Gmail Android App

Google's Gmail service is normally very nice to use, there are obviously improvements to be made, particularly on the mobile side.

However, as is frequently the case with Google goods, what you see isn't always what you receive. The Gmail Android app has several super-useful hidden features lying beneath its surface that you've probably never seen – easily ignored features that may make your mobile email experience more powerful, effective, and successful.

Following are the very useful 14 hidden functions in the android app of Gmail.

1. Account switching is quick and easy

Talking of hidden swipes, if you have more than one Google account linked to your phone — for example, a work account and a personal account, or a work account and a secret chatting account – keep this in mind.

You can switch between accounts in the blink of an eye simply sliding your furry little finger up or down on the profile image in the upper-right corner of the Gmail interface.

2. The control panel for contact: another hidden function in the Android App of Gmail

While we're on the subject of face-to-face activities, here's another underutilized Gmail Android gem to add to your productivity toolbox: Click on the sender's profile image in the upper-left corner of the screen while viewing any email in your inbox.

That will bring up a hidden control panel with one-tap options for sending a new email to that person, scheduling a new calendar event with that person, starting a new Google Chat conversation with that person (if they have a Google account), and calling that person (if you have their phone number saved in your phone's contacts).

3. Commands for advanced email formating

The Gmail Android app's email composition interface appears to be empty somehow, but long-press on any available spot while writing a new email – and look what you'll discover:

You select the "Format" option. It has a comprehensive set of basic text formatting tools for creating your message.

You may style any area of your email with bold, italic, or underlined text; alter the font or background color of your email. You can clean away all current text formatting with a single press.

4. The contact is a time-saver. 4th useful hidden feature in the Android app of Gmail

One more great hidden feature of Gmail: You probably didn't realize you could find useful hidden options by pressing and holding a sender's name when viewing an email in Gmail.

Go ahead and try it: You'll discover helpful commands for copying that person's email address to your system clipboard as well as opening a new email thread to them right away.

5. Your reply can be redone

Have you ever realized you accidentally pushed the reply button in an email on your phone instead of the reply-all button? Or perhaps vice versa? It can happen on a regular basis.

If this occurs to you, keep in mind that you don't have to quit the open window to go home and start again. Simply press the word "Reply" at the top of your screen's Gmail Android reply window, and —boom!

You may go from a reply to a reply-all and even a forward right there, without ever moving an inch or leaving the clearly wonderful message you've already begun writing.

6. A stop to unintentional activities

When you're handling email on the job, it's all too easy to press an icon by accident, but Gmail provides a fantastic solution to avoid you from doing something dumb by accident.

It's an extra step of validation for the worst kinds of incorrect email pushes, including saving or deleting a message you weren't finished with or pressing the Send button before your document was ready.

And it merely takes a few short touches to set it up and activate it.

Go back to the "General settings" part of the Gmail settings, scroll down to the very bottom of that section, and seek for the "Action Confirmations" header — and from there, enable whichever pieces of extra confirmation will offer you more peace of mind:

7. A less unpleasant inbox: a very handy hidden feature in the Android app of Gmail

While we're on the subject of irritating features, you know how Gmail "nudges" you to answer or follow up on messages that have been sitting in your inbox for a while?

If you discover that this is more troublesome than helpful, return to the app's settings and choose your Google account once again.

Scroll down once you find the "Reply and follow up" button. Tap it, then uncheck both choices for "Suggest emails to reply to" and "Suggest emails to follow up on" on the next page.

8. A topic shortcut

And here is another useful long-press tip to add to your personal bank of Gmail Android hacks Long-pressing on the subject line of any message while reading it will expose an artistically hidden command for quickly copying such a topic.

9. Customizable swipe gestures

Have you ever wished there was a simple method to snooze items from your inbox — or even designate them as unread — without having to do a complex finger-tap dance? Prepare to be pleasantly surprised.

Go to the settings menu in the Gmail Android app (by touching the three-line menu icon in the upper-left corner and scrolling down until you see (See the "Settings" menu item.) Select "Swipe actions" from the "General settings" menu.

There, you may specify what action is triggered when you swipe an email to the left or right from your inbox or any other message list view.

Set things up the way you want them – if you want, use the old Inbox-style layout of a right swipe for archiving and a left swipe for snoozing — and then swipe away.

10. The searching technique of the receiver

On a similar topic, the next time you realize you need to add another recipient to an email on your phone — whether it's a fresh draft, a reply, a forwarded message, or anything - spare yourself the hassle of halting your workflow and instead try this:

Type @ followed by the first letter or two of the person's name right in the body of the email, where you're already working.

If the individual is in your contacts, their name will show in a special selecting box directly next to your cursor:

11. A less frustrating Promotions tab

The Promotions tab in the Gmail Android app is both a benefit and a nightmare. It's a wonderful method to keep less important messages out of your main inbox display, but it also includes advertisements and messes with the order of your emails.

To return to a complete historical, normal-style display, return to the Gmail app's settings and, this time, hit the address of your Google account, followed by "Inbox categories" on the following screen.

Scroll all the way to the bottom of the next screen that appears. Have you noticed the option labeled "Enable Top Picks"? Uncheck the box.

Back out of there and relish in the joy of having your emails back in the right sequence, even if you can't totally eradicate those nasty Promotions-tab adverts.

12. A fast method for making an out-of-office responder

For years, there was no mechanism to manage the Gmail mobile app's out-of-office vacation auto-responder. And it usually happens to a person who occasionally signs out ahead of a scheduled break, just to discover half an hour later that I forgot to set my away message.

No need to worry about this more, because the Gmail Android app has the ability to manage the out-of-office responder at some time in the not-too-distant past.

Simply enter the app's settings, press the name of the account you wish to change, and then scroll down to the "Vacation responder" option.

From there, you'll only need a few minutes to enable, customize, and change your out-of-office auto-response to meet any circumstance.

13. Gmail Android feature of 13: More selective alerts

Email alerts might be useful on occasion, but let's be honest: they can also be really annoying. Try the Gmail Android app's high-priority notification option, which employs artificial intelligence and other impressive-sounding jargon to determine which incoming messages are genuinely essential to you — and then notifies you solely about those emails.

To try it out, go back into the Gmail app's settings, choose your Google account, press the "Notifications" line, and select "High priority only." Give it a day and let us know what you think.

If you know exactly what types of emails you want to be notified about — for example, those from a specific person or domain name, those with a specific word in the subject or body, or those sent to a specific address of yours.

You can skip the A.I. and just create your own customize Gmail notifications, and it works very well as long as you can figure out a consistent formula for what kinds of emails are notification-worthy to you.