Gmail power users know something the average user doesn’t. In this article you will discover a complete list of gmail tips:
- integrate gmail with slack and trello
- organize your inbox with stars
- use tags to properly organize your inbox
- share email threads instead of forwarding
- chat alongside emails for easy collaboration
- create rules to automatically filter emails
- automate your flows for immediate productivity
- set email reminders with gmail nudge
- schedule emails instead of sending them right away
- delegate your email account to someone else
- use gmail keyboard shortcuts to save time
- search through your emails faster
- use gmelius email snippets
- schedule meetings directly in gmail
tip 1: integrate gmail with slack and trello
The average person has to use too many tools to get the job done. this creates additional work, duplication of information across platforms, and more places to look when searching for information.
And if you’re working with other teams, they may have their preferred tool, so you need to switch context between even more tools and their various platforms.
sound familiar? so our first gmail hack is to integrate gmail with your everyday tools so you can centralize information and get back some time and sanity.
gmelius integrates in a two-way synchronization with the tools most used by professional teams. some of your teams may prefer to work from slack, while others like to manage their tasks with trello. and they shouldn’t have to choose, while worrying about how all the data between their teammates will be synced. thanks to gmelius you no longer have to worry about that.
Imagine the time savings, efficiency, and productivity gains when you can manage your inbox activity without leaving your favorite tools. With gmelius, a teammate can reply to an email in slack, update a due date in trello, or assign an email to another teammate in gmail with all information synced in real time.
now let’s see how you can become a gmail power user.
tip 2: organize your inbox with stars
Using Gmail’s star system, you’ll be able to tag messages in your inbox with shapes and color-coded stars. You’ll notice that by default your inbox only provides a yellow star, but you also have the option to label messages with stars and icons of other colors.
It’s completely up to you what icons and colors you use, and how you use them. As an example, you might want your urgent messages to be tagged with a red exclamation point, messages you need to read are tagged with a yellow star, and messages that need to be investigated before replying are tagged with a purple question mark.
how to activate other stars and icons
follow these simple steps:
- in the upper right corner of the screen, click the settings (gear) button;
- in the menu, select settings;
- in the tab general in the stars section, drag the stars you’d like to use from the not in use list to the in use list.
Note: You must know the name of the star to search for starred messages in the search box. find this by going to the settings page, general tab and hovering over that particular star in the stars section. for example, the red exclamation point is known as red-bang, and the yellow star is known as yellow-star.
how to use stars
When you choose to use a star to tag a message, simply click the star icon until you find the one you want, and gmail will rotate through the stars you’ve placed in your usage list. but it gets even simpler.
Optionally, you can perform this same task using the keyboard shortcut s. If you’re sending a message and want to apply a star, go to the new message window and click the three dots icon in the bottom right corner, choose the label, and then select add star.
tip 3: use tags to properly organize your inbox
Labels are one of the easiest and most effective ways to organize your inbox. tags are great for categorizing by topic, client, project, action required, etc.
for further categorization, you can use sub tags. for example, each of your customers could have their own sublabel. Note: If you’re coming from another email system and moving to Gmail, you’re probably wondering why there are no folders. the answer is that gmail doesn’t use folders. use labels. a gmail conversation can have many labels and be in many locations: inbox, sent mail, all mail, etc., giving the user more flexibility than having messages in a single folder.
if all your gmail messages are in your inbox and you’ve never used labels before (and many, many people are guilty of this), now is the time to start. And the best part is how gmelius turns your tags into a shareable collaboration tool that powers your workflows.
gmail’s three step tagging process
If you’re just getting started with gmail tags, here’s a three-step process to help you get started:
- create your labels and sub-labels
- apply these labels to messages currently in your inbox
- every time you check your inbox you should apply labels to each new message.
Alternatively, you can configure a filter to do this step for you.
how to create a new tag
- select a post and click the tags button in the side navigation
- and select create new tag
- choose a name, decide if you want the tag is nested under a parent tag and click create.
Alternatively, when a particular email is open, you can create a new tag by simply starting to type the tag name and clicking create new.
how to apply tags to existing messages
To apply labels to the messages in your inbox, the easiest methods are as follows:
- from the navigation sidebar, drag the label to the message: gmail will apply the label and the message will stay in your inbox
- from the inbox, drag the message to the label in the navigation sidebar. gmail will apply the label and the message will be moved out of the inbox
- at the top of the inbox, use the move to button or the labels button to label or move messages; however, it is usually faster to use the drag and drop method.
how to manage tags
If you want to see all posts that have been tagged with a certain tag, click that tag in the side navigation bar. tags can be managed in the tags tab of the settings page. from here you can specify which tags to hide and which tags to show in both the message list and the tag list. you can also delete a tag (which does not delete the messages it contains) and edit the name of a tag.
Check out this ultimate guide on gmail tags to create a neat, tidy and well-organized inbox, in a few easy steps.
tip 4: share email conversations instead of forwarding
gmelius offers you a way to capture and share all the conversations in an email thread. any email conversation can be shared with other teammates for visibility. Unlike forwarding an email, email sharing allows team members to see future messages in the email thread, simplifying collaboration and empowering teams with the most up-to-date information.
tip 5: chat alongside emails to make collaboration easier
There is another benefit of sharing emails instead of forwarding: it allows you to chat privately along with an email and @mention your teammates. Need to quickly line up, request additional information, or provide context to a teammate without having to resend another email? then try sending notes via email. they are so easy to use that they have become one of our users’ favorite features.
click here to learn more and install gmelius for free.
Tip 6: Create rules to automatically filter emails
Filters are another powerful feature of gmail: they allow you to automatically take a specific action when a message arrives in your inbox that matches the filter criteria. for example, filters can be created based on subject line, sender, message content, attachments, or size.
The most popular filters are based on the sender. you can tell gmail what action you want it to take after determining what triggers the filter. one or more of the following actions can be selected:
- mark as read
- archive and skip inbox
- mark with a star
- forward
- apply with a specific tag
- delete
- never mark as important
- always mark as important
- never send to spam
- categorize: (referring to category tabs, like social, main, etc.).
A word of caution: Gmail filters save a lot of time, but creating filters that are too general could result in losing vital messages. Suppose you created a filter based on a word in the subject line, an important message you wanted to read could be inadvertently deleted from your inbox. In general, using the sender’s precise email address as a filter will return the most accurate results.
how to create a filter
to create a filter:
- in the search box, click the down arrow;
- then enter your filter criteria: these can be messages from a specific sender;
- then click the “create filter” link;
Specify what you want gmail to do when it finds a match, such as apply a star or tag.
- finally, click the blue “create filter” button.
Another gmail tip: If you need to include multiple senders in the same filter, each sender’s email address should be separated by the word “or”, such as john@gmail.com or sandra@gmail.com.
filter management
filters can be managed on the settings page using the filters tab.
On this page you can create a new filter, you can also delete, edit, import and export existing filters.
Tip 7: Automate your daily tasks for immediate productivity gains
Imagine turning gmail into your virtual assistant. it is possible with gmelius. these are just some of the actions you can automate.
- set up autoresponders
- automatically assign emails to certain members of your team.
- use automated rules to follow your “if this, then that” instructions.
No longer do you have to worry about an inbox flooded with emails waiting for a response or that your customers do not receive the immediate attention they deserve.
Tip 8: Set email reminders with the gmail touch
Being a gmail power user is also about not letting emails go unnoticed. so you don’t forget to track an email, gmail has a feature called “nudge”. it is basically a reminder function. what it does is return old emails to the top of your inbox, with a suggestion to reply.
To turn on gmail push, go to settings then general tab then scroll down to “push”.
Tip 9: Schedule emails instead of sending them right away
Being a gmail power user is also about knowing your recipient. when is your recipient most likely to open your email? What time is appropriate to send an email?
A simple gmail trick is that instead of pressing “send”, click the little arrow on the right and select “schedule send” to send your email at the right time.
tip 10: delegate your email account to someone else
With gmail, management of your inbox can be delegated to someone else, such as a colleague or assistant. this person can read, reply, send, delete, and organize your messages.
set up email delegation when you are not available
Follow these steps to set up delegation:
- in the top right corner of the screen, click the settings button
- click the accounts and import tab
- click the link add another account in the grant access to your account section
- add the email address of the person you want to grant access to, then click the next step button;
- finally click send email to grant access button.
the person you have chosen to delegate your emails will receive a gmail notification confirming your request.
understand the limitations of delegation
delegating your gmail account to a colleague or assistant can be a very useful tool for busy people, but there are limitations. remember that the person you are going to delegate access to must have their own gmail account and the number of accounts you can delegate is limited to one.
You should also remember that you cannot use the gmail delegation feature to create a group email account; and if google realizes that many people are accessing the same gmail account, it has the right to close the account. note: By default, when a delegate opens a message, the message is marked as read. if you want to change this, go to the accounts and import tab and select the ‘leave the conversation unread when others open it’ option.
how to cancel delegation access
let’s say you’ve decided you don’t want anyone to have access to your gmail account anymore. To cancel delegation, follow these simple steps:
- in the upper right corner of the screen, click the settings button;
- from the menu, select settings;
- then click the accounts and import tab ;
- click the delete link next to the name of the person whose access you want to cancel in the grant access to your account section.
and voila!
another workaround to avoid email delegation errors
gmelius allows you to share an email, a gmail label or an entire inbox with your team. you can assign emails to your attendee, set priority levels or due date, so ownership and priorities are clear. As a bonus, you no longer have to worry about losing an email that is already marked as read. discover how to delegate your emails securely using gmelius.
tip 11: use gmail keyboard shortcuts to save time
did you know that gmail provides many keyboard shortcuts, allowing you to complete tasks faster?
If you don’t already use them, you should take the time to get familiar with the shortcuts and start using them for your common gmail tasks.
turn on gmail keyboard shortcuts
by default, gmail offers a number of shortcuts; however, there are others that are not available unless you activate them. follow these simple steps to enable shortcuts:
- in the top right corner of the screen, click the settings button
- from the menu, select settings
- select the keyboard shortcuts option under the general tab
- at the bottom of the page, click the save changes button.
how to see a list of keyboard shortcuts
this is a secret trick of gmail. press ? to see a complete list of keyboard shortcuts: remember that when you press the ? you need to hold down the shift key. see below for a full list of keyboard shortcuts.
That’s impressive, isn’t it?
Tip 12: Search your emails faster
another big time waster is searching gmail trying to find a certain email message. yes, performing a basic search is easy. However, when you have thousands of gmail messages, whether they’re archived or in your inbox, it can often be difficult to find exactly what you’re looking for.
The solution is to learn how to perform advanced searches in gmail.
To do so, click the arrow to the right of the search button.
Now, in the provided search window, you can search by sender, location, subject, recipient, attachments, words in the message or words not in the message, and date.
You also have the option to use multiple search operators in the search box:
- has:yellow-star: messages with a yellow star
- 2020 work plan: messages that contain this exact phrase< /li
- vacation-gin: Messages about a vacation, but no gin
- label:work from:helen: Messages from someone named helen tagged ‘work’
- after:2020/01/01: messages dated after January 1, 2020
You can see a full list of search operators here.
tip 13: use gmelius email snippets
Many of your emails require you to enter the same information. gmelius allows you to use a quick reaction “”, which you can inject with a single click, all from:
- email closings
- information summary
- list of required documents
- client and employee onboarding processes
- or any other repetitive parts of your emails.
Snippets are saved to your template library and are easily accessible from your compose window. When combined with shareable email templates, you and your team will save tons of time on your way to gmail domain.
tip 14: schedule meetings directly in gmail
To avoid unnecessary emails back and forth to agree on a meeting time, you can insert beautiful calendar invitations within your emails and let others choose your meeting spaces.
gmelius meeting scheduler lets you build a library of meeting types that you can access directly from your gmail compose window or via the gmelius mobile app so you can schedule meetings faster, even on the go .
in conclusion
Now it’s your turn to apply these gmail tips to your daily email routine and improve the way you and your team communicate and collaborate. and in no time you will become a gmail master.