Gmail Tips and Tricks Handout

​ william@ramapo.edu​, ext. 7526

Trish Williams, Instructional Design Center, p

Gmail Help - ​Gear icon > Help

MAIL INBOX OPTIONS:

Customizing Your Inbox​ - Gear icon > Settings > Inbox

INBOX TYPE - default (date order), important, unread, starred, priority (sorts by categories of importance)
INBOX CATEGORIES - primary, social, promotions, updates, forums (sorts mail into tabs)

​ ettings > General > Conversation View On/Off

Conversation View​ (groups replies into a thread)- Gear icon > S
> Save

Snippets​ (show snippet of message in inbox view) -​ Gear > S

​ ettings > General >Snippets On/Off > Save

Desktop Notifications​ (requires Chrome browser, ​need to have gmail open. Pin tab to keep it open.)
Gear icon > Settings > General > desktop notifications > new mail notifications on > save

MESSAGE ACTIONS & LABELS (FOLDERS):

1. Select or open message > more > to do the following:

Mark as unread, mark as important, add star, add to tasks, filter messages like these, mute, create event.

2. With message open, click triangle next to reply (to right of sender) for the above, as well as more spam
options, add to contacts, translate

Select all, only selects all messages that are visible on a page.

Drag and drop messages onto labels (same as move to)

Drag and drop labels onto messages (same as label)

Undo Send​ - ever send a message and wish you could get it back? Click undo link to retrieve mail within 30
seconds. Gear icon > Settings > General > Enable Undo Send ​> Save

Mute Conversations​ - if a conversation is no longer relevant to you, muting will send it automatically to “All
Mail” instead of your inbox. Select message > more > mute.

Unsubscribe from Newsletters - ​ click unsubscribe link next to sender at top of email when viewing message

Managing Labels​ - Mouse over label until triangle appears, click triangle for options (edit, remove, add
sub-label, add color, hide). Tip: color labels to add visual element to your inbox.
OR
Gear icon > Settings > Labels (Hide in Label list or message list, remove, edit)

Hide labels​ hides them from the left column view, then click “more” to reveal hidden labels. Tip: show you
most frequently used labels, hide the labels you access less frequently.

1
 SEARCH AND FILTERS:

Advanced Search​ - click triangle next to search field/magnifier to view search options.
Advanced serach parameters - ​https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7190

Create Filters to Automatically Label and/or Move Mail -​ generate advanced search > create filter with this
search... Or with message selected > more > create filter.

To View/Manage Existing Filters​ - Gear icon > Settings > filters

Hover mouse over sender’s email,​ to get pop up, and click “Emails” to get list of emails FROM or TO that
person. Also, for gmail users you can start video call or hangout.

GENERAL APPEARANCE & NAVIGATION:

Keyboard Shortcuts​ - Gear icon > Settings > General > keyboard shortcuts on/off > Save
Some keyboard shortcuts can be used immediately, and others need to be enabled before you can use them.
(Basic and common ones are automatically on)

Arrow Up and Arrow Down​ - to f​ - Forward c​ - Compose new message

navigate through message list in your s​ - to star a message d​ - Compose new message in new tab
inbox +​ to mark label as important Command + Enter/Return​ - Send
Return/Enter ​- to read message you l​ - Label g + c - go to contacts
have highlighted v ​- to move message g + s - go to starred messages
u​ = to return from message view back #​ - Delete g + i - go to to inbox
to inbox e​ - Archive g + a - go to all mail
r ​- Reply /​ - Search g + d - go to drafts
a​ - Reply all ? - open list of keyboard shortcuts

View Full List of Keyboard Shortcuts​ ​https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6594

Modifying Your Name for Sent Mail​ - Gear icon > Settings > Account (can’t change directory)

Add Picture to your Profile​ - Gear icon > Settings > General > My Picture

Themes​ change the design of your gmail interface - gear icon > themes
Enlarge Text​ in Chrome browser - browser > > zoom +

MANAGE MULTIPLE GMAIL ACCOUNTS:

Add an Account - ​add a personal Gmail account to your Ramapo login (Accounts stay separate but open in
new tabs. Advantage is ease of access with single sign in). Click account icon top right > Add Account

Account Delegation​ ​(managed by account owner, good for managing generic office accounts)
1. OWNER: ​Gear icon > Settings > ​account > grant access > add another account
2. DELEGATE will receive email invite to access account. Provides access with single sign-in, shows up under
your personal account. Takes about 30 minutes to verify/complete initially. Delegates mail only.

2
 15 Hidden Gmail Tips & Tricks

This post is part of the 21 Google tips & tricks

(https://danielfuterman.com/21-awesome-google-tips-and-
tricks/) Series.

Basic to Advanced Gmail tips and tricks you didn't even know existed:
keyboard shortcuts, undo sends, extra stars, account security,
advanced filters, free space, custom shortcuts, labs and much more.
Let's dive in!

[content-upgrade id=”6712″]

Gmail Tips, section

1: Settings

!
(https://danielfuterman.com)

(1) Keyboard shortcuts in

Gmail
To boost productivity and cut time in your email workflow, start using
Gmail shortcuts.
Gmail shortcuts.

To view all available keyboard shortcuts in Gmail click the question

mark key ‘?’. (make sure keyboard shortcuts are ON in Gear » Settings
» General tab).

(https://danielfuterman.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/07/Gmail-Shortcuts-Tips.png)

(2) Setting filters & labels in

Gmail
Organize your emails by labels and apply filters to mark
automatically (or move) incoming emails to specific labels (work,
family, bills, Social).

How to create new filters in Gmail?

Option 1: Select a specific email and click on the ‘More' tab. Next
select ‘Create Filter' and apply the actions you want the filter to
perform.

Option 2: Use the advanced search panel (small arrow in the search
box) and define specific filters such as: “From, To, Has attachments,
box) and define specific filters such as: “From, To, Has attachments,
Has words, Size”.

Next, click on “Create filter with this search” and apply a specific
action such as: “skip the inbox, mark as read, delete it, apply the
label” and more.

(https://danielfuterman.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/07/How-to-create-filters-in-Gmail.png)

(3) Send & Archive emails

To stay productive at work, I always aim for inbox zero
(https://danielfuterman.com/inbox-by-gmail-review/). To do so,
enable the send & archive button to archive emails after sending
them.

(https://danielfuterman.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/07/What-is-send-and-archive-in-
Gmail.png)

(4) Add new star icons to

your message
You can add up to 12-star types in Gmail. These are great for quickly
marking emails with ‘importance level' (reply, urgent and so on).
marking emails with ‘importance level' (reply, urgent and so on).

(https://danielfuterman.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/07/Adding-stars-in-Gmail-Trick.png)

(5) Add a signature in Gmail

Signatures are particularly important for marketing and branding.
Each email you send is a self-marketing opportunity, so be sure to
add a signature with your logo / website or social links / thank you
note and so on.

To add a signature in Gmail, navigate to the settings tab and then to

the Signature field, set it to On and add your signature.

If you have multiple emails set up with aliases, you'll have the option
to create a unique signature for each email address you use.

Here's how I set-up my own signature:

(https://danielfuterman.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/07/Insert-Signature-in-Gmail.png)

(6) Gmail Vacation

Responder
Out on vacation and won't be able to respond to emails during this
time? No worries.
time? No worries.

Set an automatic email responder with a custom “out of the office”

message and select the dates you'll be away.

If you do not want this email sent to strangers who might email you
during this time, be sure to mark “only send a response to people in
my contacts”.

(https://danielfuterman.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/07/Setting-vacation-responder-in-
Gmail-Tip.png)

[graybox]This post is part of the 21 Google tips & tricks

(https://danielfuterman.com/21-awesome-google-tips-and-
tricks/) Series.[/graybox]

Gmail Tips, section

2: Inbox Settings
Tips

(7) Unread first, then all the

(7) Unread first, then all the
rest. I love this one.
I configured my Gmail inbox to display unread emails first, which
allows me to differentiate with a quick glance between read and
unread emails.

To set your inbox to show all unread emails first, navigate to the
Inbox settings tab and mark the “Unread items in the first section”
checkbox.

Be sure to read my full review of Inbox by Gmail

(https://danielfuterman.com/inbox-by-gmail-review/) if you like
staying in control of your email.

(https://danielfuterman.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/07/Display-unread-emails-first-in-
Gmail.png)

Gmail Tips,
Section 3: Image
Tricks
(8) Adding images to Gmail
messages
» Drag & Drop images into message body to insert as an inlined
image.
image.
» Copy / Paste images into a message to add as inline images.
» Drag images to the bottom message bar to add as attachments.

(https://danielfuterman.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/07/Drag-and-drop-images-into-
Gmail.png)

Gmail Tips,
Section 4
4::
Search Tricks
Gmail's provides 15GB of free Google Drive storage
(https://www.google.com/settings/storage), and therefore you
probably won't ever need to delete any emails.
(https://www.google.com/settings/storage)

However, if you still want to clean up your inbox, here's how:

(9) Free up space in Gmail

Search for and delete emails with large attachments by searching for
“size:30mb”. You can also do this by creating a filter as seen in tip #2.

(10) Find old emails in Gmail

Search for emails older than ‘X’ Years, Months or Days by typing
“older_than:5y”, 5m, 5d.

(https://danielfuterman.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/07/Older-than-1-year-emails.png)

(11) Find specific file types in

Gmail
Search for specific file attachments (jpeg, pdf, gif..) by typing
“filename:jpg” / “filename:pdf” and so on.

(12) Secure your Gmail

(12) Secure your Gmail
account
Check for suspicious account activity by scrolling to the bottom of
the page and viewing the last account activity link.

(https://danielfuterman.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/07/Gmail-Currently-being-used-in-1-
other-location.png)

Learn how to secure you Google account

(https://danielfuterman.com/secure-your-google-account-
now/):

(https://danielfuterman.com/secure-your-google-account-
now/)

Gmail Tricks,
Section
5: Best Gmail
Labs Features
(13) Undo send in Gmail!
(13) Undo send in Gmail!
Sometimes you hit the send button and only then realize you've
made a terrible mistake.

Enable the Undo Send feature in the *labs and then set the undo time
in the general settings tab (up to 30 seconds).

(https://danielfuterman.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/07/How-to-undo-sent-emails-in-
Gmail.png)

* The Undo Sends feature has graduated from the labs in June 2015.
You'll now be able to find it under the general settings tab.

(14) Mark as read button in

Gmail
Gmail allows you to mark emails as read in several ways, but
sometimes you wish the ‘Mark as read' button would just show up in
the top bar.

Head over to labs and search for “Mark as Read Button” to add that
functionality to your Gmail account.

(https://danielfuterman.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/07/Mark-as-read-gmail-labs-
feature.png)

(15) Custom Gmail

(15) Custom Gmail
keyboard shortcuts
If you are unhappy with the default keyboard shortcuts, you can set
your own.

First enable the feature in the Labs, and then define the shortcuts in
the general tab.

(https://danielfuterman.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/07/Custom-keyboard-shortcuts-in-
Gmail.png)

[graybox]This is part of the 21 Google tips & tricks

(https://danielfuterman.com/21-awesome-google-tips-and-
tricks/) Series. Check out the other posts![/graybox]

More Google tips you might like:

8 Hidden Google Translate Features
(https://danielfuterman.com/google-translate-best-tips/)

How to reach inbox zero with Inbox by Gmail

(https://danielfuterman.com/inbox-by-gmail-review/)

18 Powerful Google Chrome & Google Seach Tricks

(https://danielfuterman.com/18-google-chrome-search-tricks-
boost-productivity/)

! (https://danielfuterman.com/18-google-chrome-search-tricks-boost-prod
"(https://danielfuterman.com/words/)

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