If you are a new Gmail user, you might wonder why “Trash” is not on the folder list. Perhaps, you have deleted an important message and you would like to recover it.
In Gmail, the Trash folder is hidden by default. This explains why it is not showing along other labels such as Inbox, Starred Messages, Spam, Drafts, etc.
Reveal The Trash Folder
Here’s what to do to make the Trash folder appear:
1. Click the gear icon (Settings) in the upper right-hand corner. See the screenshot below. The numbers will help you find the options you must click.

2. Select Settings in the drop-down menu.
3. Go to the Labels tab beside General.
4. Find “Trash” under System labels then click Show.
The folder will appear immediately in the label list.
15 replies on “Where is The Trash Folder in Gmail?”
Thanks for a simple explanation.
This was a simple solution to a mysterious issue. Thank you.
God bless you. I thought I was going crazy.
This worked and I see the trash icon but if I try and click on it a message pops up and says “You have not saved the changes” (when I changed trash to ‘show’). How do I save the changes there is no button at the bottom that says save changes.
I dont have a gear icon at top right. Only three dots. When I click on the I get settings, but no labels tab in the in the list
Thanks for showing how to reveal the trash folder in Gmail.
I followed the steps but Trash does not appear in the system labels list in settings.
followed instructions to the letter, did not work
On my iPad I have 2 gmail trashes. One says “trash” & has trash can icon. The other says [Gmail]Trash & has no icon. The latter contains thousands of emails that I would like to mass delete, but so far I’m only able to delete them by marking each individually, then moving them into the other trash. Does anyone know how I can empty this trash without such tediousness?
There is no label tab when I click on settings. I need to retrieve one deleted email (gmail). Also, there is nothing under “More.”
This was very helpful. Not sure why Gmail decided not to have that in the list by default, but thanks for posting this!
Thanks so much!
OMG!!! You’re Awesome..Thank you soooo much! :-)
Thank you for your good help. Lord bless you.
thanks a lot…