Creating a filter in Gmail that applies more that one label

Question

I've been using Filters for a while in Gmail but have always been wondering if such a feature is available. Is it possible to somehow have a Gmail filter apply more than one label?

As you can see below, the filter setup page only allows choosing one label:

If it turns out that it is impossible to specify more than one label, I guess I'll just have to create duplicate filters.

Answer 1

No, there is no way to do this.

But, you can use the Google Labs project Filter import/export under Settings > Labs in Gmail.

1. Install Filter import/export in Labs
2. Create your filter
3. Go to Settings > Filters
4. Check the checkbox next to your new filter
5. Click "export" at the bottom, this will create an xml file called mailFilters.xml
6. You should have a file that looks like this:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>`
<feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:apps='http://schemas.google.com/apps/2006'>
    <title>Mail Filters</title>
    <id>tag:mail.google.com,2008:filters:11344473557977</id>
    <updated>2010-07-14T20:24:10Z</updated>
    <author>
        <name>John Smith</name>
        <email>test@gmail.com</email>
    </author>
    <entry>
        <category term='filter'></category>
        <title>Mail Filter</title>
        <id>tag:mail.google.com,2008:filter:1131773557977</id>
        <updated>2010-07-14T20:24:10Z</updated>
        <content></content>
        <apps:property name='from' value='foo@example.com'/>
        <apps:property name='label' value='the_label'/>
    </entry>
</feed>

All you need to do is to carefully edit this XML file in an editor which can intelligently handle plaintext.

Copy the code from <entry> and paste it in immediately after the first one. I removed the <id> and <updated> sections and they still worked, so much of the stuff in there is optional. Copy and paste a few more times, and you've got the result you want.

This worked for me:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:apps='http://schemas.google.com/apps/2006'>
    <title>Mail Filters</title>
    <id>tag:mail.google.com,2008:filters:11344473557977</id>
    <updated>2010-07-14T20:24:10Z</updated>
    <author>
        <name>John Smith</name>
        <email>test@gmail.com</email>
    </author>
    <entry>
        <category term='filter'></category>
        <title>Mail Filter</title>
        <id>tag:mail.google.com,2008:filter:1131773557977</id>
        <updated>2010-07-14T20:24:10Z</updated>
        <content></content>
        <apps:property name='from' value='foo@example.com'/>
        <apps:property name='label' value='the_label'/>
    </entry>
    <entry>
        <category term='filter'></category>
        <title>Mail Filter</title>
        <content></content>
        <apps:property name='from' value='bar@example.com'/>
        <apps:property name='label' value='another_label'/>
    </entry>
</feed>

Save your file then use the Import tool on the same Settings > Filters page and you will have the option of which of the contained filters you want to add.

Answer 2

According to this Google Groups post, it is not possible:

Unfortunately, a filter can only apply a single label. If you want to apply more than one you need to create more than one filter, with the same search criteria.