We can all agree that your inbox is an integral part of our work life when, on average, 88 emails are received and 34 are sent by each employee in a business. That’s crazy! With all the time spent on our emails, we need to ensure we are as efficient as possible. That’s why we’ve listed 9 practical tips on Gmail that only take a few minutes to set up but will save you hours and hours. Let’s get started on efficiency!
1. Use type-based search
Are you looking for an old email or something you replied to four weeks ago? Instead of scrolling for 5 minutes searching for that information, Gmail offers the wonderful option of doing a type-based search. Simply choose a criteria (size, date, document type, keyword-containing word), and type your keyword in the search bar followed by “in:all monique@gmail.com.” Gmail will execute the search across all associated folders (trash, spam, filters… and in all emails with monique@gmail.com), allowing you to find your email in no time. The same principle applies if your inbox is full: type in your search bar “has:PDF in:all size:20MB,” and Gmail will retrieve all your messages with a PDF of that size that you can delete in one go. A more than practical feature for your email spring cleaning, let’s say.
2. Use the preview
The “preview” feature allows you to browse through all your messages in one column (on the left) while having a preview in the other (on the right…clever, right?). So, if like me, you receive dozens of emails every day, this is a feature that can change your life! 👌
to activate it: settings > advanced settings > preview panel > enable
3. use labels to create a personalized order of importance.
Well, we understand that we’re not writing this article to tell you that you can star your important messages; you probably already know that. However, we might be teaching you that you can have them in various colors and create a fantastic classification of importance, a color code, in short, organize your email inbox as you like to find yourself among your urgent, administrative, later, etc., mail.
to activate it: settings> custom follow-up icons
To help you manage important emails, Gmail has also introduced an “Important” box (we’re talking about the tab that automatically overlays your inbox) based on the messages you read and respond to most frequently. You even receive a little reminder if a response time exceeds the norm, so you can use that to stay focused on priority conversations.
To activate it: settings > inbox > priority > show markers > save.
4. Use labels
If you’re someone who has multiple projects or works with different clients, you’ve just discovered a goldmine! Organizing labels and sub-labels for each of your projects will not only allow you to group all messages from the same company in one place but also label each of them with different colors, enabling you to identify them immediately by subject, project, etc., in your inbox. It takes a few minutes to manage, and after that, it becomes super easy to search through your archives.
TO CREATE A LABEL: PRESS THE “PLUS” BUTTON IN THE LEFT SIDE MENU BAR AND CLICK “CREATE A LABEL.” YOU CAN EVEN CREATE SUB-LABELS FOR EACH ONE, AND YOU’LL BE ORGANIZED LIKE NEVER BEFORE!
THEN, WHEN YOU WANT TO FILE AN EMAIL UNDER A LABEL: GO TO THE TOP BAR OF YOUR EMAIL, CLICK “MOVE TO” OR “LABEL” AND CHOOSE THE ONE THAT SUITS YOU.
5. Use filters
To have your email automatically sorted to the right place upon receipt, without you having to do anything, you can also use the “Filters” option. Click on “Create a filter,” to the right of the email search bar, choose what you want to filter, either the email “From” or “To,” and select the action you want to assign to the filter. For example, you can ensure that all emails from monique@gmail.com are automatically sorted into the folder “Monique’s Flower Shop,” for instance.
Gmail already sorts your emails into various tabs (Primary, Social, Promotions, etc.), and you can also drag each of them from one tab to another according to your preferences. They’re there, so make use of them!
6. Use the send delay
Have you ever sent a message and then two seconds later realized that you forgot to attach your file? Well, it’s not going to happen again because there’s a function that allows you to cancel the sending of a message up to 30 seconds after sending. So, you have time to correct your mistake before your client even sees it, it’s real magic!
To activate it: general > send delay > enable.
7. Delegate when you go on vacation
Another super useful tip for businesses: Gmail allows you to delegate the management of your email to multiple collaborators without sharing your password. An authorized collaborator can send messages and respond on your behalf when you’re off exploring the globe, manage your contacts, delete your messages with a single click, but they cannot change your settings or your password. Genius, isn’t it?
To activate it: settings > accounts.
8. set up your favicon
You want to see how many messages are in your inbox without having to go to your inbox. Set up your favicon to display on the messaging tab how many emails you have left to read, and you can continue working on the same web page while seeing your email count increase.
To set it up: settings > advanced settings > unread message icon > enable.
9. Create standardized responses.
Often, we need to send a huge number of emails at the same time, and that’s where standardized responses can become more than practical!
TO INSTALL: SETTINGS > ADVANCED SETTINGS > ENABLE STANDARD RESPONSES > SAVE
THEN, OPEN A NEW EMAIL > CLICK ON “…” (BOTTOM RIGHT OF YOUR EMAIL) > STANDARD RESPONSE > NEW STANDARD RESPONSE > COMPOSE YOUR STANDARD EMAIL AS IF YOU WERE WRITING A REGULAR EMAIL WITH ITS SUBJECT (REMOVE YOUR SIGNATURE IF YOU HAVE ONE; OTHERWISE, IT WILL APPEAR DUPLICATE) > SAVE.
You can then either send them one by one or systematize them with a filter (#5 ????).
That’s it! You now have 9 tips to respond to your emails more quickly and communicate better! It’s up to you to see if they can be of use. Several other extensions like Mailtrack (for sending read receipts to your clients) and SnapMail (for sending self-destructing messages immediately after being read) will allow you to do some magical things! Have fun in your Gmail, and you’ll discover other features (custom keyboard shortcuts, default text style, signature, etc.) to increase your efficiency.
Now that you’re a Gmail pro, why not learn to optimize your searches on Google?
