Gmail for Students

Clicking on the "Reply" button sends your reply to the person who wrote the Gmail   If email was addressed to you and other people, you may consider using "Reply all"

Reply: Send the message to the sender.

Reply all: Send the message to the sender and anyone in the “To:” and “Cc:” lines.

Use the "reply all" only if needed. Does everyone who received the email need to see your response? or will people be confused if they don't see your response? If so, use "Replay all".  

If only the sender needs to see your reply, use "Reply".

"Cc" and "Bcc" are used when you want to add additional recipients to the email. "Cc" stands for Carbon Copy.  Carbon copy refers to an old pre-computer method of making an exact duplicate of a document. 

When you want to send an email to more than one person, you can add additional recipients in the "Cc" field. The use of "Bcc" is not common. Use it only if you have a very long list of recipients and you don't want everyone to see the whole list. Recipients are "blind" to the other recipients addressed in the "Bcc" field. 

There are limited fomatting options available in Gmail. You can change the font, text size, color and more by clicking the  A in the bottom of the Gmail compose window.  

You can learn more, including how copy formatted text from Google Docs, in this short video: How to Format Text in Gmail

When composing a Gmail, you can add attachments such as .pdf files, images, and even short videos from your computer. Use the "paper clip" icon to attach files. If the file is larger than 25MB, Google will move the file to your Google Drive and add a link instead of directly attaching the file.

It's often easier to share files from your Google Drive than attach them with "paper clip" icon. See the next question below. 

At the bottom of a message, click "Insert files" using Drive ⟁ . 

Decide how you want to send the file:

1. • Drive link: This works for any files stored in Drive, including files created using Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, or Forms.

   • Attachment: This only works for files that weren't created using Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, or Forms.

Decide on how you want to share the file. Be very careful with the settings and provide only the access needed.

1. • Viewer: Allows the recipient to view the file. This is the safest option for sharing.

   • Commenter: Allows the recipient to add comments to the document, but prevents them from editing the document.

   • Editor: Allows the recipient to make changes to the document. Use this sharing setting only when needed.
     
     

This video shows the process of attaching  Drive files:  How to Send Google Drive Attachments in Gmail

You can organize your Gmail inbox with Labels. Labels are different from folders. You can add as many labels as you want to an individula message. If you delete the message, the email will be removed from every label that's attached to it. 

You can learn how labels can help you organize you Inbox by watching this video: Organizing Gmail Inbox using Labels

You can use Gmail’s filters to help manage your incoming mail. You can use Filters to label, archive, delete, star, or automatically forward your mail.

You can learn how to use Gmail Filters by watching this video: How to use Gmail Filters like a Pro! (Tutorial)