Gmail Tips and Tricks You Should Use in 2024

Top 10 Best Gmail Tips and Tricks

1. Undo Send

You should pay attention now because this Gmail email trick could one day save your life. Introduced in 2015 but still unknown to many Gmail users, “Undo Send” makes it possible to cancel a sent email a few seconds after sending it. A few seconds may not sound like a lot, but it’s more than enough to notice that you’ve, for example, sent an email to your boss instead of your wife.

To use the “Undo Send” feature, you need to first enable it from the General tab in Gmail settings. Look for an option called “Enable Undo Send” and tick the checkbox right next to it.

You can change the cancellation period to 5, 10, 20, or 30 seconds. The longer period you choose, the more time you’ll have to cancel your emails. However, the downside of choosing a longer cancellation period is that your emails will take more time to arrive.

2. Labels

Labels are like folders, but smarter. Folders are restrictive because one email can belong to only one folder. Sort of like one document in real life can’t magically appear in multiple document folders at the same time. Labels, on the other hand, are a lot more flexible, and Gmail lets you add multiple labels to a single email.

All you have to do to label an email is select it, click the label icon, and select the label you would like to apply.

There are several default labels to choose from, but you can also create your own labels and give each of them a different color. All labels are shown in the menu list on the left side of your Gmail inbox, and you can further edit them from there. We promise you that you will never want to go back to folders once you learn how this Gmail trick works.

3. Custom Themes

Our list of tips and tricks for Gmail wouldn’t be complete without Gmail themes. That’s right! You can completely change the appearance of your Gmail inbox and dress it to match your personal style, the current season, or your mood.

To choose from existing themes, open Gmail, click the settings icon in the top right, click Themes, select a theme and save the new settings. You can also upload one of your phones and use it as a background to make your Gmail inbox feel more personal. Not all Gmail themes are for looks alone, however. There are also low-contrast themes for people with poor vision.

4. Keyboard Shortcuts

If you use Gmail on a daily basis, it makes a lot of sense to familiarize yourself with at least some of its keyboard shortcuts. You can see a complete list of all keyboard shortcuts for Gmail here, but we consider the following ones to be the most useful:

• Previous message in an open conversation: p
• Next message in an open conversation: n
• Send: ⌘/Ctrl + Enter
• Bold: ⌘/Ctrl + b
• Italics: ⌘/Ctrl + i
• Underline: ⌘/Ctrl + u
• Compose: c
• Compose in a new tab: d
• Search mail: /

We’re well aware that this is one of the least exciting Gmail tips and tricks because it actually requires some effort to be mastered, but there’s a good reason why all experienced software developers swear by keyboard shortcuts regardless of whether they’re working on new software or composing emails.

5. Gmail Labs

Google likes to innovate and come up with new, exciting Gmail tricks and secrets. But because Gmail has nearly 1.5 billion monthly active users, Google can’t afford to release new experimental features as often as the company would like to. That’s why it created Gmail Labs, which is sort of a test lab for Gmail features, allowing Gmail users to manually enable certain features.

You can find Gmail Labs by going to Settings and selecting the Advanced tab. There, you can enable features such as Multiple Inboxes, Auto-advance, Canned Responses, Custom keyboard shortcuts, Preview Pane, Right-side chat, and Unread message icon. In other words, Gmail Labs is basically multiple Gmail tips and tricks rolled into one deliciously juicy Gmail trick.

6. Two-Step Verification

In 2023, not using two-step verification to protect your Gmail account isn't an option anymore. Two-step verification is an authentication method that involves the use of two different authentication mechanisms, typically a password and your mobile device. With two-step verification active, hackers wouldn't be able to gain access to your account even if they obtained your password.

To activate two-step verification in Gmail:

1. Go to: https://myaccount.google.com/
2. Log in to your Google account.
3. Go to the Security tab on the left.
4. Click 2-Step Verification under Signing in to Google.
5. Click Get Started and confirm your password.
6. Configure your phone as your second sign-in device.

From now on, you'll be asked to confirm each login attempt from a new device or location. Trust us: it's well worth it to take a few extra seconds to log in to your Gmail account if it means that no one else can do the same without your knowledge and authorization.

7. Smart Compose

How much time every day do you spend writing the same phrases over and over again when composing email messages in Gmail? Probably a lot, right? Well, the Smart Compose feature allows you to enlist an advanced machine learning algorithm capable of offering smart suggestions as you type.

In other words, you won't have to type each and every word because Gmail automatically guess what it should be, allowing you to simply press the Tab key on your keyboard to fill it in.

To activate the Smart Compose feature in Gmail:

1. Log in to your Gmail account on your Computer.
2. Click the Settings gear icon in the top-right corner and select Settings.
3. Scroll down to Smart Compose under the General tab.
4. Select Writing suggestions on.

At the time of writing this article, the Smart Compose feature is available in English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese.

8. Send Money with Your Gmail Account

Not many Gmail users know that they can send money to any email address for free with a Gmail message. The reason why so many Gmail users are not aware of this useful Gmail trick has probably a lot to do with the fact that this feature is available only in the United States. What’s more, you must use a debit card that was issued under a US-licensed bank otherwise it won't work.

To start sending money with your Gmail account:

1. Add a supported debit card to your Google Pay account.
2. Log in to your Gmail account on your Computer.
3. Click Compose and enter the email address of the recipient.
4. Click the $ icon and enter the amount of money you wish to send.
5. Click Attach money and send your email message.

9. Desktop Notifications

Nobody wants to miss an important email message, and Gmail developers know this. That’s why they introduced support for desktop notifications. If you activate this feature, Gmail will display a pop-up notification on your desktop when a new email message arrives in your inbox, making it impossible for you to miss it.

To enable desktop notifications in Gmail:

1. Log in to your Gmail account on your Computer.
2. Click the Settings gear icon in the top-right corner and select Settings.
3. Scroll down to Desktop notifications under the General tab.
4. Select New mail notifications on or Important mail notifications on, depending on if you want to be notified of all messages or just important ones.

10. Email Signature

Taking advantage of the email signature feature is one of the best Gmail tips and tricks for making your email messages look more professional. An email signature a personalized block of text that appears at the bottom of email messages and typically contains contact information and links to social media or other relevant sites.

In some countries, email signatures are mandated by local laws. For example, businesses in Germany are required to disclose certain information, such as their company name and registration number, in all business-related email messages.

To enable email signatures in Gmail:

1. Log in to your Gmail account on your Computer.
2. Click the Settings gear icon in the top-right corner and select Settings.
3. Scroll down to Signature under the General tab.
4. Click the Create new button and name your signature.
5. Click Create to confirm.
6. You can now edit your email signature.
7. To activate it, change your signature defaults accordingly.

Conclusion

In this article, we’ve introduced nine Gmail tips and tricks that can help you take your email management to the next level. We’ve also explained how it's possible to easily manage email overload with Clean Email, a bulk email organizer that works with Gmail as well as with many other popular email services, including iCloud, Outlook, Yahoo, Fastmail, and AOL.