50 Quick Tips for Gmail

1. Mark multiple emails as important. Select all the emails you wish to mark as important, and then click the  button in the mail menu bar.
2. Add a ‘Mark as Read’ button to your mail menu. Click the “Gear” icon > Labs and enable the “Mark as Read Button” lab.
3. Add sublabels. Click the down-arrow next to a label, and click Add sublabel at the bottom of the pop-up box to nest labels.
4. Color your labels. Click the down-arrow next to a label and select a color.
5. Add a custom color to your label color list. Click the down-arrow next to a label, and then click Add custom color. 
6. Show label in label list only if unread. In other words, hide the label in the label list if everything has been marked read. Click the down-arrow next to your label, and then click Show if unread.
7. Set your instant chat status as a custom message. Be sure the chat window is not minimized. Click the down-arrow next to ‘Set status here’ and click Custom message.
8. Minimize/maximize your chat box. Click the ‘plus/minus’ sign to the right of your chat box.
9. Show mini calendar above the Google Calendar gadget. Be sure the ‘Google Calendar Gadget’ lab is enabled via the “Gear” icon > Labs . Click Options under the calendar, and then click Show mini calendar. 
10. Quickly add a calendar event. Be sure the ‘Google Calendar Gadget’ lab is enabled. Click Add at the bottom of the calendar and type in the date, time, and subject to instantly add it to your calendar.
11.  Add voice and video to your chat. Click the down-arrow next to Chat and click Add voice and video. Follow the directions onscreen. It should take a few moments to install, and it’s free!
12. Add a picture to your chat contacts. Hover your mouse over a contact under Chat. Click More > Contact Details (or Video & More) in the pop-up box. Then click Add a picture. You can add any picture for any contact.
13. Export contacts. Click Contacts under “Mail” at the top left, and then select More > Export.
14. Group your contacts. Under Contacts, select all the contacts you want in one group. Then click Groups > Create new at the bottom. 
15. Give contacts a nickname. Under Contacts, click a contact you wish to edit, and then click Add > Nickname. 
16. Email your task list. Click Task under Mail in the left menu. Then click Actions >Email task list.
17. Quickly undo last action. An ‘Undo’ tab will appear at the top of your screen each time you perform an action.
18. Create labels for your emails. Select all the emails you would like to label with one or more labels. Click Labels > Create New. A list of all your labels will appear at the left. 
19. Filter your labels to label incoming mail. Select one or more emails you’d like to give a common label. Click More > Filter messages like these. Fill in what you can and click Next Step. Select Apply the label, and select which label you would like to apply to incoming mail (or create a new label from this screen).
20. Remove particular labels from specific emails. Click the label from the label list you want to remove, and select all the emails from which you would like to remove it from. Then click Remove label. Only the specific label will be removed from the emails you select.
21. Quickly search your mail. Use Advanced Search Operators to help you instantly find what you’re looking for, every time.
22. Use keyboard shortcuts. You can use the defaults, or enable ‘Custom keyboard shortcuts’ under Mail Settings > Labs.
23. Add Google Calendar within Gmail. Enable the “Google Calendar Gadget’ under Mail Settings > Labs.
24. Use multiple star colors. Under Mail Settings > General > Stars you can select which color of stars and other icons you would like to use to attach to email messages in your inbox.
25. Get a notification when you receive an ‘important’ email. Under Mail Settings > General, scroll down to Desktop Notifications and select the checkbox next to “Important mail notifications on.”
26. Add an email signature. Under Mail Settings > General, scroll down to ”Signature” and type in what you would like to show up at the bottom of your sent messages.
27. Attach more then one file at a time to an email. Go under Mail Settings > General, scroll down to “Attachments” and click Advanced.
28. Read your email when you’re not connected to the internet. Within Google Chrome, choose Mail Settings > Offline and follow the instructions on the screen.
29. Have multiple accounts? Forward all messages to one account. Under Mail Settings > Forwarding and POP/IMAP, click Add a forwarding address.
30. Give another user access to your account. Go to Mail Settings > Accounts and click on “Grant access to your account.” You can also choose whether to leave messages opened by others as read, or mark them as unread.
31. View and manage your filters. Under Mail Settings> Filters you can edit specific filters, create new filters, or delete filters.
32. Forward specific emails to another account by creating a filter. Be sure you already have a forwarding addresses (see #29 above). Select the emails you would like to forward, then select More > Filter messages like these above your mailbox. Fill in what you think is necessary and click Next Step. Click Forward it, and select an address from the drop down menu.
33. Hear a sound when a new chat message arrives. Under Mail Settings > Chat, select Sounds on.
34. Customize the web clips that appear above your email. Under Mail Settings > Web Clips you can add or remove websites that Gmail pulls snippets from to display above (or below) your inbox.
35. Peek into Conversations without opening them. Under Mail Settings > Labs enable “Message sneak peak.”
36. Send emails in the background. So you can get on with the rest of your emails without waiting for Gmail to send your email before clicking to the next screen, enable the “Background send” lab via Mail Settings > Labs.
37. Prioritize your Inbox. Under Mail Settings > Inbox  and click “Inbox Type.” Select Priority Inbox from the drop-down menu. This gives you four sections in your inbox, and options to choose which emails are in which section, and how many are displayed per section.
38. Change your theme. Under Mail Settings > Theme, choose a theme to personalize  your gmail.
39. View conversations as individual messages. Under Mail Settings > General, scroll down to “Conversation View” and select Conversation view off.
40. Drag and drop labels onto email. Click, drag and drop a label from your label list onto a email in your inbox.
41. Drag and drop multiple messages onto a label. Select all the messages you wish to label, then click to the left of the checkbox of your emails to drag your selection over to a label in your label list.
42. Save repeated mail searches with Quick Links. Enable “Quick Links” under Mail Settings > Labs. Type your search in the mail search field, and then click Add Quick Link in the Quick Links box under your label’s list.
43. Add an invitation from your calendar with your email message. When composing an email, click Insert: Invitation just below the subject line.
44. Change your inbox style. Hover your mouse over “Inbox” and click the drop-down arrow that appears to the right. Click the arrow, and then select which style you would like.
45. Show snippets of message. Under Mail Settings > General, scroll down to Snippets, and select Show snippets. This will give you a snippet of the message in your inbox next to the subject.
46. Control how many messages are listed in your inbox on each page. Under Mail Settings > General, configure Maximum page size to choose how many messages show per page.
47. Preview attachments without downloading them. Click on the View or View as HTML link next to the attachment to open a preview in a new window.
48. Is the subject of your email the entire message? E.g., “Meet me for lunch?” Gmail won’t allow you to send the message without body text unless you add (EOM) after your text in the subject line. So, just type “Meet me for lunch? (EOM).”
49. Represent yourself with a photo. People will see a photo of you when hovering over your name in their inbox. Add a photo under Settings > General > “My picture.”
50. Signed in on multiple computers? See if you forgot to log out. Click Details at the very bottom-right of your Gmail page.