How to read newsletters without cluttering your inbox

Why newsletters get lost in the inbox

A newsletter you chose arrives in the same list as a shipping update, a calendar invite and a message from your manager. Everything looks equally urgent, so the newsletter gets skimmed, starred for later or archived unread.

The fix isn't fewer newsletters. It's a separate place to read them, away from the mail that needs an answer. There are four good ways to get there.

1. A filter that skips the inbox

This takes five minutes and costs nothing. In Gmail:

1. Open an issue of the newsletter, click the three-dot menu and choose Filter messages like these.
2. Gmail fills in the sender's address. Click Create filter.
3. Tick Skip the Inbox (Archive it) and Apply the label, then create a label called Newsletters.
4. Tick Also apply filter to matching conversations to move the issues already there, and click Create filter.

To cover several newsletters with one filter, list their addresses in the From field with OR between them. Outlook and Apple Mail can do the same with a rule that moves mail from a sender into a folder.

Good for: a quick, free fix. The catch: newsletters still live in your email app, one tap from work mail, and the label quietly fills up.

2. A separate address for newsletters

Create a free email account used only for subscriptions, then change the address on each newsletter. Most newsletter platforms let you do this in your account settings. If not, unsubscribe and sign up again with the new address.

Good for: a clean break between newsletters and everything else. The catch: it's one more inbox to check.

3. Follow by RSS

Many newsletters also publish every issue on the web, with an RSS feed. On Substack, add /feed to the publication's address, as in example.substack.com/feed. Ghost publications usually have one at /rss/. Paste the feed into an RSS reader and new issues arrive there instead of in your email.

Good for: reading newsletters next to blogs and other sites. The catch: not every newsletter has a feed, and paid posts often show only a preview.

4. Use a newsletter reader

Some reading apps give you an email address made for newsletters. You subscribe with it, and each issue shows up as an article, ready to read. Readwise Reader and Matter both work this way.

Digest, the app we make, does too:

• Your Digest address. Subscribe to a newsletter with it, or forward issues to it, and they arrive in Digest as articles.
• Feeds in the same place. Follow Substacks, blogs and RSS feeds next to your newsletters, and group them into Channels.

Digest is in beta: the web app runs on desktop and laptop browsers, and the iPhone app is in TestFlight.

Good for: taking newsletters out of your email app entirely. The catch: you'll update your address on the newsletters you want to move.

Which one to choose

• You want it done today: set up the filter.
• You want newsletters out of your email app: use a newsletter reader, or RSS where it's offered.
• You're not sure yet: start with the filter, then move your favorite newsletters one at a time.

Whichever you pick, the goal is the same: a place where reading isn't competing with everything else.