When it comes to managing email, you need every reward you tin can get.

Google recognizes this. The company has packed Gmail with dozens of advanced options that can save you time and add powerful possibilities into your inbox. The only problem is that in that location are so many of them—scattered across and so many places—that it'south all as well piece of cake to overlook something useful.

Not to fear, though: I dug through every nook and cranny to uncover Gmail'south most valuable out-of-the-fashion settings. These side by side-level options get beyond the broadly known nuts and have the potential to reshape how you handle your email. Some of them are specific to the new Gmail design, while others apply to both the new and classic versions of the site. (And most of them are relevant primarily for the desktop Gmail site, past the way—as opposed to the mobile apps—with just a couple of noted exceptions.)

So fire upwards your brain'due south retentiveness banks: It'due south time to crank up your inbox IQ.

Composing messages

1. Gmail's new Smart Etch feature can save you precious fourth dimension by predicting what you're going to write before you write it—kind of like autocomplete for your inbox. It works surprisingly well, too, and information technology's easy to ignore when its suggestions aren't spot-on.

Smart Compose is like autocomplete for your inbox.

To attempt information technology out, you'll first need to turn on the "Enable experimental access" option inside the General tab of the new Gmail'south settings. Later on y'all click the "Save Changes" push at the bottom of the screen, Gmail will refresh itself—and Smart Etch should and so automatically exist activated. You tin can ostend by going back into the General tab of the settings and looking for the newly added Smart Compose choice. As long as "Writing suggestions on" is checked, you're all set—and you should see Google's predictive text bear witness up periodically as you write new emails.

2. Speaking of saving time, practise yourself a favor and head into the Advanced section of the new Gmail settings (or the Labs section in classic Gmail) and enable "Canned Responses." Once you practice, you'll be able to create simple templates that tin can then be inserted into messages with a couple of clicks.

3. The new Gmail's snooze pick is spectacular—but its default snooze times may or may not exist ideal for your ain personal schedule. Hither's a picayune secret, though: You lot can customize exactly what fourth dimension Gmail considers to be "morn," "afternoon," and "evening" by looking in the settings of Google Keep (obviously, correct?). Just change the default times for each solar day-function within Keep's settings, and the same times will then carry over to Gmail—both on the website and within the mobile app.

4. By default, Gmail gives you a small window in the corner of the screen for composing new messages. If you'd rather write in a centered and more total-screen field, you can click the pocket-sized diagonal pointer in the window's upper-right corner to change its size and placement. And if you always want to write in a full-screen window, there's a setting to adjust Gmail's default beliefs: Click the three-dot carte du jour icon in the compose window, then select "Default to total-screen." That'll brand all your future emails start in that large, centered view.

5. If you're anything like me, you probably archive letters immediately afterward responding more often than not. Save yourself a step and switch on Gmail'due south optional "Ship & Archive" button, which combines sending and archiving into a single command. (It doesn't replace the regular "Send" button; information technology just appears equally an extra button alongside it.)

The "Transport & Annal" push combines two steps into one

Y'all can actuate it by looking for the "Transport and Archive" option in the Full general department of Gmail's settings. Select "Show 'Send & Annal' button in reply" so striking the "Save Changes" button at the bottom of the page.

6. Gmail'southward "Disengage Transport" feature can be a real lifesaver, but its default counterfoil window of five measly seconds doesn't give you much time to alter your mind. Head into the General section of Gmail's settings and click the dropdown box adjacent to the "Disengage Send" choice. You lot tin bump the value upward to x, xx, or even 30 seconds—which means that you can give yourself up to one-half a infinitesimal to take 2nd thoughts about any message you send.

Reading your mail

7. Non a fan of Gmail's tabbed inbox? Hover your mouse over "Inbox" in the left sidebar and click the downward-facing arrow that appears alongside it. That'll allow you lot cull from five different inbox configurations: "Default," which is the standard tabbed setup; "Important starting time," which splits your inbox in half, with messages Google deems to exist important on tiptop; "Unread first," which does the same thing only with unread messages taking up the upper portion of the screen; "Starred first," which does exactly what you lot'd call up; and "Priority Inbox," which lets yous create up to four customizable sections to break apart different types of messages.

viii. If yous're using the default tabbed inbox configuration, take control of how it works past looking in the Inbox section of Gmail'due south settings. There, yous can simplify things a bit by deactivating tabs yous don't want displayed (which causes messages that would have been categorized within them to go into the adjacent near advisable tab). You can also actuate a handy option to have any messages yous star always show up in your "Primary" tab, regardless of where they were initially sorted.

nine. If "Priority Inbox" is your loving cup of tea, caput into that same Inbox section of Gmail's settings to configure your inbox sections in any mode your heart desires. The possibilities there are practically endless.

Gmail's "Priority Inbox" setting provides the greatest opportunity for customizing and decision-making exactly how your inbox is organized.

10. Regardless of which inbox setup y'all choose, be sure to experiment with Gmail's density modes to find the inbox display style that works best for you lot. Click the gear icon in the site's upper-correct corner. In classic Gmail, yous'll run into options for "Comfortable," "Cozy," or "Compact" density right in that principal menu; in the new Gmail, you'll beginning need to select "Display density" and will then run into options for "Default," "Comfy," and "Meaty." Notation that "Default" puts the newly added attachment previews into your inbox view, while "Comfortable" and "Meaty" hibernate that data.

11. Miss Outlook's preview pane, where you can read a message while nonetheless keeping your inbox in view? Gmail actually offers a like view that shows everything at once. Look in the Labs section of classic Gmail's settings or the Advanced section of the new Gmail's settings and enable the option labeled "Preview Pane." That'll put a new 4-line icon adjacent to the settings push button in the top-right area of your inbox. Click the downward-facing arrow next to it, and y'all can opt to accept either a vertical split—in which any message you lot select appears to the right of your inbox—or a horizontal dissever, in which message previews appear below your inbox.

The "Preview Pane" setting lets you view the contents of emails without ever leaving your inbox.

Be sure to expect in the General section of Gmail'southward settings, too, as an pick there labeled "Preview Pane" will permit you control how long y'all can keep a message open in the pane before it gets marked as read.

12. Let's non kid ourselves: No i likes pagination. Meander dorsum into the General section of Gmail's settings and wait for the "Maximum page size option." Yous can't plow off pagination completely, merely you can bear witness up to 100 conversations at a time—and if you have more than than that many items still in your inbox, pal, you've got bigger problems.

Optimizing and organizing

13. Gmail'southward stars provide a great system for mark important letters—and then why not take things up a notch and give yourself even more ways to designate attention-demanding threads? The "Stars" line the General department of Gmail's settings lets you add together upwardly to 11 additional icons into your listing of message-starring possibilities, with options ranging from differently colored stars to exclamation signal, question marking, and check mark symbols.

Only drag and drop whatever icons y'all want into the "In use" list, and pay careful attention to the order: It's the same order in which the icons volition be applied—then if you put a purple star in the second position and an exclamation point in the third, clicking a message'south star field twice would assign the majestic star to it, while clicking it three times would give information technology the exclamation point.

14. Make your inbox more than effective by clearing out clutter and leaving only the labels you need. In the "Labels" section of Gmail'south settings, you lot'll observe commands to hide any characterization or category you don't regularly access from the label listing—that long and often sprawling list in your inbox's left sidebar. You'll still be able to become to those hidden labels; they'll just be tucked away beneath the "More" option and thus out of your way nearly of the time, so y'all tin more easily focus and find the ones you use the most.

xv. The Tasks app associated with the new Gmail isn't integrated into the Google ecosystem terribly well as of now, only you can connect your tasks with your Google Calendar—if you know how: Open up the Google Calendar website. See the "My calendars" section on the left side of the screen? Y'all should see an option within it labeled "Reminders."

Tap the three-dot menu icon alongside that line and select "Switch to Tasks." Any tasks to which you assign a date inside the Gmail Tasks sidebar or the standalone Tasks mobile app will now automatically appear in your agenda. But note that this characteristic replaces the integration of regular Google reminders created via Assistant, Keep, or the Google search box.

16. You probably know well-nigh Gmail's keyboard shortcuts, right? (If yous don't, go activate them—right now—in the General section of Gmail's settings.) Y'all might not know, however, that you can create your own custom keyboard shortcuts, too: Look in the Labs section of classic Gmail or the Advanced section of the new Gmail to fire up the option, and then wait for a new Keyboard Shortcuts section in your settings.

Create custom shortcuts that work for y'all via Gmail's "Custom keyboard shortcuts" setting.

There, you lot can alter any of the default keyboard shortcuts or supplement them with secondary options. I super-useful aligning I enjoy—inspired by Google Inbox—is adding the uncomplicated shortcut "i" every bit a faster way to jump straight from anywhere to my inbox.

17. Whether it'southward Uncle Geoffrey or the mailing list that but won't quit, in that location's always some irritating force that consistently fills your inbox with irrelevant garbage. Gmail has a buried setting to become annoying missives permanently out of your hair: While viewing a message, click the iii-dot menu icon in its upper-right corner (direct to the right of the reply icon), so select the "Block" choice. Any emails from that address volition automatically go right into your spam folder from then on—and if yous ever have 2d thoughts, you lot can manage your list of blocked addresses in the Filters and Blocked Addresses section of Gmail'due south settings.

18. Using the new Gmail? Have a moment to ready its offline mode before you lot actually need it. Unlike the clunky offline choice in the classic version of Gmail, this offline mode works simply like the regular Gmail website; all you have to practise is open up the site before you lose your connection. As long as you're using Chrome 61 or college, y'all'll then exist able to wait through your letters and compose new emails as if you lot were online, no Wi-Fi necessary. (Whatsoever emails you etch while offline volition exist kept in a new Outbox folder and so sent every bit soon equally y'all reconnect.)

The selection resides in the aptly named Offline section of the new Gmail's settings. Set it up the way that makes sense for you, be sure to hit "Salvage"—and then rest piece of cake knowing that the side by side time your internet connection wavers, all your e-mail will yet be right there and waiting.