Gmail has its own set of tools for managing your mailbox and organizing it into different folders or categories. You can also attach files to messages, send them as PDFs, save images as attachments, or even mark certain messages as read -- but what if there was a more efficient way to manage all this clutter?
You may be wondering about the ability to "whitelist" an entire domain (or sub-domain) so that any future emails sent to those addresses will automatically get filtered through the filter rules that you've created. In other words, you could have a rule saying that any message coming from [email protected] gets saved in some special folder. Or maybe you want to create a separate label for every single person who sends you emails at [email protected]. If you're not sure where to start, here are our best tips and tricks for getting things done in Gmail.
Yes! There's no need to keep reopening tabs in Google Chrome just to check which mailboxes are empty or full anymore. With Gmail, you can now quickly label email accounts or labels without having to open another tab. Just click the three dots next to the account name, then select Label Mailbox and choose one of many pre-defined options like Starred Messages, Promotions & Special Offers, Personalized Labels, etc.
We'll show you exactly how to do this later in this article, but first let's take a look at a few ways you can customize your Gmail experience further.
It might seem silly, but if you haven't already, try moving your important emails to their own labeled folder rather than leaving everything else mixed together in the same general category. This will help you stay organized because the only thing worse than being overwhelmed by too much information is having it spread out across several unorganized folders.
There are two main ways to accomplish this task: First, you can drag and drop items from one section of Gmail to another. Second, you can search for particular types of messages (like promotions), then sort the results by date. To do both, simply perform a quick search followed by sorting by Date Arrived. Then you can easily find anything you were looking for within seconds.
Finally, we'd recommend creating a dedicated folder for each individual person on your contact list. That way, you won't have to waste time searching for something they emailed you last week when you really wanted to see what they said about their latest project.
While labeling individual email messages isn't difficult, doing so for hundreds or thousands of emails can become quite tedious. Fortunately, Gmail allows users to label multiple messages at once, making the process considerably faster and easier.
To do this, click on the three little dots located directly above the compose button (the icon looks like a box). Selecting Multiple Labels should appear in the menu bar. Now you can apply the same label to multiple messages. Simply highlight all the messages you wish to assign the same label to, then press Enter to confirm.
If you don't know what label you want to use, you can always type the word in the Search field. The most common ones include Promo, Support, Info, and Follow Up. Once you've chosen a label, you can either delete it from the current selection or remove it entirely from Gmail altogether.
As previously mentioned, you can quickly move emails between different sections of Gmail by performing a simple search. But did you know you can actually do the exact opposite of this action as well? When you receive an email message, a window appears along the top right corner asking whether you would like to Move It Here or Delete It. Clicking either option moves the item from its current location to wherever you specify. For example, clicking Delete removes the email from your inbox while Moving Emails Here places it in whatever folder you chose earlier.
To move emails from the inbox to a custom label, follow these steps:
Click on the gear icon situated below the Compose Email button.
Select More Settings...
Under General Options, scroll down until you reach the section titled Folders.
Scroll down again until you arrive at Categories. Choose Customize List to reveal additional settings.
Now, simply enter the desired label or tags separated by commas. After typing the last tag, hit Ctrl + A to select all text before hitting Enter.
Once you finish entering names, hit Backspace twice to clear up any errors.
Lastly, click Save Changes. Your changes will take effect immediately after pressing OK.
Moving emails back and forth between labels is almost identical to the previous method except instead of choosing the Folder option under General Settings, you must choose the New Message option. From here, click Add Account, then navigate to whichever label you want to retrieve emails from, then click Next. Finally, enter the email address associated with the selected label and click Create New Account.
The final step is selecting All Accounts under Advanced Settings, then finally saving your changes.
Similar to the previous question, you can move emails from one folder to another in Gmail by following these steps:
Go to Gmail's Preferences page.
Choose Folders under the General tab.
Find the label you want to place the messages in, then hover over the arrow next to the folder heading. Click Edit to bring up the advanced view.
Use the arrows above the list of messages to rearrange the order in which they appear. Use the icons beneath each entry to change the visibility of the content inside each message.
When finished, click Done Editing to return to normal viewing mode.
This doesn't happen often, but sometimes the Google app refuses to recognize the existence of a new label. Even though you can still access the same features just fine, you won't be able to create new labels. Instead, you must rely on third party apps such as Evernote, Pocket, or OneNote to store notes.
Additionally, you can't rename existing labels unless you switch to the desktop version of Gmail. So you may end up accidentally deleting the wrong label.
One of the easiest ways to whitelist an email address in Gmail is by adding them to your Whitelist. While a lot of people assume this feature exists, it does not exist natively in the web interface. However, you can enable it via an extension.
Here's how you do it:
Visit the official Mozilla website and download the free extension called WhiteList.
Open the browser and head to www.gmail.com/settings/.
Navigate to Advanced Settings and expand the section named Extensions. Check the box next to WhiteList and click Save Changes.
Your extensions will begin downloading shortly thereafter. Restart Gmail afterwards.
After installing the extension, you will notice a small symbol appearing beside your email address in the upper left hand corner. Hit the plus sign to whitelist the address.
For some reason, the extension doesn't work very well on mobile devices. We suggest visiting the extension's GitHub repository for instructions on how to install it correctly on Android and iOS.
In addition to enabling the functionality, you can also block unwanted emails from sending to your inbox using the extension. Simply visit the extension's website, input the email you want to block, and then click Block Unwanted Senders. For instance, if someone keeps spamming you with useless emails, you can disable their ability to send you emails in one fell swoop.
Just as you can whitelist individual email addresses, you can likewise whitelist entire domains. As long as the sender uses the correct format, you should be able to achieve this goal relatively easily.
First, you'll need to input the URL of the recipient's site. Afterwards, you'll need to copy the address and paste it into the Addresses field. Make sure you replace the hyphens in the original address with underscores. Also note that your IP address will display alongside the address, so ensure that you're connected to the internet before attempting this trick.
Unfortunately, there aren't many repercussions for mistyped email addresses. Since the error doesn't occur frequently enough to warrant warning popups, Gmail will simply tell you that the email wasn't delivered. At worst, you'd lose track of the message since it wouldn't be added to your trash bin.
If you're wondering how to whitelist an email address or just want some advice about the best way of doing it, then we have all your answers here for you.
Gmail has recently introduced several changes that make life easier when it comes to email security and privacy. One of those features is called "whitelisting" which allows you to set up certain accounts as'safe' so they won’t be accessed from any other devices apart from yours (for example if you share access). This means that only one device will receive messages sent to this account – but what happens when someone tries to log into another person's account via their own phone? Or even worse still, what if they try to login through multiple phones at once? How would you know who was trying to gain unauthorized access to your inbox?
By adding certain accounts to your whitelist, you'll prevent these types of attacks before they happen. We've put together everything you need to know about how to add email addresses to whitelist in Gmail, whether it's to keep them private or public. If you'd like to learn more, read on!
To start off, let's go over exactly what whitelisting does and how it works. Essentially, you'll need to add specific email addresses to your whitelist. These are people whose inboxes you trust to not be compromised or used against you. They could be friends or family members, colleagues, clients, etc. You might also include yourself in there too. The idea behind whitelisting is that you don't necessarily want everyone accessing your Gmail account, especially if you're sharing it between different devices. It's important that every time someone uses your computer to log into Google, you check their name matches up. Once you confirm they're legitimate, add their address to your whitelist and you should see no further issues.
Here's where things get tricky though. To add an email address to your whitelist, open Settings & Accounts " Add Account -- select Email -- Add Address. Now, select the contact you wish to add to whitelist and click Next. On the next page, enter your password to continue. When asked, choose Allow less secure apps to sign in and allow access to the information stored locally on this device. Finally, hit Continue and wait while your address gets added to your list. Remember, this isn't actually sending the message to anyone else - you're simply allowing your personal contacts to log in without being prompted for a username/password combination.
Once added, you'll need to repeat this process whenever someone uses an alternative method to log into your account (like logging in via mobile) or when a friend wants to send you something via another service (such as Facebook Messenger). It's worth noting that this feature currently doesn't work across all platforms, so you may find yourself having to do it manually depending on the platform you're signing into.
For many users, whitelisting is a simple solution to securing their inboxes and preventing unwanted emails from getting through. But for others, it can sometimes feel counterintuitive. For instance, if you wanted to block spammy emails from entering your inbox, wouldn't it make sense to blacklist instead? Well yes, definitely, but you can actually whitelist anything you want now. And in fact, it makes perfect sense to whitelist certain addresses rather than blacklisting them completely.
There are two ways you can do this: either you can add individual addresses to your whitelist or you can add entire domains to your whitelist. Let's take a look at both options below.
One thing you shouldn't overlook is setting up a Safe Senders List in Gmail. In order to do this, head back to your settings & accounts screen and select Email > Add Account. Then scroll down until you reach Addresses again and finally pick the option labeled Select or Create New Safe Sender List. A pop-up box will appear asking for permission to save your preferences. Click OK to proceed.
Now, type the email address(es) you want to place inside your Safe Senders List and press Enter. Repeat this process as often as necessary. Afterward, you can visit your list under Lists and click Edit Safe Senders to view each entry individually. Here, you can change the status of your Safe Senders List entries. By default, these are Active unless otherwise specified.
You can also remove an address if needed, although this isn't recommended since it deletes the recipient as well. Instead, click Remove Entry and confirm your decision.
Finally, you can delete a Safe Senders List altogether by clicking Delete All Entries. Doing so removes all recipients listed within your chosen list.
So far, we've looked at how to add single email addresses to our lists. However, there's also a handy shortcut available for creating a list containing multiple emails at once. Simply follow the above steps, except replace the words Add Address with Add Multiple Addresses. Doing so opens up a dropdown menu where you can select the number of desired entries. Type in the names of each address you'd like to add and then click Save Changes.
The same goes for removing entries. Just swap out the word Remove for Remove Multiple Entries.
As mentioned earlier, one possible reason you might prefer whitelisting is because you want to control who sends you mail. So let's say you want to restrict incoming mail from certain individuals, such as your boss. There are three methods for accomplishing this task.
First, you can whitelist the sender itself. Open Settings & Accounts & Add Account and select Email. Under Add Email Address, select the name of the sender you want to protect (or whichever email address you'd like to limit) and press Next. From here, you can specify whether you want to whitelist this particular address or to deny its ability to send mail. Confirm your choice and hit Finish.
Alternatively, you can select Block Messages from this sender from appearing in your inbox. Head back to Settings & Accounts & Email and select Blocking Options. Choose the sender you want to block from appearing in your inbox and then click Done. You can also unblock the sender later by selecting Unblock Message from this sender.
Lastly, you can whitelist the entire domain. Go back to Settings & Accounts & Add Account and select Email. Scroll down until you arrive at Domains and TLDs. Pick the domain you'd like to whitelist from the list and then choose Add Domain. Give the domain a meaningful title (eg. My Company's Emails Only), write the desired text, and click Next. Make sure Enable Access With Less Secure Apps is selected and then hit Finish.
At last, remember to revisit your blocked sender list and ensure all relevant parties are included.
It's common practice to whitelist emails that you already know, whether that's a close friend, colleague, client, etc. Another good option is to whitelist specific IP addresses. This ensures that malicious hackers cannot compromise your account through phishing attempts.
To begin, head back to Settings & Accounts & Add Account. Scroll down until you reach Email Addresses and hit the button labelled Select or Create New Safe Sender List. Now, type the email address(es) you'd like to add into your Safe Senders List and press Enter. Repeat this process as many times as required.
Afterwards, return to your list under Lists and click Edit Safe Senders to view each entry individually. Here, you can change the status of your Safe Senders List entries. By default, these are Active unless otherwise specified.
You can also delete an entry if needed, although this isn't recommended since it deletes the recipient as well. Instead, click Remove Entry and confirm your decision.
Finally, you can remove a Safe Senders List entirely by clicking Delete All Entries. Doing so removes all recipients listed within your chosen list.
We hope this article helped clear up some confusion around how to whitelist in Gmail. While it's true that whitelisting is generally preferred over blacklisting due to its simplicity and effectiveness, it is certainly possible to blacklist your accounts as well.
There are many reasons you might want to whitelist your own email account and then send out from that instead of the official one. Maybe you're trying to avoid spam or other unwanted mail getting through. Or maybe you just don’t like getting regular junk mail every day.
Whatever your reason for wanting to keep yourself off the receiving end of unsolicited messages, there are two ways to go about doing this. You could either get around Google's blocking system altogether (which isn't really possible), or you could try whitelisting your own email address so you only see what you've sent to it, rather than everything else arriving at your inbox.
We'll show you both methods here, but before we start let me tell you something important – if you want to be able to receive any email whatsoever, regardless of whether they're coming from someone on your whitelist or not, you should always enable all three-strikes protection options first thing when setting up your email accounts. This will block most spam right away, without having to worry about adding more complicated rules later.
If you'd prefer to skip ahead to our guide on creating custom labels within Gmail, click here now. If you need further help, read our article on how to manage multiple email accounts and set them up correctly.
The easiest way to begin whitelisting your own personal email address in Gmail is to use their built-in filter feature. It works exactly as described above. The main difference between these approaches and those outlined below is that you won't have to manually add your whitelisted email address to your contacts each time you send an email via your personal email account.
To begin, head over to Settings & Filters " Forwarding and POP/IMAP settings and under 'Forward incoming mail' select Addresses. From here, simply enter your desired email address into the text box provided, check the box next to Include this address in reply notifications, and hit Save Changes. Your whitelisted email address should now appear beneath the dropdown menu where you added it earlier. Now whenever you forward an email from another sender to your whitelisted address, you'll know who's sending it!
You can also apply this same process to whitelists of individual contacts too, which would allow you to choose specific people to receive a message from your whitelisted address, regardless of who originally sent it. To do this, open Contacts on your Android device, tap on the name of a contact you wish to whitelist, and follow the exact steps above to include their email address in your forwarding preferences.
Also note that while you can easily whitelist entire domains such as @gmail.com, it doesn't work quite as well with subdomains such as @googlemail.com. In order to successfully whitelist a full domain, you must whitelist the top level domain itself along with its subdomain(s). For example, if you wanted to whitelist google.com, you would need to whitelist “Google LLC" as well. Otherwise, any email received from that domain will still trigger the default filtering behavior.
As mentioned above, the best way to ensure that nobody except yourself receives unwanted emails is by whitelisting your own email address in Gmail. However, sometimes you may find that some third party apps insist upon being able to access your primary email address, even though you've already told them not to. These types of apps will often ask permission to access your Gmail account directly, despite the fact that you've specifically chosen to whitelist your own email address. Luckily, there's a simple workaround.
First, log into your Gmail account normally. Next, navigate to Account Settings " Advanced Options " Email Access and change the option marked Allow less secure apps to access my email to Deny. Then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Create Custom Label. Choose whatever name you like for the label and save changes. Afterward, return to Accounts Settings and choose Manage Labels again. Click Add New Label and type in the name you created previously and press Enter. Finally, choose Apply immediately. That's it - you've effectively given yourself the ability to whitelist your own email address without needing to actually whitelist it in Gmail.
When you whitelist your own email address in Gmail, you essentially give yourself control over anything that comes across your inbox. Not only does this mean no more pesky spam, but also no more junk mail, newsletters, etc. When others send an email to your whitelisted address, Gmail automatically checks to see if the recipient has opted to receive messages from you. If they haven't, the email goes straight to their Spam folder.
This means you can send out from your whitelisted address without worrying that anyone else will get stuck with the usual junk mail you usually receive from everyone else. And since you're the only person who knows your whitelisted address, you can also safely delete any messages you accidentally send elsewhere.
That said, you don't necessarily need to whitelist your own email address in Gmail. As long as you regularly disable your Gmail account while traveling abroad, you shouldn't ever come back to discover a bunch of nasty international emails waiting for you in your inbox. So if you know you won't be checking your email until after you land, feel free to disable your Gmail account entirely on your phone or computer, and rely solely on your whitelisted email address instead.
However, if you plan to travel frequently, keeping your own email active would probably be wise anyway. Since Gmail relies heavily on its filters, disabling your account completely wouldn't stop you from reading your own emails. Instead, you'd lose the convenience of being able to quickly respond to important messages from anywhere. Plus, if you later decide you want to reenable your Gmail account, you'd have to wait days or weeks for it to reappear in your inbox. It's much easier and faster to just whitelist your own email address.
Another method for avoiding unwanted emails is to create separate folders for different categories. Each category would contain all the emails you expect to receive from certain sources. For instance, you could put all the messages from family members into a Family Folder, business associates into a Business Folder, and so forth.
Creating folders inside Gmail is fairly straightforward. Open your compose window, highlight the body of the email, and press Ctrl + L to bring up a sidebar containing several handy tools. Underneath Compose mode, click on More Actions and pick Folders from the available actions. Alternatively, you can also hover over the plus sign located alongside the word Compose and select Folders from the menu that pops up. Either way, once you're done typing your message, press Return to insert your newly labeled folder.
Now, whenever you want to categorize an email, you can drag it onto the appropriate folder. Also, if you move an email from one folder to another, Gmail will automatically notify you via a notification bubble that appears at the top left corner of your screen.
For more tips and tricks on organizing emails in Gmail, take a look at our complete guide on managing multiple email accounts.
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