I used Inbox by Gmail for a long time until just recently they announced its retirement. I had gotten used to having the Send to Inbox Chrome extension that also gave an option for Save to Inbox, which allowed for links to be saved inside Inbox in the Saved category. I also appreciated being able to Pin messages in Inbox and sliding the top button to show them all and that they stayed at the top in the inbox even if I archived everything else.

Here’s how I’m copying these functions to Gmail

For Save to Inbox, I use the Send from Gmail (by Google) Chrome extension and in my main email account I’ve setup a Gmail Filter and Plus address (yourAddress@gmail.com converts to yourAddress+filterName@gmail.com). Then I give a first name to the special Plus address as SAVED in my Contacts and send an email to it from anywhere on the webs. That email automatically is filtered into a Saved folder and hidden from the inbox using the targeted Plus address.

For Pins, I’m using Gmail stars and additional labels. I’ll look in Starred folder for all the messages.