Killer Tech Tips

(Guest Post by Krupesh)

If you thought the Gmail compose page was barebones, think again. There are plenty of features available in the compose window, but many of them are often overlooked upon.

Here are some features you might be missing. If you live and die by Gmail all day, these tips should certainly make you more productive.

1. Load contacts from the To button

Not everyone knows that the ‘To’ button in the compose window is clickable. Hitting it brings your contact list from where you can selectively choose contacts to be included in the ‘to’ field before you send an email.

2. Hit c to load the compose page

Hitting c on your keyboard from anywhere inside Gmail takes you to the Compose window. Make sure you activate the option Turn keyboard shortcuts on from the settings page in Gmail.

3. Open compose page in a new window quickly

Hitting Shift+C together opens the Gmail compose page in a new window. Alternatively, you can make use of the new window button on the top right to open the current draft in a new window.

4. Attach files by dragging and dropping

To quickly attach files, you can drag and drop anything from Windows Explorer into the space above the message field in the Gmail compose page. The file is then instantly uploaded as an attachment to the current email.

5. Directly insert images into message body

You can insert images directly into the body of an email by using the insert image tool in the compose page. You can also drag and drop any picture into the message field and it will show up in seconds inside the body of the email.

6. Hit Send from the keyboard

Hitting Tab followed by Space or Enter takes is akin to hitting the Send button in the compose window with your mouse. Try it, and you’ll forever use it.

7. Don’t ever include the wrong person in the ‘to’ field

Source: Official Gmail Blog

Sometimes multiple contacts may have similar names and you might include the wrong one in the ‘to’ field. Gmail instantly suggests if you added the wrong contact (based on similar-sounding names). Make sure you look out for such suggestions.

8. Multiple, unique signatures

You can add more than one signature to your Gmail account if you already send emails using multiple ‘from’ addresses. It’s just a matter of configuring appropriate signatures for every ‘from’ address from Gmail’s Settings page, as you can see in the screenshot above.

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