Gmail tip: Use "Quick Links" to help you find important mail quickly

Do you use Gmail?  The new “Quick Links” feature, offered via Google’s Gmail Labs project, can help save you time and highlight important mail.

WHAT QUICK LINKS DOES
Think of it as sort of a “Saved searches” feature :-D.  Basically, you can take any search and “save” it so that it appears as an option under a Quick Links menu on the lefthand side of your Gmail screen.  For instance, one of my favorite quick links is this saved search: “TO:me IN:inbox.”  When I click on this link now, it shows me all mail that’s been sent to me personally that’s still in my inbox, weeding out all the “junk” bulk mail… e.g., newsletters, ads from vendors, etc.  Other options could be showing mail just from a specific time period that has attachments, mail that is starred but not in your inbox, etc.

HOW TO GET THE QUICK LINKS FEATURE IN YOUR GMAIL
1) Go to your Gmail.
2) Click on “Settings” at the top of the page.
3) Then click on “Labs”
4) You’ll find many add-ons, or labs features which may interest you.  Enable “Quick Links” and/or any other labs features you like.
5) Lastly, click “Save changes” at the bottom.

HOW TO USE QUICK LINKS
1) Type in any search into Gmail (in the regular search bar, or using the Advanced Search).
2) Click “Add Quick Link” on the lefthand side of your Gmail page.  Voila! 😀

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For those of you who have used Quick Links, what are some of the favorite / most useful / most creative links you’ve created?


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15 responses to “Gmail tip: Use "Quick Links" to help you find important mail quickly”

  1. fceblog Avatar

    Adam,
    Thank you for this explanation. The clearest I’ve found.

  2. Adam Avatar

    Glad you found it helpful 😀

  3. Skip Avatar

    With features like this it is no wonder gmail is trouncing hotmail. When I first got on the internet, everyone had hotmail, but now pretty much everyone has gmail.

    PS What engine is this blog powered by? Looks like it my be Expression Engine.

  4. Adam Avatar

    Skip, always cool to see people lovin’ Gmail :-D. And yep, you’re right that I power this blog with Expression Engine, though—as you can probably tell—I’ve created new templates from scratch.  That explains why it’s unique but ugly 😛

  5. Kelly Avatar

    Thanks for the tip! I’m spreading the news.

  6. Angelina Maben Avatar

    Thanks to explan this usefull tips.

  7. Eric Paul Avatar

    @Adam, Really Appreciated Your Job to Find out useful points of Gmail services.

    I just checked all the points and all are the Unique.

    I would Like to use More Features updation in Gmail. Thanks,
    Eric

  8. doipedoi Avatar

    Thank you for this explanation!!! 🙂

  9. Alex Avatar

    fantastic tip, thanks adam.  ;-P

  10. Adam Avatar

    I’m delighted you’ve all found this so useful.  And I hope you’ve been checking out the many new very-cool labs options in Gmail! 😀

  11. Lissa Avatar
    Lissa

    hi Adam. thanks for the tip!… simple!

    by the way, do you know if there is a way to alpha sort the Quick Links?

  12. Adam Avatar

    Hi Lissa,

    Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s a way to do that yet.  I do hope the developer of the Quick Links thing will add the ability to sort or move links around 😀

  13. Tim Avatar

    Adam

    This is a useful feature.  Try this link:

    http://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#advanced-search/subset=all&attach=true

    It shows you all emails attachments.

    Tim

  14. Adam Avatar

    Ah, thanks, Tim.  Ever since Gmail started using “fixed” URLs for stuff (including threads), the service has gotten even handier 😀

  15. eagle chatters Avatar

    show how to search for multiple people eg, mom@email.com or dad@email.com or husband@gmail.com in ONE quick link. are regular expressions available?

What do you think?