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Step 1
Use stars to easily mark certain messages as important or indicate that you need to reply to them later. Try Superstars in Gmail Labs for more star options.
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Step 2
Before you respond to an email, check the footer of the message to see if the other person is online. If they're available, you can save time by clicking "Reply by chat" and get them in real-time rather than over email.
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Step 3
Labels do the work of folders, plus you can add more than one to a single message. Give important emails brightly colored labels, and you'll be able to scan your inbox and quickly find the good stuff.
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Step 4
You can use the "Move to" button at the top of your inbox to easily move a message out of your inbox and add a label at the same time - just as if you were moving it to a folder. If you have lots of labels, you can pick the one you want by typing the first couple characters and let autocomplete find the right one.
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Step 5
Gmail gives you tons of free storage space so you can save everything you want. While messages in your trash get deleted after 30 days, archived messages are kept forever. Archiving messages move them out of your inbox and into "All Mail" for safekeeping, so you can search for them later. It's like moving old email to a giant storage room that you never have to organize.
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Step 6
Gmail users play an important role in blocking spam - when you report an email as spam, Gmail' system quickly learns to start blocking similar messages. The more spam the community marks, the smarter the system becomes. If you see a spam message, click "Report Spam" to do your part.
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Step 7
Instead of sorting by date or sender, you can enter keywords in the Gmail search box to find the exact message you're looking for. It works just like Google search: if you're looking for a message that contains the word "shopping", simple type it in the search box and press Search Mail.
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Step 8
You can import your mail and contacts from other email providers, including Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL, and many more from the "Accounts and Import" tab under Gmail Settings. You can even choose to have your messages forwarded from your other account directly to your inbox.
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Step 9
You can choose from over 30 options to personalize yourinbox. Go to Themes tab under Settings and pick from nature themes, themes that change with the wheater, and many more.
