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9 Useful Gmail Features You Need To Try Right Away
Our experts explain how you can schedule messages in Gmail, 'unsend' emails, organise your inbox and keep your information super secure
Gmail is one of the most-used email clients around and is still treated to regular updates. In fact, there are some many features now that there's a good chance you haven't used all of them – so we've rounded up the best.
If you use Gmail almost every day and want to manage your inbox effectively, explore our top tips. Our computing experts have advice on how to organise your most important messages and explain how to recall emails you didn't mean to send.
With a better understanding of what the latest version of Gmail has to offer, you can automate dull tasks and cut down on your screen time. Read on for the details.
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1. Schedule an email
At a glance: Configure an email to send at a specific time, or send reminders to your future self.
Gmail's scheduling tool means you can write an email and send it out automatically later. This comes in handy if you're going to be on holiday and need to remind somebody of a task, or you have a friend's birthday coming up that you don't want to forget.
There are a couple of default options for scheduling, including 'tomorrow morning' and 'tomorrow afternoon' as shown below. You can also set a custom date and time.
To use Gmail's scheduling feature on a PC, do this:
- Click Compose to open up a blank email window.
- Click the white arrow next to the Send button, then Schedule send.
- Select one of the default options, or click Select time and date. Choose Schedule send when you are happy with your picks.
The process of scheduling a message is exactly the same if you are using the Gmail mobile app, except that the Schedule send option is accessed by clicking the three dots icon that you will find next to the Send button in the top-right corner.
2. 'Undo' sending a message
At a glance: Delay your outgoing messages so you have time to cancel the send if needed.
Sending an email to the wrong person can land you in an uncomfortable position, but Gmail has an option to save the day.
The default cancellation period for the 'unsend' feature is just five seconds – but you can extend this in just a couple of clicks. When you cancel the email, it will reopen your first draft so you can make any adjustments or delete it altogether.
To set up Gmail's undo feature on a PC, do this:
- Click the cog icon, then See all settings.
- Under Undo send, select your cancellation period using the dropdown menu – choose from 5, 10, 20 or 30 seconds.
- Scroll to the bottom of the settings window and choose Save Changes.
Now, when you click Send on an email, you'll be able to select Undo for a short period:
- On desktop, you'll see a black box in the bottom-left corner of the screen – choose Undo.
- On mobile, the black box appears under the Compose button at the bottom of the screen.
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3. Organise your emails using labels
At a glance: Arranging messages using your own system helps deal with a cluttered inbox.
The labels tool built into Gmail will be a real help if you're managing lots of different work projects over email. By assigning emails related to a specific topic with a matching label, you can quickly identify those messages in a crowded inbox.
To create a new email label in Gmail on PC, do this:
- Right-click an email in your inbox.
- Scroll down to Label as and select Create new.
- Name your label (you can add emoji if you like visual cues) and then click Create.
Once you've made a label, a link to all the emails tagged with that label is created. You can find that link on the left side of your Gmail inbox on desktop. If you hover over the link and click the three dots, you can assign the label a new colour. From the same menu, you can also delete the label or quickly create another one.
On mobile, you can see labels by tapping the settings tab in the top-left corner of your screen and scrolling down.
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4. Add a second email inbox to Gmail
At a glance: Avoid having to log out and back in every time you need to swap between accounts.
If you have two separate Gmail accounts (one for work and one for personal emails), you should know that there's a way to have messages for both appear in the same window.
To add another Gmail account to your current inbox on PC, do this:
- Click your profile picture in the top-right corner of your screen.
- Select Add another account.
- Enter the email address for your second account and follow the on-screen instructions.
Now that you've entered your details for that second account, you can swap back and forth whenever you need to. Just click your profile picture in the top-right corner and select the account you want to access.
5. Make sure your inbox is secure
At a glance: Familiarise yourself with account settings and protect your personal information.
By visiting the security page for your Google account, you can monitor login attempts and control how you access your emails. We recommend enabling 2-Step Verification from the same screen as an additional layer of protection.
To check and update security settings for your Google account on PC, do this:
- Click your profile picture in the top-right corner of your screen.
- Select Manage your Google account.
- Click Security for an overview of your current settings and recommendations.
- Under How you sign in to Google, enable 2-Step Verification.
From your account security page, you'll also be able to see devices used to log into your Gmail – if you don't recognise a device on that list, revoke access and change your password right away.
6. Snooze emails
At a glance: Temporarily hide messages so you can deal with urgent emails first.
An endless stream of emails can be overwhelming, so try 'snoozing' less-urgent messages to revisit them later. Using this feature doesn't delete the messages but instead helps you prioritise.
When you snooze an email, it will be hidden from your inbox until a specified time – you can choose 'later today', 'tomorrow', 'next week' or set a custom time. Eventually, it'll reappear at the top of your inbox as if it were a new message.
To snooze emails, do this:
- Right-click a message in your inbox.
- Select Snooze.
- Choose one of the pre-sets or enter a custom date and time.
To see which emails you've hidden temporarily, check the Snoozed label in your inbox sidebar.
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7. See if Confidential mode can work for you
At a glance: Send an email with enhanced security and privacy controls.
Gmail lets you tag outgoing emails with the Confidential label, which means recipients won’t have the option to forward, copy, print or download your message.
However, Google notes that your message 'might still be visible to your Google Workspace domain admins or Vault users for periods defined by the domain’s Gmail retention rules.' There's also nothing stopping somebody from screenshotting your message.
When you send an email in Confidential mode, you can set it to expire after a set time. Plus, you can configure the message so that the recipient has to enter a passcode sent via SMS or email to access it.
To send an email in Confidential mode, do this:
- Select Compose to create a new message.
- Choose Toggle confidential mode (padlock icon).
- Pick an option under the Set expiry heading.
- Pick an option under the Require passcode heading.
- Select Save, then Send.
8. Change your screen layout
At a glance: Adjust your default view depending on how much information you want on-screen.
Within your Settings menu, you'll find the option to change the Density of your Gmail home screen – defined by the amount of spacing between emails and attachments in your inbox.
By default, email attachments are displayed directly beneath email subjects. Swapping to Comfortable removes those attachment icons and might appeal if you want less visual clutter. Finally, Compact mode is ideal if you need to manage a large volume of messages, as it condenses the layout to show more emails at once.
To cycle through inbox layouts on desktop, do this:
- Click the cog icon.
- Under the Desnity heading, choose between Default, Comfortable or Compact.
- Select the X icon to hide the Quick settings menu.
9. Try the Google Calendar feature
At a glance: Schedule an event without leaving your inbox.
If you want to schedule meetings or reminders based on the content of an email, you can do so in less than 60 seconds.
To create a Google Calendar event in a couple of clicks, do this:
- Open the email you want to use to create an event.
- Select the three dots icon (more) and choose Create event – a Google Calendar tab will open.
- Give your event a title, then set the date and time. You can also choose to Add guests.
- By default, the event description will be a copy of the email you were looking at – change this if needed.
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Additional reporting by Jonathan Parkyn.
