Users around the world rely on Gmail to communicate. Whether you use Gmail on your phone, laptop, PC or a affordable Chromebookthere is more to this email service than meets the eye. From generative AI features that boost your productivity to privacy tools that keep your communications confidential, Gmail offers several useful features. Here are seven not-so-obvious features you should know about to get the most out of this email service.

Use Gmail “Help me write” for quick drafts

Your first draft won’t take as long anymore

Writing emails can be time-consuming. With Gmail Help me write feature allows you to generate a quick email draft based on your prompt in seconds. You save time and don’t have to write an email from scratch. If you have access to this feature, you’ll see a star icon with a pencil at the bottom of the Compose window.

By clicking it or tapping it, you can enter a basic prompt. Once you’ve written your prompt, choose Create. You have a draft ready to edit or send as is. To take this a step further, Google updated this tool to pull details from previous threads. This prevents contextual gaps.

This feature is available as part of the Workspace Labs program. If you don’t see this tool in your writing window, register for the program to access it.

Take advantage of Gmail’s smart replies for quick replies

Are you short on time? Use Smart Reply to reply

Smart Reply is a neat Gmail feature that lets you send quick replies to emails without typing anything. This technology uses machine learning to send nuanced responses, so you don’t have to create the perfect response every time you get an email that demands your attention.

Smart Reply analyzes the content of the email and suggests three relevant responses (going beyond a single word Yes, No and Maybe answer). Instead, these suggestions fit the context and tone of the email you’re responding to.

If you cannot access this feature, enable it by going to Settings and choose General Tab. Scroll down until you see Smart answerand click Smart answer to. Then choose Save changes.

Schedule Send at perfect time

Don’t send emails at odd times anymore

If the person you are emailing lives in a different time zone or you are only free to write emails at a certain time, Schedule Send feature helps you avoid sending emails at odd times.

Instead of sending an email as soon as you’ve written it, you can write it and choose to send it at a time that suits the recipient. This is especially good in professional environments. To use this feature, click the arrow next to it Send button and select Schedule Send. Then select the date and time.

Use the Snooze feature to get back to emails

Return to an email at a better time

When you get an important email but can’t respond, don’t let it sit in your inbox where you can forget about it. Gmail’s Snooze feature can help. The feature temporarily removes the email from your inbox and moves it to the top of your inbox at the desired date and time. That way you don’t lose track of it.

While this is a useful feature, it’s easy to miss, given that it’s represented by a small clock icon at the end of the email options bar, next to File, Delete and Mark as Read. If you select the clock icon, a pop-up window will appear with several predefined snooze times. You can choose a specific date and time if none of these options work for you.

Use Gmail’s Nudging to detect missed emails

Forgot to reply to an email? Gmail’s Nudging can help

Gmail’s Nudging feature ensures you don’t miss answering or following up on important emails. If you’ve missed important emails in the past, this is something worth taking advantage of.

It is usually enabled by default. If you can’t access it, go to yours Gmail settings and turn on Smart features and customization. Once it’s done, you’ll see reminders like Received 5 days ago. Response? in your inbox next to the email you missed. This ensures that nothing slips through the cracks.

Use confidential mode for sensitive communications

Keep your communications private

Does your email contain sensitive information that you don’t want an unauthorized person to have access to? Do you want to be sure that the recipient cannot forward, copy, print or download the contents of the email? Enable confidential mode before sending an email.

To activate it, enter your email and select Toggle confidential mode from the bottom of the Write window. Then choose when you want the email to expire and set a Google-generated SMS password for an extra layer of security.

Integrate your calendar with Gmail

Take care of your schedule by integrating Google Calendar with Gmail

If you frequently reschedule meetings due to conflicting commitments, integrate Google Calendar with Gmail. This integration lists the events mentioned in your emails in your Google Calendar without switching apps and adding details.

If you don’t see events from Gmail in your calendar, follow these steps:

1. Go to Gmail Calendar.

2. Select the gear icon in the upper right corner of the page and select Settings.

3. Choose Events from Gmail from the left tab.

4. Check the box next to it View events automatically created by Gmail in my calendar.

   

5. Choose OK to confirm your selection.

Get to know the best features of all Google apps

To improve your experience throughout the Google ecosystem, familiarize yourself with hidden features in various Google apps. Whether you’re adding a secondary time zone to Google Calendar or using voice input to speed up your work with Google Docs, explore these features to improve your productivity.