When you add someone as a contact to your gmail account, you can quickly find that person’s contact details to send them an email. you can save someone as a contact whether or not you have received emails from them.
In case you don’t already know, Google uses a universal contact system. This means that the contacts you add to Gmail will be available on all your devices that are synced with your Google account. this can include your desktop computers and even mobile devices like iphone, ipad and android.
also, know that gmail automatically adds people to your contact list when you email them. You don’t need to add these people back to your contact list, they’re already there.
add a contact from a received email
If you’ve ever received an email from the person you want to save as a contact, you can add that person to your contact list without manually entering their details. this is because gmail already has your name and email address.
To add a contact to Gmail in this scenario, first launch the Gmail site in your web browser on your Windows, Mac, Chromebook, or Linux computer. Sign in to your gmail account if you haven’t already.
When you load gmail, find and open the email of the person you want to add to your contacts. In the email window, hover over the name of the email sender to allow gmail to open a menu.
in the menu that opens, select “more information”.
gmail will open a new contact panel to the right of the email interface. In the upper right corner of this panel, click “add to contacts” (the icon of a person with a plus sign) to add the contact to your gmail.
gmail will add the selected contact to your account and display an “added” message at the bottom of the panel.
If you want to quickly edit the newly added contact, click “edit contact” (a pencil icon) in the upper right corner of the contact panel. this will open the google contacts site in a new tab of your web browser where you can edit your contact.
and this is how you quickly add someone as a contact to your gmail account!
manually add a contact to gmail
another way to add a contact to gmail is to manually enter the contact details in your gmail account. you should use this method if you have never received an email from the person.
To continue with this method, launch the gmail site in a web browser on your windows, mac, or linux computer. On the gmail site, from the top right corner, select “google apps” (a rectangle made of nine dots).
From the “google apps” menu, click “contacts” to open the google contacts site in a new browser tab and view your current list of gmail contacts.
in the google contacts site that opens, in the menu on the left, select create contact > create a contact.
google contacts will open a “create new contact” window. Here, fill in the details of the contact you want to add. for example, click the “name” field and enter the person’s name, select “email” and enter the person’s email address, and so on.
when you have entered all the details you want to save, click “save” in the lower right corner of the “create new contact” window.
A message saying “new contact created” will appear at the bottom of the google contacts site. This confirms that your contact was successfully added to your gmail account.
add contacts to gmail from iphone, ipad or android
Since Gmail uses a universal contact system, you can add your Gmail (Google) account to your iPhone, iPad, or Android phone and use your phone’s default Contacts app to add contacts to Gmail.
As mentioned above, you just need to add a contact on one device and it will automatically sync across all other devices using the same gmail account.
For steps to do so, check out our full guide on how to add contacts to gmail from an iphone, ipad or android phone.
delete a gmail contact
If you no longer want to keep a contact in your account, you can do so from any device linked to your google account, including your desktop and mobile device.
Here, we will show you how to delete a contact using the gmail web interface. Get started by launching the Google Contacts site in a web browser on your Windows, Mac, Chromebook, or Linux computer.
on the google contacts site, select “contacts” in the left sidebar.
On the “contacts” screen, click the “search” box at the top and type the name of the contact you want to delete. alternatively, select a contact from the list on your screen.
A window will open with the details of the selected contact. in the upper right corner of this window, click the three dots and select “delete” from the menu.
the message “delete this contact” will appear. click “delete”.
google will delete the selected contact and a message saying “contact deleted” will appear at the bottom of the site.
and done.
while you’re at it, why don’t you learn how to add a contact to whatsapp if you use this instant messaging app?
related: how to add a contact on whatsapp