If you’re returning to work after the holidays, you’re likely to have a wild jumble of open emails in your inbox. Even though video and chat services like Zoom and Slack are integral to the workday, email isn’t heading out the digital door.
If you have an email account with Gmail, maybe learn the basics. Still, there are plenty of Gmail features and tricks you might have missed that can help you streamline your digital life. For example, did you know that there are also third-party apps that work with Google’s email service, such as Kiwi for Gmail, that bring together multiple accounts in one app?
Even if you’re a seasoned Gmail user, here are 10 tools and tips to help you work better — not harder.
clear your inbox
It doesn’t take long for my inbox to get out of control, even when I’m using the select-all-plus-delete combo liberally.
Luckily, there’s another way to sift through the ancient digital weeds in your inbox. If you’re certain you don’t need an email before a certain date, you can type “before:<DD/MM/YYYY>” in the search field and enter the date you want. This will filter your inbox so you can more efficiently use the select-all button to delete old emails.
access multiple accounts
If you have more than one active Gmail account, you can easily switch between them. Simply click on your profile icon in the top right (mobile or desktop) and select Add another account. From there you’ll simply sign in, and you’ll be able to access it when you click on your profile icon in the future. However, if you don’t access one of the accounts long enough, it will sign you out.
email filter
With so many websites asking for your email address these days, your inbox can start to look like an overflowing trash can. You probably want to organize emails better and prioritize certain people’s emails. This is where filters come in handy. To set up filters, open Gmail, click the Settings gear, and select View all settings. From there, click Filters and Blocked Addresses > Create a New Filter.
You can customize your filters to organize emails by sender, recipient, subject, keywords, and other factors. When you’ve got it to your specifications, click Create Filter.
easy signature setup
Setting up a signature in Gmail can save you a step when composing messages and make your email look more professional. To set a signature for all outgoing messages, open Gmail > Settings Gear > View All Settings.
From there, scroll down until you see Signature and click on Create New. Any signatures you create will appear in Settings, where you can edit or delete them at any time.
Undo sent message
If you’re like me, you’ve second guessed yourself after hitting the send button at least once. Luckily, Gmail has a grace feature called Undo Send. Right after you hit send, a message will pop up at the bottom of the screen saying the message was sent, but there’s also an option to undo or view the message.
When you click Undo, Gmail will stop sending the message. You can also edit how long you have to cancel a message. To get Undo Send set up, go to Settings > View All Settings and scroll down to Undo Send. From there you can set a send cancellation window of 5, 10, 20 or 30 seconds.
send schedule
Scheduling a message is handy if you have coworkers or friends in different time zones and don’t want to risk bothering them with an email notification at odd times.
To schedule a message, just type what you want to say and instead of clicking Send, click the small down arrow and choose Schedule Send. Gmail will suggest a few possible times, but you can also manually input a specific send time.
write smart
Gmail’s Smart Compose works like predictive text and is meant to streamline your writing process. For example, when you’re typing “I’ll call you,” Google Smart Compose will suggest “tomorrow.” Just press Tab to accept the suggestion; Otherwise keep typing. If you’re not a fan of Smart Compose, you can turn it off in Settings.