GMail tricks

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I am sure many users are aware of this:
GMail ignores . (dot) in the userid part of the email id
so first.last@gmail.com can be written as
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.i.r.s.t.l.a.s.t.@gmail.com
- .......first......last.....@gmail.com

GMail allows extra characters to be added to the userid part of the email id
so first.last@gmail.com can be written as
- first.last+funny@gmail.com
- first.last+imp@gmail.com

This allows us some interesting possibilities.

A. Control SPAM
When registering on sites which is one off, try using first.last+once@gmail.com. The confirmation mail will get delivered once and thereafter you can direct all emails on this ID to the spam folder

 

B. Discover who sells your email id to spammers
When registering on sites where you expect notifications or useful responses, try putting the sites name in the userid part, e.g. first.last+facebook@gmail.com. Now you should be getting notifications from Facebook only. If you start getting mails from site offering to enhance you-know-what, you will know who shared your email id with spammers.

C. Create GMail Filters with Labels
GMail allows 7GB of email space but does not have concept of folders. It has something better.. Labels. A Label is a tag which can be applied to any mail and multiple labels can be applied. You can apply labels manually or automatically using filters.

1. For example, you need to remind yourself of something important, send yourself a mail first.last+IMP@gmail.com. Now in GMail > Setting > Filters > Create Filter > To: first.last+IMP@gmail.com > Next > Apply Label > IMP. You can also specify colour to the Label.. like Bright Red. Now whenever you send yourself a mail on first.last+IMP@gmail.com, it will appear in your inbox with a Label called IMP in bright red.

2. Another trick is to create a filter from: first.last@gmail.com to: first.last@gmail.com and apply label TODO. This way you would have a list of pending tasks showing up in your inbox. From the labels list you can click TODO and it will show a list of all pending task. Once you have completed the task, open the mail and remove the label by clicking on the X sign on the top of the mail.

3. Many a times we search for attachment of specific type and have to wade thru thousands of email. At best we can try and recollect some words which were there in the mail containing that presentation and search for it. A better way would be to create a filter to apply specific label based on the attachment. e.g. You can create a filter PPT and specify in the filter that the attached file extension should be .ppt or .pptx. This way you can categorize PPT, MUSIC, PIC etc.

Another advantage is that you can limit your search to a specific category. You can click label PPT which shows only those mails which are labelled as PPT and then search for Budgets.
Filters are very powerful but unfortunately underutilized feature of GMail. It even allows you to export and import filters, so that you can exchange your filter with other users or re-use them in your alternate Gmail ids.

Do you have any interesting filters which you think are interesting and useful? Drop me a line