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How to declutter your inbox

Lisa Du is director of <a href="http://www.readytechgo.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ReadyTechGo</a>, a service that helps people gain the confidence and skills to embrace modern technology. Is your inbox looking a little cluttered? Are you finding it hard to find past emails amongst the sheer mess that it already houses? There’s a solution, of course! Delete, delete, delete The first thing you should do? Delete stuff. Delete as much as you possibly can. And be ruthless about it. Don’t delete anything that you might need, obviously, like important receipts, password information, or reminders. But something like a notification from Facebook telling you that it’s someone’s birthday...yeah, that can go. For someone who doesn’t delete their emails, this will clear up your inbox considerably. In fact, it might take you a long while if you’re the type to leave hundreds of emails unread in your inbox. And for those of you who have thousands of unread emails, well... this process will be a lot more impractical for you. File away your emails Following this act of ruthless deletion, if your inbox is still looking a little too messy for your liking, there’s something else you can do: categorise. What this essentially means is that you can create different folders or labels for your emails, and then file your emails under each of these different folders accordingly. For instance, if you’ve been doing a little online shopping, and getting lots of confirmation emails for your orders, you might want to keep them in a folder called, “Shopping Receipts”. Though there are a lot of email hosts out there, the steps are generally the same. Here’s how to do it on a couple of sites. On Gmail.com: <ol start="1"> <li>Go to Gmail on your browser and login to your account</li> <li>You’ll see a sidebar on the left-hand side of your screen with different email categories, including “Inbox” and “Sent Mail”. Click on “More”</li> <li>This will expand the sidebar selection. You’ll see a section that says “Categories”. Click on “Create new label” under this section</li> <li>In the dialog box that pops up, type in the name of your label</li> <li>Now, you’ll see your new label under the left-hand sidebar</li> <li>Simply click and drag your emails into this label to file them</li> <li>From now on, when you want to find emails under this label, you’ll need to click into the label to see them</li> </ol> <img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="../media/29156/gmail-declutter-inbox_499x445.jpg" alt="Gmail Declutter Inbox" width="499" height="445" /> On Outlook.com <ol> <li>Login to your email account on Outlook.com</li> <li>You’ll see a sidebar on the left-hand side of your screen titled "Folders" with different email categories, including “Inbox” and “Junk Email”. Hover your mouse over this title</li> <li>Beside the word “Folders”, you’ll see a plus sign. Click on this plus sign to create a new folder</li> <li>At the bottom of your sidebar, you’ll see a new entry for a new folder. Type the name of your new folder into this entry and press ENTER on your keyboard</li> <li>This entry will now be a new folder under the left-hand sidebar</li> <li>Simply click and drag your emails into this folder to file them</li> <li>From now on, when you want to find emails under this folder, you’ll need to click into the folder to see them.</li> </ol> <img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="../media/29155/outlook-delclutter-inbox.jpg" alt="Outlook Delclutter Inbox" width="449" height="168" /> Being able to file your emails under different categories will not only clear up your inbox, but it will also introduce some order to your emails. Finding certain emails will be easier, your inbox will be less of an eyesore, and important emails will be less likely to become lost amongst a sea of spam. For more information about ReadyTechGo, visit their <a href="http://www.readytechgo.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website here.</a> Image: Getty

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Why your Gmail account just got a whole lot better

Gmail, Google’s email service, has turned 15 and in order to celebrate, Google has added a new feature that’ll help out its users. The new feature allows users to schedule emails to send at a particular time within Gmail. Google explained how to use the feature and why it’s been introduced in a <a href="https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/g-suite/15-years-and-counting-making-gmail-work-faster-and-smarter-for-businesses">blog post</a>: “We understand that work can often carry over to non-business hours, but it’s important to be considerate of everyone’s downtime.” “We want to make it easier to respect everyone’s digital well-being, so we’re adding a new feature to Gmail that allows you to choose when an email should be sent.” “Just write your email as you normally would, then schedule it to arrive in your recipient’s inbox at a later date and time.”<a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/gweb-cloudblog-publish/original_images/SCHEDULE_SEND_DESKTOP.gif"></a> The feature is easy to use and just one of many that were implemented on Gmail’s birthday. Other features include: <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;">“Smart Compose” which is designed to help users on the go. The feature can adapt to the way you write, as the feature will stay true to your email voice.</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Dynamic emails, which allows users to respond to a comment thread in Google Docs or schedule a meeting within the email message itself.</li> </ul> What feature will you be using? Let us know in the comments.

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5 ways to deal with spam emails

Lisa Du is director of <a href="http://readytechgo.com.au/" target="_blank">ReadyTechGo</a>, a service that helps people gain the confidence and skills to embrace modern technology. Nobody likes getting spam email. It clutters up your inbox, tests your patience, and sometimes even has the audacity to scam you into giving up your private details! So, once you’ve recognised that there are indeed scam and spam emails littering your inbox, what can you do to deal with them? Here are five helpful tips on how to deal with and avoid spam email. 1. Use a spam filter Most email platforms will give you the option to mark any email as spam. Doing this will redirect any future emails that you receive from that email address straight to your Spam or Junk folder, keeping your inbox squeaky clean. It will also prevent any emails that possess the same properties (for example what the email is about, its language, how many other people are receiving it, etc.) from reaching your inbox. Whenever you’re certain that you don’t wish to see emails like this in your inbox anymore, mark it as spam. To do this, open up the spam email, and look for the option to mark it as spam or junk. For instance, on Gmail, you’ll see a series of icons along the top of the email. Click on the exclamation mark icon. This will “Report spam”. As another example, for Outlook users, you’ll see an icon that says “Junk” along the top of the email. Clicking on this icon will mark the email as junk. <img width="500" height="93" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/27148/in-text-one_500x93.jpg" alt="In -text -one" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/> Make sure that the email is truly spam before reporting it as such. If you mistakenly mark an important or relevant email as spam, any future important or relevant emails that you may receive from that email address will end up in your spam folder, and you might miss them. 2. Create a junk email address This may seem like a lot of extra effort, but it’ll save you from oodles of inconvenience in the future. Create another email account, whose only purpose is to cop the spam! What this means is that every time you’re required to sign up for something, such as an online account required to use a particular website, you don’t have to use your main email address; you can use your junk one instead. This way, any potential spam that you may receive from that website will be sent to the junk email address. Your main inbox will remain spam-free, and you can still use the website! Remember, only sign up for an online account using your junk email address when you’re sure that you won’t be interested in receiving emails from the host. You don’t want to miss out on anything potentially important or helpful. 3. Be cautious before you click unsubscribe For most legitimate senders, there will be a link to “Unsubscribe” from future emails. Clicking on this will prevent you from ever receiving any emails from this address again in the future. <img width="415" height="152" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/27147/in-text-two.jpg" alt="In -text -two" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/> However, though this is often the first course of action that most people take in response to spam, many forget to exercise caution in clicking on links from suspicious emails. Oftentimes, scam emails will be riddled with links, which you should absolutely NOT click on! These links can lead you to malicious pages that inflict your computer with viruses. Naturally, many scammers will mask these links behind an “Unsubscribe” button. If you suspect that an email may be a scam, do NOT click on any links within the body of the email, including “Unsubscribe”. Mark the email as spam, and move on! 4. Do not reply to the email It may seem tempting to fire back to an annoying spam email with a snarky retort, but avoid doing this at all costs to your pride! Responding to a spammer will only let them know that your email address is active. This will spur them to keep spamming you incessantly. You don’t want that! 5. Never follow instructions or open attachments Scammers will employ several different ways to scam you in a single email. Not only should you avoid clicking on links, but you should also avoid following any instructions (for example, instructions to unsubscribe) or, importantly, opening any attachments. Clicking on these attachments is the easiest way to download a malicious virus onto your computer. In the digital age, there are all sorts of creative means to fool innocent people online. Make sure that you stay ever-vigilant when it comes to email - approach every suspicious email with scepticism. Can you see yourself using those tips? Let us know in the comments. For more information about ReadyTechGo, visit their <a href="http://readytechgo.com.au/" target="_blank">website here</a>. Related links: <a href="/entertainment/technology/2016/08/how-to-make-your-computer-healthier-in-five-minutes/">How to make your computer healthier in five minutes</a> <a href="/entertainment/technology/2016/06/how-to-compress-large-files-to-send-over-email/">How to compress large files to send over email</a> <a href="/entertainment/technology/2016/05/hints-for-using-gmail/">5 hints for using Gmail</a>

Technology

5 hints for using Gmail

Getting control of your email account is one of the best things you can do for your digital life. Gmail is one of the most popular free email providers and there are many ways to improve your experience. Here are five to try: 1. Blocking people This is a new feature for the website and Android apps that let you block certain senders. On the Gmail website you need to open the email and click the upside-down triangle in the top right of the message and select "block". It's useful for stopping emails from annoying people and companies who won't stop emailing even when you unsubscribe. 2. Embrace the filter Use the filter to prioritise your emails. For some emails, that means putting in place a filter that automatically deletes it so you don't have to even see it in your inbox. There's also settings to archive an email, forward it or put a label on it so you can find it easily. A filter can be set up for a particular sender or keyword. To set one up, open an email and click the upside-down triangle in the top right of the message and select "filter messages like this". The first screen lets you choose what to filter while the second is about what to do with it. 3. Archive everything If you are one of those people who hates deleting anything, then use the archive function for every message. This means it disappears out of your inbox but you can still access it by doing a search. While archiving an email with only text doesn't take much space, anything with video and photos will slowing eat up your free 15GB of storage. 4. Enable Undo Send This lets you retrieve an email you've sent accidently. Click on the gear symbol, select Settings, choose "Undo Send" and click "Enable". You can then set the cancellation period (Google recommends 30 seconds) and then save your changes. 5. Use labels If you like organising everything into folders, then you can use labels with Gmail. This means you can find emails easily (though search is usually faster) and you can set them up on the side of your inbox so you can see them at a glance. To create them, go to Settings, then choose "Labels" in the horizontal bar. You can then create labels and choose to hide them or have them visible. If you want to rank them, use numbers before the name to get them to stay in order. Don't forget to go back and set up filters if you want emails to have certain labels automatically. First appeared on <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/" target="_blank">Stuff.co.nz</a>. Related links: <a href="/entertainment/technology/2016/01/myths-about-facebook/">3 myths about Facebook busted</a> <a href="/entertainment/technology/2016/01/great-tip-for-using-youtube/">YouTube tips you didn’t know</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/entertainment/technology/2016/01/computer-shortcuts/">10 computer shortcuts to save you time</a>

Technology

7 Gmail tricks you don’t know but should

They’ve become such a part of our everyday life that people sometimes underestimate how complicated email accounts actually are. Gmail is like an iceberg, and if you’re only using it to send and receive you’ve barely scratched the surface. This expert’s guide contains seven tips and tricks every Gmail user should be on top of, so you can make the most of your email account. 1. How to check if someone’s been reading your emails Here’s a handy one for anyone who’s had a sneaking suspicion someone has been in their inbox. Scroll down in standard inbox view and in the bottom right corner of your window you’ll notice text that says, “Last account activity: X minutes ago”. Expand by clicking details and you will be able to see the IP address used to access your account, and the type of device they were using. 2. Organise your emails with multiple inboxes You probably already realise that Gmail has split the inbox into three threads – “Primary”, “Social” and “Promotion”. But did you know you can streamline your messages even further? Focus on your unread emails by heading to Settings (under the Inbox tab). Select “Unread First” under the “Inbox Type” drop-down menu, and you’ll be able to focus on message you haven’t read immediately. 3. Undo Send function Good news for anyone familiar with the agony of sending the wrong email to the wrong person. Gmail has an amazing message cancelling feature, allowing you to unsend an email before the recipient even sees it. To enable this function, go to “Settings” and underneath the “General Tab” select enable for “Undo Send”. Gmail gives you up to 30 seconds to make a cancellation. 4. Altering the theme of your inbox Sending emails needn’t be a dull, dreary task. Alter the theme of your inbox and express your personality by selecting from the hundreds of beautiful themes available. You can even upload your favourite photo! To change the theme of your inbox, simply click the gear icon, and select “Themes”. Browse through the options or upload your own image and personalise your inbox. 5. Importing mail and contacts from other accounts If you’ve been keeping that old email account just because you’re concerned about losing important information, we’ve got good news. Gmail makes it easy to import your old mail and contacts to your new email address. Simply go to settings, select the “Accounts and Import” tab, follow the prompts and you can transfer information from your old Hotmail, Yahoo or Outlook account. 6. Using Labels to organise information Organisation is key when it comes to cutting through the clutter of email accounts, and while Gmail doesn’t employ the traditional folder system of most email setups, it has a handy Label function that works largely in the same way. To Label a particular message, simply select the “More Actions” dropdown menu, then choose “New Label” and organise your inbox accordingly. 7. Auto-response function Out of town without internet access? Don’t let important emails go unanswered. Gmail has incorporated a handy auto-response feature, allowing you to set up a simple template reply to any email that comes in. To set this up head to “Settings”, go to “General” and scroll down until you reach “Vacation Auto Responder”. Turn this on and create your own personalised message. So there you have it, an expert guide that will really help you make the most of you Gmail account. And while you might not use all of these features on a daily basis, it’s nice to know they’re there.

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How to declutter your inbox

Why your Gmail account just got a whole lot better

5 ways to deal with spam emails

5 hints for using Gmail

7 Gmail tricks you don’t know but should