Use Gmail without sharing your phone number
Google recommends using a phone number to synchronize the Gmail account on different mobile devices, although different alternatives can be used to not provide this information.
To do this, you must use an existing account to log in to Gmail, close it and then select the "use another account" option to access the account creation form. The required data must be filled out, however, in the mobile phone box, it is only necessary to enter the prefix of your country.
For those who wish to maintain their privacy online, there is the option of using a proxy, a service that hides the IP address and allows you to create a Gmail account without restrictions. Just make sure to select a proxy that allows you to choose an IP from the desired country.
You will need to access the full Gmail settings menu if you want to make significant changes to your mailbox. To do this in a browser, you need to click on the gear-shaped "Settings" menu icon at the top right of your screen. Once you click here, Gmail will offer you a "Quick Settings" menu, but if you want to follow the instructions in this note, you will need to click the "See all settings" button to continue correctly.
How to customize the Gmail inbox theme
Gmail's default look is boring. You can change the background of Gmail by choosing a new "theme" to add images with different styles to the background of your inbox. To do this, head to your settings. In the "General" tab, look at the submenu, click on "Themes" and then "Set Theme".
You will now see a pop-up window that gives you the option to choose your theme. Once you've completed these steps, you'll be able to choose from one of Gmail's preloaded featured images, which are landscape and abstract photos, as well as block colors and some illustrations, or you can select your own images. To change the Gmail theme to its original look, follow the same process, but scroll down to see the "Default" option and select it.
How to add tabs to your Gmail inbox
Dividing the Gmail inbox into category tabs also turns out to be a useful tool for many users. This separates your mail into categories, such as notifications from social media platforms and promotional emails from e-commerce companies, to give you a more organized view of your important mail.
If you want to do this, or at least experiment to see if it's a useful change, head to your settings. From there, select the "Inbox" tab. Look down the page to see the "Categories" options. Here you can select as many different categories as suits you. Your inbox will now have category tabs at the top.
Simply click on each tab to view the content. If you want to change your inbox back to a tabless version, simply follow the process above and uncheck the boxes below the categories section.
The best Gmail keyboard shortcuts
Gmail offers a lot of shortcuts, which help you get things done faster. To use them, you must first make sure they are enabled. Go to settings. Then, in the "General" tab, scroll down to see the option to turn on keyboard shortcuts.
You can now click with your keyboard to access a variety of Gmail actions. Visit the Gmail support pages to see the full list of actions that are now available to you.
You can even change Gmail keyboard shortcuts with custom options that better suit your needs. To do this, go to Settings, then click on the "Advanced" option in the "General" menu. Click to enable custom keyboard shortcuts.
Once your screen has refreshed, return to settings. You'll now see "Keyboard Shortcuts" as a tab option in the "General" menu settings. Click this to see your options for creating your own custom keyboard shortcut settings.
Make the most of Gmail's Smart Compose feature
Gmail has a very cool feature that can save you a lot of time by helping you write emails faster: it's called "Smart Compose." Powered by machine learning, this tool offers suggestions as you type, reducing repetitive typing and the chance of spelling and grammatical errors.
In addition to finishing sentences for you, Smart Compose can also suggest contextual phrases to add. Smart Compose should be turned on by default, but to make sure you're making the most of this clever functionality, head to your settings menu. Under the "General" options, make sure Smart Compose writing suggestions are turned on.
We also recommend that you enable the Smart Compose personalization settings. This means that suggestions will be customized to your unique writing style.
When you type, you'll see Gmail's smart writing suggestions displayed in grayed out text. To make them part of the text of your email, simply press the tab key to accept them.
How to organize your Gmail inbox through filtering rules
Gmail allows you to create "rules" to filter your emails. This means you can manage your incoming emails by using Gmail filters to send emails to a particular label, or archive or delete them automatically. You can also use rules to star emails or automatically forward them to another email address.
To set the inbox rule based on a search term, simply enter the term in the search box at the top of the screen and press the down arrow that appears to the right of the box. Now, click on "Create filter". This opens the actions menu that shows you all the options it has. If you would like to change, manage or delete your rule filters at any time, head to your settings menu. You must go to the "Filters and blocked addresses" area. From here you can edit or delete the filtering rules you have created.
