Google’s Gmail is one of the most popular email services worldwide. The Google service’s mobile app offers some helpful functions that can make working by mail a lot easier. We show you hidden features that you should definitely know if you use Gmail regularly.
Gmail is Google’s in-house e-mail service and was launched on April 1, 2004. What initially seemed like an April Fool’s joke to some people turned out to be one of the most popular mail services in the world over time: This is how Gmail cracked the 2016 the magic mark of one billion active users. Estimates meanwhile amount to more than 1.2 billion users. But no matter how popular the Google service may be, hardly anyone uses the full potential of all the available functions in the Gmail app. So we’ll show you some hidden features that will make you a true Gmail expert.
Schedule emails: Gmail sends emails automatically
From time to time, e-mails have to be sent at exactly the right time. However, if you know in advance that you will not be able to send at this time, you can schedule emails. Gmail will then automatically send the email you’ve composed at a preset time. Please note, however, that the smartphone must be connected to the Internet, because the e-mail will only be sent at the set time. If you do not have an active internet connection at the scheduled time, the e-mail cannot leave the smartphone and will not be sent.
To use the feature, compose an email in the regular way in the Gmail app. Instead of sending the message the regular way, select the three dots in the top right corner to open the submenu. Then select “Schedule sending”. In the window that now opens, you can choose between three preset times in the near future or optionally set your own transmission time.
Remember that you can revise your email at any time before sending it. To do this, select the submenu in the upper left corner of the screen in the Gmail app and then select “Scheduled”. Here you will find all e-mails that you have pre-programmed for a point in time in the future and you can edit the content as well as cancel the sending.
Mails with built-in self-destruct: How to enable confidential mode
From time to time emails have to be treated with special confidentiality. The Gmail app offers the option of sending e-mails in its own “confidential mode”. A little tip: Confidential mode can be combined with scheduling the delivery. If this mode is activated, the service takes a number of measures with which a composed e-mail enjoys special privacy protection.
If the recipient also uses the Gmail app, the messages can be opened directly in the application. Otherwise, Google generates a code that forwards the recipient to the browser and only then shows the content of the email. Alternatively, a security code can be requested from Google to open it. To do this, the mobile phone number of the recipient must be entered before sending. This then receives a numeric code that enables access to the content.
Google prevents e-mails in confidential mode from being forwarded, copied, printed or downloaded. Furthermore, before sending, the sender specifies a point in time in the near future after which the e-mail content can no longer be viewed. E-mails sent confidentially are therefore only temporary messages. However, even the access rights that are already limited can still be shortened: the sender can immediately revoke the access rights at any time after sending an e-mail. In our test, it took less than three seconds until the access rights were finally gone after the withdrawal.
To activate confidential mode for an e-mail, compose the message in the usual way, including the subject and attachments. But instead of simply sending the message, click on the three dots in the upper right corner of the screen. In the submenu that now opens, you will find the “Confidential” mode item. Activate this and then determine whether authorization should take place via SMS and for how long the recipient has access to the content. Now the email can be sent and will be treated confidentially by Gmail.
Important to note: Despite some restrictions on the part of Google, the recipient can still create screenshots of all e-mail content and thus forward the e-mail, view it longer or otherwise publish it without access rights. The confidential mode does not offer complete protection either.
Adjust email preview content
Typical for e-mail apps, Gmail also offers a stacked overview of all e-mails in the inbox. By default, these show the picture and the name of the sender, the subject and the first few words of the e-mail content. However, Gmail offers a possibility to adjust the degree of compactness. This means that you can determine for yourself how detailed the preview of an individual e-mail is in your inbox.
Gmail natively offers three options for the degree of compactness in the overview of the inbox:
- Compactness level “Narrow”: In this mode, only the name or e-mail address of the sender and the subject are visible. Instead of the picture of the sender, selection boxes offer the possibility to quickly mark several e-mails.
- Compactness level “Normal”: This mode is preselected in Gmail. In contrast to the narrow degree, the marking boxes are missing, instead an image of the chat partner is displayed. In addition, the first line of the e-mail content is also displayed.
- “Standard” degree of compactness: In contrast to the normal degree of compactness, a preview of all e-mail attachments is also shown here in the overview.
To adjust the compactness level of all emails in the inbox, click the three lines in the top left corner of the screen. Then scroll all the way down and select “Settings”. Then select “General settings” and finally “Conversation list compactness” and select your wish.
Awaken the dark side of Gmail
With Android 10 Q and iOS 13, the manufacturers of the operating systems implemented a native dark mode for system apps and UI elements for the first time, and numerous apps have followed suit since then. For some time now, Gmail has also had an integrated dark mode. This is automatically active or inactive depending on the setting of the operating system. However, users can also activate or deactivate dark mode in Gmail independently of the OS settings.
To do this, click on the three lines in the top left corner of the screen in the Gmail app and select “Settings” at the bottom. Then navigate to “General Settings” and select “Theme” at the top. Here you can choose whether dark mode should be activated automatically, or whether you would rather always see Gmail in light or dark colors.
Automatically notify senders of your absence
It doesn’t matter whether you’re on vacation or on a long flight: sometimes you just can’t or don’t want to be reachable. But even if the function is somewhat hidden in the Gmail app: Out-of-office notifications can also be set on the go. Similar to the desktop version, there are all the usual options for writing texts and setting a time period on the mobile phone.
To find the function, open the submenu at the top left corner of the screen and then select the “Settings” item. Then click on the e-mail address for which an out-of-office notice or automatic reply is to be set and then scroll down to the “Out-of-office notice” item. Here you can write the test that will be automatically sent to the sender if they try to contact you during your absence. You can also set here for how long the note should be sent.