If you use your Gmail email for both work and personal matters, your inbox is most likely a mess. When we used Outlook, we were used to creating folders and more folders to keep our messages well classified.
In fact, it gave us the feeling that with Gmail it is more difficult to organize. But in reality it is not so. Google email has at our disposal a good number of tools that can help us (and a lot) to keep the mail in order .
Today we want to give you some tips. So that your Gmail inbox stops being your worst nightmare . Let's go there!
Customize your inbox
For some time now, Gmail offers us the ability to classify messages through tabs. This is a super important option, because it leaves (finally) the messages corresponding to subscriptions, offers and other advertising tangles aside. And it does exactly the same with notifications for social networks and other services to which you are subscribed.
The first thing you should do is enable these tabs. If you already have them, you have the option to add more. And to do this, you just have to press the More button, located at the far right of the tray. You will see that you can choose the following: Main, Social, Promotions, Notifications and Forums .
But you can still further customize your inbox. And help you by highlighting the messages that are most important. Within the Inbox option, click on the small arrow to choose the type of inbox you want .
Choose to see the most important or the unread first to organize yourself according to your needs . This way, no other email message will be lost in limbo.
Use colored labels and stars
Have you ever used colored labels and stars? You will find the labels by default and you can create them from within each email. You can also do it from the left side of the inbox. Tap More and choose Create new label. You will have to give it a name and click on Create. Then you can also choose a color.
The labels will appear on the left side of the page. So you can always see all the emails that are classified within that tag .
Another option is colored stars. Inside the inbox, you can click to the left of the message to stand out . If you have the message open you will only have to click on More and Highlight. But what if I want other stars and colored signs? Press as many times as you want to bring up the one you need.
If you have not yet activated the colored stars, you will have to access the Settings section. Just click on the gear wheel (at the top right of the page) and go to the Stars section . Drag the stars you want to use to the "In use" section. Save your changes at the bottom of the page.
Sort messages automatically
If you have already created all the necessary folders and labels, it is important that you create a rule so that when entering your inbox, these messages are classified automatically. Access the Mail Settings and click on the Filters and blocked addresses tab.
Click on Create a new filter. You will have to enter the parameters that you consider. For example, messages from a specific sender (or several), specific subjects, keywords ... Then choose Create filter . You can choose different options. When you're done, click the blue Create filter button.
Enable preview
The preview function is a feature that has been available for a long time, but the truth is that it is still in the Gmail lab. What it offers you is the ability to read a message without having to open it . In this way, if you have hundreds and hundreds of messages to open, this functionality will be great for you to organize yourself better.
To enable the preview, go to Settings and the Labs tab. Find the Preview functionality and choose Enable. When you're done, don't forget to save your changes.
Delete unnecessary files
If you are one of those who receive a lot of emails a day, you better start deleting unnecessary content. Do not lose sight that Google only offers 15 GB and that you may soon fill them. In this case, it is best to empty the trash. You can also empty the spam, because it is most likely that hundreds of messages will accumulate there.
But if what worries you are the heavier messages, we recommend you to search within the bar, indicating "larger" , followed by a colon and the size you want to search for. For example, you can indicate messages up to 50 megabytes "50 m". The only thing you have to do next is delete the messages that you don't need.
Receive notifications on your desktop
If you usually work on the computer and you don't want to keep an eye on the Gmail tray , you have to enable desktop notifications. In this way, you will immediately see the emails you have received and you can open them if you consider them important.
To enable this option, go to the Settings section and go to the Desktop Notifications section . Choose Enable new email notifications, Enable important email notifications, or Disable email notifications. Save the changes.
Do smarter searches
Quickly finding the files you need is vital to moving forward in your day to day. You can't waste time scrolling through the pages of your email . You have different options to narrow down your searches:
- from: and a first and last name (if you want), to find all the messages that someone has sent you
- subject: to find a certain subject
- has: attachment to find messages with attachments. If you want you can combine this option with from: and the person's name, to find someone's attachments
- - (a dash) to exclude specific terms, if you want to omit specific messages that you exchanged with someone or on a certain topic
- OR: when you don't know how to search, for example, from: ana OR from: jesús
- "" (Quotes): if you want to search for very specific words
- () (parentheses) : if you want to join two inseparable concepts
- in: and the name of the folder you want to find
With these tips you will have organized your inbox quite well. So all you have to do is put them into practice and get used to how they work. If you follow these tips, your Gmail inbox will be the envy of your neighborhood.