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Gmail’s Interface

Though most of Gmail’s email functions are similar to the ones you might have used in other email services, it’s common to have to take a little time to acquaint yourself to a different interface. Below is a simple guide to using Gmail’s web interface:

1 – Inbox

It is where you will find the email you have received and also where you will find replies you have written to those emails. Gmail stacks the messages sent back and forth between 2 or more people so you can view them all as a single strand, and easily follow conversations up as shown on the example below.

2 – Compose Mail

It is what you would click to start writing an email. You can either type the full email address or start typing the first few letters and Gmail will search through your contact list and give you email address options to choose from. You can also click on the

“To” button to be taken to your contact list where you can choose the email you want to use. When writing your email, by putting your mouse over the buttons on the compose panel, you can tell what each button does, be it change color, font, insert image or link.

3 – Drafts

Gmail will save a copy of the email you are writing as you write it as a “draft”. It will

do so on small time intervals, but if you decide to save it yourself, you can always just click on the button that says “Save Now” on the bottom of the compose window. When you do that, a copy gets saved on the Draft folder so you can continue to write it later if you prefer. Once you send the message, they automatically disappear from the Drafts folder.

4 – Sent Mail

All the email you have ever sent someone can be found by clicking the “Sent Mail” button. It will separate the emails you have sent from the ones sent to you so you can clearly see only the ones you sent yourself.

5 – More

The “More” button opens a series of options such as your “Spam” and “Trash”. You

can drag those labels in and out of the more button to customize how you want to

view the main buttons on your email, so if you decide you want to have your “Trash”

button readily available under the inbox, just drag it there, and if you decide you

want your “Drafts” under the “More” button, just drag it there.

6 – Report Spam

Gmail tends to do a great job keeping spam out of your inbox, but if you do receive some, or there is some insistent company that keeps emailing you even though you asked to be removed from their mailing list, simply select that email and click on

“Report Spam”. It will make any emails from that address go straight to spam, and it

will help Gmail recognize it in the future.

7 – Delete

Because your storage space with Gmail is constantly growing, it is unnecessary, for

most people, to ever need to delete emails. If you just don’t want to see a certain

email on your inbox anymore, check the box next to that email and click the delete button. It will be moved to your trash folder. If you permanently want to remove your email, delete it out of your trash folder as well.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Gmail also allows for a series of keyboard shortcuts to make browsing and responding to emails quicker. For example, by typing “Shft + c”, you can open your composer email window, and by typing the letter “s” you can star a message.

For a complete cheatsheet of Gmail shortcuts, visit: http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=6594 or download MakeUseOf’s Gmail Cheetseet at http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/7-essential cheat-sheets/