Here's a tip inspired by a question from Ethan Lipman, an active Gmail Chat user. He wants to be able to search his Gmail messages for key words, but the Search Results often return hits from his Chat session logs. Read on to find out how to simply exclude Chat session logs from your Search Results….

The solution turns out to be really simple, but not necessarily obvious. It appears that all Gmail Chat session logs are simply standard messages Labeled with a hidden Label of "Chat". So this means that many functions you use on Labels should work.

So, to exclude all Chat session logs from your Search Results, add the following text to your search string:

 -label:Chat

Likewise, if you wanted to include words found ONLY in Chat session logs, just add the following to your search string:

 +label:Chat

…making sure that it is the only "label:" string (unless you also want to include other Labels.)

Thanks to Ethan Lipman for the question!

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{josquote}New feature!{/josquote}Deleting Spam and emptying Trash in Gmail just got a whole lot easier! Instead of being limited to deleting just a page-at-a-time, Gmail now lets you select all Spam and Trash conversations for deletion in one simple step. Read on to see some screenshots of the new features…

One of the great annoyances of managing Gmail has been in dealing with Spam and Trash. When you had  more than screenful of messages, clicking "select all" would only select all messages on the current screen. Deleting numerous messages could mean navigating multiple screens just to select and delete.

The Trash view now displays the message "Empty Trash now (messages that have been in Trash more than 30 days will be automatically deleted)"  Here's a screenshot:

{mosimage} 

When you click on the "Empty Trash now" link, Gmail will display a confirmation prompt displaying the number of conversations it will delete. Click "OK" to delete, or "Cancel" to not delete.

For Spam, the Spam view now displays the message "Delete all spam messages now (messages that have been in Spam more than 30 days will be automatically deleted)" Here's a screenshot:

 {mosimage}

Clicking on the "Delete all spam messages now" link displays a confirmation prompt displaying the number of conversations in Spam to delete. Click "OK" to delete, or "Cancel" to not delete.

Yet another example of Google refining Gmail's capabilities.

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The short answer is: "You can’t." Outlook (and several other email clients) enable you to include "stationery" or background images in your email message to "dress up" the look of your email messages. Currently, Gmail does not render these images as expected. Read on for some of my thoughts about stationery…

First off, I need to step up on my soapbox for a moment…

I really never understood the draw of background images or stationery in email messages. Other than allowing you to inject a bit of individuality into a message, what purpose does it really server? I personally find them typically distracting, not so much the images themselves, but the content chosen. Some are elegant and pleasing to look at, but some are just plain distracting.

I would suggest you take a step back and really think about what you are trying to do with email. Many people get so hung up with the style or look of a message that they often overlook the actual content. While it’s true that a picture can be worth a thousand words, well-written words should never be overlooked. And a nicely formatted and well-constructed signature can convey a lot of good information.

…OK, off of my soapbox.

Gmail does not currently handle stationery or background images, so if you really have to have it or use it, I suggest that you configure your Gmail account for POP access and then use an email client (like Outlook) that handles stationery. You lose Gmail’s excellent Labeling and Search functions, but you can continue to use an email client that you are familiar with, while taking advantage of Gmail’s excellent Spam filtering and storage space. You will still always have Web-based access should you need it.

If handling stationery is important to you, then I suggest you contact Google and recommend it as a suggested feature. Click on the Help link in the upper right corner of any Gmail screen, click the "Contact Us" link at the bottom, and click the "Suggest a feature" link. Google may not implement it, but if you don’t tell them what you want, they’ll never know!

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Do you have a lot of Spam messages in your Spam view? I seem to get between 10 and 15 Spam messages per day. Some people like to keep their Spam view empty, so they constantly delete whatever is in there. But is there an easy way to "Delete All" Spam? Read on for the answer….

Simply put, there is currently no way to simply "Delete all Spam" if the number of Spam messages exceeds one screenful of messages. You can, however, delete them one screen at a time. You first need to click on the "All" link under the "Delete Forever" button while in the Spam view. Next, click the "Delete Forever" button. This deletes that screenful of Spam. If you have more thatn one screenful of Spam messages, repeat this for all screens of Spam. Note that if you have hundereds of Spam messages (which is not unusual) this could take a short while to delete them all.

But here’s a tip: Just don’t forget that Gmail automatically manages Spam for you by deleting any Spam that is over about 30 or so days old. Even though you may accumulate lots of Spam, letting Gmail auto-manage it for you can have its benefit. For example, if you inadvertently mark a message as Spam, you can always go into the Spam view and move it back to the Inbox–this which "unmarks" the message as Spam.

Though you may have the urge to just delete all Spam as you get it, why not let Gmail manage it?

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Gmail’s User Interface is quite usable, but sometimes a mouse just seems to get in the way of efficiency. The Gmail developers have included lots of nice keyboard shortcuts that can really make using Gmail quicker and easier. Read on for a detailed list of Gmail’s keyboard shortcuts….

Gmail offers many keyboard shortcuts. To enable keyboard shortcuts, click on the Settings link at the top right of the screen, and click on the "General" tab. Look for the "Keyboard Shortcuts" entry and click on the "Keyboard shortcuts on" radio button.

Below is a table showing the current list as of 25-Jan-2006. Try ‘em out!

(For the most recent version, click here.)