Gmail is the most widely used email client in the world and also one of Google's most successful products. Gmail has gain popularity due to its world-class features, such as highest-grade security, exceptional graphics, easy accessibility, customization options, and dozens of other features that everyone needs. If you are also a Gmail user, then this blog is going to present the top 15 Gmail tips and tricks you should know about.
1.Undo a Sent Email
Once you click on "Send" after composing an email, Gmail by default gives you 5 seconds to undo the email. You can see the undo option as a small pop-up screen at the top left corner of the Gmail window after you have sent the email. To increase the undo time, click on the "Settings" icon on the top right corner of the Gmail window and then click "See all settings". In the "General" tab, you will see the option "Undo Send". From there, you can set the undo time from 5 seconds to max 30 seconds.
2.Schedule Email
Instead of sending an email instantly, Gmail also allows you to schedule it for later. At the right side of the "Send" button, you will see a down arrow icon. Click on it and then click "Schedule send". From the pop-up window, you can now either choose the given times or pick the date and time of your choice.
3.Templates
If you are involved in sending the same email text to many people, then Gmail allows you to store it as a template so that you don't have to type the text every time. Click on the "Settings" icon and then click "See all settings". Go to the "Advanced" tab, enable the option showing "Templates", and click "Save Changes". Now compose an email and write the text you frequently write. Afterward, click on the ellipse located at the right corner and then click "Templates". Click "Save draft as template". This way, next time when you come to the template section, you will see this text there. So, simply clicking on it will post the text.
4.Customize Email Address with "." or "+"
Let's suppose you have an email address xyzas@gmail.com. Gmail allows you to customize it as "x.yz.as@gmail.com" or "xyzas+asad@gmail.com". From both these addresses, you will still receive an email at your main address. The "." customization can help you to separate your first name and last name or do other customizations. The "+" customization can help you to write a person's name to whom you are giving your email address to keep track if that person might circulate your email address further.
5.Dark Theme
Gmail provides a dark theme to help reduce eye strain. To turn on the dark mode, click on the "Settings" icon, and from the "Theme" section, click "View all". Now scroll down and you will see a complete black theme option. Click on it and your Gmail will cover itself in the dark theme.
6.Add Reading Pane
Whenever you open an email in Gmail, it appears on the full screen. So, if you have to go back to the inbox, you have to click the back arrow to close the email first. To allow you to read while also have access to the inbox, Gmail has a split pane option, which splits the Gmail window into two half. To do that, click on the icon of “Toggle split pane mode" located at the top right-hand side. Afterward, click on any email and you will see it will appear in the newly created split screen.
7.Offline Mode
Gmail also offers an offline mode that allows you to read messages when you don't have an internet connection. To enable this mode, click on the "Settings" icon and then click "See all settings". Go to the "Offline" tab and tick the "Enable offline mail" checkbox. It will ask you to set up some settings related to offline mode. So, customize it as per your choice and click the "Save Changes" button. Now when you are offline, go to https://mail.google.com/ to see all the stored emails.
8.Keyboard Shortcut Keys
Gmail is user-friendly and you can quickly perform what you want with simple mouse clicks. But there are different keyboard shortcuts that can further enhance your performance. Press "Shift" + "?" and it will show up all the keyboard shortcut keys that you can use. Few shortcut keys will be in the disabled mode currently, so you can simply enable them as well.
9.Mute Conversations
If you want to avoid receiving notification of someone's email in your inbox, Gmail allows you to mute that email address. To do that, right-click the mouse in front of an email that you want to mute. From the drop-down menu, click on "Mute". This way, Gmail will be receiving the email from that person, but you will not be disturbed with it. You can also un-mute by searching for "label:mute" in the Gmail search bar. It will show all the emails that are currently muted. From there, you can right-click an email and unmute it.
10.Multiple Email Signatures
Gmail powers you to have email signatures, which can be a text or a logo appended at the bottom of any email. Other than just having one email signature, Gmail allows you to have multiple email signatures. To do that, click on the "Settings" icon and then click "See all settings". In the "General" tab, scroll down to the "Signature" section. By clicking on "+ Create new", you can add the first signature. Afterward, you can again click on "+ Create new" to add another signature. This way, you can have multiple email signatures. You can use them when you are writing an email from the "signature" icon located near the "Send" button.
11.Organize Emails with Stars
You see a star icon on the left side of every email whose purpose is to add that email in the "Starred" category. But you can add more stars other than the default golden one. To do that, click on the "Settings" icon and then click "See all settings". In the "General" tab, scroll down and you will see the "Stars" section. There you will see many stars that are unused. So, you can drag them up in the "In use" section so that they are also useable in the inbox. Afterward, click "Save changes". Now in the inbox section, if you click multiple times the star icon, you will see its color changing. This way, you can organize emails smartly.
12.Vacation Responder
If you are going to be away from accessing your Gmail for some time, you can set up the vacation responder that can send the pre-designed email to anyone who emails you. To do that click on the "Settings" icon and then click "See all settings". In the "General" tab, at the very bottom, you will the "Vacation responder" section. From there, you can set it On/Off, set the time, and the content of the email.
13.Reduce Gmail Space Usage
Google gives 15GB of free storage that is used in Gmail, Google Drive, and other Google apps. If your storage is about to meet the max free storage limit, then you can reduce the space from Gmail by searching the emails that are consuming larger memory and delete the ones that are no longer useful to you. You can search those emails by clicking the down arrow located on the left side of the Gmail search bar. In the "Size" section, enter the size of the emails you would like to filter, such as 10MB size emails. If will filter out all those emails and then you can delete the ones you no longer need. Another practice is that you use Google Drive links while sharing files instead of attaching the files directly in Gmail.
14.Access Gmail in other Email Apps
Gmail can also be accessed in any other email apps. To enable it, click on the "Settings" icon and then click "See all settings". Now, go to the "Forwarding and POP/IMAP" tab. Here you can either use "POP download" or "IMAP access" to access Gmail in other email apps. The difference between these two options is that the POP download will download all the messages to the email client, while in the IMAP access, you will be editing the messages that are present in the cloud. Choose the choice you prefer and click "Save Changes". Now you will be able to access Gmail in other email apps.
15.Sort your Inbox
Gmail has sorted emails in chronological order in the inbox. But you can sort your inbox in multiple types. Click on the "Settings" icon and scroll down to the "Inbox type" section. There you will see multiple types to choose from, such as Default, Important first, Unread first, Priority Inbox, and plenty of others.
Wrapping Up
All the above tips and tricks of Gmail show that Google has done a tremendous effort to make Gmail the best email service the users want. There are lots of other customization you can do in Gmail, so it's totally up to your capability to how much customization you want in your Gmail account.