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Tips Google Google Mail: Google's approach to email

Tips  Google Google Mail: Google's approach to email
Friday 4 September 2009
  1. Use stars to indicate a note is special.

    Use stars to easily mark certain messages as important or indicate that you need to reply to them later. Try Superstars in Google Mail Labs for more star options.

    Use stars to indicate a note is special.

  2. Reply by chat.

    Before you respond to an email, check the footer of the message to see if the other person is online. If they're available, you can save time by clicking "Reply by chat" and get them in real-time rather than over email.

    Reply by chat.

  3. Organise your email with labels.

    Labels do the work of folders, plus you can add more than one to a single message. Give important emails brightly colored labels, and you'll be able to scan your inbox and quickly find the good stuff.

    Organise your email with labels.

  4. Clean up your inbox using "Move to" -- it works just like folders.

    You can use the "Move to" button at the top of your inbox to easily move a message out of your inbox and add a label at the same time -- just as if you were moving it to a folder. If you have lots of labels, you can pick the one you want by typing the first couple characters and let auto-complete find the right one.

    Clean up your inbox using

  5. Search your mail instead of sorting.

    Instead of sorting by date or sender, you can enter keywords in the Google Mail search box to find the exact message you're looking for. It works just like Google search: if you're looking for a message that contains the word "shopping," simply type shopping in the search box and press Search Mail.

    Search your mail instead of sorting.

  6. Archive messages to tidy up your inbox without deleting anything.

    Google Mail gives you tons of free storage space so you can save everything you want. While messages in your bin get deleted after 30 days, archived messages are kept forever. Archiving messages moves them out of your inbox and into "All Mail" for safekeeping, so you can search for them later. It's like moving old email to a giant storage room that you never have to organise.

    Archive messages to tidy up your inbox without deleting anything.

  7. Import your email and contacts from your old address.

    If you're new to Google Mail, you can import your mail and contacts from other email providers, including Yahoo!, Hotmail, AOL, and many more from the "Accounts and Import" tab under Google Mail Settings. You can even choose to have your messages forwarded from your other account for 30 days, giving you time to take Google Mail for a test drive.

    Import your email and contacts from your old address.

  8. Spice up your inbox with a theme.

    Choose from over 30 options to personalise your inbox. Go to the Themes tab under Settings and pick from nature themes, themes that change with the weather, and many more.

    Spice up your inbox with a theme.

  9. Join forces to rid the world of spam.

    Google Mail users play an important role in blocking spam -- when you report an email as spam, our system quickly learns to start blocking similar messages. The more spam the community marks, the smarter our system becomes. If you see a spam message, click "Report Spam" to do your part.