Everyone knows that feeling of waking up to a flooded email inbox. Suddenly, you have to spend hours sorting through spam, newsletters, and important messages to find the one thing you need.
What if we told you that you could organize your Gmail like a pro in 10 mins?
This step-by-step guide will show you how to create folders, use labels and filters so that your inbox is always tidy. You can find what you need in seconds.
Here are some Gmail organization tips to keep your emails organized long-term. This guide will make your life easier whether you're using Gmail for personal or professional purposes.
How To Organize Gmail? Some Gmail Organization Tips
1. Create Labels & Filter Emails
The first thing you need to know is that Gmail uses the concept of labels instead of folders to organize emails. Folders are a standard from traditional email services but have been replaced by labels in Gmail.
Labels, unlike folders, can be applied not just to a single email but to a whole conversation or a group of messages in your inbox.
Labels help you quickly browse through your email and filter messages without the need to sort them into separate folders. You can create as many labels as you like and use them to classify all your emails however you like.
Creating labels is a great way to sort Gmail better
For Example: If you get too many emails from your manager or your assistant, it makes sense to have a label for them.
Manually creating a label
You can manually create a label by going to your Gmail settings -> Labels and then clicking on the "Create new label" button.
Creating a label using a Gmail filter
You can create a label using a Gmail filter by going to your Gmail settings -> Filters and then clicking on the "Create a new filter" button.
Also read: 5 Email Marketing Myths You Should Clean Out of Your Inbox
2. Use Multiple Inboxes
Create a new inbox for your label or labels. You can do this by going to your Gmail settings -> Inbox -> Inboxes and then clicking the "+" sign next to your current inboxes.
Create a filter for messages sent to that specific label or label, using the steps described in method two.
Add multiple inboxes to your Gmail account to easily organize different sets of messages. You can do this by going to your Gmail settings -> Inbox -> Inboxes and then clicking on the "Add" button.
3. Starring Your Messages
The advantage of this approach is that you can easily find starred messages by looking in your starred messages folder. The disadvantage is that you might not remember to star all critical messages, which means they might not be easy to find.
4. Add Tabs to Sort Your Emails and Manage Effectively
Adding tabs will let you sort your emails effectively and navigate through the emails at a faster pace. You can also take bulk actions at once with this option.
5. Use Filters to Automatically Sort Emails into Different Folders
To automatically move emails messages to a folder, you should set up filters followed by the rest of the new emails.
How to create a new filter?
Click on the arrow symbol on the right side of the search bar > A window pops up with a list of search options > Input search options > Click "Create filter with this search" button located in the bottom-right corner and choose what you want to happen when a message that matches this search arrives.
Select an existing label or create a new one and click on the blue Create filter button.
If you want to, check the "Also apply filter to matching conversations" option to label older emails. A confirmation message should appear, telling you that your filter was created.
6. Use Keyboard Shortcuts for Faster Navigation
Shortcuts are easy to use and save a lot of time. To find shortcuts in your Gmail.
Click settings > See all settings > Scroll down to “Keyboard Shortcuts” > Select “Keyboard shortcuts on” > Save Changes.
Some useful keyboard shortcuts:
To add cc recipients : ⌘/Ctrl + Shift + c
To add bcc recipients: ⌘/Ctrl + Shift + b
Access custom from: ⌘/Ctrl + Shift + f
Insert a link: ⌘/Ctrl + k
7. Send Yourself Reminders With Gmail's "Snooze" Feature
Did you know that you can use your Gmail as a reminder clock? With the snooze email option, you can set a time and a date for the email to pop back up in your inbox, which serves as a reminder.
To enable to snooze option in your Gmail,
Go to your Gmail account > Hover the cursor on the email you would like to Snooze > Click the clock icon on the right-hand side > Choose the duration of the snooze (from either the preset lengths or customize your own!)
8. Use the Calendar Feature to Organize Events Better
Keep track of important dates using google calendar and add the event automatically from Gmail.
Open Calendar and go to Settings > Scroll to Events from Gmail > Choose option Calendar default (Anyone who has access to view event details on your calendar can see the name and time for your event from Gmail).
To turn this feature off, uncheck the Automatically add events from Gmail to my calendar box.
9. Download the Gmail App on Your Phone
Downloading the Gmail app on your phone or tablet lets you access your mails anytime anywhere without being dependent on a desk system. You can read, send, and reply to email messages without having to be at your computer all the time.
Although the app version has limited features, you can always set your favorite settings when you have access to your desktop version of Gmail and carry on from there.
Also read: How to Embed Video in Gmail?
10. Get Rid of Spam
Gmail has an in-built algorithm to detect spam and put them in a spam folder.
Occasionally it might read an unwanted email as essential and push it to the inbox. In such scenarios, you can permanently mark it as spam to avoid future accidents by using Google's built-in tools.
Alternatively, many third-party apps like mailwasher detect spam and keep your inbox away from spammers.
11. Extend Gmail's Functionality With Add-ons
Gmail add-on helps in managing your tasks and day-to-say meetings and activities more accessible.
Add-ons/extensions let you use external applications through your Gmail, as a pop-up on the same screen, without going to another tab or window.
Here are some popular add-ons you can try
- Zoom for Gmail allows you to connect on a zoom call from your Gmail screen. It also lets you keep track of your upcoming meetings, webinars, etc., from your inbox.
- Slack for Gmail enables you to send an email to Slack, attach files, and lets you send them to the channel that you want or as a private message. This way, it allows you to connect and respond quickly with the team.
- Asana for Gmail or Trello for Gmail lets you organize your work without leaving your Gmail inbox. You can create cards, tasks and search for projects, teams from within your inbox using these add-on tools or extensions.
- Videoform for Gmail lets you send personalized video emails from within your inbox. Personalized video emails are a much-needed tool in the arsenal of a sales professional these days to connect with prospects and clients effectively. This extension from VideoForm is convenient and also increases email open rates.
12. Merge Multiple Accounts into One Gmail Account
It is possible that a person can have multiple Gmail accounts. One for work, one for personal use, another for shopping, etc. However, logging into each account separately and opening multiple tabs is a bit of a pain.
Gmail lets you automatically forward the emails to your main account and import data from one account to another.
But if you want to maintain multiple inboxes in one Gmail account, you have to use third-party app support like Dragapp.
13. Change Gmail's Default Settings to Show Important Emails
Change your Gmail settings by going to the settings icon and checking to show "important emails First" you can also change to" unread emails first" to not miss out on any emails delivered to your inbox.
14. Turn Off Notifications For Specific People Or Topics
You can turn Gmail notifications on for important messages from people you don't want to miss out on or topics you want to follow. It could be google alerts or simply a newsletter from Owler.
Here is the process for turning on important notifications in the Gmail Desktop version.
Click the gear icon - settings in your Gmail > go to "All settings"> go to the 'Desktop Notifications' section and select 'Important mail notifications on'> Save changes.
Go back to 'Settings'> Click on 'Filters and Blocked Addresses' tab > Click 'Create a new filter' link (scroll to the bottom of the page) > In the 'From' field, type in the name and email address of the person you want to receive custom notifications for (or enter other descriptive information about the emails you want to be notified about) > select 'Continue'> Select 'Always mark as important and then, 'Create filter.'
Also read: Learn about Asynchronous Video: What is It and Why Should You Care?
15. Unsubscribe From Unwanted Mails
With so many emails in your inbox, It's hard to find what you're looking for. You might have created folders to help you organize your mail, but there are still countless emails in your inbox that don't fit into any specific category.
Don't forget to unsubscribe from unwanted newsletters, social media, and other unwanted emails. Also, make sure you add an unsubscribe option to your email signature.
Conclusion
Use the above steps to adequately manage your Gmail and save a lot of time to balance your work life.
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