Getting the Most Out of GMail

By Sep. 10, 2007, 4:00pm PT 29 Comments

Few applications are more of a time sink for web workers than e-mail. If you’re like me, a lot of your time is spent in GMail, which has quite a few unusual hidden features. In this post, I’ll round up some of the GMail tips and tricks that I’ve found to be most useful. Also, don’t miss this blog’s recent post on efficient ways to declutter your GMail archive.

Use GMail Securely. GMail allows you to create a secure https session by using the URL http://gmail.google.com. The key is the “s” after “http.” That supplies you with a session protected by SSL security–the most widely deployed and trusted cryptographic standard in the world (found in every browser). Especially if you use GMail a lot from public hotspots, you should use this URL.

Fast Delete. Did you know that hitting the # key (using the Shift key and the 3 key) will move a message directly to trash? To quickly delete many messages, select several of them and hit the # key.

Fast Search. You can quickly specify what type of search you want to perform and save time. For all e-mails sent to JoeSchmoe, in the Search box type to:JoeSchmoe@gmail.com. Or, type from:JoeSchmoe@gmail.com. If you want all messages about Nevada, type subject:Nevada.

Exclude Messages from Search. You can search for all messages containing “seminar” but not “February” by typing in seminar-February as your search criteria.

Create a Workgroup. If you, like many web workers, frequently e-mail the same people, create a group instead of typing individual e-mail addresses in. To do so, click Contacts, open the Groups tab, and select Create Group. Create a name for your group. Type the contacts to add in the Add Contacts field. Click Create Group.

Save Drafts. Hit Ctrl + S to save any message as a draft. Mac users can also do this by hitting <Cmd>+S.

Lose @Gmail. If you and other members of your workgroup all use GMail, save time when you type their e-mail addresses in by leaving out @GMail. GMail will fill it in.

Use the “g” Key for Keyboard Shortcuts. GMail understands the “g” key on your keyboard to mean “go.” Hit g c to go straight to your Contacts list. Hit g d to go straight to your drafts. Hit g i to go back to your Inbox.

Delete a Big Block of Messages At Once. To do this, just select the first message, hit Shift, and select the last message in the block. Then hit delete.

Auto-Forward Messages to Another E-Mail Address. If you, as I do, use GMail and another e-mail client, you can have GMail automatically forward your messages to the other client. To do so, select Settings and go to the Forwarding and POP tab. Under Forwarding, select Forward a copy of incoming mail to __ and __ Enter the e-mail address, then choose how you want GMail to handle forwarding messages.

Change Your Password. It’s a good security practice to change your GMail password periodically. To do so, hit Settings and choose Account Settings. Choose Edit Personal Info and select Password. Follow the instructions to replace your old password.

Do you have any good GMail tips?

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