Gmail or Google Mail is a top-rated email service worldwide. Considering its reliability and capabilities, it’s no wonder why many individuals and organizations prefer using it over others.
While Gmail is already fully functional out of the box, there are still optional features that users can enable themselves. If you’re interested in learning these things, please read on. In this guide, we’d listed 15 Gmail tips for higher productivity, plus a recommendation regarding Gmail in Mac.
Table of Contents
1. Use Gmail Offline
While Gmails needs an internet connection to fully function, you can still access it offline. In the process, it will download emails so you can view and reply to messages even when offline. To enable and use Gmail offline, please follow these steps:
1. Download or open Chrome browser (it will make offline more reliable) and open a regular tab (Gmail offline won’t work with incognito or private tab).
2. Visit Gmail and bookmark it (Gmail offline requires a bookmark to work).
3. Open Gmail, click the gear icon, and then the “See all settings” button.
4. Click the “Offline” text and check the “Enable offline mail” option.
5. Click the dropdown to set email duration and check the option to download attachments. In “Security,” select an option and hit “Save Changes” to proceed.
2. Undo Sent Emails
By default, Gmail provides 5 seconds for a user to undo a sent email. However, if 5 seconds is too short, you can change it by following these steps:
1. Under Settings, in “General,” look for the “Undo Send” section.
2. Choose from 5, 10, 20, or 30 seconds undo time. Scroll down and press the “Save Changes” button.
3. Send an email. Click the “Undo” text in the popup to undo the email.
3. Email Schedule
In many cases, users need to wait for a specific time to send emails. Luckily, Gmail provides an easy way to schedule emails. To use this feature, please read the following:
1. Compose an email, press the arrow down icon in the “Send” button and then the “Schedule send” button.
2. Pick from the schedule presets or hit the “Pick date & time” text to set a custom schedule.
3. Navigate months using the two arrows and pick a day. Click the “Schedule send” button to proceed.
4. Use Extensions
One of the best Gmail hacks 2021 is using extensions. Using add-ons, one can access more features and even change Gmail’s behavior or appearance. Moreover, you can use two types of extensions: built-in and 3rd parties; accessible with these steps:
1. Built-in. In Gmail, click the button right arrow icon. Select and click to open any of the built-in extensions.
2. 3rd party. Open Chrome and visit chrome.google.com/webstore. Type “Gmail” in the search box, hit the enter key on your keyboard, and click to open any extension.
3. Click “Add to Chrome,” then the “Add extension” button, and connect to Google account to continue.
4. Open Gmail, click the extension shortcut and start using its features.
5. Use Email Signatures
An email signature is ideal for a business or a professional who wants to attach contact information in every email. In Gmail, you can access this feature with these actions:
1. Under Settings, in “General,” look for the “Signature” section and press the “Create new” button.
2. Type the signature name and hit the “Create” button.
3. Type your signature; use the text formatting tools, and enable the signature in new emails and replies. Scroll down and click the “Save Changes” button.
4. Open your inbox and compose an email. Press the pen icon and select “Contact Information.” Send the email to complete the process.
6. Confidentiality Mode
It’s not always the case, but there are times where users need to send sensitive information over emails. As Gmail knows about this, it offers a feature called “Confidential Mode.” With this feature, you can set an expiration or require an SMS passcode to an email. Also, the receiver can’t copy, print, download, or forward both the attachments and message in an email; enable it using these actions:
1. Compose an email and click the time icon.
2. Select the expiration: a day, a week, a month, three months, or five years. Choose whether to require an SMS passcode or not. Click the “Save” button.
3. Open the “Sent” folder and view the sent email. Press the “Remove access” to override the expiration date; hit “Renew access” to bring it back.
7. Replace Attachments with Google Drive Links
Yes, it’s easy to attach files from your computer to an email. However, you can make the process easier for both you and the recipient when you use Google Drive links instead of actual files. To use this feature, please follow these steps:
1. In Gmail, compose an email and click the Google Drive icon.
2. Press the “Drive link” button and select the file. Hit the “Insert” button.
3. Click the “Send” button to proceed.
8. Create Priority Inbox
If you have too many emails, having a way to organize them would be beneficial. Luckily, Gmail offers various Inbox types, including a “Priority Inbox.” In the process, this would split your inbox into three sections, “Important and unread,” “Starred,” and “Everything else.” To enable this view, please be guided:
1. Open Gmail, click the gear icon, scroll down and select the “Priority Inbox.” Press “Customize” to modify your Priority inbox.
2. Change anything you like and hit the “Save Changes” button to complete.
9. Mute Conversations
If you’re no longer interested in a conversation, you can mute it so future messages won’t clutter up your inbox. Enable it with these steps:
1. In your inbox, open a conversation. Click the three-dotted menu and hit “Mute.” Click “Unmute” to unmute.
2. To view muted emails, go to the “All Mail” folder or type “is:muted” in the search bar.
10. Translate Incoming Mails
One of the handy Gmail tips and tricks is email language translation. Whenever you receive an email in a foreign language, follow these actions to understand it:
1. Open an email and select the language you want to use as a translation. Click “Translate message” to translate the email.
2. Click “View original message” to display the previous language.
11. Create Reminders
If you have too many emails, you might forget to respond or take action in some emails. To avoid this, you can use any of the three Gmail reminder features:
1. Under Settings, in “General,” look for the “Nudges” section and enable the two options. Scroll down and hit the “Save Changes” button.
2. In an email, click the three-dotted menu and select from the snooze presets or set a custom one.
3. In an email, press the checkmark icon. Click the pencil icon and choose a time and date for the reminder.
12. Setup / Remove Formatting
Aside from plain text, Gmail also provides a few formatting options:
1. Under Settings, in “General,” look for the “Default text style” section and change the default text format.
2. Compose an email and click the formatting icon. Click a formatting style and type some text.
3. Remove formatting. Click the arrow icon and hit the 1st option or the three-dotted menu and then the “Plain text mode.
13. Create Google Calendar Events
If you’re a busy person, then you can benefit from Gmail’s quick Calendar event creation feature:
1. Open an email, click the three-dotted menu, and then the “Create event” option.
2. Wait for the browser to load the Google Calendar event creation page. Set all details you like and hit “Save.”
14. Google Meet with Gmail
If you want to invite someone into a Google Meet using Gmail, you can do so with these steps:
1. Compose an email, click the “Meet” text, and then the “New meeting” option. Press the copy button and paste it to the compose window.
2. Click the “Meet” text and then the “New meeting” text. Press the “Send invite” button and then the “Share via email” option.
3. Wait for the browser to open another window, edit the text, and send the invite via email.
15. Personal Level Indicators
Gmail’s personal level indicators allow users to identify if a message was sent to a group of users or only to one recipient. Gmail shows one arrow (>) if an email was addressed to a group, a double arrow (>>) is sent only to a single recipient, and no arrow if it’s a mailing list. It’s off by default, so please do these actions to enable it:
1. Below Settings, in “General,” look for the “Personal level indicators” section and select the “Show indicators” option. Hit the “Save Changes” button to proceed.
Make the Most Out of Gmail with Boxysuite
After learning about the 15 tips on improving Gmail productivity, you’re likely eager to use the email service more than before. If that’s the case, especially if you’re using a Mac, you’ll love Boxysuite.
As fellow Gmail lovers, we understand the inefficiency and distractions of using multiple Chrome tabs in daily productivity. Accordingly, we created Boxysuite, a clean, focused, and distraction-free space for Gmail, Google Calendar, Keep, and Contacts.
