We know you’ve been using the Gmail for years and you know every corner of it. However, we suspect that there are some features available in Gmail that you may not know. Therefore, we’ve given five things that you may not know to do with Gmail to make sending, receiving, viewing, and finding attachments easier than ever.
1. Drag and drop attachments in
This is one of the finest features of Gmail. As the title says, you can simply drag the files from the Desktop right into the message when you’re composing. We’ve already submitted an article regarding this. If you want to use this feature, make sure that you’ve Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox 3.6.
2. You can select multiple attachments
Earlier we used to attach multiple files one by one with no use. Now, the work becomes simpler. All you have to do is, just multi select the files you want to attach by holding down the Ctrl Key and clicking on the each file you want to attach. If you hold down the Shift Key, you can select a continuous list of files.
3. You will never forget an attachment again
Gmail brings an enhanced feature as it looks for phrases in the E-mail and suggests you to attach a file like "I've attached" or "see attachment". Moreover, it will warn, if you forget to do so.
4. View attachments online without downloading
Usually, if you receive an attachment and you want to view it, there is no need to download or save the file to the Desktop. The Google Docs viewer lets you view .pdf, .ppt, and .tiff files from the browser. All you have to do is, just click on the “View” link at the bottom of the message.
1. Drag and drop attachments in
This is one of the finest features of Gmail. As the title says, you can simply drag the files from the Desktop right into the message when you’re composing. We’ve already submitted an article regarding this. If you want to use this feature, make sure that you’ve Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox 3.6.
2. You can select multiple attachments
Earlier we used to attach multiple files one by one with no use. Now, the work becomes simpler. All you have to do is, just multi select the files you want to attach by holding down the Ctrl Key and clicking on the each file you want to attach. If you hold down the Shift Key, you can select a continuous list of files.
3. You will never forget an attachment again
Gmail brings an enhanced feature as it looks for phrases in the E-mail and suggests you to attach a file like "I've attached" or "see attachment". Moreover, it will warn, if you forget to do so.
4. View attachments online without downloading
Usually, if you receive an attachment and you want to view it, there is no need to download or save the file to the Desktop. The Google Docs viewer lets you view .pdf, .ppt, and .tiff files from the browser. All you have to do is, just click on the “View” link at the bottom of the message.
5. Use the search option and fine the lost attachments
You can use the Gmail’s advanced search operators to find the attachments easily and accurately. Therefore, it is not required to open each every mail that has been sent to you.
You can also use advanced search operators by clicking on Show search options beneath the Gmail search box.
| Operator | Definition | Example(s) |
| from: | Used to specify the sender | Example: from:amy Meaning: Messages from Amy |
| to: | Used to specify a recipient | Example: to:david Meaning: All messages that were sent to David (by you or someone else) |
| subject: | Search for words in the subject line | Example: subject:dinner Meaning: Messages that have the word "dinner" in the subject |
| OR | Search for messages matching term A or term B* *OR must be in all caps | Example: from:amy OR from:david Meaning: Messages from Amy or from David |
| - (hyphen) | Used to exclude messages from your search | Example: dinner -movie Meaning: Messages that contain the word "dinner" but do not contain the word "movie" |
| label: | Search for messages by label* *There isn't a search operator for unlabeled messages | Example: from:amy label:friends Meaning: Messages from Amy that have the label "friends" Example: from:david label:my-family Meaning: Messages from David that have the label "My Family" |
| has:attachment | Search for messages with an attachment | Example: from:david has:attachment Meaning: Messages from David that have an attachment |
| list: | Search for messages on mailing lists | Example: list:info@example.com Meaning: Messages with the words info@example.com in the headers, sent to or from this list |
| filename: | Search for an attachment by name or type | Example: filename:physicshomework.txt Meaning: Messages with an attachment named "physicshomework.txt" Example: label:work filename:pdf Meaning: Messages labeled "work" that also have a PDF file as an attachment |
| " " (quotes) | Used to search for an exact phrase* *Capitalization isn't taken into consideration | Example: "i'm feeling lucky" Meaning: Messages containing the phrase "i'm feeling lucky" or "I'm feeling lucky" Example: subject:"dinner and a movie" Meaning: Messages containing the phrase "dinner and a movie" in the subject |
| ( ) | Used to group words Used to specify terms that shouldn't be excluded | Example: from:amy (dinner OR movie) Meaning: Messages from Amy that contain either the word "dinner" or the word "movie" Example: subject:(dinner movie) Meaning: Messages in which the subject contains both the word "dinner" and the word "movie" |
| in:anywhere | Search for messages anywhere in Gmail* *Messages in Spam and Trash are excluded from searches by default | Example: in:anywhere movie Meaning: Messages in All Mail, Spam, and Trash that contain the word "movie" |
| in:inbox in:trash in:spam | Search for messages in Inbox, Trash, or Spam | Example: in:trash from:amy Meaning: Messages from Amy that are in Trash |
| is:starred is:unread is:read | Search for messages that are starred, unread or read | Example: is:read is:starred from:David Meaning: Messages from David that have been read and are marked with a star |
| cc: bcc: | Used to specify recipients in the cc: or bcc: fields* *Search on bcc: cannot retrieve messages on which you were blind carbon copied | Example: cc:david Meaning: Messages that were cc-ed to David |
| after: before: | Search for messages sent during a certain period of time* *Dates must be in yyyy/mm/dd format. | Example: after:2004/04/16 before:2004/04/18 Meaning: Messages sent between April 16, 2004 and April 18, 2004.* *More precisely: Messages sent after 12:00 AM (or 00:00) April 16, 2004 and before April 18, 2004. |
| is:chat | Search for chat messages | Example: is:chat monkey Meaning: Any chat message including the word "monkey". |
| deliveredto: | Search for messages within a particular email address in the Delivered-To line of the message header | Example: deliveredto:username@gmail.com Meaning: Any message with username@gmail.com in the Delivered-To: field of the message header (which can help you find messages forwarded from another account or ones sent to an alias). |
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