Behind an easy-to-use appearance, the gmail messaging actually has a pretty phenomenal amount of features. You probably already use many of them, but there are some lesser-known options that you might be interested in.
So here is a selection of 6 little-known Gmail tips that you should try to improve your productivity!
Use email templates to save time
If you have types of emails that you send on a regular basis, you probably have the opportunity to save time. To do this, you will be able to use reusable email templates. To be able to use it, you will first have to activate it in the Gmail settings.
Access Gmail settings by clicking on the cogwheel at the top right of the interface and choosing “See all settings”. Then go to the “Advanced settings” tab and enable the “Templates” option. Don't forget to save the new settings at the very bottom of the page.
To create an email template, nothing could be simpler. Compose a message as you usually do, but before sending it, click on the 3 small dots at the bottom of your email > Templates > Save as template > Save new template. Name your template and save it.
To use a template, it's pretty simple too. Create a new post and click on the 3 little dots at the bottom of the post. Select Templates and choose the one you want to use to load it!
Recall an email using the “Cancel Send” function
Do you always pay close attention to everything before sending an email? A spelling or typing mistake, a missing attachment, a wrong recipient... There are plenty of reasons to mess up if you're not careful, and once you've clicked the "Send" button, it's too late.
In reality, this is not inevitable thanks to the option Gmail's "Undo Send". It allows you to recall a message before it has even really been sent.
When you press "Send", you will see at the bottom of the screen a small black box with a "Cancel" button. Click on it and the message sending process will immediately stop and your message will open for you to edit.
By default, you only have 5 seconds to cancel sending an email in Gmail. But you can change this to 10, 20, or 30 seconds to give yourself more time.
To do this, you need to access Gmail settings by clicking on the cogwheel at the top right of the interface and choosing "See all settings". Then go to the "General" tab and adjust the cancellation delay of the "Cancel sending" option.
Then save the changes (at the very bottom of the page) for the change to be taken into account!
Save received photos directly to Google Photos
Another widely overlooked Gmail feature is the ability to save photos you receive directly to Google Photos. This is a super handy feature for archiving photos into your albums.
When you receive a photo in an email, hover your mouse over it and you should see 3 icons appear at the bottom right of the image: an arrow to download the photo, a Google Drive icon to save it to Drive and finally a Google Photos icon.
So click on the Google Photos icon. You will see a confirmation that a copy of the item will be saved to Google Photos. Select “Save”.
A small message under the photo will confirm its registration on Google Photos. Click on “View” to access it directly.
View the number of unread messages on the browser tab
If you're in the habit of regularly checking your Gmail inbox for new emails, you might like this option. It's possible to display the number of unread messages on the Gmail icon in your browser tab.
Gmail allows you to see the number of unread messages of a specific box in the tab text, but this option allows you to see the number of unread messages, regardless of the Gmail folder selected and especially, even if you have lots of tabs open and the text is reduced.
Go to Gmail settings by clicking on the cogwheel and choose “See all settings”. Go to the “Advanced settings” tab and scroll all the way down until you find the “Unread messages icon” setting. Enable it and save!
Send an email that expires after a certain time
This tip is also one of the really little-known Gmail tricks. When you need to send sensitive information via email, Gmail offers a confidential mode which can provide you with additional security. This mode allows you to set an expiration date for the email, require a password, and prevent the recipient from forwarding, copying, printing, or downloading your message.
To use confidential mode, with an email that you are writing, you must click on the padlock icon with a clock in the toolbar at the bottom of the email (Activate/Deactivate confidential mode). A window will then open to allow you to set an expiration date for your message and choose whether or not to protect your message using a code sent by SMS to the recipient.
Once the email is sent, the recipient will only be able to access its content during the specified period and if you have protected it with a code, they will have to use the access code received on the phone number you have indicated. The recipient actually receives an email with a link to your message.
Create a task from an email
For a long time, I used to keep unread messages that I had not yet processed and that deserved action on my part. But now, I transform these messages into tasks to remember to take care of them!
Select the message you want to turn into a task in your inbox. In the Gmail toolbar (at the top of the screen), select the icon with a check mark and a plus sign in a circle (Add to task list) and click it.
The Tasks bar will open on the right side of the Gmail interface with the new task created from the email. You can then enrich the information about this task: details, due date and make it repeat.
Once your task is completed, you just have to check the small circle to the left of it to make it disappear (and enjoy the pleasure of a job well done).
There you go, I hope that among these 6 little-used Gmail tips you have found things that interest you! In any case, for my part, these are settings that I have implemented on my personal mailbox and I am very happy with them! Don't hesitate to try them out and tell us in the comments which Gmail features you use the most!
