Master your messages with these Gmail hacks

Posted on Monday May 02, 2016

Gmail has become a powerful email option for businesses since it can be attached to your domain. Easy to use, accessible from anywhere and always up-to-date, it has a lot to offer business users. But if you only use Gmail to send and receive emails, you're barely scratching the surface of its true capabilities and lesser known features. Here we've listed some of the most useful Gmail tricks that will help you take full advantage of what Gmail has to offer beyond sending and receiving messages.

Unsend emails

Ever had that moment when you're in a hurry to type up an email and send it off only to notice a few seconds later there were a couple of mistakes? Maybe you've forgotten to attach a file or misspelled a word. Heck, you may have even sent it to the wrong recipient! Don't worry, we've all been there. This is the moment where Gmail's 'Undo Send' feature will become your new best friend. You can activate this by clicking on the gear icon on the top right hand corner of Gmail, then go to Settings. Scroll down to Undo Send and hit the Enable box. Now you have up to 30 seconds to click the 'Undo' button that will pop up once your email's been sent.

Create to-do lists

Gmail provides an easy way to create a task list that you can use to keep track of all the things you have to do in a minimizable window. This way you won't have to send yourself an email and clutter your inbox every time you need to remind yourself to do something. Adding a to-do list is easy; simply click the Mail menu in the upper left corner of the Gmail window and choose Tasks. A small window will appear in the bottom right corner of the page, and here you can type in your tasks and check the boxes once you've completed each of them.

Prioritize emails

Some emails are too important to be buried in a crowded inbox. This is where you can use Gmail's Star feature to your advantage. Adding stars is a way to single out emails that need to be read later or require a follow-up. You might already know that clicking the yellow star beside the email will highlight the line and makes the message easier to find. But there's a way to take things up a notch. Navigate to Settings and scroll down to the Stars section. Here you can drag the stars from the 'Not in use' row up to the 'In use' row to make them active. Once you're done, hit Save. You could use the blue star for emails that need a follow-up, red for problems, question mark for the ones that require clarification and so on.

Use canned responses

Have you ever had to answer the same questions sent by clients over and over again? Well you're in luck. Gmail has a productive hack that allows you to create and send off repetitive messages in just a few clicks. Activate it by heading over to Settings, Labs and click the Enable button in the Canned Responses tab. Now type up a response email. Click the arrow in the lower right corner of the message box and select Canned responses. You can add common phrases, sentences or email bodies that you find yourself using a lot, whether for marketing inquiries, sales pitches or client requests.

With these Gmail features you can save time, get more things done and become more productive. If you want to learn more about Gmail or any other Google apps, please get in touch with us today.