Gmail Tips and Tricks: 10 Features Worth Using

Gmail hides some of its most useful features behind a menu or a setting you’ve never opened. These ten save real time every day — each one checked against Google’s own help pages, with the exact clicks.

1. Give yourself 30 seconds to unsend

Right after you send a message, Gmail shows Message sent in the bottom left with an Undo option. By default the window is short — but you can lengthen it: Settings → See all settings → next to Undo Send, choose a cancellation period of 5, 10, 20 or 30 seconds, then save at the bottom of the page. More on unsending in Gmail.

2. Schedule emails to send later

Write your email, click the Down arrow next to Send, then Schedule send. You can have up to 100 scheduled emails, and they go out based on the time zone you scheduled them in. Full steps for computer, Android and iPhone.

3. Snooze emails until you need them

Point to an email, click the Snooze icon on the right and choose a later day and time. The email leaves your inbox and comes back to the top when you chose. Snoozed emails wait under Snoozed on the left — or search in:snoozed.

4. Search like a power user

Gmail’s search understands operators: from:, has:attachment, larger:10M, older_than:1y, filename:pdf and many more. You don’t need to memorise them — the Gmail Search Builder writes the search for you, with ready-made searches such as “biggest emails” and “old promotions”.

5. Let filters sort your inbox

Filters act on new email automatically — label it, archive it, star it, forward it. In the search box at the top, click Show search options, enter your criteria, click Create filter, choose what should happen and click Create filter again. Google notes that a filter that forwards messages only affects new messages.

Tip: build the search first in the Search Builder, check the results in Gmail, then turn that search into a filter. Full walkthrough, including labels and forwarding filters: Gmail filters and labels.

6. Save replies you type again and again

Turn templates on once: Settings → See all settings → Advanced → next to Templates, click Enable and save. Then, in a new message, open More options → Templates → Save draft as template. To use one, choose it under Insert template. Templates can be turned on and used only in Gmail on a computer, and a deleted template can’t be recovered. To send a template as an automatic reply, combine it with a filter.

7. Use keyboard shortcuts

Turn them on in Settings → See all settings → Keyboard shortcuts on → Save Changes. With Gmail open, type ? to see them all. The ones worth learning first:

8. Send emails that expire

Confidential mode lets you set an expiration date, revoke access at any time, require an SMS passcode, and stop recipients from forwarding, copying, printing or downloading. In the compose window, turn on confidential mode at the bottom, set an expiration date and passcode option, and save. Google is clear about the limit: recipients can still take screenshots or photos of your email.

9. Know that dots don’t matter

For a personal Gmail address, jane.doe@gmail.com and janedoe@gmail.com are the same inbox — Google says that if someone adds dots by mistake, you still get the email. This doesn’t apply to work or school accounts, where dots do change the address.

10. Find what’s filling your storage

Search larger:10M to list your biggest emails, or has:attachment older_than:1y for old attachments — the Search Builder has both as one-click searches. Then see Gmail storage full for everything else that uses your space.