A Gmail Filter to Find your Most Important Emails

Your Gmail Inbox is overflowing with email messages. Some are newsletters that you are subscribed to, some are messages from friends and colleagues that you would like to read as soon as they arrive while the rest could be spam that managed to trick the built-in Gmail filters.

Focus on the Most Important Emails First!

When you only have a limited amount of time to process that long queue of unread messages, it is important that you prioritize your emails and defer reading stuff that is not very important and can wait (like those newsletters).

Here are two simple Gmail filters that will automatically move out all the low-priority emails out of your Inbox so that you can focus on the important ones. They should also come handy when you are checking emails on the go – the high-priority items will be delivered to your mobile device while everything else will stay in your Gmail account for you to follow up later.

1. Filter out emails that are not addressed to you

If your name is not in the TO: or CC: field of an email message, chances are that you may not have to worry too much about responding to that message.

The following filter will automatically move messages out of your Inbox to another folder that are of less-priority as they are not addressed to your directly.

• From: – you@email.com
• To: – you@email.com
• Has the words: cc: – you@email.com
• Skip the Inbox (Archive It)
• Apply the label: Not for me

If you have more than one active email address, you can either add them all to the above filter separated by the OR operator or setup another similar filter per address.

2. Move Bulk Emails to another folder

Bulk email messages are likely to contain words like “click here” or “unsubscribe” even if those hyperlinks are just a tactic of the spammer to confirm your email address. In either case, the existence of such words in the message can help us easily filter out bulk emails:

• Has the words: unsubscribe OR “click here”
• Skip the Inbox (Archive It)
• Apply the label: Bulk Mail

Not everything under the “bulk mail” folder will be spam as it will also match email newsletters that you are subscribed to. That said, email newsletters never require immediate attention so they safely reside in a folder other than your inbox.

How to Use the Mailto Syntax – Examples

The mailto protocol lets you create hyperlinks that will directly launch the default email software and compose a new email message. Mailto commands in Firefox and Chrome even work with web mail programs like Gmail.

You probably know how to use the mailto command for quickly linking to one email address but the mailto syntax actually allows a lot more – you can address the same message to multiple addresses, populate the cc, bcc or subject fields, and even write text inside the email body.

Remember to use %20 for the space character and %0A to add a line break in the body text. You can also test any mailto command by directly typing the command in your browser’s address bar.

Master the mailto Syntax

Let’s assume you maintain the official Whitehouse website and need to create mailto links that will make it easy for visitors to reach the president via email.

1. Send an email to Barack Obama (single recipient)

<a href=“mailto:obama@whitehouse.gov”>

1. Send an email to Barack and Michelle Obama (separate multiple recipients with a comma)

<a href=“mailto:obama@whitehouse.gov,michelle@whitehouse.gov”>

1. Send an email to Barack but put Michelle in the CC: list and Joe Biden in the BCC: list

<a href=“mailto:obama@whitehouse.gov?cc=michelle@whitehouse.gov&bcc=joe@whitehouse.gov”>

1. Send an email to Barack Obama with the subject “Congrats Obama”

<a href=”mailto:obama@whitehouse.gov?subject=Congrats%20Obama”>

1. Send an email to Barack Obama with the subject “Congrats Obama” and some text in the body of the email message

<a href=”mailto:obama@whitehouse.gov?subject=Congrats%20Obama&body=Enjoy%20your%20stay%0ARegards%20″>

You may use any permutations and combinations while writing a mailto hyperlink but make sure that there’s only one “?” character.

Open Email Links on Web Pages with Gmail or Yahoo Mail

There’s a new very useful feature in Firefox 3.0.3 that enables you to open mailto: links on web pages in the email program of your choice.

For instance, you may open email links directly inside Gmail, Yahoo! Mail or you could configure mailto link with desktop based email clients like Outlook, Windows Live Mail or Thunderbird.

To access this option, go to the "Tools" menu, click "Options", select the "Applications" tab and then search for "mailto" in the Content Type column.

Now when you click an email link on a web page, it will directly open a "Compose New Mail" window of Gmail or Yahoo! irrespective of what your default email client is.

Note that this could be done earlier as well, either via Google Talk , or the Google Toolbar, or the Better Gmail extension but this is a much simple approach. Thanks Blogoscoped.

All Gmail Users Have Two Email Addresses

You probably know that you can easily create multiple email aliases in Gmail by adding the plus symbol or dots to your Gmail username but here’s something even more interesting.

When you create a Gmail account, you actually get two email addresses – one is the regular @gmail.com address while the second email address has @googlemail.com in the domain.

That means if your email address in Gmail is something like billgates@gmail.com, all email messages that are sent to billgates@googlemail.com will also be delivered to your own Gmail account. That’s two for the price of one.

Like the Gmail plus trick, you can take advantage of these two domains so that less spam reaches your Gmail mailbox. For instance, Give the @googlemail.com address to your close contacts (put that in the visiting card) while keep the @gmail.com address for public (put it on your blog). Then set a Gmail filter such that all email messages with @googlemail.com in the header go a special folder so you will never miss important email from close friends.

And if you multiple Twitter accounts, associate one with your main @gmail.com address and the other with your new @googlemail.com address.

Simple Questions: What is a Windows Live ID or a Microsoft account?

Have you been using devices, tools or services from Microsoft? Then, at some point you might have been asked to provide a Windows Live ID. In Windows 8 you have been asked for a Microsoft Account. Never understood what they are and why you need them, let alone the benefits of having them? If that’s the case, then you should read this article, as it will explain everything you need to know about the Windows Live ID, also called Microsoft Account.

What is Windows Live ID/Microsoft Account?

The question is relatively simple to answer - Windows Live ID or Microsoft Account is an ID composed from an e-mail address and password, which you can use to login to most Microsoft websites, services and properties such as: Hotmail, Xbox Live, all Windows Live services (including SkyDrive and Messenger). It can be used also on your Windows computer, to enhance parental controls for the user accounts used by your children. In Windows 8 it is used to get access to all its features, including integration with Skydrive or to use the application Store. Windows 8, at least so far, is the only place where you will encounter the naming Microsoft Account instead of Windows Live ID. They are the same thing though.

Do I Have a Windows Live ID/Microsoft Account?

How do you know if you have a Windows Live ID? Easy - are you using any of these services: Hotmail, Windows Live Messenger or Xbox Live? If you are, then you already have a Windows Live ID. Use the same e-mail and password to log in to any other websites or services requesting a Windows Live ID.

How to Create a Windows Live ID/Microsoft Account (With or Without a Microsoft E-mail Address)?

If you don’t have a Windows Live ID, you can easily create one by completing all the required forms on the Windows Live Signup Page. When you complete the form, Microsoft proposes that you create an ID using one of their e-mail services (Hotmail or Live.com).

If you already have an e-mail address from another provider and you don’t want to create a new one with Microsoft, you CAN use that one instead. On the signup page, look for a link saying: "Or use your own email address". Click on it and wait for a slightly different form to load.

Complete your existing e-mail address, a password and all the other requested details, and you will have your Windows Live ID created in no time.

Watchout: If you create a Windows Live ID using an existing email address, it is best not to use the same password. Create a different password for your Windows Live ID. In this case, if the password for any of these two accounts gets stolen, the "hacker" won’t have access to both services.

What’s In It For Me?

I guess by now you are asking yourself: Why should I create a Windows Live ID/Microsoft Account? What do I get by having it?

The simple answer is - easy access to almost all Microsoft products, services, properties and websites. Create an ID if you are using or planning to use:

• Any of the tools in the Windows Live Essentials suite.
• Devices such as: your Xbox console and the Xbox Live service, your Zune media player or your Windows Phone 7.
• Get a free e-mail account from Microsoft (Hotmail or Live.com).
• Use all the features included with Windows 8.

Conclusion

If you are the "geek type", using lots of devices and tools, you will surely need to create a Windows Live ID/Microsoft Account at some point. I hope this tutorial manage to explain the full picture about it. If you still have any questions left, don’t hesitate to ask using the comments form below.

How to Politely Ask Someone to Stop Sending You Junk Email

What do you do when someone known (like a friend, relative or a work colleague) starts to spam your email inbox. They regularly forward you all kind of junk emails but you can’t block their addresses because one out of their 100 email messages may be useful.

Now if you know the person, a possible solution is to send him a polite but firm email asking him to stop sending you all those annoying and forwarded email messages.

If you are feeling a big hesitant to do this on your own, a free service called StopForwarding.us can help.

Stop Forwarding will send an anonymous but polite email to your friend requesting him to refrain from sending junk emails. This mail is sent anonymously so no hard feelings.

Here’s an excerpt: "Avoid sending forwards to friends or relatives that you’ve grown distant with. It can be frustrating for the recipient when the only correspondence you have with someone is via impersonal, unwanted email" 

Related: Prevent Span in Gmail With Googlemail.com