How to label LinkedIn conversations (leads, candidates, investors)

LinkedIn messaging has no labels. How to tag conversations as Lead, Candidate or Investor and work each label as its own list, in Bokka.

By Amardeep Anand, founder of Bokka · Published 26 October 2026

LinkedIn doesn't let you label or tag conversations. You can star them, archive them, or rely on Focused and Other, but you can't mark one as a lead and another as a candidate. To do that, use an inbox tool with labels: in Bokka, press L on a conversation and pick or create a label.

A label is a tag you put on a conversation, such as Lead or Candidate, that also works as a list. Unlike a folder, one conversation can carry several. Bokka is an AI-first CRM for your LinkedIn inbox.

What LinkedIn offers

LinkedIn sorts messages into Focused, Other, Archived and Spam, and filters by Unread, Starred, InMail, My Connections and Jobs (Filter and search messages, retrieved 24 October 2026). Starred is the only one you control conversation by conversation, and it's a single list.

How to label a conversation in Bokka

1. Open or select a conversation and press L. You can also click Apply labels on a row, or Edit labels in the contact panel.
2. Type in Search or create labels. Press Enter to tick or untick a label. If nothing matches, you're offered to create one with that name (up to 40 characters).
3. Choose Apply (⌘+Enter, or Ctrl+Enter on Windows). A message says what changed, with Undo.

To take every label off a conversation, press Shift+L. In the contact panel, the × beside a label removes just that one.

Work a label as a list

Every label is a list under Labels in the sidebar, with a count. Press G then L to jump to your labels, then work through them with J and K like any inbox. A label covers people as well as conversations, so a person you label in People shows up too.

Labels that work

Your account starts with six: Lead, Hot lead, Customer, Friend, Investor and Candidate. Keep the list short; a label you never filter by is clutter. Some sets that work:

For stages (New, Replied, Proposal, Won) use a pipeline rather than one label per stage: it shows every deal as a column on a board. See Track deals in a pipeline.

Manage labels

In Settings → Labels you can rename labels, change their icon and colour, reorder them, and see how many conversations and people have each. Give a label a Description (who it's for and how to tell): on Pro, Sort with AI uses it to suggest labels for conversations you choose, for you to approve. Deleting a label removes it everywhere but keeps the conversations.

Labels are unlimited on every plan, including Starter at $25 a month. Full details: Label conversations.

About Bokka

Bokka starts with a free 14-day trial, AI included and no credit card. After it, Starter is $25 and Pro is $35 per user a month ($19 and $30 for your first month). Team, at $50, is coming soon.