Gmail Hacks, Tips & Tricks You already know that Gmail beats all other email providers with its endless customization capabilities, Google product integration and fantastic spam filter. Take it to the next level with these Gmail power user tips and Greasemonkey extensions for Firefox. We haven’t forgotten the Mac users, either. For more great resources, check out the official Gmail blog and the Gmail Power Users group on Google Groups. If you'd like to learn more about other email programs, check out the email category at the web directory. 1. Master the Gmail keyboard shortcuts If you haven’t already, master the shortcut keys. Compose, mark as read, archive and much more with the press of a button. Sure, you know c for compose and ! for report spam, but do you know g + t for the sent mail folder? You can find a complete list at the official Gmail shortcut page. 2. Google Code Macros The Greasemonkey extension for Firefox, familiar to many power users, allows JavaScript functionality on any web page. Piggybacking off of this capability, the generically-named Macros script enables a number of keyboard shortcuts. Google apparently integrated some of Macros shortcuts when revamping Gmail, but there are still functions that the Macros programmers believe Gmail needs. “I firmly believe this is *the* essential Gmail trick to end all Gmail tricks,” writes David Chartier at DownloadSquad. 3. Create bookmarklets for frequent searches This form created by Steve Rubel generates a bookmarklet for searches in Gmail. (By the way, a bookmarklet is a baby bookmark that acts a single click tool for a webpage or browser—thanks, Wikipedia). Take Rubel’s form further by dragging the bookmarklets to your bookmarks bar. 4. Resize your compose box The aptly-named Resizeable Textarea Firefox extension allows you to click and drag the edge of your compose box without resizing your browser window. Note that any browser built with the newest Opensource.org webkit—Safari, for example—will already have this capability. For more browser info, check out the internet software category. 5. View unread messages first Search on the string “label:unread label:inbox” to force all of your unread messages to the top of the list, writes Matt Cutts. (Note: you don’t have to create any labels for this to work.) Try bookmarking Cutts’s search and dragging it to your bookmarks bar to view all unread messages first. 6. Streamline adding attachments Wouldn’t it be great if you could drop attachments directly into the attachment box? Check out the Firefox extension Dragdropupload if you are running Firefox 2.0 (as of this writing, it hadn’t been updated for 2.0.0.12). 7. Quickly switch between Google accounts If you have multiple Google accounts—a Gmail with Google Apps account and a regular Gmail account, for example—streamline them with this script for Firefox with Greasemonkey. The script adds a “change user” drop-down bar in place of the “sign out” link. You can also try Gmail Manager (also a Firefox extension), which adds a Gmail menu bar to the Firefox window. Juggle multiple accounts, sign in and out. 8. Bookmark a single email As of November 2007, all Gmail messages have dedicated URLs (according to the official Gmail blog). Rather than killing a tree by printing the message or laboriously copying down the info, you can CTRL-D (or ?-D) an important email and refer to it at your leisure. 9. Automate frequently repeated text Signature functionality is built into Gmail, but frequently typed phrases can be automated with Firefox extension Signature, which allows you to insert designated text with a keystroke. (As of this writing, Signature is not yet compliant with Firefox 2.0.0.12.) Also try a Windows app called AutoHotKey or Mac app TypeIt4Me. Both apps allow you to create keystrokes to automate text in virtually any application. 10. POP3 & IMAP forwarding “I recommend using IMAP (where the mail is both on the server and on your local machine(s)/device(s)) and uploading all your email onto Gmail,” writes Mark Wheeler, a Gmail power user. “You can keep copies on the Google servers and your desktop/laptop/phone so that they are all efficiently accessible and available anytime anywhere. Don't have to worry about backups, or disk space...I have 25,000 emails and have only used 9% of my space!” To upload old email like my friend did, set up a Gmail IMAP account in your desktop email client. In the client, establish folders that correspond to your Gmail labels, and drag and drop your non-Gmail into the folders. If you're using Outlook with .PST format or Outlook Express, you will have to convert or export the emails to mBox data file format before the messages will translate. The process may take some time, and your client may hang. Also, the original dates and times attached to the messages will appear in Gmail as the dates and times that the messages were imported into Gmail. But it's worth the trouble to utilize your tricked-out Gmail, right? Click here for a tutorial from My Digital Life. 11. Mute a conversation Ever found yourself subscribed to a mailing list and the current conversation has nothing to do with you? If you don’t want to unsubscribe, you can easily stop the friendly spam with the Gmail mute function. Select a message in the thread and hit the m key to auto-archive all incoming messages in the conversation. The thread will stay muted until you unmute it; it will also un-mute itself if your address appears in the To or CC box. 12. Get it all in one place Gmail’s built-in Mail Fetcher allows you to receive and send from up to five different accounts via POP3. Unlike a simple forwarding feature, Mail Fetcher allows synchronizing of your Gmail actions with the home server. Go to your Gmail Settings ? Accounts, then Add another mail account. One caveat of sending from non-Gmail accounts: the recipients may see FROM [email protected] on behalf of [email protected], especially if the recipients are using a client like Outlook. 13. Get it all in one place With the Google Toolbar and Gmail combined, power user Steve Rubel has made his Gmail account into a massive archive of his interests. Steal his trick by adding the Google toolbar to your browser. When you happen across text or images you want to save, highlight them and click the send to Gmail link. Rubel has also tons of other great hints. 14. Secure your email Work that requires maximum security—or run-of-the-mill paranoia—is made easier with this script with Greasemonkey + Firefox. It'll force a secure connection when accessing Gmail. To make sure you're as secure as you can be, check out the internet security category at the web directory. 15. Don't forget that attachment If your sent folder is full of "Oops, here's the attachment" messages, this handy reminder Greasemonkey script will scan your messages--including replies and forwards--for references to attachments. (The release notes say that it searches for "attached," "attachment" or certain unknown variations.) If you mention an attachment and forget to add it, a prompt will pop up. 16. Gmail Notifier for Windows / Google Notifier for Mac Rather than keeping a browser window open and hitting CTRL-R like you've got OCD, install a widget like Gmail Notifier for Windows or Google Notifier for Macs. It'll check your email (and Google Calendar, if you're a Mac user) as compulsively as you do. And as with almost everything else under the sun, there's a Firefox extension that will serve the same function (it's not released by Google). 17. Google Desktop Plug-In for Google Notifier Some users have reported compatibility issues between Google Toolbar, Google Apps and Google Desktop. Everyone's configuration is different, blah blah blah, so it's impossible to know, but Maxim Alexeyev created this Google Desktop Plug-In which purports to replace Google Notifier for Google Desktop and Google Toolbar users. The plug-in also offers multi-username functions and Google Apps support. 18. Check Gmail from the couch with Apple Remote Mac users who actually use their Apple Remotes (show of hands—anyone? anyone?) can check out this Lifehacker tutorial that lets you check your Gmail from your couch with Firefox shortcuts. There’s gotta be someone out there who needs this… 19. Read your Google Reader RSS feeds in Gmail Treat your Google Reader RSS feeds the same way you treat old friends with this Greasemonkey + Firefox script. Feeds invading your Gmail will offer more-efficient time-wasting than ever before. Note that Google Reader and Gmail seem to be moving closer together in functionality and interface and it's likely that they'll soon be officially integrated. 20. Include or exclude Chat from search results Chat conversations are automatically filed like emails with a Chat label, so to exclude Chat when searching, use the string -label:Chat. Conversely, to search only Chat conversations, use the string +label:Chat. The – label: and +label: syntax will work to exclude or include any label in Gmail search results. Another Jim Barr tip. 21. Use Gmail like an external hard drive Use up any vegetating space in your Gmail account with this Windows drive shell extension. Your Gmail space appears in My Computer/Windows Explorer as an external drive, and when you drag and drop a file to the drive, it sends an email to your Gmail account with the file as an attachment.