This blog post was updated on October 2, 2024

It was originally published on March 15, 2019

G Suite has been rebranded as Google Workspace. Check out our new blog to find out what has changed and how it will impact your existing accounts: What Is Google Workspace And How Does It Impact Your G Suite Account?

In our previous editions of the blog, we walked you through setting up Gmail, Calendar, and Contacts on all devices, including iPhone, Android, and iPad. In this edition, we will share some handy Gmail tips and tricks that will get you up and running with Gmail and in no time you will be the office Gmail pro.

For users new to Gmail this can be a definite source of confusion and frustration. But, the logic behind this is sound. As you read top to bottom, you are unlikely to miss any new message in the conversation.

Moreover, the duplicate information is hidden by default, i.e. each email message only displays the content unique to that letter. This way you can read the messages in the conversation in the same order as it happened without reading any duplication. When you return to the email conversation, the messages you had previously read default to hidden, thereby removing the clutter.

However, this is subjective and new messages appearing at the bottom may not work for you at all. In that case, you can install a Chrome extension that changes the Gmail message order from newest to oldest. Here is the link to that extension: Gmail's newest message on top. I have been using this extension for a while now and I love it.

You can see the screenshot of how the email thread appears below.

Alternately, if conversation threads are not your thing, go to the main Settings page, look for the “Conversation View” section, select the option to turn it off, and save changes. If you change your mind, you can always go back and turn it back on.

Here are step-by-step instructions to enable desktop notifications for Gmail:

1. Open Gmail in Chrome and sign in

2. Click the ‘cog’ icon in the upper-right to select ‘Settings‘

3. Under the “General” tab find the section titled ‘Desktop Notifications’

4. Click the ‘..enable desktop notifications…’ text

5. Select one of the three options listed

   • New Mail Notifications – see alerts for all messages that land in your primary inbox

   • Important Mail Notifications – only see alerts for mail marked as ‘important’

   • Mail Notifications Off – don’t show any mail alerts

When you’re done, scroll to the bottom of the page and hit the ‘Save Changes‘ button. Now, whenever Gmail is open in Chrome, you’ll see notifications for new emails per your settings. If using default Chrome notifications (e.g. on Chrome OS) then clicking on a notification will open it up in Gmail, while those you choose to ignore will disappear from the screen after a few seconds.

Recommended Gmail Chrome browser plugins

We love Google Mail Checker. It displays the number of unread messages in your Google Mail inbox. You can also click the button to open your inbox.

Click the A icon to bring up the formatting toolbar. Your formatting options will stay visible while you compose your message. For a full list of formatting options and keyboard shortcuts, check out Gmail Help.

This is just a personal preference but I really love to compose my emails separately in Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or plain old simple text editor, especially for important emails to the boss! Once I'm all happy with what I've written, I just copy & paste from my word processor to Gmail. Keep in mind Gmail's font selection is pretty limited so don't go too crazy!

You're writing an email, you copy and paste some text from another page, and the text's formatting comes along for the ride. It can be super annoying. If you want to remove the mismatched formatting, your best bet is to:

1. Highlight your text in Gmail

2. Use the Strike Formatting button in Gmail. It's the button on the far right of the toolbar that looks like T×,

It does exactly what you'd expect: removes all the formatting from selected text and resets the styling to Gmail's default.

Google’s “Multiple Sign-in” accounts feature is very helpful in many ways. At this point, many people have multiple Gmail accounts. Here is a simple way to set your company Gmail account as the Default account for your browser.

1. Go to Google site (google.com or gmail.com). Use a non-private browser for this to let the cookies set in.

2. Then log out of all the Gmail accounts you have signed in to. To do this, click on your avatar icon on the right-hand top corner of the Google/Gmail page and then click Sign out.

3. Now go to the Gmail login page and log in with the account you want to set as your default account. The account you log in to first will become your default account as long as you stay signed in.

4. When you need to log in to another Gmail account, go to the avatar icon again and click on it. A drop-down menu will be displayed; click on the “Add Account”.

5. Now you can add as many Gmail accounts in your multiple account list as needed.

Open a message and on the top right above the message, click on the upward-facing button and your message will pop out.

IN A NEW WINDOW BUTTON

By clicking on this button, you will open the current conversation in a new pop-up. You can open as many email conversations in a new window as you wish; just make sure to click the button for the other conversations you want to open.

OPEN A SINGLE EMAIL WITHIN A CONVERSATION (Pro tip)

One little trick to isolate a single email message within a multiple email conversation is to

1. Open the conversation,

2. Click on the top right options Arrow button (next to the Reply button),

3. Choose print

4. This will open a single email in a new tab or window

5. Make sure to hit cancel or escape to close the print dialogue box

6. You will see that the tab stays open so you can refer and keep it open as long as you need. Check out the screenshot below for more details.

The preview pane offers a convenient way to view emails. You can keep your inbox in view while reading, as well as reply to emails. If you are an Outlook user, you know what I’m talking about as the viewing pane comes as a default. It’s especially handy when you are sorting your inbox. It spares you from having to open each one individually, which is a time saver when dealing with a ton of emails.

Follow the steps below to set up your Gmail preview pane:

1. In Gmail, click on the gear icon on the top right of the page then click on Settings

2. Click on Advanced.

3. In the Preview Pane section, select the radio button next to Enable

4. At the bottom of the page, click on Save Changes

Now at the top right of your inbox, you will see a new icon that lets you toggle split pane mode. Click on the down arrow next to this icon and you get the options: No split, Vertical Split, Horizontal Split.

That’s it, you are all set with your new preview pane.

Hello, GMail Expert!

Congratulations, you have mastered some of the most frequently used and asked-about features of Gmail. You are well on your way to becoming a Gmail expert. If you have any Gmail tips that have made emailing more efficient, please do share them in the comments section below.

To learn more tips, tricks, and Gmail productivity hacks be sure to check out our blog: Unlock the Power of Gmail: Top Tips and Tricks to Boost Productivity and Organization.

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