Getting Started with Gmail (The Only Basics You Need)
Before you delve into the efficiency features that Gmail offers, it’s important to understand the basics. Here are a few things covered in some Gmail tutorials for beginners, but still come up with seasoned users.
Desktop Vs Mobile Differences
There’s more to using Gmail on your desktop versus your mobile device than just screen size.
Gmail on desktop allows you to use extensions, keyboard shortcuts, and features for composing lengthy messages. This also lets you see the email as the sender intended, for example, with images that may lose quality or clarity on mobile.
Additionally, you have a full-screen view of your mailbox, including multiple inboxes, and can design and use email templates.
Gmail on mobile devices is better suited for quick inbox checking or replying to emails when you’re on the go. Although you can use swipe gestures, these are more restricted than the keyboard shortcuts available on desktop.
Also, the mobile app is more limited in its feature set, for instance, you can’t create or edit Gmail filters like you can on your desktop.
💡 Tip: Tools like Clean Email for managing Gmail can eliminate these aggravating differences between desktop and mobile apps. Clean Email provides the same feature set on all devices with no limitations.
Inbox Vs All Mail
It’s easy to be confused by the Inbox and All Mail terms and locations in Gmail. Let’s look at how these are different.
- The Inbox displays new or unread emails and applies the “Inbox” label to messages by default. If you archive an email, this automatically removes the “Inbox” label.
- All Mail displays all emails, including labeled, sent, and archived messages. It does not, however, include Spam or Trash.
The bottom line — use your Gmail Inbox to check for new messages and All Mail to look for something specific.
Archive Vs Delete and Why It Matters
While archiving versus deleting emails in Gmail isn’t necessarily confusing, many people are unsure when to use which.
You should:
Archive emails that you want to remove from your inbox but may want to view again later. You can search for messages that you archive or find them in All Mail.
Delete emails that you know you won’t need down the road or those missed by Gmail’s spam filters. You can find and restore deleted messages in the Trash for up to 30 days before they’re automatically and permanently removed.
💡 Tip: If you use Clean Email for Gmail, you can archive and/or delete messages in bulk. There’s no scrolling or waiting to load more emails to select. Simply choose multiple or all messages and take action!
Understanding How Gmail Works
Now that we’ve covered the basics, it’s time to dig deeper into how does Gmail work. From labels to Search to Gemini, here’s more you need to know about effectively using this popular email service.
Why Gmail Doesn’t Use Traditional Folders
Rather than a hierarchical system that uses folders to house emails, Gmail uses labels, which are more like tags. This allows for simpler searching, storage space saving, and efficient organization.
With folders:
- An email can only “live” in one folder at a time.
- Moving a message to a folder removes it from the other folder.
- To place a message in more than one folder, you must copy the email.
- You don’t have a central location to view all emails that have been placed in folders; you must open each individual folder.
With labels:
- An email can have multiple labels.
- You don’t have duplicated messages consuming storage.
- You can view emails containing a label by choosing the label in the menu or using the search.
- You can see all emails, even those with labels, in All Mail.
How Labels Actually Work
As mentioned, Gmail labels work like tags rather than folders that contain messages. This lets you apply more than one label to an email. For instance, if you have a message regarding a project at work for a specific client, you can apply “project,” “work,” and “client” labels to that email. You can then search for the message using any of the labels or select one of the labels in the menu to view the corresponding email.
Additionally, you can create sublabels for further organization. For example, you may have a parent label for “work” with sublabels for “projects” and “clients” beneath it. An email about a work project then contains both the “work” and “projects” labels and displays on the message as “work/projects.”
You can create many labels and sublabels, use color-coding for quick viewing in All Mail, and set up filters to automatically apply labels to emails as they arrive.
Why Search is More Powerful Than Browsing
If there’s one feature of Gmail you should definitely take advantage of, it’s Search. While there’s nothing wrong with browsing your mailbox for the email you need, it can take an enormous amount of time. And if you didn’t apply a label or a star, it can take even longer.
Using search filters and operators in Gmail, you can locate emails based on sender, keyword, size, or with an attachment. You can also find archived messages, those before or after a certain date, or emails with a particular label.
Check out the Search Options filter first to see if it has the criteria you need. Then or instead, consider using Gmail search operators for more precise results.
💡 Tip: With Smart Folders in Clean Email, you can quickly and easily view related emails in one spot. Smart Folders are pre-made filters that contain things like social notifications, travel-related messages, seasonal sales alerts, online shopping emails, and other communications automatically collected for you.
Gmail Plus Addressing and How It’s Used
If you want to keep your email address private but use it for things like new account signups, newsletters, or form submissions, you can use what’s called a plus address or subaddress in Gmail.
A plus address uses your primary email address with a plus sign and tag added to it. For example, if your main email address is username@gmail.com, you would use username+tag@gmail.com.
So, you can create username+newsletters@gmail.com or username+gaming@gmail.com, use those addresses where needed, and receive the emails to your main Gmail mailbox.
There are plenty of benefits to using plus addresses. Your primary address is kept private, you can create many variations of the plus address, there’s no separate email accounts or inboxes to manage, and there’s no specific setup. You can also apply automatic filters to emails you receive to the plus address.
What Google Gemini for Gmail Is
Gemini is Google’s AI assistant built into its applications, including Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and Calendar. With Gemini for Gmail, you can summarize lengthy messages, compose emails, and get suggestions for Smart Replies. You can also use Gemini to search for emails and message content as well as details from your documents, calendar events, or on the web.
All of this makes Gemini for Gmail a handy productivity and time-saving tool that’s definitely worth checking out.
Part of Google Workspace, you can use Gemini for business or education accounts with your subscription. Alternatively, you can check out paid Google AI plans for personal use.
A Realistic Daily Gmail Workflow
After reviewing the basics and workings of Gmail, you might be wondering how to use Google mail effectively. This part of our Gmail guide provides suggestions you can incorporate into your daily workflow.
How to Process New Emails Efficiently
One of the best ways to manage emails as they arrive is to use a triage system. This lets you prioritize and sort incoming emails efficiently.
📌 With email triage, you:
- Identify critical messages that require immediate attention.
- Delay less critical messages until later.
- Archive or delete non-critical messages.
- Delegate and forward task-based messages to team members.
Using Gmail’s built-in features, you can use labels and Snooze along with Add to Tasks and automated filters to streamline the email triage process.
What Inbox Zero Really Means in Practice
Using the email triage actions above, you can lead yourself to Inbox Zero — especially if that’s your goal. Inbox Zero to most means having zero unread emails at the end of the day, but to others it means spending zero time deciding what to do with emails and making immediate decisions instead.
Either way, you can improve your Gmail daily process and get one step closer to Inbox Zero using these additional tips:
- Email batching: Schedule specific times of the day to only work on emails.
- 2-minute rule: If you can act on the email in less than two minutes, do it.
- Unsubscribe: Unsubscribe to cut down on the clutter and focus better on important messages.
- Filters: Create automated filters to effortlessly label, mark, archive, or delete incoming emails.
Why Keyboard Shortcuts Improve Professional Use
When it comes to how to use Google email on your desktop, you can greatly boost your productivity with keyboard shortcuts. And if you’re looking for how to use Gmail professionally, be sure to add this to your list.
Gmail keyboard shortcuts not only increase the speed at which you navigate and take action, but can improve your workflow. By keeping your hands on the keyboard, you can maintain focus. Plus, you can perform more precise commands rather than search for buttons or menus.
As a solid bonus, using keyboard shortcuts decreases the repetitive strain you put on your hand and wrist when using a mouse.
Gmail offers more than 70 keyboard shortcuts to speed up inbox and email management. These range from moving about your inbox to acting on messages.
📌 While it can be challenging to memorize them all, try concentrating on those shortcuts you’ll use most, at least to start. For instance, you can use c to compose a new email, l to open the Label As menu, and / to use the Search box.
Using Clean Email to Automate Inbox Cleanup
Clean Email lets you focus on saving time and reducing manual work with its host of smart features. In addition to those mentioned above, you can take advantage of the following tools for automated, long-term mailbox and email management for your Gmail account.
Auto Clean for Ongoing Automation
While Gmail does offer filters for automatically managing emails, these filters have limitations. For instance, filters only apply to new emails you receive, and you cannot create or edit filters in the Gmail mobile app.
Instead, opt for Clean Email’s Auto Clean feature. With it, you can manage new and existing emails as well as create mailbox rules in the mobile app.
Additionally, Auto Clean offers a broader range of criteria for matching messages. For example, you can set up an Auto Clean rule based on sender, recipient, email address, domain, mailing list, or automated system. You can also use read or unread status, age, size, star, label, or keyword.
Auto Clean provides long-term mailbox management without extra work!
Unsubscriber, Including Emails Without Unsubscribe Links
Gmail does provide an Unsubscribe button you can use to remove yourself from mailing lists and subscription messages. Unfortunately, you can only unsubscribe from one message at a time.
With Clean Email’s Unsubscriber tool, you can unsubscribe in bulk for faster and simpler management of those subscriptions.
Additionally, you can temporarily pause subscription emails, which is convenient for a quick inbox cleaning.
Cleaning Suggestions and Grouped Email Cleanup
Speaking of cleaning, Clean Email provides recommendations for quickly tidying up your inbox, Cleaning Suggestions, that are based on your previous actions for similar messages or those most commonly used such as Trash, Mark, or Archive.
This allows you to easily take care of groups of emails at once rather than one by one and eliminates the guesswork of what to do with those messages.
Gmail on Mobile: What’s Missing and How to Compensate
As mentioned earlier, Gmail’s mobile app is ideal for checking emails on-the-go, but does lack in some areas compared to the web version.
The good: You can use the search feature including operators, create and apply labels, and switch between multiple email accounts easily. You can also adjust your inbox view and configure swipe actions.
The bad: You cannot make or manage filters or rely on accurate syncing for connected non-Gmail accounts. Some Reddit users have also reported problems with email contacts, editing and resending messages, and autocomplete for addresses.
Automation Matters
Being able to use automation across your devices is one of the keys to effective email management. There’s nothing worse than having to do things manually just because you’re on your mobile phone.
For a solid and automated experience on mobile, consider a tool like Clean Email that provides its full feature set on any device. As mentioned, you can set up Auto Clean rules, access Smart Folders, and use Unsubscriber. You can also see messages from unknown senders with Screener and view the Privacy Monitor to stay abreast of security incidents involving your email address.
While automation matters, so does your privacy. Clean Email is safe to use — it doesn’t read message content or share user data.
Clean Email is available on the web, macOS, and mobile devices for any IMAP service provider with a simple way to switch between multiple email accounts.
Conclusion
Gmail isn’t difficult to use and does offer a nice set of features for managing messages. But sometimes it’s about how to use those features effectively that makes a difference. Hopefully this Gmail user guide to efficiency helps you turn your tedious daily email routine into a simpler task.
And remember that Clean Email can pick up where Gmail leaves off. With advanced features, smart tools, and wide availability, you can boost your productivity and ease the burden of mailbox management on any device.
FAQs
How do I use Gmail for the first time?
Create a Google account, sign in to Gmail, and start sending and receiving emails. New messages appear in the Inbox, archived emails go to All Mail, and Search helps you find anything quickly.
Does Gmail have an official manual?
No single Gmail manual exists, but Google provides official Gmail help articles and guides in the Google Help Center.
How can I use Gmail like a pro?
Use labels instead of folders, rely on Search, set up filters, enable keyboard shortcuts, and automate routine actions where possible.
Is Gmail safe to use?
Yes. Gmail uses encryption, spam and phishing protection, and supports two-step verification for added security.
