Search Through GMail Email Faster With These GMail TechTips

Us GMail & Google Apps users are most likely old Outlook users. We found a new and exciting email interface, liked the options, so we went all in. The only issue I have with GMail is their feeble attempt at folder structuring emails which is to say, their email organization. They use labels and I know most people don’t take advantage of this within GMail. When you setup a label you have the ability to color code it and then setup a filter so that the email gets automatically associated with the label when it comes in to your inbox. It’s a pain to setup but pretty sweet once it’s done. When your done, all you have to look for is the corresponding color and you know who the email is from almost faster than reading the name. GMail uses this as opposed to a folder structure. You can have sub-labels just like sub folders, bu it really doesn’t work the same way.

I would have to say that the hardest part in running my I.T. business out of Google Apps for Business is the search function. A lot of times, I am not sure what I’m searching for, I know I need an attachment between a certain time period, but cant remember the sender. Google actually has an answer for this through advanced search functions. The problem is that within Outlook, this is really easy, for GMail, not so much. Categorize your mail by attachment and look down the dates list for Outlook. Unfortunately there is no categorization in list form for GMail so we have to use advanced search functions. Below you will see a list of GMail search functions and they are pretty easy to execute. If you want to search for an attachment like my problem before, all you have to do is type in the search box “has:attachment.” You can even search for file names of attached files by using the filename: command. The in: command is also very important, with it, you can specify in what folder you want to search. In my opinion, these advanced search functions are nice, but I don’t use them enough to remember them. I always have to reference this list which is annoying. Google Apps is a great piece of law firm technology but some days I really miss outlook, and I think about using the Google Apps Sync for Outlook tool.

Boolean Operator Explanation

Type the boolean operator within the GMail search bar and your query after the colon. You can also do operator combinations. For quicker searches with a little less functionality you can also refine your search by clicking the faded (down) arrow in the search box on the right side.