Getting Started

Gmail

Brand new to Gmail? No problem. Here's a quick run-through of what you'll need to get comfortable

First, you may want to take a minute to familiarize yourself with the navigation links

  • Compose Mail opens a new message. If you're feeling shaky, you can read more to brush up on sending messages.
  • Inbox shows your conversations (the number in parentheses indicates how many unread conversations you have).
  • Starred shows you only messages you've marked with a star (use stars to mean whatever you'd like).
  • Chats lists your archived Chat conversations.
  • Sent Mail shows messages you've sent.
  • Drafts houses messages you've started and saved to work on later.
  • Customized labels show labels you've created (e.g. 'Coupons' or 'Travel')
  • All Mail shows you almost all of your mail; you'll see content from your Inbox, Starred, Chats, Sent, Drafts, and all your archived messages; you won't see Spam or Trash.
  • Spam is where we send the messages we think are suspicious.
  • Trash is where messages you delete end up; you can empty the trash whenever you feel like it.
  • Contacts lists the email addresses of people you've corresponded with; you can add more details as you see fit.
  • Tasks lets you enter and track to-do lists.

One other thing that might help get you feeling comfortable: Gmail threads related messages into conversations. This means if you send a message to your mom and she hits 'reply,' you'll receive her message, threaded to the original message you sent her. If she replies again, the same conversation will bold; in other words, you won't see two separate places to click in your inbox. All these messages will be kept in one place

 

In: About Us