Google’s Director of Gmail, in a blog post. “This will give you a bird’s eye view of all of your upcoming package deliveries in one simple, organized list.”

The way it works is fairly self-explanatory. Once the update reaches you, you’ll be able to open the left-side menu and find the new “Purchases” section. Clicking this section will show you only emails about your purchases and package shipments. From there, you can check each purchase or shipment as needed without worrying about clogging up the rest of your inbox. 

Credit: Google

Per Google, the existing package tracking features will remain, including the one that pins packages to the top of the inbox if they’re expected for delivery within the next 24 hours. 

In addition, Google is revamping its Promotions category in Gmail. This is a minor update, giving users the option to sort by “most relevant” promotional emails. Google doesn’t expressly state it, but it seems “most relevant” in this case means that the brands you engage with most often in your inbox will be filtered to the top, and the rest get filtered down.