OK, so Google Wave may be blowing the world away (my invite’s still in the post, apparently…) but whilst we wait, here are my top tips for using GMail like a pro:
1. Use GMail as an App
I’ve been using GMail for a number of years now. I prefer the web interface to any mail application I’ve ever used. But often found myself losing GMail in a bunch of Firefox tabs. Recently I started using Fluid.app so I always have GMail in my dock and can cmd+tab to it rather than lose it amongst four billion Firefox tabs.
There’s also Mozilla’s Prism, which has cross-platform support.
2. Use Keyboard Shortcuts
Pushing the ? symbol on your keyboard in GMail will show a list of keyboard shortcuts. These can be extremely useful in navigating through your messages and contacts. My most frequently used are:
| g then i | go to inbox |
| / | search |
| c | compose |
| j and k | move forwards and backwards through messages |
| x | check (tick) message |
| s | star (keep pushing to get different styles) |
| l | label |
3. Use Labels and Filters
Labels are GMail’s equivalent of folders. I often like to label all my gig tickets, purchases, etc. so I have them to hand as I need them.
You can have GMail automatically assign labels to certain incoming or outgoing mail by using a filter. So if you wanted all email from Amazon to go into a “purchases” folder, for example you could set this up.
Go to Settings->Filters and choose “Create a New Filter”.
4. Let GMail handle all of your Accounts
GMail has an excellent and often-overlooked setting panel called “Accounts”. You may have an old Hotmail account, or an email for your own domain (hello@robmac.net, for example).
GMail will let you send mail from other addresses, import mail from other webmail accounts and check mail regularly on a POP3 server. All for free. Now when I hit “compose” I’m able to choose which account I want to send from – and very cleverly, GMail will automatically reply from the address to which the mail was sent.
5. Sync your devices
I use the iPhone to sync my mail, and my calendar. Google Sync is excellent at keeping these updated. Google Sync is able to push mail and calendar data to my phone instantly. Very handy. Find out more about syncing all sorts of devices.