Gmail Voodoo- Getting Organized!

Gmail is more than just a simple email provider. Sending and receiving emails are of course the major

features, but there are many more where that came from. Not the least being it's ability to keep you

organized by using labels and filters.

Gmail allows users to create filters to sort their incoming mail, and the mail is divided up by the labels

you assign certain attributes to. You can label them as from certain people, or on certain topics, or use

categories such as read, waiting, urgent, call etc.

So, to create a label first you have to log into your Gmail account and then click on the 'more actions'

tab and navigate to 'new label'. Then you have to name your label, using something like what I

mentioned above. You can then set up filters to automatically sort your mail into the specified labels.

To set up the filters, you first need to click on 'create filter' which is next to the search bar. You then

specify what information you'd like to sort the mail by, such as an email addy, certain words, or other

information and search criteria. You then click next and choose what you'd like to do with the email.

In this case we are simply applying a label, so you would check 'apply the label', 'delete it', and 'skip the

inbox' to send it straight on to the labeled folder. Then you must decide to only apply this to new

incoming mail, or all mail past and present.

Another neat feature of Gmail and labels is that you can color code them. So labels for family might be

a different color than labels for friends, and labels for clients might be different than labels for JV

associates, and so on. Not to mention the relief to your inbox! Gmail allows you to keep all emails

destined for labels in their assigned label folder, and you can delete them from your inbox, or even

bypass it completely, freeing up valuable space and cutting down on clutter. Who couldn't use a little

less clutter in their inbox?

Then, to see the mail inside the labeled folder, you just click that label. If you want to see ALL mail,

including labels and what's in your inbox, you would click 'all mail' and it would show you all the mail

available. Who knew your Gmail account could become so handy and helpful in keeping organized!

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