Most people use Gmail the same way they did ten years ago: open, read, reply, leave the rest. A handful of settings, most of them switched off by default, make a real difference to how fast you get through your inbox. These are ten worth turning on today.
Quick answer
Turn on keyboard shortcuts and a 30-second Undo Send in Settings > See all settings > General, enable Templates under Advanced, and use search operators such as has:attachment larger:10M to find what is eating your storage. Schedule Send, Snooze and labels with filters do the rest.
1. Give yourself 30 seconds to undo a sent email
Go to Settings (gear) > See all settings > General > Undo Send and set the cancellation period to 30 seconds, the maximum. After you send, an Undo link appears at the bottom left. It only delays sending; once the time is up, the email is gone for good.
2. Turn on keyboard shortcuts
Shortcuts are off by default. Enable them under Settings > See all settings > General > Keyboard shortcuts on, then save. The most useful ones:
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| c | Compose a new email |
| / | Jump to the search box |
| e | Archive the open email |
| r / a / f | Reply / reply all / forward |
| Shift + I | Mark as read |
| Ctrl + Enter | Send |
| Ctrl + Shift + B | Add Bcc while composing |
| ? | Show every shortcut |
3. Find big emails and free up storage
Gmail shares its 15 GB with Google Drive and Photos. Type these into the search box to find what takes the space, then delete or archive:
has:attachment larger:10M
older_than:2y category:promotions
from:noreply@ older_than:1yEmpty Trash and Spam afterwards, or the space is not freed for 30 days.
4. Unsubscribe in bulk
Newer versions of Gmail have a Manage subscriptions page in the left menu (under More) that lists every sender you get newsletters from, with an unsubscribe button for each. If you do not see it yet, open any newsletter and use the Unsubscribe link next to the sender name.
5. Save replies you type over and over as templates
Turn on Settings > See all settings > Advanced > Templates. Then write a reply, click the three dots in the compose window and choose Templates > Save draft as template. Next time, insert it from the same menu. Combine it with a filter to send a canned reply automatically.
6. Schedule emails to send later
Click the arrow next to Send and choose Schedule send. Useful for emailing a colleague in another time zone during their working hours, or for not sending a non-urgent message at 11 p.m.
7. Snooze emails until you can deal with them
Hover over an email and click the clock icon. It disappears from your inbox and comes back at the time you choose, so your inbox only shows what needs attention today.
8. Sort mail automatically with labels and filters
Labels on their own still need clicking. The time saver is a filter: open an email, click the three dots, choose Filter messages like these, and set Gmail to apply a label and skip the inbox. Bank alerts, invoices and newsletters can all file themselves.
9. Send confidential emails
In the compose window, click the lock icon to turn on confidential mode. You can set an expiry date and require an SMS passcode, and the recipient cannot forward, copy, print or download the message. They can still take a screenshot, so do not treat it as true encryption.
10. Use Gmail offline
In Chrome, go to Settings > See all settings > Offline and tick Enable offline mail. You can read, search and write emails without internet, and they send once you are back online. It only works in Google Chrome on a computer.
Bonus: archive instead of delete
Archiving removes an email from the inbox but keeps it searchable under All Mail. Press e and keep going. Delete only what you are sure you will never need.
Switching from a work Outlook mailbox to Gmail? See migrating emails from Outlook 365 to Gmail. For more speed on Windows itself, see Windows shortcuts for system administrators.
Frequently asked questions
How long can I undo a sent email in Gmail?
Up to 30 seconds. Set it in Settings, See all settings, General, Undo Send. After that the email has been delivered and cannot be recalled.
How do I enable keyboard shortcuts in Gmail?
Open Settings, See all settings, General, choose Keyboard shortcuts on, and save. Press the question mark key to see the full list.
How do I find large emails in Gmail?
Search for has:attachment larger:10M to list emails with attachments bigger than 10 MB, then delete what you do not need and empty Trash.
How do I create email templates in Gmail?
Turn on Templates in Settings, See all settings, Advanced. Then write the email, click the three dots in the compose window and choose Templates, Save draft as template.
Is Gmail confidential mode encrypted?
Not end to end. It stops forwarding, copying and downloading and can expire messages, but recipients can still take screenshots, and Google can read the content.