Hello everybody!
In this video, I’ll show you my top 10 list of new Gmail features.
If
you
use Gmail for all your email connections, this video will certainly get you interested,
because I am going to tell you about the new opportunities brought by this email service.
In fact, they have been added in late March this year.
So let’s find out the new useful features we can enjoy now.
Google sidebar The first thing I’d like to draw your attention
to is Google sidebar.
The latest version of Gmail includes a side panel along the right side of the screen.
It can host a number of third-party apps as well as classic Google features like Calendar,
Google Keep, Tasks and others.
To get more apps, click the “Get Add-ons” button fashioned like a plus sign to open
a pop-up panel.
It will list the applications fully compatible and ready to use with the Gmail service.
The main idea behind it is that users could do various tasks in a more organized way without
interrupting their work to switch from the Gmail tab to another tab.
Regardless of what you want to do: add an event to your calendar, a note for a specific
contact or email client, or update your list of urgent tasks, each of the functions you
added to the side panel will always be visible.
Send and receive emails in the Confidential mode (self-destructing emails)
Another feature is the confidential mode for emails.
It could be the most unexpected add-on to the variety of functions that Gmail already
has.
With this mode, you can enable specific security settings:
Set expiration date for accessing the letter and even configure when it self-destructs
before such date, with manual settings.
When removed, the email will disappear without trace from the recipient’s mailbox.
The Confidential mode is not limited to the self-destruct function for emails.
The sender can add two-factor authentication so the recipient will have to enter a passcode
received by SMS to their connected phone number or a confirmed email address.
This mode also ensures that the recipient will not be able to forward, copy, print,
or download this email.
However, it seems likely that the Confidential mode cannot guarantee absolute email protection
against screenshots, malware or virus attacks intending to copy the email contents and attached
files.
Anyway, this mode seems to be designed for sending sensitive business information.
Enabling the passcode for two-factor authentication should be a very sound security setting if
you are afraid the recipient’s account may have been hacked or is just dangerous.
It is quite easy to enable the Confidential mode for an email.
Open Gmail and click “Compose” in the upper left corner of the screen.
In the “New Message” window that appears, type the text of your email and click on the
button “Turn confidential mode on/off” shown as a clock on a tiny lock.
In the “Confidential mode” window, select the settings you prefer and click “Save.”
Gmail Offline Another new feature is working with your emails
offline.
Now you can search the “Inbox” folder or type a new email even if there is no Internet
connection.
Of course, the main actions related to sending or receiving new emails will be unavailable,
but with the “Gmail Offline” function enabled, you will be able to do all other
things without any limitations.
So now – even if you don’t have an Internet connection at the moment – you can view
the previously received emails, write a reply or compose a new email and send it.
As soon as your computer establishes an Internet connection, the email will be sent.
By default, this function is disabled.
To enable it, open Gmail, click on the gear-shaped button over the list of emails, and select
“Settings” from the menu that appears.
Click on the tab “Offline” and check the box next to “Offline email” and then finish
it by pressing “Save changes.”
To disable this function, follow the same steps and uncheck the corresponding box.
Inline Action Buttons Another novelty is showing Inline Action Buttons
when you put the cursor over a specific email.
In the old days, you had to open every email if you needed to remove it, archive it or
do any other additional actions such as snoozing or marking it.
But today, with the new functionality, just position the cursor over an email, and the
several inline action buttons will appear instantly in the subject line of this email.
The clock-shaped button allows to postpone reading a specific email.
Clicking it makes the email disappear from your inbox folder to reappear after some time.
Such “invisibility period” for an email can be later today, tomorrow, later this week,
this weekend or next week.
Just click on the clock button and then select the option from the list.
If you want to select specific time for snoozing an email, click on “Pick date & time”
and set all the details, then finish it all by clicking “Save.”
Display density One more new feature is “Display density.”
This function enables users to change the appearance of the inbox folder.
There are three options: Default, Comfortable, and Compact.
With Comfortable, you will see less emails in one screen but with more empty space between
the incoming messages.
The Compact format lets you fit more emails into one screen but this way they look sort
of cramped and generally not too attractive.
The third variant, Default, tries to strike a balance between the previous two.
Nudges How could Gmail do without a dedicated feature
to remind you about emails left without answer?...
It wouldn’t be a Google product then.
Enabling this mode suggests prioritizing certain emails and receiving system messages about
specific emails to have a look at.
The Gmail service will move important emails to the upper part of the screen.
It will also inform you that one of the emails you sent has not been answered yet, so you
will not forget about it and can take some follow-up action to make sure the recipient
will respond to it.
Alternatively, if there is an email you received but haven’t answered yet, it will ask if
you maybe want to send a reply.
If applied properly, this feature (known as nudge mode) will only work when necessary
to make sure that you don’t lose track of really important emails among all the stuff
in your inbox folder.
If it distracts you too much, the nudge mode can be disabled easily.
In the “Settings” page, scroll down the “General” tab until you find “Nudges”
and then uncheck the box next to “Suggest emails to reply to” and “Suggest emails
to follow up on.”
Clickable attachments within Gmail The next feature to impress you is clickable
attachments within Gmail.
Now users can view and download email attachments right from the home screen of the email application
- Microsoft Word documents, PDF or JPG files.
Just find the necessary email and its attachments will be shown under the subject line as clickable
buttons.
Here is one important thing to remember: the clickable buttons for attachments are not
supported in Comfortable or Compact modes of Display density, and are only available
in the Default mode.
Important mail notifications Another useful feature is notifications for
important emails only.
With this new function, you will only see notifications about the most important emails
(or, to be exact, the ones that Google thinks are important).
After all, most of us will have to rely on Google’s algorithms in deciding which email
is important enough to deserve a notification.
However, if you have a good list of trusted addresses this function will help you greatly
in filtering not so important emails.
Easy unsubscribe This function is meant for convenience rather
than for security.
The matter is that many websites send out newsletters, but unsubscribing from them is
something that most users have difficulty with.
Usually, it means you need to visit a specific website and grope your way through its interface
to find the magic button.
The new Gmail feature will help you unsubscribe from annoying newsletters you don’t feel
interested in.
This way, you can unsubscribe from several newsletters coming from different websites,
and do it virtually in a few clicks.
This one is really convenient, you know.
To enable it, open an incoming email from a sender you would like to unsubscribe from.
Find the “Unsubscribe” text link and click on it, then click “Unsubscribe” again.
This is a small improvement but with a great potential for making your inbox cleaner and
free from those nasty ads.
Spam warnings Finally, the spam warning feature.
In the old version of Gmail, warnings about potentially harmful emails were shown in the
upper part of the screen.
Now, such notifications have become bigger and contain more information.
Gmail automatically sends suspicious emails to the Spam folder, and the emails you have
labeled manually as “spam” will also end up there.
Above every email in this folder you can see an explanation why it was classified as spam.
The warnings are rated by color in a way that’s very easy to understand.
If the notification is gray, this email is unlikely to be harmful.
If Gmail believes it is dangerous, the notification becomes red; it means the sender may try to
harm your device or steal your personal data.
Summing up, using all these new features in Gmail will help you save your precious time,
improve performance and protect your data from hostile actions.
That’s all for today!
I hope you find this video useful.
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Leave comments to ask questions and share your opinion.
Thank you for watching.
Good luck.