Blogs on Gmail and Google Accounts

There are quite a few threads posted in the Gmail Help Community seeking guidance on ways to email Google Contacts groups or as Google calls them, Contact Labels. So, in this blog, we take a look at the various ways we can do that, namely: Via the Google Contacts web UI. Via the Google Contacts Android app. Via the Gmail Compose autocomplete UI. Via the Gmail Compose Contact picker option. Section 1: Via the Google Contacts web UI. The Google Contacts web UI refers to the https://contacts.google.com/ page for that specific Google account.  In there:  Select the Contact group or label you wish to email from the left panel (shown as 1) Select a single contact from the list by clicking on the check box to its left. Check on the down arrow next to the Select box above (shown as 2), and select All. This should select all Contacts. Click on the Send email (envelope, shown as 3) icon. This will bring up the Gmail Compose window with all the contacts entered as To recipients. Put in

We daily receive emails from known and unknown sources. So, it is essential that we understand the risks involved in handling emails in terms of identifying them and thereafter knowing how to best deal with the threats posed by the malicious ones. The Gmail spam and abuse detection algorithm use multiple signals such as Google's internal algorithm, blacklists, and crowdsourcing among other unknown factors Google doesn't make public to identify incoming messages and help the users on this front.  However, the spammers are extremely smart, and they can find ways to escape the algorithm through innovative ways. This is why, even with an effective spam and abuse detection system in place, one needs to be aware of some essential details so as to remain vigilant while handling emails, should there be a false-negative one. Everyone knows about Spam, Spoofed, and Phishing emails (among others) and they are the common types of unsolicited emails we receive in our addresses. Determining

Of late, many users have reported receiving the "We are sorry, but you do not have access to Gmail. Please contact your Organization Administrator for access." message while attempting to add Gmail to their non-Gmail Google accounts which are also not Google Workspace accounts.  Normally, users would need to follow the steps mentioned in the "Adding Gmail" help article:  https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/72198?hl=en , but the current complaint is that, after being signed into their non-Gmail account and clicking on the 9-dot Google apps launcher icon and then, the Gmail icon, they receive the following message. Apparently, something is not working as intended and after looking at the URL, we can spot a redirection to the https://admin.google.com/a/cpanel/... URL.  The cPanel feature and why it is essential to activate for Gmail in Google Workspace domains is explained in this help article:  https://support.google.com/a/answer/54717?hl=en . As seen, the chec

The original blog entry on ways to find your way around Google's email service and to perform the basic email tasks can be found here - https://blogs-on-gmail.blogspot.com/2019/02/gmail101.html .  This is a supplemental blog entry because recently, Google decided to expand Chat access to consumer users, thereby causing changes to the Gmail web and mobile apps UI. Here, we shall highlight the changes made in the Gmail standard view web UI and also answer some of the frequently asked questions related to this topic. A bit of history to begin with.  This used to be the Gmail web UI prior to its redesign in 2019: After the redesign in 2019, Gmail used to look like as shown below. Two very prominent sections in the left panel - Gmail labels (#1) on top and Hangouts (#2) below it. Thereafter, sometime in 2020, Meet was introduced in Gmail and the UI was changed again. Here, we find a third section in the left panel, for Meet (#1). Additionally, a new Support icon “?” was added (#2) and

In my blog on  Adding Image Hyperlinks in Gmail signature , I had discussed ways to insert an image to your Gmail signature from your computer or via a web URL. Soon thereafter, I became aware of an issue where images were inserted into the Gmail signature from Google Drive via web URL. To better explain, here are the steps: An image in Google Drive is set to " Anyone with the link " and the sharing URL copied. The Insert image icon in the Gmail signature area clicked, the Web URL tab chosen and the copied Drive URL pasted and the image is previewed correctly. The blue Select button is clicked. It is then the issue is noted. The image element is inserted, but as a placeholder and the image is not visible. The steps to resolve this issue are included below: The Insert image icon in the Gmail signature area clicked, the Web URL tab chosen and the copied Drive URL pasted and the image is previewed correctly. Now, instead of clicking on the blue Select button, right click on the

These days people have multiple email accounts, so, one of the common questions posed in the Gmail Help Community is often about "How did this email, that was intended for my account X, reached my Gmail account?"  The common reasons which can cause this to happen are: Emails are forwarded from the account X to the Gmail account Emails are fetched via POP3 from account X by the Gmail account Emails are fetched via the Gmailify option from account X by the Gmail account Emails are fetched via the ShuttleCloud API from account X by the Gmail account The Gmail address is listed as a Reply-to address in account X The Gmail address is included as a BCC recipient in the email For anyone inconvenienced by this issue, the most accurate way is to analyze the header of the message they received in their Gmail address. The header lists the machines (or servers) that a message had to pass through before reaching the recipient’s mailbox thereby providing a log of how it ended up

Gmail has recently added Contacts in the right-side add-on panel and in the process, brought about some changes in ways Contacts now gets saved from Gmail.  For starters, the " Add to Contacts " options in the hovercard is now gone and replaced with a " More info " link.  So, of late, many users are seen posting in the Gmail Help Community and asking about how they can add contacts directly from Gmail or edit contact details from Gmail.  To add a contact directly from Gmail, click open the conversation and then, click on the Contacts add-on from the right-side panel (shown as 1). It will default to showing contacts " In this thread ", then click on the contact you wish to add to contacts (shown as 2). The next screen shows the " Add to contacts " icon at the top-right corner. Click on it. After a few moments, the confirmation would show up at the bottom of the screen. Thereafter, to view, edit or delete the contact, click on the " Open in ne