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Inbox zero isn’t about reading every email — it’s about processing every email: deciding what needs action, what needs a reply, and what gets archived. AI labels pre-sort your inbox before you touch it, and shortcuts let you fly through the rest.
Most Slashy users reach inbox zero in under 5 minutes per session once labels are configured and they’ve learned the core shortcuts (j, k, e, Cmd+Enter).
Inbox with importance label tabs showing unread counts

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Configure Labels First

Labels are the foundation of this workflow. If you skip this step, your inbox won’t be pre-sorted and you’ll spend more time triaging manually.
1

Open label settings

Go to Settings > Labels (Cmd+,)
2

Enable 3-5 labels

Choose labels that match your workflow: Important, Newsletter, Billing, plus any custom ones for your role. Gmail labels you already use can become tabs here too.
3

Reorder by priority

Drag labels so highest priority appears first. You’ll process them in this order.
4

Create custom labels if needed

Press n l to create role-specific labels (e.g., “Prospects” for sales, “Portfolio” for VCs).

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Clear an Old Backlog with Get Me To Zero

When thousands of old conversations sit in your inbox, start from zero instead of working through them.
1

Open the command

In the inbox, press Cmd+K and choose Get Me To Zero.
2

Pick an age

Under Older than, choose 1 day, 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, or 1 month. The default is 2 weeks.
3

Choose what to keep

Check Keep unread or Keep starred to leave those conversations in your inbox.
4

Confirm

The button shows how many conversations will move, for example Done (1,240). Click it and the cleanup runs in the background, even if you switch to Search or Settings.
Matching conversations move to Done (g e), where search still finds them. A notice tracks progress, and Undo in it moves back exactly the conversations the cleanup moved. Get Me To Zero works on the inboxes you have selected and is available for Gmail inboxes in the web and desktop apps.
The Get Me To Zero dialog with Older than set to 2 weeks and the Keep unread and Keep starred checkboxes

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The 5-Minute Workflow

1

Important Tab First

Tab to your Important label. For each email:
  • r to reply (or Cmd+Enter for AI draft)
  • e to archive
  • s to star for later
  • h to set a reminder
  • # to trash
Process until the tab shows zero unread.
2

Cycle Through Other Labels

Tab to the next label. For low-priority labels (Newsletter, Notifications), process in bulk:
  • Shift+J repeatedly to select threads
  • e to archive the entire batch
  • s to star anything worth keeping first
3

Catch Stragglers

  • Shift+U — unread only (anything you skipped)
  • Shift+R — no-reply threads (emails awaiting your response)
  • Shift+S — starred items (review for pending action)

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Bulk Actions Reference

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The Daily Habit

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Staying at Zero

  • Get Me To Zero from Cmd+K if old mail piles up again
  • Bulk Unsubscribe in Settings > Unsubscribe to reduce incoming volume
  • Block aggressively with Cmd+U, and clear junk with Empty Spam (g !, Cmd+A, then Trash)
  • Trust AI labels — if newsletters are in the Newsletter tab, skim and bulk archive
  • Set up the Dropped Ball Scanner to catch forgotten replies automatically
Inbox at zero showing all caught up state

Batch Processing

Power user workflow for processing 50+ emails fast

Keyboard Shortcuts

Full shortcut reference for every view

The Slashy Method

The philosophy behind AI-first email

10 Automations

Essential automations for inbox management

Labels

Importance labels and Gmail label tabs