VUSD Gmail

Vacaville Unified School District is transitioning from Microsoft Outlook to Google Gmail! We understand this change may bring up questions and challenges. To assist you during this transition, we have created this page to provide answers to many common questions. If you need further assistance or cannot find the information you are looking for, please reach out to the Technology Department.

Get Ready to Customize Gmail!

To access your district Google account and familiarize yourself with important settings, follow these steps:

We will be using the settings gear icon  and ‘See All Settings’ frequently in the tips that follow.

Step ONE - Personalize Your Gmail Window


Gmail’s default interface has a straightforward, industrial appearance. Here’s how you can customize it to better suit your preferences:


Feel free to experiment with different settings to find what suits you best.

Additionally, you can enable or disable the 'threaded' email view, also known as 'Conversation' mode. This option is at the bottom of the quick settings window. Basically, unchecking this box will avoid messages grouped by topic, but this choice is up to you. Exploring these settings can greatly enhance your email experience.

View more (or less) emails at a time in your inbox

To change the number of email threads displayed in your inbox, follow these steps:

Adjust the setting to suit your viewing preferences for a more tailored email experience.

Mark emails as unread even if you’ve read them

Unread emails often signify a pending task. If you read an email that requires action but cannot address it immediately, you can mark it as unread to remind yourself to return to it later.

To mark an email as unread:

This will help you keep track of emails that need further attention.

Change your ‘Compose’ window from tiny to HUGE

Gmail’s compose feature opens a small window in the lower right corner of the screen for new messages, which can feel restrictive. To expand this window for a more comfortable composing experience, follow these steps:

From now on, all new messages will open in a larger window, providing more space for composing your emails.

Prioritize unread emails to always appear at the top of your inbox

To ensure that the most important emails are displayed at the top of your inbox, you can enable a specific setting in Gmail. Follow these steps:

This setting will help you quickly access the most crucial emails in your inbox.

Mark emails as unread even if you’ve read them

Unread emails can serve as a reminder for tasks that require attention. If you read an email that necessitates an action you cannot take immediately, you can mark it as unread to revisit it later.

To mark an email as unread:

This practice helps you keep track of emails that need further action.

Get Colorful with Stars

Using stars and "important" markers is an excellent first step in mastering Gmail organization. To further enhance this system, you can utilize colored stars and other symbols. Follow these steps:

Using different colors and icons allows for quick, visual categorization of messages. This method helps streamline email organization and improves efficiency.

Organize your emails with labels - Hint: This replaces the Outlook concept of FOLDERS

To organize your emails more effectively, you can create new labels. Follow these steps:

This system allows you to categorize and manage your emails efficiently.

Enhancing Efficiency with Gmail Keyboard Shortcuts

If you prefer using keyboard combinations over mouse clicks, Gmail offers a variety of keyboard shortcuts to expedite your workflow. To enable these shortcuts, follow these steps:

To view all available shortcuts, press and hold the Shift key and press the question mark (?). This will display a comprehensive list of Gmail keyboard shortcuts for your reference.

Give these shortcuts a try to enhance your email efficiency.

Append an email signature to every email you send

To add an email signature, navigate to Settings, select the “General” tab, and scroll down to the “Signature” section. You can then customize your signature as needed.

Automatically categorize emails as they come in

You can use Filters to automatically categorize emails into various categories and labels you’ve created, saving you from manual organization. For example, to automatically file emails from a specific client into the “Client X” folder, set up a rule to do so. 

Filters can be created based on email addresses, keywords, and other criteria. Additionally, you can block certain email addresses entirely. 

Un-send an email

Go to the Settings area and select the General tab, where you will find an option to enable "Undo Send." 

This feature allows you to recall an email within up to 30 seconds after sending it. Once the email is sent, it cannot be retrieved, so there's no need to contact IT for assistance. 

While you're in the Settings, consider setting the default reply option to "Reply" instead of "Reply All" to avoid unnecessary replies to all recipients. 

Grant someone else access to your Gmail account without revealing your Gmail password

If you need to grant someone access to your Gmail account, you can do so by delegating account access. This is useful if you are going on vacation, will be without email access for an extended period, or require clerical assistance with your email.

Send an email that requires recipients to go through 2-step verification to read

For enhanced security, you can use “confidential mode” to enable two-step verification on the emails you send. This requires the recipient to enter a code sent via SMS to their phone in order to open the email. Ensure you know the recipient’s cell phone number when sending the message. 

To perform a power search in Gmail, click the settings icon in the search box to open a full search dialog box, or use Gmail's search operators directly. 

For example, type "in:trash" to search the inbox. Use "label:" followed by the label/folder name to search within a specific folder, or "filename:" followed by a file name to find specific attachments. 

Use a minus sign (hyphen) to exclude terms (e.g., "dinner -movie" finds messages containing "dinner" but excludes those mentioning "movie").

Gmail also supports the Boolean operator "OR" (in all caps).

Power Your Search

Response in a Can

To save time and avoid repetitive typing, use templates (formerly called "canned responses") for repeated, redundant emails. 

Enable this feature by navigating to See all settings > Advanced > Templates > Enable. 

After saving changes, Gmail will reload. Create a new email, type your message, and click the ellipsis menu (the three dots) in the lower-right corner of the message. 

Select "Templates" to save the message as a template for future use or to apply an existing template. If you update the canned reply, re-save it with the same name for future use. 

Notifications

One of the most common complaints of former Outlook users is that Outlook would get your attention when a new message arrived.  Gmail can do this too, but it doesn’t - until you tell it to.  Here’s how you tell Gmail and Google calendar to pop up a window and make a notification sound.





Let's Chat!

In today's fast-paced environment, effective communication often requires more than just emails. Emails can be cumbersome for quick, back-and-forth exchanges. That's where Google Chat comes in. It's a streamlined messaging platform that allows for efficient, real-time conversations without the need to pick up your phone.

Google Chat is seamlessly integrated into your Gmail interface and offers two primary functions:

Printing an Email

Have you noticed that email seems to have a small font on your screen or when printing?  You can make new messages use a larger font (it doesn't work retroactively).  Here's how: In Gmail, click the settings gear, 

Reading Pane

Want to be able to read your email without having to open it? Enable the Reading Pane.

Now that you've turned on the reading pane, you may want to 'tune' the automatic 'Mark conversation as read' setting back on the 'General' page.