Customizing the New gMail

Google has now migrated all user accounts into the "New" gMail interface, which has several new features. Many users have asked how to turn some of these off to save screen space:

1) If you don't want attachments listed as a separate line in your Inbox, go to your gMail settings (gear icon,) choose "Display Density" and change it from Default to "Comfortable" or "Compact"

2) Google has incorporated AI (Artificial Intelligence) to remind you of messages that may require follow-up. You can turn off these reminders by opening gMail settings (Gear --> Settings) and scrolling down to find "Nudges" in the General tab. Uncheck those boxes to turn off these reminders.

3) Want a little more screen space? Clicking the "hamburger" (3 lines) in the upper left will collapse the left sidebar to icons, which pop out when you mouse over them. You can also move Chat to the right side of your screen by enabling "Right Side Chat" in Settings --> Advanced.

How Can I Get gMail to Handle eMail Links on Web Pages?

When you first use gMail in Chrome, a little <> icon shows at the right end of the omnibar (aka address bar). This is a notification that gMail wants to install a "service handler" for email links. Click on this icon and check "Use CESU mail" and your gMail will now pop open whenever you click on a link to someone's email. If you accidentally "ignore" this prompt, the setting is buried but available in Settings --> Advanced Settings --> Content Settings (Privacy) --> Scroll down to "Manage Handlers" and delete the "ignored" handler to reset the prompt.

Handling gMail attachments

In gMail, the "traditional" rules for handling email attachments have changed. Specifically, it IS now safe to open attachments directly in your email. Attachments open in the Google Docs Viewer, which can open many kinds of attachments directly in your browser without downloading. NOTE: viewing an attachment in gMail does NOT make it into a Google Doc, even though the appearance is similar.

Downloading attachments may still be preferable if you need to edit them, OR you can change non-PDF documents into Google Docs that you can edit and share:

1. Choose "View" to open that attachment


2. Choose "Save in Google Docs" (upper right)


3. Edit as needed. To "return" the edited document to the sender, simply SHARE your new document back to them!

 

 

Deleting old or "bad" addresses from gMail autocomplete

Google saves contacts from people you have received messages from as well as those you have contacted, so when people change their email address you may end up with their old address "stuck" in your Contacts. Because addresses are completed automatically from your Contacts, this can result in inadvertently sending to an obsolete address. Here's how to remove a bad address from your Contacts:

1) Click on "Contacts" (upper left)

2) Contacts are grouped on the left. Make sure "All Contacts" is highlighted.

3) Check the boxes for the contacts you need to remove, then click "More" and "Delete Contact." Use the search bar to search for specific addresses or domain names if necessary.

Why Does "Sent Mail" seem to disappear?

I have been doing some research on this phenomenon and will try to clarify: The good news is that everything remains in your account unless you empty your trash, and since there are no storage limits or concerns I recommend AGAINST emptying your gMail Trash. Here's why:

1) When you "Reply" to a message, your reply becomes part of a "conversation." You may have noticed that back-and-forth messages are displayed as one item with the replies "stacked" like notecards

2) If you "Label" a message (like moving it to a folder), any reply you make will stay in Sent Mail and any replies you receive will come to your Inbox. It is a good idea to label conversations that you may need to reference later rather than deleting them.

3) If you delete a message that is part of a conversation, the entire conversation moves to your Trash, including your Reply!

4) If you wish to save your reply in "Sent" but delete the original message, scroll up to the original message after you reply and click the down-arrow next to 'Reply," then choose "Delete This Message" instead of using the Delete button. Your reply will be in Sent Mail and the original will be in Trash.

For those of you looking for sent messages, look in (or search) your Trash!

When in doubt, clicking the down arrow next to "# more" (in the left column) will show you a label named "All Mail." Click on that to see EVERYTHING in your account, and search for what you are looking for.

Keep in mind that all email that goes in or out of our system is archived at the system level, so we can retrieve "critical" messages if you can't find them in your own account.

Managing gMail Quarantine, approving senders

gMail users will notice that some junk mail goes into your Spam folder, and some gets held in quarantine. A list of quarantined messages is delivered every morning at around 7:00am. You can click "deliver" for a one-time approval, or you can permanently approve senders in the Message Center by clicking the subject of the message. There is also a direct link to the message center underneath the gMail link on our Teacher's Corner.

1) Log on to Message Center

2) Find the message in the quarantine list, check the box next to it and click "Deliver" on the right.

3) Check the box to the left of the message and click "Approve Selected Senders"

You can also manually approve senders by clicking "My Settings" in the upper right after logging on to Message Center and then clicking "Approve Senders"

If this happens with a lot of good email, you can lower your filter from "strict" to "normal" in the same My Settings area.

How big is my file?

Sometimes it is important to know how large a file is, particularly when you are working with pictures, video or music files (often large files).

Windows: right-click and choose "Properties."

Mac: right-click or ctrl-click and choose "Get Info" or simply select the file and use CMD-I.

Sizes are in KB or MB (=1000KB). Emailing anything larger than 3MB is not recommended, and 500KB or less is good for inserting images into documents or web pages.

What is an .EML file? What do I do with it?

Q: I received a forwarded message with an attachment ending in ".eml," but no actual message or only a short message. What is this? How do I open the attachment?

A: eMail programs such as Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, and Mozilla Thunderbird save individual messages as .eml files. When you receive one of these as an attachment, it is most likely forwarded from someone who is using one of these email programs.

T: As with ALL attachments, you should save the .eml attachment before trying to open it. *** Many "hoax" and virus-infected messages appear in this format, and saving the file assures that it gets scanned by your anti-virus program ***

Most Windows computers include Outlook Express, so double-clicking the message after saving it will open that program. Outlook will prompt you to set up an account - you can cancel that section and it will open your message.

Windows and Mac users can also open these files in "plain text" format, since these messages are essentially text files "encapsulated" in email code. To do this, simply change the ".eml" extension on the file to ".txt" In general this is NOT recommended (it does not change the type of file, and will usually cause problems) but in this case it will work. Windows computers will open the file in Notepad, Macs in TextEdit. In this format, the message will include some "code" at the top, with the message text in the middle.