Whether your company moved from Microsoft Outlook to Google Apps or you are using Gmail and wanting to use it more efficiently, here are ten features to help improve productivity and become a Google Gmail poweruser.
Video Tutorial
Contents
- 1 Change Button Icons to Text Icons
- 2 Add multiple labels to a single Email
- 3 Archive Emails from the Inbox
- 4 Mark as Read Button
- 5 Enable Multiple Stars
- 6 Enable Undo Send
- 7 Keep important System Labels visible
- 8 View Email Messages beside the Message List
- 9 Find Emails using Advanced Search
- 10 Create rules for Incoming Emails with Filters.
- 11 Honorable Mention: Saving pre-made emails with Canned Responses
- 12 Final Words: Increasing Productivity
Change Button Icons to Text Icons
Too many icons can be difficult to navigate through Gmail. However, we can change many of the icons found in Gmail into text.
Click on the Settings gear (
Add multiple labels to a single Email
- Drag the label from the left sidebar onto the email.
- Check the check boxes in the “Add Label” icon in an email or while the email is selected in the message list.
More information can be found here.
Archive Emails from the Inbox
- In the email, click on the “Archive” button in the buttons above the email.
- In the inbox, check the check box of the email and click the “Archive” button in the buttons above the message list.
Mark as Read Button
To enable, click on the Settings gear (
Now, when an email is checked in the message list, a “Mark as Read” button will appear beside the trash button.
Enable Multiple Stars
Click on the star icon in the message list or in the email continually to cycle through enable stars.
More information can be found here.
Enable Undo Send
When sending a message, a link will be visible in the yellow status bar immediately after the message is sent.
More information can be found here.
Keep important System Labels visible
Email locations such as “All Mail” and “Trash” are hidden by default. If these are locations that you reference frequently, keep them visible in the label sidebar.
Click on the Settings gear (
View Email Messages beside the Message List
To activate Preview Pane, a new icon will appear on the right side of the Inbox button menu (near the Settings gear). Clicking on the drop-down arrow will give you options for a “Vertical split” (like Outlook), a “Horizontal split” (like Thunderbird) or “no split”, which disables preview pane.
Find Emails using Advanced Search
Searching for emails can be a time-wasting chore. Leverage the power of Advanced Search Operators which allow for searching of specific characteristics of the email. For example,
Find “all emails” from Betty in the past “2 weeks” that has a “pdf” as an attachment
from:[email protected] newer_than:14d filename:pdf
To find a comprehensive list of all advanced search operators, check out Google’s Help page.
More information can be found here.
Create rules for Incoming Emails with Filters.
Filters allows Gmail to perform certain actions to incoming emails that match a specific search criteria. For example, if you always label an email from a person as “Important,” a filter will automatically label all future emails received from that person with the “Important” label.
- Creating a filter begins with an advanced search or by clicking the drop down menu of an email.
- Add any additional search parameter and then click the “Create filter with this search” link.
- Choose actions to perform to incoming emails matching the search and then click the “Create filter” button.
Honorable Mention: Saving pre-made emails with Canned Responses
If you tend to write similar email frequently (for example, a confirmation email), using canned responses allows you to save pre-written messages to be quickly inserted into new messages. This feature is very similar to “Quick Parts” in Microsoft Outlook.
Click on the Settings gear (
Canned responses must first be created in the email message. Once the canned response is created. Click the drop down menu in the new message, mouse over “Canned Responses” and click “new canned response.” After naming the canned response, it will be available in the same menu for future messages.
More information can be found here.
Final Words: Increasing Productivity
Much like any skill, increasing productivity with Google Gmail is not an overnight endeavor. Furthermore, each situation is different. By no means should you try to incorporate all ten (not even more than 6 or 7) immediately into your daily Gmail work environment. As your become comfortable with and incorporate more features into your daily workflow, the productivity will improve. Just remember, with all change, take things one step at a time!
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