8 tips for using Gmail more efficiently

Nowadays, Gmail becomes an important mail application for many people. Most people choose Gmail because it is easy to use and powerful. However, many awesome features in Gmail are not fully utilized because Gmail has been developed rapidly and many new features have been added. The following tips will help you use Gmail more efficiently.

1. Priority inbox

This important feature, priority inbox, was not very successful at the time it was released. However, it becomes more and more important for users these days. You don’t need to define  rules for classifying emails. The priority inbox will set the importance for every email by analyzing the incoming email addresses. It will remember which emails are used frequently and which ones are ignored.

The priority inbox will monitor who you usually communicate with, what you are interested in, what emails you deleted, etc. You can also help Gmail by selecting which emails are important. You may be surprised with the accuracy of this function.

You can also use the priority inbox as an inbox on Android. It will help you decide which emails will be sent to the computers.

2. Multiple Inboxes

There are several easy ways to to check multiple email accounts. One of the easiest ways is to use the multiple inboxes function in Gmail. You can add “is : pending” into the search query in order to label what you want to receive in the main inbox.

3. Canned responses

You can let Gmail answer emails automatically by using the canned responses function. You can compose a template message for answering emails having similar contents. Combining with the filter in Gmail, you can save a lot of time for answering repeated emails.

4. Message Sneak Peek

If you are using multiple inboxes, this feature may not work as expected. With this function, you can preview messages without opening them by right clicking on your inbox. This feature is helpful in the case you want to scan emails to find important messages.

5. Nested Labels

If you want to use sub-folders in Gmail, nested labels is the function you need to use. When this feature is enabled, you can create sub-folders by mouse clicking on the boxes besides the labels and then choosing Add Sublabel to create a new nested label.

6. Send & Archive

If you want to answer a message that has been labeled and stored, you can input your message and click Send and Archive if this function is enabled. By using this feature, you can save one or more steps because you don’t need to go back to the emails.

To enable this feature, go to Setting > Labs and enable “Save & Archive”.

7. Background Send

Now you can do other things while Gmail is sending a email with large attachments. This feature is also useful when the Gmail server is slow.

8. Set Keyboard Shortcuts

You can change the keyboard shortcuts in Gmail to access some features faster. First, you need to enable the Keyboard shortcut option in General tab of Mail Setting. You now can change the default shortcuts to what you prefer.

(pictures from: 24h)