May 8 - Gmail Upgrade

Gmail's Official Blog Photo

Gmail Gets An Upgrade!

@joe_edtech/@LisaBerghoff

It is May and even I cringed when I first heard that Gmail was getting a big facelift. I think it is natural to wonder, "Well, what favorite feature am I gonna lose now?" But my fear quickly turned to pure happiness when I saw the new update to Gmail! We didn't lose anything and they added 3 features that make Gmail much more user-friendly.

View Your Calendar Side by Side With Your Email

Actually, it's even more than just the Calendar, but that's a start. With the new Gmail upgrade, you can see your daily calendar at a glance on the right-hand side of the screen. While you are reading an email with a deadline, or a suggested meeting, you can scroll through your calendar, add items, or pop your calendar out to look at a larger selection.

Seeing my calendar on the same screen with my email would be a big enough win for me, but you actually have options. There are icons that let you choose Calendar for the side view:

Or Google Keep if you use that:

Or Tasks:

Use Smart Reply to Quickly Answer Emails

Smart Reply is a feature many of us have had on our phones for a couple of years now. Essentially, Google uses AI to suggest short answers to questions posed in your emails. In a pinch, you can just click the Smart Reply suggestion and hit send!

Image from TechWeez

Snooze Emails for Response Later

It's about time! I've been using 3rd party apps for this for a long time now. But snoozing is now native to Gmail. 

When you hover over your messages, you'll see some pop-up icons on the right-hand side of the message box. The clock icon on the far right is "Snooze." When you click it...

You can choose to hide the email until you are ready for it. Hit "Snooze" until next Monday, and the email will be hidden from your Inbox, but return next week!

When you are ready to try the new Gmail features, you can click the Settings Gear at the top of the page and select "Try the new Township High School District 113 Mail."

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I only covered my favorite 3 new features. There are more! If I didn't cover your favorite new feature, please tell us about it in the comment box below. We'll be sure to add it in a future FTT post.