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15 Gmail tips and tricks for business users

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Most people don’t realize that Gmail has a ton of hidden features to help you be more productive. In fact, that’s what makes Gmail one of the best productivity apps available—if you know the right tricks, shortcuts, and hacks. 

By the end of this article, you’ll have learned great new ways to increase your productivity and make using Gmail more enjoyable.

1. Activate the Reading Pane

Just like a native email application, Gmail now has a reading pane. It can be displayed to the right of or below the inbox for a more efficient view. You no longer need to constantly go back to the inbox to quickly check something in another email.

How: Go to ⚙ Settings > Reading Pane (bottom).

2. Labels for all

If you’re not already using labels, it’s time to start. This is one of the most powerful Gmail features for organizing your emails. Useful options include To Do, Priority and On Hold, but you can create as many labels as you need, even in different colors. Think about how you receive and process emails and the different actions required, and start labeling your emails as they come in.

How: On the Left-hand menu, click More, scroll down, then Create new label. Label emails by right-clicking or dragging.

3. Snooze emails

If you’re not ready to answer an email straight away, but you don’t want to lose sight of or forget about it, you can Snooze an email. 

How: Just click the clock icon in the top menu when reading an email, and choose or set a Snooze time.

4. Search like a pro

Unsurprisingly, Google’s email service comes with excellent search tools. Just click the down arrow next to the search field, and you can specify From, To, Has words, Doesn’t have, Size, and plenty more. The best part is, you can use advanced searches for our next tip.

Gmail

(Image credit: Google)

5. Create awesome filters

You can create a filter for just about anything: a specific word in the subject line, a certain sender, size, etc. Anything that you can search for, you can create a filter for. Just click the Create filter button. Then, assign one or more actions: Skip the inbox, Apply a label, Never send to Spam, etc.

Gmail

(Image credit: Google)

6. Save time with Smart Compose

Smart Compose leverages AI and machine learning to make suggestions as you type. It learns as you use it, so Smart Compose gets even smarter. For example, if you type “Please find,” Smart Compose will suggest: “attached.” Just hit the tab button to accept the suggested text. It may seem like a small feature, but over time, it becomes a real time-saver.

How: ⚙ Settings > General Settings > Smart Compose

7. Join a meeting directly from Gmail

Gmail now includes Google Meet for G Suite users. If your company uses Google Meet, you can create or join a meeting directly from within Gmail, without having to open a new browser tab. 

How: From the Left-hand menu, click Start or Join a meeting. 

Gmail

(Image credit: Google)

8. Schedule sending an email

Are you anxious to write an email but don’t want to send it straight away? No problem. You can schedule an email to be sent at any time. 

How: Click the arrow next to the Send button (in Reply, it will be the grey Send button, not the blue Send & Archive button).

Gmail

(Image credit: Google)

9. Use Templates for speedy composition

Notice that you’re constantly writing the same emails over and over? Templates (formerly Canned Responses) is the solution. You can create and save templates for emails you tend to send often. You can edit the email once you’ve inserted the template, so it’s great for getting down the basics and filling in the specific details as needed.

How: ⚙ Settings > Advanced > Templates > Enabled

To use: Click the three dots next to the trash bin when composing an email, and select Templates to use or create.

Gmail

(Image credit: Google)

10. Undo Send

Whoops! Did you hit the Send button too soon? No problem! Gmail has a handy Undo Send; you can even choose the delay before sending definitively. 

How: ⚙ Settings > General > Undo Send

11. Eyes Only with Confidential mode

Confidential mode will stop people from saving, copying, forwarding, or downloading your email (although it can’t stop them from taking screenshots). You can even set a self-destruct expiration date.

How: When composing an email, click the lock/time icon in the bottom-right.

Gmail

(Image credit: Google)

12. Personalize your signature for every occasion

Many of us wear more than one hat at work, and a generic signature doesn’t always indicate all our duties. Gmail allows for multiple user signatures, and you can easily switch between them when composing.

How: Click the Signature icon in the bottom-right of the composition tab to assign or manage signatures.

13. Adjust inbox density

By adjusting density, you can either choose to see more emails per page or have quick access to your attachments. The Compact view almost doubles the number of emails you can see on the page, while the Default view includes links to attachments. 

How: ⚙ Settings Pane > Density

14. Get more done with Gmail and Google Tasks

Google comes with a built-in to-do list, and you can easily add emails from your inbox to it. Like Labels and Snooze, this is another fantastic way to stay on top of emails that need action, just at a later time.

How: Click the Google Tasks icon at the top of an open email.

Gmail

(Image credit: Google)

15. Use Google +aliases for pro filtering

You can use + to create any number of aliases, and they all go to your inbox. For example, “your.email+newsletter@gmail.com” will be sent to your.email@gmail.com. This is handy for filtering newsletters and emails from websites: just sign up using your alias, and use the To field in Filters to add labels, skip the inbox, etc.

Summary

This is just a taste of the amazing productivity hacks that you can find for Gmail. Don’t hesitate to dig into the Settings, and click every button you can find. There’s plenty more to discover! With these tools to get you started, you’ll be Gmailing like a pro in no time.

Date

12 Aug 2020

Sources


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  • Best cheap laptop deals and sales for October 2021

    It's a great week for cheap laptop deals if you're looking to spend under £300 this week. Offers from HP and Asus lead the way, so you've got a number of good options for an everyday browsing machine. That said, laptops with the specs to take on more demanding programs are up fo grabs too. Just scroll down to find big savings on premium ultrabooks and some excellent budget laptops at all-new low prices.

    Cheaper Chromebooks are offering some excellent extra features that we don't tend to see in the more affordable price ranges in this week's laptop deals. You'll also find spacious SSDs, speedy 11th generation Intel processors and Apple MacBooks all discounted as well.

    All the best cheap laptop deals available this week can be found just below. We're rounding them up here so you can save some serious cash on everything from budget laptops to powerful machines sporting the latest specs. We'll be keeping an eye out for especially good offers as this year's early Black Friday laptop deals should start appearing over the next few weeks.

    Cheap laptop deals by budget

    If you're shopping for cheap laptops, it can be difficult to know whether you're actually getting a good deal or just paying a low price for underperforming tech. It can be the difference between buying an excellent machine and saving some cash in the process and wasting money on an old computer that can barely run its own operating system. We've weeded out all the offers that won't be worth your time, so you can be sure you're picking up the best laptop deals out there this week.

    All your favourite retailers have been brought together for the very best cheap laptop deals available right now. We've broken down each machine by price so you can be sure to find the right laptop for your budget. Do keep checking in, too, as we’ll update this guide whenever a great laptop reaches our desk. 

    For you Apple fans, you might be interested in our MacBook prices and deals page too, or if you're just looking for the cheapest web surfer you can find, check out the best cheap Chromebook deals going right now.

    Cheap laptop deal of the week

    Asus C523NA laptop: £299.99 £229.99 at Amazon
    Save £70
    – For those who want a larger screen then we'd definitely recommend this 15-inch laptop from Asus. With an Intel Celeron processor, 4GB and 64GB storage, this machine will be more than suitable for light work and basic office tasks. With a massive £70 discount right now as well you're getting a bargain.

    Cheap laptop deals under £200

    HP 11a Chromebook: £199 £149 at Currys
    Save £50
    – The cheapest laptop deal we've found this week is over at Currys where you can get an HP 11a Chromebook for only £149. It features a near-identical spec to the Asus laptop below – with 4GB RAM and 32GB of storage – but you'll save yourself an extra £10. Well worth it if you're after the least expensive option for very basic work or school tasks.

    Asus Chromebook C223NA 11.6-inch Chromebook: £229.99 £159 at Amazon
    Save £70 -
    This entry-level Asus Chromebook has just dropped below £160 at Amazon, which means you can pick up a super cheap laptop for just £159 right now. With 4GB RAM and 32GB of onboard storage you're not picking up a powerful machine here, but that Intel Celeron N3350 processor and the Chrome operating system will still offer a streamlined everyday experience on a low budget.

    Acer 514 14-inch Chromebook: £229 £199 at Currys
    Save £30 – It's not always easy to find a laptop with a 14-inch display for under £200, but this Acer 514 Chromebook just fits under the threshold. You get a decent Intel Celeron processor and 4GB RAM which is fine for basic browsing and simple tasks. The 32GB hard drive is a little limited but if you rely more on cloud storage you won't notice an issue.

    Cheap laptop deals from £200 to £300

    Asus C523NA laptop: £299.99 £229.99 at Amazon
    Save £70
    – For those who want a larger screen then we'd definitely recommend this 15-inch laptop from Asus. With an Intel Celeron processor, 4GB and 64GB storage, this machine will be more than suitable for light work and basic office tasks. With a massive £70 discount right now as well you're getting a bargain.

    Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 3i: £299 £239 at Currys
    Save £60
    – We're big fans of the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet here at TechRadar so we absolutely want to shout about this £50 saving available at Currys. It's an excellent netbook that combines the best of a Chromebook and a tablet into one at an affordable price. It's small but for those who prioritise portability, you can't get much better.

    Asus M415DA laptop: £349.97 £249.97 at Box
    Save £100
    – Electronics retailer Box has an excellent offer on a 14-inch Asus laptop this week with £100 off the regular price. The highlight is the 128GB SSD that's rarely found in laptops at this price point. You'd usually need to pay at least £50 more to get this super-fast storage. An AMD processor and 4GB round out a solid spec for everyday tasks.

    Cheap laptop deals from £300 to £400

    HP 14-inch laptop: £349 £319 at Currys
    Save £30 – A modest saving is available on this cheap HP laptop at Currys this week. We'd usually be more enthusiastic about it but the Dell laptop at the upper end of the previous price bracket is currently better value for money for a similar spec. Still, this is still a solid choice for an everyday laptop on a budget thanks to the speedy 128GB SSD storage.

    HP 15.6-inch laptop: £349 £329 at Currys
    Save £20 -
    There's a £20 saving on this cheap HP laptop at Currys right now, which is particularly impressive considering there's a massive 1TB hard drive packed in. While 4GB RAM and an AMD Athlon Silver processor won't be taking you too far into the world of demanding software, that's perfect for everyday browsing and light work.

    HP 14a Chromebook: £429 £349 at Currys
    Save £80
    – If you're looking for a cheap laptop in this price bracket and your budget can stretch to £350 then we'd definitely recommend this 14-inch Chromebook from HP. The benefit of splashing the extra cash is the jump to 8GB RAM, which will be a terrific performance boost over our other picks – especially if you expect to do a lot of multitasking.

    Cheap laptop deals between £400 and £600

    Acer Swift 1: £429 at Very
    The HP laptops above dull just how good this cheap laptop deal from Acer is this week. Just comparing specs, you see this Acer Swift 1 only really offers a small upgrade with an Intel Pentium processor, 4GB RAM and a 256GB SSD. That's still an ideal set of components for a competent mid-range laptop. We include it here just in case the slightly cheaper options above sell out.

    Acer Spin 1: £499 £479 at Currys
    Save £20 – 2-in-1 laptops often cost a lot more than their standard counterparts for similar specs, but this Acer Spin 1 is priced extremely well at £479. You get an Intel Pentium processor and a solid 8GB of RAM to ensure strong general performance. The 256GB storage is healthy, too, but you can always make use of the cloud for even more room for your files.

    Dell Inspiron 15 3000 laptop: £599 £539 at Dell
    Save £35
    – Here's a great offer on this Dell Inspiron laptop, which boasts a large and speedy 512GB SSD hard drive as well as a 15.6-inch display. Those are two great features at this price point. 8GB RAM and an AMD Ryzen 5 processor ensure this is a solid performer for your everyday needs.

    Asus VivoBook 15: £699.97 £599.97 at Box
    Save £100
    – Box finds its way into our selection of this week's best cheap laptop deals for a second time with this £100 discount on the Asus VivoBook 15. This is a top-of-the-line spec for the price, including the latest generation Intel i5 processor, a whopping 16GB RAM and a healthy 512GB SSD. This will be able to handle just about everything you need - outside of gaming.

    Best laptop deals over £600

    Asus Vivobook S15: £699.99 £649.99 at Amazon
    Save £50
    – This Asus Vivobook S15 is another great all-around performer. Key components include the Intel i5 processor and 512GB SSD, while the bump up to 16GB RAM is much appreciated to better support any multitasking you might need to do. One nice final touch is the backlit keyboard to help with typing.

    Apple MacBook Air (M1): £999 £899 at Amazon
    Save £100 -
    You're saving a healthy £100 on the latest MacBook Air here – and one with the powerful M1 chip at the helm no less. That's an excellent price - even if we have seen it around £20 cheaper in the past in a particularly speedy flash sale. This configuration offers 8GB RAM and a 256GB SSD.

    We'll continue adding the best cheap laptop deals in the latest sales as we find them. Up next, you'll find the latest prices on some of the most popular laptops around along with a list of retailers who often have a great selection of laptop sales if nothing else takes your fancy here.

    Which stores have decent cheap laptop sales?

    • Amazon: retail giant is often the cheapest in the UK.
    • John Lewis: models come with at least two-year guarantee.
    • Very: Often surprises with cheap prices on electronics.
    • Laptops Direct: specialist UK store has a huge selection of laptop deals.
    • ebuyer: the UK computing specialists have some great promotions.
    • Currys: the retailer that's seemingly always having a laptop sale.
    • AO: lots of cheap laptops at this growing electronics specialist.
    • Argos: home delivery or pick up a cheap laptop locally today.
    • Dell: get a great laptop deal direct from Dell.
    • Apple: MacBooks aren't exactly cheap, but they're excellent workstations

    The best cheap laptops

    The best cheap laptop deals are often to be found on lower priced machines that edge their way into the mid-range category with higher specs further up the scale. It's in this pocket of budget laptop shopping that you'll find some of the most compelling offers, bringing 8GB RAM / i5 processor / 256GB SSD configurations down to entry level prices during sales seasons. 

    cheap laptops deals sales

    (Image credit: Acer)

    1. Acer Chromebook 314

    A cheap and cheerful Chromebook regularly discounted

    CPU: Intel Celeron N4000 | Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 600 | RAM: 4GB | Screen: 14-inch LED (1366 x 768) high definition | Storage: 32GB eMMC

    Excellent value for money
    Strong performance
    Premium look and feel
    No touchscreen

    With a 12 hour battery life, bright 14-inch display and tactile keyboard, the Acer Chromebook 314 offers everything you could ask for in a cheap laptop. While this model doesn't quite stretch to 64GB, storage is easily expanded using a portable hard drive and there's a full array of ports to take advantage of as well (though limited display options). What's more, this is one of those rare cheap laptops that look and feel far more expensive than they actually are. Thin, light, and sturdy, this is an excellent machine to throw in a backpack and expect it to last all day.

    Read the full Acer Chromebook 314 review.

    cheap laptop deals

    (Image credit: HP)

    2. HP Pavilion 15

    The de facto learning laptop lives on

    CPU: AMD dual-core A9 APU – Intel Core i7 | Graphics: AMD Radeon R5 – Nvidia GTX 1050 | RAM: 4GB – 16GB | Screen: 15.6-inch HD (1,366 x 768) – FHD (1,920 x 1,080); touch optional | Storage: 128GB SSD – 1TB HDD

    Thinner and lighter
    Tons of options
    Regular discounts
    Shallow, squishy keyboard

    A sturdy choice for a study laptop for school/college/uni. The HP Pavilion 15 has plenty of power for the average student's needs while keeping the costs sensible. There are plenty of configurations available in this budget laptop as well. Some favour speedy SSDs, while others go for larger regular hard drives, so it all depends on what you're going to need more really. Faster loading or more space for storing media files and downloads.

    Check out the best HP laptops 

    best laptop deals

    (Image credit: Asus)

    3. Asus Vivobook 15

    Mid-range specs for entry level prices

    CPU: Up to Intel i7 | Graphics: Nvidia | RAM: Up to 16GB | Screen: FHD (1920x1080) | Storage: 128GB SSD – 1TB HDD

    Versatile and powerful
    Full HD screen
    Regularly discounted

    The Asus Vivobook 15 can usually be found from £399 upwards, offering baseline specs that vastly outperform many of the Chromebooks usually found at this price point and ranging all the way up to incredibly powerful configurations should you need them. With an expansive Nano-Edge display, you're even getting a full 15.6-inch sized laptop here, coming in at just 1.6kg, a fingerprint sensor and options for speedy Intel Optane memory as well. 

    Cheap laptops: what to look out for

    Cheap laptops can often lure shoppers in with a sub-£200 price tag, but unless you're picking up a Chromebook you're unlikely to get your money's worth with these particular models. Chromebooks largely run on Chrome OS, which means they rely less on more expensive components and more on cloud-based services provided by Google Chrome. That means you'll regularly find cheap laptops under £200 that are well worth your cash - provided they were built with this functioning in mind. 

    These kinds of budget laptops are regularly found on sale, but every now and then we do spot savings that offer mid-range specs for entry level prices.

    It's worth looking out for cheap laptop deals that offer a Windows 10 operating system, but only 16 or 32GB of storage space. You'll likely speed through those gigabites faster than you'd think, and storing those hefty Windows 10 updates often presents a new challenge in its own right. That means the smallest we would recommend on this page is a 64GB hard drive if you're running a Windows 10 or 10s operating system. 

    Cheap laptops can also come with the caveat that they don't offer an operating system at all. These FreeDOS laptops can sometimes be appealing (and if you're up for installing your own copy of Windows or Linux, they often deserve to be), but it's important to check that spec and low price before you buy. We do feature the odd freeDOS budget laptop on this roundup, as they can prove cost effective, but we'll make sure you know when we do. 

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  • Samsung teases blistering fast PCIe 5.0 SSDs

    Ahead of CES 2022, Samsung has teased some ridiculously fast PCIe 5.0 SSDs, snappily named PM1743 SSD, that can apparently hit 13,000 MB/s read speeds without breaking a sweat. 

    The advances come from Samsung combining the lightning fast PCIe 5.0 protocol with its own sixth-generation V-NAND. The only downside that we can see is that these SSDs are specifically designed for enterprise servers, not your gaming rig. 

    "For over a decade, Samsung has been delivering SATA, SAS and PCIe-based SSDs that have been recognized for outstanding performance and reliability by leading enterprise server customers ...,” said Yong Ho Song, who leads Samsung's memory division. "The introduction of our PCIe 5.0 SSD, along with PCIe 6.0-based product developments that are underway, will further solidify our technological leadership in the enterprise server market.”

    So, what can these SSDs do?

    An awful lot as it turns out. 

    According to Samsung, you're looking at read speeds of 13,000 MB/s (as we said); 2,500K input/output operations per second, which is roughly double PCIe 4.0; and up to 32 gigatransfers per second (GT/s), also double PCIe 4.0. 

    Samsung has had to build a bunch of bespoke components to handle the sheer fury of these SSDs, much of it in partnership with Intel, another leader in the memory market. 

    "Intel has been working with Samsung to test Samsung’s newest PCIe NVMe SSD, the PM1743. Together, we have jointly resolved complicated technical issues encountered with PCIe 5.0 during this initial evaluation period. The performance potential of Gen5 is truly impressive,” said Intel executive Jim Pappas. "In the near future, we strongly believe that PCIe Gen5 systems with high-speed NVMe SSDs will have the ability to transform applications such as AI/ML and high-performance databases." 

    Looking forward

    And the craziest part is that PCIe 6.0, which promises to blow PCIe 5.0 out of the water, is right around the corner. According to Al Yanes, president and chairperson of the standards organization PCI-Special Interest Group (SIG), PCIe 6.0 could come as soon as early 2022.  

    Of course, just being available doesn't mean it will surpass PCIe 5.0 anytime soon; Samsung and Intel aren't going to release a brand new SSD only for it to immediately be outdated. But it does mean that within the next few years, 13,000 MB/s read speeds will seem tame. 

    Samsung says the PM1743 SSD will be available in capacities from 1.92TB to 15.36TB and mass production will begin in Q1 2022. 

    Via Engadget

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