12/12: Label “important” not allowed in Gmail

I figured out today that the label “important” is not allowed in Gmail. I thought it was a problem only with my account. But then I tried in some other gmail accounts that I have and I found that you cannot name a label “important”. I get the error message: The label name “important” is invalid. I did have a label named “important” a couple of weeks back and one fine day it stopped working and I had to rename it to “important2” :).
Label important not allowed in Gmail
I wonder if it is a Gmail bug or if it is on purpose. If it is on purpose/by design, the only reason I can think of is privacy issues. If you flag emails with the “important” label, most probably it is important and might contain banking or other sensitive information, maybe that’s why Gmail does not allow its labels to be named “important” to avoid potential privacy issues.
Let me know if anybody else has the same issue.
Related links:
Gmail Help – Using labels
p.s. Today is Dec 12, hence the 12/12 in the blog post title 🙂

3 thoughts on “12/12: Label “important” not allowed in Gmail”

  1. Hi,
    I think it might bea problem \’coz you\’re using lowercase for all characters or prolly it\’s just a bug in a few gmail addresses. I have been using the label \”Important\” for over a year now. For more proof, here\’s a sreenshot at http://shayon.pal.googlepages.com/untitled.JPG
    By the way, just happened to stumble onto your blog. Looks pretty classy. Even I happen to maintain a blog at Shayon\’s Labyrinth. I have been searching for a graphic designer who could help me in designing a better layout for my blog. I was hoping if you could lend me a helping hand.

    Reply
  2. Oh yea..just checked..it does not get saved..I saved it as Importantt’ ..strange but yah must be of privacy reasons.

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  3. 2011 and it still exist, but gmail now says \”Sorry, you can\’t create a label named \”important\” (it\’s a reserved system label). Please try another name:\”

    Reply

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