Like many Gmail users, you’ve probably already mastered the email service’s basic features and can now breeze through the email sending and receiving process. But don’t just stop there; since you already know the basics, it’s time to level up your knowledge and learn how to improve your productivity and online safety when using Gmail. Here are some tips and tricks that will help you do that:
Sort your messages like a pro
Gmail comes with the Configure Inbox feature, which allows you to sort incoming messages into five categories. These are Primary (one-on-one messages), Social (notifications from your social media accounts), Promotions (sale announcements and other marketing emails), Updates (bills, confirmations, and other transaction-related emails) and Forums (messages from online groups you’ve joined).
You can also create your own labels and filters to separate your messages into categories of your choice. You can do this by taking these steps:
- Click on Gmail’s gear icon, choose “Settings”, and go to the “Labels” tab.
- Click on “Create a new label”, type in the name you want for your label, and click “Create”.
- Go to the “Filters and Blocked Addresses” tab, click on “Create a new filter” to set the parameters for your filter, then hit “Continue”.
- On the “When a message arrives that matches this search” section, check the box beside “Apply the label” then choose the label you’ve just made.
- If you have existing emails that you want to sort under this label, check the box beside “Also apply filter to matching conversations” before clicking on “Update filter”.
Set up personalized notifications
Let’s say you’ve taken the steps above to sort emails from your boss into a separate label. You can then use the new label you’ve made to get customized notifications on your phone whenever a new email from your boss comes in. To do this, open Gmail in your Android device, go to Settings, and tap on “Manage labels”. Choose your primary inbox, uncheck the box beside “Label notifications”, then go back to the previous screen. Scroll down until you find the new label you’ve just made, open it, then tap on “Sync messages”. Choose either “All” or “Last 30 days”.
Next, check the boxes beside “Label notifications” and “Notify for every message”. You can also opt to have your phone vibrate when a new message comes in, and you can even choose a specific ringtone for your notification.
Stop people from tracking your emails
Many marketers want to know whether people open and read their emails or not. This lets them know if their marketing campaign is effective and gives them an idea of how many people are interested in their products. But, while it’s beneficial for them, it can be disadvantageous for you since it breaches your privacy.
To prevent marketers from tracking your mail, one thing you can do is to change your Gmail settings to prevent images from automatically downloading. A lot of marketers embed images in emails and configure them to report your IP address, device name, and other information when you read the email. To prevent this, go to Gmail’s Settings, click on the “General” tab, then check the box beside “Ask before displaying external images”.
Make the most of Gmail’s features can help you stay safe online and be more productive.