Last week I talked about “Project Caribou,” “Schedule send,” and “Snooze.” These are helpful features of Gmail. Yes, your free email client of choice by much of the world. Gmail seems to be the number one choice for email that I have found. So, again today, and for the next few weeks, I will look at some of the amazing Gmail features. Keep in mind these are all free with Gmail.
Today, one that I would have included last week but ran out of room, “Nudges.” Nudges are slightly related to the other two, Scheduled Send and Snooze, but it has a different purpose. When you email a question to someone, Gmail understands it was a question. Of course, Google says they do not read your emails, which I am sure humans do not; however, the AI (Artificial Intelligence) understands questions. Say you send a question to your significant other or friends about meeting next week for lunch. Then you go on your merry way. Several days later, if you do not get responses, Gmail will alert you. At a point in time, I cannot find if that is two days three or more (mine are usually three days later) you get an automatic reminder. Sent emails you might need to follow up on will appear at the top of your inbox. The sent email will appear in your inbox, will be marked as unread, and ask if you want to follow through on it. So, you can decide what you want to do with it. Send it again, send it to many people (if greater than one email address was included), etc. Pretty helpful recap with our busy lives.
But wait, there is more. Say the opposite happens. Someone asks you a question in an email. You have not answered them back. It will work the same way and tell you, you basically never responded to them, and then it asks if you want to reply. It is displayed the same way in your inbox, marked as unread, with an alert to take care of it. I use this all the time, so from me to Gmail…thanks!
Nudging should be set to work for you by default, but check. To check, click the gear icon on the upper right of your Gmail window. Then choose, “See all settings,” scroll down the page to, “Nudges” and make sure that both boxes are checked. Or just choose the one you like. If you change anything, make sure you scroll to the bottom of the page and click, “Save changes.”
Another quick one. If you need to see when the person or organization that emailed, and you want to know what you said to them before, or them to you, do this. Open the email in Gmail, click the small down arrow next to your name in the email, and hover your mouse over the sender’s email address. It will show you several things (check the icons at the top) but even better, look toward the bottom of the new window. It will display emails in your Gmail account you previously sent or received from that email address. Then you can click them and see what you sent/received from them last time. This is a built-in feature in all Gmail accounts, so no setup or making sure it is on.
Watch the video below to see how easy it is to reveal information about your sender and all of your other correspondence with them.
I hope this helps, and there is more to follow. Keep the emails coming to me and the world!
