GeekSugar

Handy Everyday Gmail Tips and Tricks

GeekSugar — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 08:01:03 PST

If you've moved to Gmail recently (congratulations!), it's possible that you could get overwhelmed with all of the options, settings, and possibilities at your fingertips. We've got a ton of tips to share, but let's start with a few basic and handy tips that you could use every day. Check them out below!

Make voice calls - You can easily make voice calls in Gmail on the cheap. In the "Chat" section, just click the "Call Phone" button and enter the digits. You'll then be able to make free calls to landlines the US and Canada, and for super cheap you can call cell phones and landlines worldwide.
Search with options - If you haven't discovered the "Show Search Options" link to the right of the Gmail search bar, you're in for a treat. Clicking it reveals a host of helpful options, including the ability to search by sender, date, attachment, subject, and more. It's extremely helpful if you are less than diligent about labeling and filing emails in your inbox.
Use rich text signatures - Tired of those boring text-only signatures or canned responses coming from your Gmail account? Take note: Gmail supports rich text signatures! Add links, colors, images, or formatting to your Gmail account signature, or any other account you've set up to send from Gmail. It's super easy to set up - just head to your settings page, scroll down to the Signature section, and design away!
Use keyboard shortcuts - First, enable keyboard shortcuts in your Settings menu. Then, use these fast and easy keyboard shortcuts to navigate!

See the rest of the list after the break.

Google Rolls Out Gmail For iOS

Kristy Korcz — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:20:41 PDT

Google officially announced its Gmail app for the iPhone and iPad this morning. Now, instead of running your Gmail account through the native mail app on your iOS device, you'll have all your folders, labels, and priority inbox at your fingertips. You can upload pics, get threaded conversations, and keep your inbox organized with the ability to archive, label, star messages, and report spam, even search your emails with an improved search function, and see your inbox on a split screen when you're using the iPad.

The design is clean and simple, so get a closer look at some screenshots in the gallery. Tell us - what do you think of the new Gmail app?

Update: Google has pulled the Gmail app from the iTunes App Store, saying that it was pushed with a notification bug. Google is working to fix the problem.

Connect With Gmail Offline

Kelly Schwarze — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 12:13:31 PDT

Productivity hounds, your moment is here. Google released a new Chrome app giving offline access to Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Docs. Continue to view emails, draft responses, and view documents when your flight doesn't have WiFi or the office's Internet connection goes down.

The Offline Google Mail app is available in the Chrome Web Store for free download. The app has the same basic layout and feel as the web app designed for tablets. Once installed, use Gmail without a connection by clicking the offline icon on the "new tab" in the Chrome browser, and go to work!

The offline modes of Google Calendar and Docs lets you views events and documents, Internet connection or not. Offline editing in Docs isn't quite ready, but Google hopes to make it available soon. The Offline Google Mail app is available immediately, while Docs and Calendar offline apps will roll out over the next week.

5 Gmail Tips You Should Know

GeekSugar — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 09:45:27 PDT

Transitioning to Gmail from another system can be a bit of a shock for newbies because it appears bare bones at first glance. Good news: the more you learn about it and tweak it, the better the email experience. I've shared my Top 10 Gmail Tips and Tricks before, but the customization tips keep on rolling in. Here are five more sweet tricks you should add to your memory bank.

Prelabel Your Gmail Addy to Sort Out Spam - You can add the plus sign at the end of your Gmail address to sort email into specified folders. This is not only great for organization, but it can also alert you when someone has sold your email address for unsolicited spam.
Send Email From Different Addresses in Gmail - If you're like me, you probably have multiple accounts that you use for different reasons. Did you know you can write all of your emails within Gmail using different external addresses if you so choose?

See the rest of the tips when you read more.

Handy Gmail Tips You Can Use Everyday

GeekSugar — Wed, 25 May 2011 05:21:31 PDT

I've been using Gmail for years, and against my advice, most of my family hesitated to ditch their stale ISP-issued email accounts for correspondance (ie: Comcast.net). Thank goodness most of them have finally seen the light and migrated over. Are you (or someone you know) a newly coined Gmail convert? Then share this post with them, or bookmark for later reference!

Tired of those boring text-only signatures or canned responses coming from your Gmail account? Take note: Gmail supports rich text signatures! Add links, colors, images, or formatting to your Gmail account signature, or any other account you've set up to send from Gmail. It's super easy to set up - just head to your settings page, scroll down to the Signature section, and design away!
You can drag and drop attachments in Gmail, but did you know you can also select multiple attachments, find attachments in search, and view attachments online?

See more handy tips after the jump.

Charming Google Chrome Ad Shows "the Web Is What You Make It"

Kristy Korcz — Thu, 05 May 2011 09:45:58 PDT

Mother's Day is on Sunday, but I can't help but share this adorable and charming ad for Google Chrome. Passed on to me by Sugar member Calamari, this ad shows that you can use Chrome, Picasa, and Gmail to create a 21st century baby book that your kids can (safely!) read when they're older. Check it out below!

Geek Tip: Search Gmail Messages by Date

Kristen Hawley — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 14:45:51 PDT

Don't you love it when the most obvious solution to a problem is right in front of your face? I recently had to search through my nearly 30,000 Gmail messages to find a message with a specific date, and a general search wasn't returning the result I was looking for.

With a little help from friends on Twitter, I discovered the "Show Search Options" link to the right of the Gmail search bar. Clicking it reveals a host of helpful options, including the ability to search by sender, date, attachment, subject, and more. It's extremely helpful if you (like me) are less than diligent about labeling and filing emails in your inbox - I just used it to find all of the family photos my mom has ever sent.

Did You Lose Your Gmail Contacts, Folders Yesterday?

Kristy Korcz — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 01:57:04 PST

Some Gmail users experienced my worst nightmare yesterday - they logged in to find some (or all) of their emails, contacts, and folders missing from their inbox. While we were getting in on all the Oscar fun last night, Google was working away on finding the root of the issue, a problem which hasn't been solved as of yet.

Tell me - did you wake up to find your emails, contacts, or folders missing from Gmail?

Losing Your iPhone Doesn't Have to Hurt: 3 Survival Tips

Michele Foley — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 03:00:45 PST

This weekend was not pretty for me - I lost my iPhone. Now that the initial panic has subsided, and the pangs of withdrawal are gone, I'm doing OK. I'm getting a new iPhone next week, and unlike my landline- and voicemail-only days, not having a cell phone doesn't mean lugging a roll of quarters and an address book around. Besides email, here's how I'm staying connected:

Gmail's "Call Phone" feature - Being able to make phone calls from my Gmail account is pretty amazing. The desktop VoIP client is free when calling any number in the United States and super easy to use. You just dial the number on a pop-up keypad and talk right into your computer. I've ordered food delivery, called a cab, and confirmed appointments using the Call Phone feature.
Video chat - Whether it's Skype or Gmail, I've been all about using video chat this week to call my friends, which is something I've never really done on the regular. This is especially cool when I'm video chatting with a friend who only lives a few blocks away. In the past, I would have just texted and lost out on the face-to-face time that video chat provides.

See what else I'm using after the break.

Two New Ways to Find Unread Gmail Messages

Kristen Hawley — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 01:00:38 PST

Since I generally keep my Gmail window open for much of the day, checking for new messages is like muscle memory. The downside: sometimes I do it way too often. Two new just-released tools from Google provide fast and easy access to new and unread messages.

If you, like me, tend to leave at ton of browser tabs open, you'll love the latest Gmail Labs release. The new unread message icon is a tiny number that displays directly over the Gmail icon in your browser tab displaying the number of unread messages in your inbox. It's not unlike the number in parentheses that typically displays on the browser tab, but that number can sometimes get hidden if you have many open tabs. To turn it on, go to the Labs tab in settings, enable it, and click save. This lab is only available in Chrome and Firefox.

Check out the second notification feature (that works for Gchat, too!) after the break.