Working with Google Mail

Overview

This document provides information and instructions for the best ways to work with Google Mail (Gmail) in U-M Google.

• Mail Labels and Filters
• Manage Large Volumes of Email
• Work With Attached Files
• Best Practices for Gmail

Mail Labels and Filter

Mail labels

Mail labels "tag" emails according to specific topics you create. When a new label is created, it appears in the left sidebar of your inbox. Messages in your inbox will also show any labels assigned to them. Refer to Create labels to organize Gmail for instructions on creating mail labels.

Tip: Messages in your inbox are automatically assigned the "Inbox" label.

Best practices

• Avoid symbols and special characters when creating labels.
• Include numbers on labels you'd like to appear first in the label list, as they appear in alphabetical order.
• Assign colors to your most-used labels to help identify those emails in your inbox. 
• Use sub­labels to create a label hierarchy when needed.

Tip: Follow the process for creating a new label, but also select Nest label under and choose the correct parent label.

• Use fewer than 5,000 labels, including nested labels. Too many labels can slow your email processing and cause Gmail to operate much slower. 

Filters

De­clutter your inbox by creating Filters to organize your emails according to your criteria. Filters can Label, Archive, Delete, send to Spam, Star, or Forward your mail before it hits your inbox.

To create, edit, delete, or export/import filters, refer to Create rules to filter your emails.

Best practices

• Skip the inbox can be extremely useful for emails that do not have to be acted on immediately. However, be sure your filter is not too broad, or it can tag unintended messages.
• Export or import filters you want to use in another account.
• Advanced search operators can also be used for setting up filters.

Manage Large Volumes of Email

If you feel overwhelmed by all the emails in your inbox, try some of our tips below.

Tips

• By enabling and using keyboard shortcuts, you can manage your inbox quicker than using a mouse.
• Turning on conversation view arranges the replies and forwards of an email into a threaded "conversation," taking up less space in your inbox.
• With the Google Chrome web browser, press Shift while clicking the Compose button to compose a new message in a new window. Use this to keep open more urgent messages while cleaning up your inbox. 
• Set up filters to automatically apply labels to current and incoming messages, allowing them to bypass the inbox.
• With email templates, you can save content and add it to new messages by selecting it from a drop-down menu while composing.

Work With Attached Files

• Send attachments with your Gmail message
• Send Google Drive attachments in Gmail
• Open & download attachments in Gmail

Attachment limitations

Size

You can send emails with attachments of up to 25 MB and receive attachments of up to 50 MB. Google Drive or another file-sharing service (e.g., U-M Dropbox) must be used to send email attachments larger than 25 MB.

Type

To help prevent viruses, some file types are blocked. Attachments in Gmail messages you send and receive are automatically scanned for viruses.

Best Practices for Gmail

• Find the Inbox style that best meets your organizational needs.

Tip: With Important first and Priority Inbox, Google anticipates which messages will be most important to you, making sure they appear first in your inbox. You can train Google's intelligent learning engine by re-marking incorrectly sorted emails. 

• Try Gmail keyboard shortcuts. Press Shift ​and the ? key while in your email to open a window with a list of keyboard shortcuts. 
• Mute conversation threads when you don't need to see them in your inbox. Type is: muted ​in the search box to find archived muted conversation threads.
• You are not restricted from signing in and/or using third-party mail clients or apps (e.g., Apple Mail, Microsoft Outlook, etc.) with your U-M Gmail account. However, ITS does not provide configuration assistance or additional support for using any third-party mail clients other than Mozilla Thunderbird. (Google also does not support the use of third-party clients.) For more information, refer to Third-Party Mail Clients or Apps and U-M Google Mail.

Refer to the Google Workspace Learning Center for more tips and tricks on using Gmail efficiently.