Google Mail and Calendar Tips and Tricks

Mail Tips

Need to move the message you’re composing?

• Hold down the Shift key and click the Compose button. This pops the new message out for you!
• Or, click the black bar at the top of the message to minimize it, or click the Pop-out button in the top right corner of a new message to make it larger. Hold the Shift button and click the icon to pop it out of its current location and move it around.
• If you’re responding to or forwarding a message, click the arrow next to your name. In the menu that appears, click Pop out reply.
• When popping out a reply, notice you can also Edit subject here as well! 

Compose now and send later with Schedule Send!

• If you’d like to write a message and delay sending it, click the drop-down arrow on the far right of the Send button.
• Click Schedule send
• From the dialog box, select your preferred send time, or click the Pick date & time option to enter a custom date and time. If you select one of the offered options, your message will go away, and will be automatically sent at that time. If you choose the Pick date & time option, select your preferred date and time, then click the Schedule Send button.

Send confidential messages

Use Confidential mode to help you protect sensitive information from being shared accidentally or without your consent. In confidential mode, recipients are not given the option to forward, copy, print, or download either the message or its attachments. In confidential mode, the sender can set an expiration date for the message, revoke message access at any time, and ask for a verification code by text to open messages. 

• To turn on Confidential mode click Compose to begin a new message.
• At the bottom of a new message, click the padlock icon to Toggle confidential mode on. 
• Upon clicking the button, note the expiration and passcode options. Set the expiration as you wish. If you would like to require a passcode, select the SMS passcode option. 
• Click the Save button when finished and Send the message when ready. (If you chose to require a passcode, you will now be prompted to enter the recipient’s phone number. Upon opening the message, the recipient will be asked to verify their identity, and will be sent the passcode at the phone number you provided, which they must then enter to read the message.)

Would you like your messages to be managed for you? Create filters!

There are a couple of ways to create filters, but the easiest way is to find and use a message that has the characteristics of a message you’d like filtered, perhaps based on the name of the sender, or subject line, etc. 

• Check the box next to your message, then from the More drop-down menu, click Filter messages like these.
• A drop-down form will appear from the Search bar at the top of your Mail window. The address of the sender is already entered in the From field. Enter any additional information you’d like, which would match the criteria of the types of messages you’d like filtered. Then click the Create filter at the bottom.
• On the next form that appears, you’ll tell Google what you’d like it to do with messages matching the criteria you just entered.
• Check the box(es) next to the actions you’d like performed when these messages are sent to you. 
• When finished, click the Create filter button. Note, you can check the box next to Also apply filter to matching conversations to have all matching messages already in your inbox, filtered the same way. 
• Now, all messages matching the criteria entered will be managed for you!

Clean up your Inbox without deleting messages by Archiving them!

• When we archive messages in Google Mail, we’re simply moving them out of the Inbox, and into the All Mail label. We can still search for them, using the Search box at the top of the window, but they won’t be taking up space in our Inbox.
• Simply check the box next to a message, then click the Archive button.

Need a reminder to revisit an email in your inbox? Use the Snooze feature!

 The Snooze feature allows us to tell Google Mail to remove the message from our inbox for a day, a week, or some other custom time. What a great way to manage a busy inbox!

• To Snooze a message, hover over it, and click the Snooze button, or check the box to the left of the message, then click the Snooze button on the menu bar.  
• A drop down menu will appear, offering several options for when the message should reappear in your inbox. 
• Select your preferred reappear time, and the message will return to your inbox at that time.

Haven’t memorized those menu button icons? Turn on the text! 

• Rather than hovering over the menu buttons to see what they are, we can make it easier by turning on the text. 
• Click the gear icon on the upper right corner of your Mail window, then click See all settings. 
• On the screen that now appears, scroll down to the Button labels section, and select the button next to Text. Click Save Changes at the bottom.
• Now your menu should appear with words, rather than icons. 

Having a hard time finding a specific message in your Mail? Use the Search options! 

• The Search bar at the top of our Mail window is powerful! It’s even more powerful when we use the advanced features!  
• Click the Search options button on the far right of the Search bar to see advanced search features. 
• Enter text into any fields that will help find the message you’re seeking, then click the Search button. 
• If there are any messages that match this search criteria, they will appear in a list for you!

Did you hit SEND too soon? Give yourself time to Undo it!

• Need to recall a message you just sent? Use Undo Send!
• You’ve probably noticed the small black bar that appears across the bottom of your screen when you send messages. This black bar contains the Undo option, which we can use to quickly recall a message. 
• If you need more time before the Undo button disappears, simply click the gear icon in the top right corner, then click See all settings. On the General tab of your Settings page, locate Undo Send. 
• From the Send cancellation period drop-down menu, select your desired amount of time. 
• Scroll down and click the Save Changes button.
• Now, when you send a message, you’ll have that amount of time to change your mind and Undo it!

Receiving junk in your Inbox? Report it as spam or phishing!

• If you receive a message in your inbox that looks spammy or that asks you to click a link or that asks for your username or password or financial institution information, any other sensitive or confidential information, you have the power to report it! 
• Click the ellipsis next to the Reply button. 
• Note the option to Report spam or Report phishing. 
  • If you select Report spam, any similar/matching messages in the future will be filtered into your Spam label.
  • If you select Report phishing, this message will be deleted from your inbox, and the message details (sender, subject, body) will be sent to Google, who may analyze these emails and attachments to help protect our users from spam and abuse.   

Calendar Tips

Goodbye, Doodle! Never send a poll for your WFU guests’ availability again!