9 Useful Gmail Features You Need To Try Right Away

If you use Gmail almost every day and want to manage your inbox effectively, explore our top tips. Our computing experts have advice on how to organise your most important messages and explain how to recall emails you didn't mean to send.

With a better understanding of what the latest version of Gmail has to offer, you can automate dull tasks and cut down on your screen time. Read on for the details.

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1. Schedule an email

At a glance:

Gmail's scheduling tool means you can write an email and send it out automatically later. This comes in handy if you're going to be on holiday and need to remind somebody of a task, or you have a friend's birthday coming up that you don't want to forget.

There are a couple of default options for scheduling, including 'tomorrow morning' and 'tomorrow afternoon' as shown below. You can also set a custom date and time.

To use Gmail's scheduling feature on a PC, do this:

The process of scheduling a message is exactly the same if you are using the Gmail mobile app, except that the Schedule send option is accessed by clicking the three dots icon that you will find next to the Send button in the top-right corner.

2. 'Undo' sending a message

At a glance: 

Sending an email to the wrong person can land you in an uncomfortable position, but Gmail has an option to save the day.

The default cancellation period for the 'unsend' feature is just five seconds – but you can extend this in just a couple of clicks. When you cancel the email, it will reopen your first draft so you can make any adjustments or delete it altogether.

To set up Gmail's undo feature on a PC, do this:

Send UndoCompose News, deals and stuff the manuals don't tell you. 

3. Organise your emails using labels

At a glance:

The labels tool built into Gmail will be a real help if you're managing lots of different work projects over email. By assigning emails related to a specific topic with a matching label, you can quickly identify those messages in a crowded inbox.

To create a new email label in Gmail on PC, do this:

Once you've made a label, a link to all the emails tagged with that label is created. You can find that link on the left side of your Gmail inbox on desktop. If you hover over the link and click the three dots, you can assign the label a new colour. From the same menu, you can also delete the label or quickly create another one.

On mobile, you can see labels by tapping the settings tab in the top-left corner of your screen and scrolling down.

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4. Add a second email inbox to Gmail

At a glance: 

If you have two separate Gmail accounts (one for work and one for personal emails), you should know that there's a way to have messages for both appear in the same window.

To add another Gmail account to your current inbox on PC, do this:

Now that you've entered your details for that second account, you can swap back and forth whenever you need to. Just click your profile picture in the top-right corner and select the account you want to access.

5. Make sure your inbox is secure

At a glance:2-Step Verification

To check and update security settings for your Google account on PC, do this:

From your account security page, you'll also be able to see devices used to log into your Gmail – if you don't recognise a device on that list, revoke access and change your password right away.

6. Snooze emails

At a glance:

An endless stream of emails can be overwhelming, so try 'snoozing' less-urgent messages to revisit them later. Using this feature doesn't delete the messages but instead helps you prioritise.

When you snooze an email, it will be hidden from your inbox until a specified time – you can choose 'later today', 'tomorrow', 'next week' or set a custom time. Eventually, it'll reappear at the top of your inbox as if it were a new message.

To snooze emails, do this:

Snoozed  – our experts have picked the best contract and Sim-only deals, and tell you how to bag a bargain on an Android handset or iPhone.

7. See if Confidential mode can work for you

At a glance:

Gmail lets you tag outgoing emails with the Confidential label, which means recipients won’t have the option to forward, copy, print or download your message.

However, Google notes that your message 'might still be visible to your Google Workspace domain admins or Vault users for periods defined by the domain’s Gmail retention rules.' There's also nothing stopping somebody from screenshotting your message.

When you send an email in Confidential mode, you can set it to expire after a set time. Plus, you can configure the message so that the recipient has to enter a passcode sent via SMS or email to access it.

To send an email in Confidential mode, do this:

8. Change your screen layout

At a glance:DensityComfortable Compact 

To cycle through inbox layouts on desktop, do this:

9. Try the Google Calendar feature

At a glance: 

If you want to schedule meetings or reminders based on the content of an email, you can do so in less than 60 seconds.

To create a Google Calendar event in a couple of clicks, do this:

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Additional reporting by Jonathan Parkyn.

source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/useful-gmail-features-a47Vz3p4nltC