20 essential tips to help you use Gmail better

O gmail It is the most used email service in the world, and also the most complete. With this in mind, we have prepared a guide with essential tips for you to make the most of it. See below:

Use categories

When you enter your home page, some pre-determined categories will now be available and configured. The ones you see as soon as you enter are: Main, Social e Sales. In these tabs you can find emails received by contacts or with relevance, mentions on social networks and offers from shopping sites on which you are registered.

Additionally, it is possible to activate other categories such as Updates e Forums: in these new tabs you will be able to find out about banks, accounts and addresses that sent several messages per week. In the Forum tab, gmail filters only messages from cats and groups.

To activate it is simple:

Step 1: Click on the Settings icon.

Step 2: Select All Settings.

Step 3: Go to Inbox.

Step 4: Activate Updates and/or Forum.

Customize labels

Now that you have used the categories that come with the gmail, how about creating your own? With labels you have full control of your emails, optimizing Gmail for good. These are completely customizable and can be created according to the user's needs, in addition, the color division is an added touch for those who use color organization methods.

To add them just click on the plus symbol next to “labels” and customize as needed, facilitating the search in the gmail. Now, when you are in an email, or even in your inbox, select the bookmark icon and choose one or more as you need.

Have multiple accounts

It is common to use multiple email accounts for different purposes. Like this, A cool tip is to use the option that adds all emails to just one inbox. O gmail simplifies users' daily lives with this option, available on application.

Allow cancel sending

A mistake in Portuguese, a wrong gesture or even getting the sender wrong is common in the immensity of texts written daily and emails answered. For this, a cool tip to use in gmail is to customize the shipping cancellation time. By default, the selected time is 5 seconds, but it is possible to customize it to up to 30 seconds, allowing you to take a breather if something goes wrong.

The setup process is easy:

Step 1: Select the Settings icon.

Step 2: Go to General.

Step 3: Choose Cancel Send.

Step 4: Select the best period for you.

Confidential mode

This mode is ideal if the email to be sent has a more sensitive or confidential subject. It prevents the message from being forwarded to another person and is automatically deleted after the selected time. To activate it, simply select the padlock symbol in the email box with timer. Then you can select the time for which the message will be available.

Create a subscription

Additionally, a necessity for an organized email is to have a signature. This simple addition to your gmail It avoids delays and the need to ask questions like “What’s the address?”, “What’s the phone number?”, etc. Setting this is simple, just go to settings and add the signature.

The setup process is easy:

Step 1: Select the Settings icon.

Step 2: Go to General.

Step 3: Choose Subscription.

Okay, now just import a signature or produce one in gmail.

Search in Gmail

The search tool gmail It is little explored and the truth is that it can be a powerful ally for the organization. This, despite being simple, has a series of commands that can be used to make your daily life easier, going far beyond searching for words and emails. The downside is the need for basic knowledge of the English language, however, the actions are simple and quick to memorize. Let's look at other tips related to these commands below.

Emails sent to and from you

Being aware of the emails you have sent and received is essential to optimize your gmail, for this commands can be typed in the search bar of the Gmail and simplify your life by bringing everyone together in just a few clicks.

To find out which messages were sent to your boss, for example, just search: “to:me from:boss email” in the bar and they will all be grouped together. The opposite process would be “from:me to:boss email“, showing everyone you sent to him.

So the commands are “to:me from:"and "from:me to:".

Attached files

Imagine you need to find a PDF attached to an email. How would I find the file in the quickest way possible? Here you will use the magic of searching in gmail with the command “has:attachment", what makes all messages with attached files appear in the inbox.

However, in this situation, we are looking for a PDF file and this command will bring up other files in the list. To solve the problem, simply replace the word attachment (attachment in Portuguese), by the format of the file you are looking for. So the command would be “has: PDF".

Search by date or subject

For messages you have no idea who sent, just a vague memory of the date you received it, the commands before e after They will be your squires in this quest. Before will show messages before the selected date, since after the later ones. The commands that must be typed will be “before:25/11/2021" or "after:25/11/2021", for example. Changing the date as needed.

Use keyboard commands

To optimize the use of gmail With the keyboard, there are simple and efficient commands. To navigate between messages in an email thread, simply use the P and N keys, which take you to the previous and next message, respectively. This avoids using the scroll bar and makes searching for emails easier. Also, to send a message quickly, you can press Ctrl and Enter simultaneously, saving time by avoiding clicking the submit button. These unique keyboard commands help make using the keyboard gmail faster and more efficient.

Schedule emails

To schedule emails in gmail, you can easily schedule your messages to be sent at a specific time, allowing for greater organization and efficiency in communication.

Step by step to schedule emails in gmail:

Step 1: Open Gmail and click “Compose” to start a new email.

Step 2: Compose your message, including the recipient, subject and body of the email.

Step 3: When you finish writing, click the down arrow next to the “Send” button.

Step 4: Select the “Schedule shipping” option.

Step 5: Choose a specific date and time to send the email, or select one of the options suggested by Gmail.

Step 6: Click “Schedule shipping” to confirm.

Ready! Your email will be sent automatically at the selected date and time.

Use archive

The archive tool is used to keep emails with little relevance, but not enough to be deleted. By archiving, you keep your inbox organized and no pages of emails opened for no reason. When you need it, simply select the archived items and search for what you need.

Read emails offline

Functions that allow you to read received messages even without internet access are great tools for optimizing your gmail. And the Google Have you ever thought about this solution! However, you will need to activate the functions in the provider settings.

To access it, it's simple:

Step 1: Click on the gear icon.

Step 2: Select Show all settings.

Step 3: Go to Off and activate.

Okay, now you can select the period of time you want your messages to be available and the gmail warns you how much storage will be used.

Choose themes

Themes can be a good optimization tool in gmail. In addition to making it look like you, choosing a darker theme can help make your eyes less tired when you spend time in front of your PC.

To modify the theme, it’s simple:

Step 1: Head to the gear item.

Step 2: Select Themes and go to See all themes.

Okay, now just choose what you like best.

Know the right button

Selecting an email with the right button is a tip on how to optimize the gmail. When you use this function by default, Gmail shows a series of commands that can be performed. You can mark as read, archive, reply, among other functions.

Customize your keyboard

To customize keyboard shortcuts, the user must first activate them in the device settings. gmail. Click on the gear icon, select “See all settings“, go to the “” tabAdvanced” and activate “Custom keyboard shortcuts“. Then go to the “Keyboard shortcuts” and adjust the commands according to personal preferences. This allows you to configure specific shortcuts for actions such as composing, replying or deleting emails, making browsing and managing messages much faster.

Use Smart writing

Smart Compose suggests phrases and words as you type, based on the context of your email. To activate it, go to the gear icon, select “See all settings", after "General“, and scroll down until you find “Writing suggestionsThe". Activate this option to start receiving automatic suggestions. When accepting a suggestion, simply press the key Tab to complete the sentence.

Integrate other apps

Integrate other applications with gmail can expand its functionalities and improve efficiency in managing emails and tasks. To get started, go to the gear icon, select “See all settings” and navigate to the “Accessories“. Click in "Get add-ons” and explore the Google Workspace Marketplace to find apps like Trello, Asana, Google Docs, Zoom and others that may be useful for your workflow. Click in "Install” next to the desired application and follow the instructions to authorize the integration. Once integrated, these applications can be accessed directly from the side panel of the gmail, allowing you to manage projects, attend meetings and organize tasks without leaving your inbox, thus optimizing your productivity.

Access to Meet

Access the Google Meet directly from gmail It's a convenient way to start or join video meetings without leaving your inbox. To use this functionality, open Gmail and look at the left side panel. There, you will see the option “Meet“. Click in "Start a meeting” to create a new video conference or “Attend a meeting” to join an existing meeting by entering the code provided. This integration makes it easy to schedule and attend meetings, allowing you to collaborate with colleagues efficiently and quickly, all right from your gmail.

Conclusion

Stay up to date and organized with gmail It is essential in personal and professional life. Efficient email management guarantees the preservation of important information and the categorization of messages using filters and labels promises to make things easier. Furthermore, Gmail's integration with other applications optimizes work and productivity, while simple actions such as keeping the inbox clean and well organized bring more efficiency to the workflow.

See also:

46 productivity apps for you to use at home and work

Text revised by Rafael Braga on 29/07/2024.

Sources: Google, WikiHow e Clean Email.