Gmail's Hidden Talents: 21 Tips, Tricks And Tools You Need To Know

Facebook recently launched the "next generation" of messaging, which will give each Facebook user the option of obtaining her own @facebook.com email address.

Although Facebook's new-and-improved Messages service has unofficially been called a "Gmail killer," its launch doesn't mean "traditional" email is dead. Far from it.

Gmail users have access to numerous helpful tools that can improve organization and efficiency, and Google is regularly adding more to its roster.

We've picked some of the top tips for optimizing your Gmail experience. Some may come as surprise, others you may already know and love, but all meant to save you time and lend a hand with your inbox (There are lots more Gmail extras for you to discover in Gmail Labs).

Know of other Gmail tricks you'd like to share with us? Let us know in the comments or add your tip to our list using the "Add A Slide" button. To see how you can improve your Google searches, take a look through our slideshow of handy Google search tips.

 

Have other Gmail tips we should feature? Share them with us!

Gmail Tricks

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Undo Send

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Have you ever clicked "send" before you meant to? Or forgotten to include an attachment? The handy Undo feature from Gmail Labs lets you cancel your message if you hit the Send button too soon.

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Have you ever clicked "send" before you meant to? Or forgotten to include an attachment? The handy Undo feature from Gmail Labs lets you cancel your message if you hit the Send button too soon.

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Comments

[inmyelement]

11:22 AM on 11/29/2010

How, pray tell, to get the "drag & drop attachments" feature to work? I really would like that feature, but cannot figure out how to access it.

[gabearnold]

11:21 PM on 11/28/2010

What about gmail and google apps signatures? :) http://gabearnold.com/2010/08/google-apps-and-gmail-signatures-now-support-images-heres-how/

[mountainweb]

10:16 PM on 11/22/2010

Gmail is the top email that I use for friends and business. Use hotmail for those things that require an email address to access(you know spam is coming).

[inmyelement]

11:01 AM on 11/29/2010

me too!

[BlissLover]

07:34 AM on 12/02/2010

moi aussi....

[FreeHat]

06:34 PM on 11/22/2010

Is this hot tub time machine 90's redux?

[Mik McAllister]

05:48 PM on 11/20/2010

I used the old Gmail Notifier on my desktop, back before Chrome was released.

I had to uninstall it. Every time I got a new email, it would lock up other apps.

I've also had problems with Google's updater terminating my network connection at odd times.

That said, I love my Gmail. But I use Thunderbird to download my emails to my computer, so most of these are useless to me.

[filmcarnie]

09:25 PM on 11/19/2010

Am I the only one who can't stand the Slide shows?

[filmcarnie]

09:20 PM on 11/19/2010

Two reasons not to read Huffpost; 1. Intrusive pop-up ads
2. The Dumb-Ass Slide shows that you have to click through
just to get a minimum of info.

[FreeHat]

06:35 PM on 11/22/2010

And the predictable ad at the last slide. I get more surprised each time.

[ThaGovna]

05:20 PM on 11/19/2010

Gmail is the best. Period.

[FreeHat]

06:35 PM on 11/22/2010

yep

[Max Shaw]

04:53 PM on 11/19/2010

I think they need 'Mail Goggles' for Facebook...anyone with me??! come on! You know we've all sent ridiculous messages or 'liked' cute girls pictures at 3 in the mornings..ah good times. lol.

[Mik McAllister]

05:44 PM on 11/20/2010

I already have that.

It's called "not signing up for Fakebook".

An no, I don't use MyStalk, Twitster, or any of the other anti-social networks, either.

[FreeHat]

06:36 PM on 11/22/2010

Do what I did, sign-up, get a lot of friends from HS and so on and then ignore them.

[Leviathan21]

10:56 AM on 11/19/2010

I used to use Outlook to catch all my email message from different accounts, and it was a pain-and-a-half. Then, along came Gmail, and it literally changed my life. So easy to use and so convenient.

[FreeHat]

06:37 PM on 11/22/2010

Really? It changed your life?

[imonlyhereforthelaughs]

10:20 AM on 11/19/2010

Where the heck is Undo Send???

[skunky93]

11:36 AM on 11/19/2010

When you send a message, at the top you'll see highlighted in yellow the words "Sent message to ..... Undo send/view message"
or something like that... :)

[Max Shaw]

04:52 PM on 11/19/2010

Click on the Gmail Labs link on the slide above and scroll ALL the way to bottom. Hit enable. Boom.

[millemtu]

09:02 AM on 11/19/2010

what is this, an ad for google?

[Lisa Spurgeon Bullock]

03:54 AM on 11/19/2010

Even with Facebook getting into the email game, I don't think Gmail will suffer too much. I for one will be keeping my Gmail account. I love it.

[StormDriver]

02:39 AM on 11/19/2010

Gmail is undoubtedly the most useful and productive e-mail service available in the contemporary world. It gives you the best of both POP e-mail handling as well as Web-based e-mail. With various plug-ins and browser add-ons you can further enhance your productivity.

My favourite features are your ability to undo the messages you have just sent and the warning notification to if you have talked about attaching a file to the message but then forget to attach it.

-- Amrit

[Manthan23]

02:30 AM on 11/19/2010

the sender time zone is very useful for me, i am an out-of-state study abroad student. I have to check up on 4 different zone's time around the world, it gets tedious.