Google rolled out a new tool to help users of its free Web-based email service avoid drowning in the floods of digital messages that have become part of modern life.

Priority Inbox in Gmail divides incoming messages into one of three categories. An automated program separates “Important and unread” messages from those that are “Starred” and “Everything else.”

“Gmail uses a variety of signals to predict which messages are important,” Google software engineer Doug Aberdeen said in a blog post.

“And as you use Gmail, it will get better at categorizing messages for you.”

For example, higher status is given to messages from people a Gmail user sends email to often, according to Aberdeen.

Approximately 294 bn email messages are sent daily, with a typical person dealing with about 150 of them daily, according to references cited by Google.

“People tell us all that time that they’re getting more and more mail and often feel overwhelmed by it all,” Aberdeen said.

“It’s time-consuming to figure out what needs to be read and what needs a reply.”