Schedule Email and Reminders with Boomerang for Gmail

@joe_edtech/@LisaBerghoff

One of the things I have always loved about using Gmail is that it is completely customizable to fit my expectations of email and, because it is used professionally by so many schools and businesses, there have been tons of third-party applications and extensions developed to give each individual the user experience and functionality they need to be successful.

My favorite extension for Gmail is called Boomerang and it allows me to:

• Schedule and email to be sent at a later date and/or time.
• Schedule a reminder for an event or a deadline.
• Hide an email for a time and schedule it to return when I need it.
• Get reminders to follow up on emails you've sent that haven't been answered.
• Find out who has opened an email you've sent or get "read receipts."

Start by installing Boomerang from the Chrome Web Store (you can find it here), then you'll notice that you have some additional controls in your inbox:

First you'll see the red "Send Later" button. Then you can schedule an email to be sent at a specific point in the future, whether you are logged into your computer or not. You might, for instance, compose an email on Friday afternoon and schedule it to be sent to your class as a reminder on Sunday night. Then it will automatically be sent whether you have time to get to your computer on the weekend or not.

If you click the box next to the Boomerang icon, you will be sent a reminder to follow up on an email that you've sent for which you've received no response. If I check the box as seen above, I will be reminded of this email if I've received no reply in 2 days.

Clicking the blue envelope icon allows you to receive receipts when people open your email, or you can manually check to see if an email has been opened.

Here's the official video on most of the basic features of Boomerang:

But there is a lot more. With the advanced features of Boomerang, you can track responses to your emails, set recurring messages, add notes to your Boomeranged messages, and schedule messages from your phone or tablet.

Boomerang's help page is fairly extensive, and includes video instructions to accompany most of the frequently asked questions:

Boomerang Help Page: http://www.boomeranggmail.com/faq.html
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If you have another extension or Gmail lab that you use frequently, tell us about it in the comment section below.