Tech Tips For The Everyday Gmail User

June 27, 2011

Technology

Bob Cody

You love your Google email account, in part because it’s extremely functional in so many ways. But are you aware of these nifty features that tech-savvy users take advantage of?Compose a message in a new windowWant to compose a message using a different window?

When selecting Compose, Reply, Forward, etc press the “SHIFT” key. A new window will be displayed for you to Compose your email message in

Supercharge your email search results with Tags
Get better search results but using the tags like “To:”, “From:” and “Subject:” in your search parameters.

In the Search field in Gmail, enter “To:”, “From:” or “Subject:” tags followed by an email address or part of an email subject. The search results returned back will fine-tuned and more relevant than before.
For example you can search for only those emails FROM a specific co-worker by entering the following as your search parameters: from:my-coworker@gmail.com

See whether the messages you receive were sent to a mailing list or sent only to you

Gmail displays arrows, or ‘personal level indicators,’ next to messages in your inbox so you can tell if a message was addressed to you, a group, or a mailing list. A single arrow (>) appears next to a message when it is sent to you, and a group of others. Double arrows (>>) indicate that a message is addressed only to you. Arrows won’t appear next to messages sent to a mailing list.

When signed in to Gmail click “Settings” at the top of any Gmail page.
Select Show indicators in the Personal level indicators: section, and click Save Changes. (If you’d like to disable personal level indicators, just select No indicators and click Save Changes.)

Paste images copied to your clipboard straight into Gmail
Copy images from your clip board directly into your email messages if you are using the latest version of the Google Chrome Browser, great for quickly sharing screen shots.

Copy any image, screen capture (Alt+Print Screen) or Microsoft OneNote’s Windows + S feature (and have it set to only copy to clipboard)
Compose your email message as you normally do using Gmail in your Google Chrome browser (I used version 12.0.742.100 )
Press Ctrl + V in a new email in Gmail and Chrome will paste the image into the email.