For a majority of people today, email means Gmail. That's because Google's email
service is actually very good, even if Google does try to force you to
use its social network Google+ and cloud storage service Google Drive.
But Gmail is far from perfect. Power users often complain about the lack
of advanced features, while basic users are often annoyed by Google's
clutter in Gmail. There are a number of Gmail extensions that you can
install to make it better organised, more powerful, or just that little
bit more user friendly.
These extensions all work on Google
Chrome, and most should also work on Opera. Where available, we've also
given links for Firefox users. We've not included some incredibly useful
tools like Offline Gmail, because that is a Chrome app, and not a Gmail
extension, but if you are interested in extensions, you should check
out our four favourite Chrome extensions.
There are Gmail extensions that let you schedule messages, help you
master Gmail's shortcuts, and others that tell you whether the person
you emailed has looked at your letter yet.
(Also see: Five Safari
Extensions That Make Your Life Simpler)
If you want to make Gmail better, then here are our seven favourite Gmail extensions:
1. Know when someone has read your mail
If
you have used WhatsApp, then
you know that after you send a message, you will see two tick-marks on
the screen. The first one indicates that the message has been sent while
the second one shows that it has been received. Imagine having that
feature in your Gmail inbox. Sounds cool right? MailTrack does something similar. Its a nifty extension that
shows you whether your emails have been read by other Gmail users. The
only downside is that the extension adds a signature (Sent with
MailTrack) with a link at the end of each message you send.
You
can manually remove it before sending a mail, but there is no way to
disable it. MailTrack can also send you an email alert when the
recipient has read your email. You can enable this by clicking the tiny
envelope icon next to the send button in the compose window. While
testing MailTrack, we noticed that the addon doesn't work when you have
enabled appearance tweaks using Gmelius. It also hides the button that
lets you use mxHero for Chrome, another extension mentioned in this
article.
Firefox users, Boomerang for Gmail sends you read receipts if you want to
track whether mails have been opened.
2. De-clutter Gmail
We've
already written about Gmelius, which is great for
cleaning up your Gmail feed.
If you want an extension that helps de-clutter Gmail, then this is your
best bet. The extension lets you hide unnecessary elements such as the
top bar that links to other Google sites, and things like Google+
activity and Google Hangouts as well.
Gmelius excels at helping
you focus on what you use Gmail for - email. It has nifty appearance
tweaks such as changing the black buttons for delete, archive, etc to
coloured ones. Another nice tweak is Gmelius' ability to show you
attachment icons in your inbox. Popular file formats such as Word, Excel
and PDF show up as a tiny icon in the list of mails in your inbox.
Gmelius is a zero-fuss Chrome extension and works flawlessly so you can
go right ahead and install it.
Gmelius is available for Firefox.
3. Track and schedule mails, and create self-destructing letters
If
these extensions are too basic for you, then you might want to try
mxHero for Chrome.
This Gmail extension is a power user's paradise. It not only lets you
track when emails have been opened, but also whether the recipient has
downloaded attachments. You can also schedule emails so that they are
sent at a particular time. Still not happy? The extension also lets you
send self-destructing emails, which get deleted from the recipient's
inbox five minutes after being read. That should cover pretty much
everything one could seek from Gmail. Install the extension and you'll
see an orange icon next to the send button when you compose an email.
Click this button before sending mails to access mxHero Toolbox's
features.
MxHero Toolbox isn't available for Firefox, but
Boomerang for Gmail lets you schedule
emails and set email follow-up reminders.
4. Get insider information about your contacts
Today,
we're using not just mail but also social networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to communicate with people. What
Rapportive does, is bring all that information
together in one place, so that you can quickly see a person's
designation (useful when sending an official mail) or their latest
status update (so you're up to date on what your friends are up to when
you mail) in the sidebar in Gmail, while you're tapping out your latest
missive.
You can add contacts to your network via LinkedIn, see
recent mail and contact details via Google - all from the sidebar. You
can see details such as contact information, recent email conversations
with that contact, in the sidebar, which adds context to your emails.
Rapportive is also available for Firefox.
5. Use cloud storage that isn't Google Drive
Google
does its best to force you to use Google Drive as cloud storage, but
many of you might already be using other services such as Dropbox or OneDrive. If you want to attach files
stored in the cloud, Cloudy
is the best extension you can ask for. It lets you attach files from
Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, OneDrive, Github, and Gmail
itself. You can also attach photos from Facebook, Instagram, Flickr and
Picasa, and attach notes from Evernote.
If that's not enough,
this extension also lets you search for images on the Web and attach
them. Gmail lets you attach files directly from your computer or Google
Drive, but Cloudy eliminates the need to save files to either of these
for attachments. Like MailTrack, Cloudy adds a link to its website at
the end of each mail. You'll have to manually delete this link every
time.
Unfortunately, we couldn't find a good Cloudy alternative for Firefox - if you know of one, let us know via the comments.
6. Easily share links
When
you're browsing the Web on your mobile phone or tablet and come across a
page that is worth sharing with a friend, it's a matter of a few taps
to send the link to its recipient. On a desktop browser on the other
hand, you will have to copy the URL, then create a mail, paste the
address, and finally send it. No wonder sharing has increased as mobiles
become more popular. But it's actually easy to send links to people via
Gmail, with the Send From Gmail
extension. The extension "provides a button that will create a Gmail
message when clicked, using the page title as the subject and selected
page text and link address as the message" - all you need to do is enter
an email id. The button appears next to the address bar in Google
Chrome and worked without any hitch.
7. Play videos in your inbox
Iframely
is a simple extension which finds links to media in your email and
shows them in an embedded player. If you get an email with a link to a
Vimeo video, you can play it directly from your inbox, thanks to
Iframely. This is a handy extension for non-YouTube video links in your
Inbox.
Bonus: Better signatures
WiseStamp
is a useful addon if you need to use signatures with images and links.
This extension lets you add one signature with a link to WiseStamp for
free. If you want to make more signatures and remove that link, you will
have to pay. This strict limit for free users is why WiseStamp is a
bonus in this list of Gmail extensions. WiseStamp works with Gmail,
Google Apps mail and Yahoo Mail.
Firefox users can download it here.
Those
are our favourite Gmail extensions, but if there is any amazing
extension that we missed or if you use any alternatives to the ones we
picked, do tell us via the comments.
Mozilla Hit With Privacy Complaint Over Firefox User Tracking26 September 2024
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