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Exploring the Advanced Tab in Gmail Settings: About Canned Responses

Over the next three blog posts, I shall write about three of the features which are now part of the Advanced tab in new Gmail. The Auto-advance, Custom keyboard shortcuts, Right-side chat and Unread message icon features are pretty much self-explanatory, so I shall write about Canned Responses, Preview Pane and Multiple Inboxes.

Believe it or not, there is no article on Canned Responses in the Gmail Help Centre. Probably because it has always been a lab feature in the past and now included under the Advanced tab under Gmail settings in new Gmail. So, today we take a look at this very popular feature in Gmail and the different ways we can use it.

To start using Canned Responses in Gmail, it needs to be enabled from the Advanced tab under Gmail settings in new Gmail (or Labs tab under Gmail settings in classic Gmail). As always, be sure to click on the Save Changes button on the bottom of the page.


Once enabled, click on the Compose button to open the compose window and in there, write the text for your Canned Response and format it as per your requirement.


To save, follow the steps shown in the screenshot below.


Enter a name for the Canned Response in the pop-up dialogue box, and you've created your first Canned Response.


To insert a Canned Response, position the cursor where you want to insert the Canned Response and then follow the steps as indicated below.


To edit/overwrite a Canned Response, insert the Canned Response, make the necessary amendments, then save it by following the steps below. If you want to totally change it, write a draft of the new version and then save it under the existing Canned Response name you wish to change.



To delete a Canned Response, follow the steps as shown in the screenshots below.



Canned Responses serve multiple purposes. The most common ones are listed below.
  • Gmail provides one Signature option per account. Canned Responses can be used to set up additional signatures.
  • Canned Responses can be used to insert the most frequently used contents increasing productivity.
  • They can be used in conjunction with filters to automatically send out relevant messages to the senders.

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