There is a whole lot more to Gmail than just sending and receiving email, and many features go underutilized, a tip that the 250 million people using the service should take note of. Please, allow us to share with you some of the magic that is Gmail:
1. Gmail Labs
Gmail is constantly testing new features that they want to eventually implement on their website. Labs lets you try out interesting experiments that the mad scientists at Google are brewing up. This is perfect for users because you can try out features like Google Calendar and Docs gadgets, a Google Map preview for any address in an email, or a safety precaution that makes you solve math problems before sending anything. Or the holy grail for all email users: the coveted “Undo Send” button, which gives you the option to stop messages from being sent within few seconds after hitting the send button. Labs are Google’s way of having fun while at the same time getting feedback from their clients for free. Win win. And you can play Snake in your email, which is probably how you’ll be spending most of your time. You can find the Labs tab under settings. Get crazy! You can disable features whenever you want.
http://www.grovo.com/gmail/utilize-google-labs
2. Send Mail From Multiple Addresses
Sending mail as just one person can be boring. Access your multiple personalities, confuse your friends, and speak from the address that truly expresses your feelings using Gmail’s “Send Mail As” feature. Go to Settings, Accounts, then add another email address you own next to “Send mail as” on the left. Just enter your other email’s information, click the confirmation link in an email sent to that address and Boom! Pow! You can send email from Dr. Jekyll as well as Mr. Hyde. From this point forward, when you are composing an email, there will be a dropdown menu in the “From” area that lets you send from whatever email address fits snuggest.
Lesson coming soon!
3. Use Keyboard Shortcuts
There are over 50 different key combinations that translate to on-screen action, and the real Gmail pros know every one of them. When your cursor is free of any text box, type “?” to bring up the shortcuts. Anything you would ever want to do is two keys away. It may be difficult at first, and you may need to bring this shortcut reference out a bunch of times, but eventually they will become second-nature, and you’ll wonder how you ever got along without them. Most people send emails all day; you might as well do it as quickly as you can. Leave your mouse alone for awhile and enjoy a click-less mail experience.
http://www.grovo.com/gmail/use-keyboard-shortcuts
4. Call Phones
You can use Gmail to call people in the U.S. from your computer for free! No charge! Nada! Use your speaker and microphone to make your laptop into a huge ‘80’s style cell phone if you want! Plus, you can assign phone numbers to your contacts so all you need to do is type their name into the call box to pull up their number. While most companies try to figure out ways to charge you for everything, this under-the-radar service is a breathe of fresh, free air.
http://www.grovo.com/gmail/make-phone-calls
5. Using Filters With Labels
Organizing your inbox is a pain and applying labels as you receive mail is a tedious waste of time. By using Gmail’s filters with labels you can automatically slap unique labels on your incoming messages based on specified parameters. This is way simpler than it sounds. First create a new filter based on the characteristics you want your group of emails to have in common. Select “Create filter from this search” and next to “Apply the label,” choose “New Label” to create a label you want applied to the group of emails you are anticipating. Now the emails that meet those specifications will be branded as soon as you receive them. Choose a color for your label to make those emails even more noticeable… and pretty, obviously.
http://www.grovo.com/gmail/filter-email
http://www.grovo.com/gmail/labels
