The Extras

Gmail Labs are experimental features that are not quite ready to put into full production. They can be really useful!

To get to the Labs section, click on the gear icon in the upper right corner of your inbox and choose "Settings" from the menu. Then click on the "Labs" section across the top of the page.

To find a lab, scroll down through the list of popular labs or search for one in the search window. When you find one you'd like to enable, you can simply click the bubble next to enable and then click on the "Save changes" button on the top or bottom of the page. Your enabled labs will show at the top of the list.

Some labs that you might find useful are:

• Multiple Inboxes - Multiple Inboxes allows you to section of a part of your inbox screen for certain emails, like emails from a certain person or emails belonging to one of your labels. It is pretty handy! I have a label called Follow Up and I have used Multiple Inboxes to make a list of emails in my inbox that I need to follow up with. You can click here to see a little video explaining how to install Multiple Inboxes and use it as a to do list! (It is one of my very first video tutorials from my early days, so it isn't perfect, but it shows you exactly how to set it up.)
• Canned Responses - Find yourself sending the same emails over and over again? Save time with canned responses! Click here to view an image that helps show you how to use this handy lab.
• Google Calendar Gadget - This will put a little window in the left side navigation panel of your inbox that shows a list of your upcoming calendar events. Once you enable it, you may have to click the little three dots menu that appears in the bottom right corner of the left side navigation panel in order to see your calendar events.
• Preview Pane - This lab puts a preview pane on your inbox screen so you can read the whole email without leaving your inbox list. It feels very much like the preview pane we all loved in Microsoft Outlook.
• Unread Message Icon - Now you can have a little number on the Gmail icon that shows in the top of your Chrome tab. You can be browsing on another tab and still see how many unread emails you have.

Sortd transforms the look and feel of your inbox and allows you to categorize your email and keep track of tasks easily. Dragging and dropping emails into categories and viewing your tasks lists helps you stay on target. Here is an example screen of a Sortd inbox:

You can click here to head on over to the Chrome Web Store and install Sortd Smart Skin for Gmail.

Boomerang for Gmail allows you to schedule a message and send it later. You can also open a message and tell Boomerang when you want to see that message again and it will pop up in your inbox again when you need it. There are a few other neat options involved with Boomerang. Click here to be taken to their website to read more.

*There are paid features in this one. You can use the free version and you get 10 message credits a month. That means 10 messages a month that you can schedule or use another Boomerang function with.