Official Gmail Blog
News, tips and tricks from Google's Gmail team and friends.
View .doc attachments right in your browser
June 25, 2010
Posted by Marc Miller, Software Engineer
If you receive Microsoft® Word files as attachments in Gmail, you can now view them with a single click — no need to download, save, and open files with a desktop application when you just want read them. The Google Docs viewer that allows you to view .pdf, .ppt, and .tiff files in your browser now supports .doc and .docx formats too.
Just click the "View" link at the bottom of a Gmail message and the viewer will take it from there. If you decide you want to edit the file, clicking "Edit online" will open it in Google Docs, or you can download it to your desktop from there.
More room to compose messages in Gmail on the iPad
June 22, 2010
Posted by Craig Wilkinson, Software Engineer
If you've been using the
web-based version of Gmail on the iPad
, you may have noticed that yesterday you started to have a big, full screen compose window for writing messages. Instead of splitting the screen between your inbox and the compose view, we updated the interface to hide the inbox messages on the side and make more of the text you're working on visible at once.
To try out Gmail on the iPad, just go to
gmail.com
in Safari. Please note that the new interface is only available in US English for now.
For more info, check out
this post on the Mobile blog
.
Tip: 5 things you may not know you can do with attachments in Gmail
June 16, 2010
Posted by Arielle Reinstein, Product Marketing Manager
The more I use Google Docs, the less I have to deal with sending attachments back and forth. While attachments' days may be waning, they're still very much a part of most people's email experience. Here are five things you may not know you can do with Gmail to make sending, receiving, viewing, and finding attachments easier:
1. Drag attachments in
Simply drag files from your desktop right into the message you're composing and they'll upload from there. (Make sure you're using Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox 3.6 for this to work.)
2. Select multiple attachments
Attaching multiple files one by one is no fun. Instead, just multi-select the files you want to attach by holding down the Ctrl key (or Command on a Mac) and clicking on each file you want to attach. Holding down the Shift key will select a continuous list of files.
3. Never forget an attachment again
Gmail looks for phrases in your email that suggest you meant to attach a file (things like "I've attached" or "see attachment") and warns you if it looks like you forgot to do so. Every day, this saves tons of people the embarrassment of having to send a follow up email with the file actually attached.
4. View attachments online
When you receive an attachment, sometimes you just want to view it and there's no need to download or save to your desktop. The
Google Docs viewer
allows you to view .pdf, .ppt, and .tiff files in your browser. Just click the "View" link at the bottom of the message.
5. Find that long lost attachment via search
If you're looking for an attachment someone has sent to you, Gmail's
advanced search operators
can help you find what you're looking for quickly and accurately.
A couple examples:
To find all messages that contain attachments:
has:attachment
To find all messages from your friend David that contain attachments:
from:david has:attachment
To find all messages that have .pdf attachments:
has:attachment pdf
To find a specific attachment named physicshomework.txt:
filename:physicshomework.txt
Long lived new windows
June 10, 2010
Posted by Michael Davidson, Software Engineer
I recently posted about Gmail's
fast new windows
and explained that the only downside of them was that they closed when the main Gmail window closed. Today, we're changing that. If you're using the latest version of Google Chrome, you can now continue to work in popped out windows after you close your main window (especially handy for those of us who always like to keep an eye on our tasks).
For the technically curious among you, our friends on the Chrome team made it possible to transfer the code that runs Gmail from one window to another as the window closes. When the window that hosts the code fires an unload event, we move the iframe with the code to a surviving window. Everything continues to run, including timers and outstanding requests.
Making it easier to video chat, voice chat, and group chat in Gmail
June 8, 2010
Posted by Josh Teague, User Experience Designer
Update (5:28PM, June 30th):
And we're back! You'll see the redesigned chat window the next time you start up a chat.
Update (4:59PM, June 9th):
Bad news: we discovered an issue with the new chat design that impacted a small number of Google Apps users. Rather than have them experience problems with chat, we've pulled back this change to fix it. We plan to have this out again in the next week or so — thanks for bearing with us.
-----
Video chat, voice chat, and group chat have all been available for some time within Gmail, but they've been curiously tucked away. Getting them up and running required fidgeting with a little menu at the bottom of each chat window. Starting today, all of these features will be just a single click away.
One of the more subtle benefits to surfacing these chat options is that it's easier for people to get started who don't yet have the
voice and video chat plugin
.
If your chat buddy doesn't have the plugin, clicking on this icon
in the chat window will invite them to install it. As soon as they're done, you can carry on with a face-to-face video chat. Since we launched
a similar feature on iGoogle and orkut
a little while ago, we've seen a dramatic uptick in people using video chat.
Finally, you'll find oldie but goodie features such as "Go off the record," "Block", and "Send SMS" in a more aptly named "Actions" menu of each chat window.
Google Maps previews in Gmail and Google Buzz
June 7, 2010
Posted by Mark Knichel, Software Engineer
I often receive emails containing addresses in them — where to meet for dinner, the location of my friend's new apartment, etc. To find out where these places actually are, I have to copy the address, open up
Google Maps
, and paste it in. Today, we're making it easier to see maps of all the addresses you receive in Gmail and Google Buzz.
Enable "Google Maps previews in mail" from the
Gmail Labs tab under Settings
, and any time you receive an address or a Google Maps link in an email, a preview will appear containing an interactive Google Map of that location. Any Google Maps URL will work, but we currently only extract US addresses (we're working on making addresses around the world work).
Additionally, when you paste a Google Maps link into the post box in Google Buzz, it'll automatically fetch an image preview of that location that you can associate with your post.
Please
let us know
if you have any feedback.
Gmail sweatshirts
June 3, 2010
Posted by Arielle Reinstein, Product Marketing Manager
When Gmail came
out of beta
, we embroidered the Gmail logo onto sweatshirts for the team. Any given day in the office, a couple of people are wearing them. When other people asked us where they too could get their very own Gmail sweatshirt, we didn't like replying with "Oh...they're not really available, it was just something we did for the team," so we made them
available in the Google Store
.
"Reshare" in Google Buzz
May 27, 2010
Posted by Sam Goto, Software Engineer
The other day I posted
this video
to the version of Buzz we use inside of Google. A few people commented on it, 13 liked it, and 68 of my coworkers thought it was interesting enough that they wanted to share it with their own followers. Collectively, thousands of people watched it, many of whom were many degrees away from me.
For the last couple weeks we've been testing reshare — and today we’re excited to roll it out to everyone. If you don't see the "Reshare" link quite yet, hang tight. It should be on for everyone by the end of the day.
How reshare works
When you find an interesting buzz post you want to reshare, instead of copying and pasting it (and maybe attributing the original poster with an @reply along the way), you can now reshare posts with two clicks.
First, click “Reshare”:
Then type up anything you want to add and click “Post”:
Your post will include a link to the original post:
Note that this only works for
public
posts;
private
posts won't have the reshare link since the original poster intended to limit the audience of their post.
A little more background
Reshare has been one of our
top user requests
, so we hope we've made a number of you happy. We realize that just as many will likely wonder why we decided to implement it the way we did. So, here's a bit more background for those who are curious:
First, back to those two clicks: one click vs. two click reshare was a hard choice (I know, it doesn't sound so hard, but we spent a lot of time on this!). Ultimately, we chose to go with two clicks because we want people to be able to reshare publicly
or privately
and also encourage resharers to add their own new content to the post.
If you follow a bunch of people who all reshare the same thing, the last thing you want is for that same post to appear over and over again. When this happens, similar posts get collapsed, so you should only see each thing once.
You'll notice that resharing creates a new post, effectively forking the conversation. To fork or not fork was a decision we debated for a while. Ultimately, we think forked conversations help create more varied, intimate discussions around a single item. We realize people may want a non-forking version too, so we're thinking about how to do that as well.
When there is a chain of reshares, the names of all of the people who publicly reshare the post appear on the original item, even if they're not directly connected to the original author. If you share something that ends up getting passed around by lots of other people, it's pretty cool to see that.
If you "like" a reshare, you don't automatically also "like" the original post. Imagine what would happen if I reshare a very positive movie review and write "What a joke! This movie was terrible!" Someone who likes my post probably doesn't want their "like" showing on the original post praising the film, too.
Overall, we’ve made a lot of progress since my original ASCII mockups...
...and after a lot of debate, we even settled on what to call it...
...but reshare is still very much a work in progress. We wanted to launch and iterate so be sure to let us know what you think in the
forum
or on Buzz.
10 tips for using Gmail at work
May 26, 2010
Posted by Michelle Lisowski, Product Marketing Manager, Google Apps
Working with a lot of small business owners who have moved their email over to
Google Apps
, we’ve found that many started out managing their work email through their personal @gmail.com accounts. So, in honor of
National Small Business Week
and the estimated 27.2 million small businesses in America, we wanted to share some tips we’ve picked up from them (and other people at Google) on how to get the most out of using Gmail at work.
1. Get a Gmail account at your own domain (e.g. michelle@yourdomain.com) with
Google Apps
.
Google Apps is a suite of communication and collaboration tools, including Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Docs, which run on your own domain, so instead of using your @gmail.com email address, you (and other employees) can have email addresses @yourdomain.com. Using a customized email address can help build an identity around your business and make you look more professional along the way.
2. Add a custom signature to the bottom of your email messages.
Email signatures are automatically inserted at the bottom of every message you send, and can be a great place to add your title, contact information, and even the latest news from your company. Just go to Settings at the top of your inbox and enter your signature text in the box at the bottom.
3. Manage multiple email accounts from a single interface.
If you’re like a lot of business owners, you probably regularly receive email in several different accounts. By centralizing your correspondence in Gmail, you’ll be able to keep track of it all more easily. To do this, either forward your other email addresses to your main Gmail account or route them there using Gmail’s
Mail Fetcher
, which downloads messages via POP from up to five other accounts. To set it up, visit the
Account and Import tab
under Settings.
4. Set up custom “From” addresses.
This feature allows you to send messages from Gmail with one of your other email addresses listed as the sender. Once you set it up, you can choose the address you want to reply from while composing messages in the "From:" address drop down. This too is under Settings on the
Account and Import tab
.
5. Embrace labels
. Folders are familiar, especially when it comes to work email. If you want to organize your emails in a similar way, make sure you’re using Gmail
labels
. Combined with
filters
, they can be a powerful tool to manage your mail. Create labels for projects, vendors, customers, weekly reports, launches, to-do’s -- the list goes on. You can also add custom colors to your labels, order them based on priority, and search the contents of specific labels. And don’t forget that you can drag messages into labels, just like you can with folders.
6. Use chat and video chat to communicate with colleagues, or provide real-time customer support.
No matter where everyone is located, you can communicate in real-time as though you were in the same room with video chat or just chat via voice or text. Try using “
Reply by chat
” at the bottom of each message if you want to reach the sender quickly. To add video chat capabilities to Gmail, all you need is this small
plugin
and a webcam.
7. Keep track of your to-do’s with Tasks.
You spend a lot of time in your inbox, so why not keep track of what you have to do there too?
Tasks
allows you to create multiple lists, add notes to each task, assign due dates, and get the satisfaction of checking off completed items.
8. Use offline Gmail anytime you're not online.
Despite having Internet access almost everywhere, work may take you to places where you just can’t get online. Turn on offline Gmail from the
Offline tab under Settings
, and Gmail will download a local cache of your mail which synchronizes with Gmail's servers while you’re connected. When you lose connectivity, Gmail automatically switches to offline mode, so you can continue to work, and your replies are automatically sent the next time Gmail detects a connection.
9. Create canned responses and quickly reply to common questions.
When it comes to emailing at work, you’re probably used to sending out weekly reports, or answering the same questions from customers or colleagues multiple times. That’s where
canned responses
can save precious time: turn on this feature in
Gmail Labs
, compose your response once, save it, then use it over and over again.
10. Make sure you have the right Bob before hitting send.
If you’ve ever accidentally sent a personal email to the wrong co-worker, or emailed your internal meeting notes to an external contact, then you'll want to turn on “
Got the wrong Bob?
” from the
Labs tab under Settings
. Based on the groups of people you email most often, Gmail will try to flag when you've accidentally included the wrong person.
For more tips, check out
gmail.com/tips
. To keep up with the latest news on using Gmail and other Google products at work, follow us on the
Google Enterprise Blog
.
New in Labs: Move the attachment and other icon column
May 25, 2010
Posted by Greg Bullock, Software Engineer
The icon column in Gmail helps to easily distinguish the various types of items in your inbox (e.g. messages with attachments, chats, calendar invitations, Buzz posts, and more). It's usually all the way over on the right of the screen, but with screen sizes becoming increasingly wider, I chose to make a very modest addition to Gmail Labs to try and give these icons greater visibility.
I found it much more useful to have this column situated on the far left of my inbox -- and it turns out that many of my colleagues did too.
If you’d like try out "Move Icon Column," simply visit the
Labs tab under Gmail Settings
, find this new Lab in the list, hit enable, and then save. It’s not big and it’s not clever but hopefully this lab might just be helpful for you too; it's the little things in life after all.
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