Hello everyone! Scott Friesen here at Simpletivity, and today we are taking a look at the brand new Gmail and my favorite features in this latest update. Now, it is pretty significant.
This is the biggest update we've seen to Gmail in many, many years. But just before I dive into the new features and new areas, let's make sure you know how to get this new look.
So, if you are still using the older version of Gmail, all you need to do is come up here to the Settings, and your first option is "Try the new Gmail." By selecting that option, you will be updated to this new look.
Probably one of the first things that you're going to notice is that things look a little bit bigger in the new Gmail. Everything from the new larger and taller Compose button, here in the top left corner, to even some of your messages.
So let's start with the inbox itself. Here you will notice I have a couple of emails that are about two, almost three times the height of other emails here in my inbox.
What is up with this? Well, there's some pros and cons to this.
Attachment Access
The pro is that now we have direct access to attachments. You'll notice that both of these emails have an attachment.
Not only can I see the type of attachment, in this case they are both pictures, but I can also see a preview of the attachment name. If I hover over it, I get the full attachment name, but I can even select these attachments directly without even having to open up the email.
Here you just saw that I selected this attachment, and this email is still showing as unread because I actually haven't opened it up and read this message. You can go directly to a PDF, to a picture, to any other document that is attached.
So this might be most helpful to those who are receiving a lot of contracts or other documents where you just want to get to the goods. You don't really care about opening up the message.
You wanna go directly to that attachment; however, if you don't like this look, and if this feels a little jarring to have some of your messages bigger than others, you can always go back to a more traditional view. If you go up to Settings, we can select Display density, and here you see a preview of that Default view.
But you can always go back to a Comfortable or Compact view where the attachments will show as a traditional paperclip on the right-hand side. But the one thing that I do wanna point out with this new Default view is that not only do you see the attachments, but you also get a preview of the type of attachment directly from your inbox.
Whether it's a Word document, a spreadsheet, an image, something along those lines, that can be a great benefit for many of us. So let's stick with the top of the inbox here, and you will also notice some new things on the right-hand side of your messages.
Quick Buttons
So whenever you hover over any message, you will notice that there are some additional icons here on the right-hand side. Now, this first one happens to be an add-on that I use from Boomerang.
So unless you also use Boomerang, you're not going to see this. But one of the reasons why I wanted to highlight this is that depending on the types of Chrome extensions or Gmail add-ons that you use, you might find some other helpful icons here.
Such as Boomerang, such as this additional add-on that I'm using. But let's look at the other standard ones that have been included in this update.
We can now archive, delete, or mark a message as read or unread directly from the inbox. I don't even have to click on the checkbox and make that selection up top.
I can do that directly here just by hovering over the message. So think about all those messages that you don't even wanna open.
You know who it's from, or maybe it's junk mail. You can just delete it with a single click.
So I really like the efficiency aspects of these new icons here over on the right. Of course, if you're wanting to do things to multiple messages, you're still gonna need to use this checkbox and make use of your action icons here on the top side.
One note, I do like the color scheme that they used here. It's very evident as to which messages I've check-marked here with the blue.
I like the high contrast, which they've added here as well. Now continuing down this line, you will notice that the last icon is something that is brand new to Gmail, and that is the Snooze icon.
Snooze Message
Now, Snooze is a feature that has been standard in Inbox by Gmail. In fact, you might say that Inbox by Gmail, for those who are familiar with that application, was built entirely around this Snooze aspect.
What Snooze does is, it allows you to bring a message back to your inbox at a later time. So if I select Snooze, I can select a number of different preset options.
Do I want to bring it back later today? Tomorrow, later this week?
I really like the Someday option. That's really rolling the dice, right?
It's gonna bring it back! You just don't know when it's gonna bring it back.
Or if I don't like any of these preset options, of course, I can come down and pick a specific date and time. But this can be a great way to keep your inbox nice and clean.
If you know you need to address this, or you want to address this but perhaps it's not urgent, you can address it at a later time. Now, there's a few other buttons that may appear, depending on the type of message.
If I go up to this first message here, you will notice it has an RSVP button. The reason being is that this message is a meeting invitation.
So here's another example of how we can be more efficient with our email messages. I don't even have to open up this message.
I can simply click on the RSVP button, and I can give my response, my Yes, my Maybe, my No to this particular message, and of course, it will add it directly to my calendar. So I love this feature of quick buttons.
I love the Snooze feature, which may actually make Boomerang a little more obsolete for me since Boomerang and Snooze essentially do the same thing for me. But RSVP, the ability to quickly respond to a message without having to open it, I love that aspect of the new interface.
Well, let's take a look further right, in fact, to the farthest part of our screen, over here to the Apps Bar. You will notice that you have some familiar icons and perhaps a brand new one here at the bottom called Tasks.
Apps Bar
If you click on any of these Google apps, you will now get a mini version of these apps available to you here. So if I click on Google Calendar, I can now browse through my days here.
I can add new meeting events directly, directly here from within this calendar view. So a great way to integrate both.
Let's add just a test event here. I'm gonna make that for, let's make that for later in the day.
I'm gonna hit save, and so there it is. It's gonna pop up directly on my calendar.
I can get that nice view of what's happening in my schedule right from within my inbox. We now have more direct access to Google Keep as well, not only to view our notes, but also to take new notes as well.
But lastly, and this is sort of the big update to the types of integrations with other Google products, is the new Gmail Tasks or Google Tasks. So this is a much more robust, a much easier-on-the-eyes version of the former Tasks here within Gmail.
We can easily check things off and add new tasks directly from this preview pane. Now, if you want to close the preview pane, you can just simply select the X in the top right corner, or you can select the app itself, and that will minimize this bar.
But it should also be noted that you can add other apps and other add-ons. If you select this plus button, you will be taken to the G Suite Marketplace.
Here you can add a variety of other Gmail apps, which will show up in this area, and just like we saw with Boomerang, may give you some additional functionality when it comes to interacting with your email. So, those are some of my favorite features when it comes to the new Gmail.
If you haven't tried it out yet, it's very simple to do so. Simply go to your settings, and you can try it out for yourself.
Now I would love to hear from you. What are some of your favorite features from the new Gmail?
Did they miss anything? Was there something that they left out?
Something that is perhaps on your email wishlist? And if you have been using the new Gmail for a little while now, I'd love to hear your feedback as well.
Do you like this new view? Do you like having access to attachments immediately?
Do you like these quick icons, these quick single-click actions that you can do without even having the need to select or open a particular email? Remember, being productive does not need to be difficult.
In fact, it's very simple.
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