Gmail Ninja

I cannot see the other person during video chat

2012-04-04T15:51:00.000-07:00

Video chat is a wonderful feature of Gmail, iGoogle, and Google Plus. You can see and talk with loves one far away. But sometimes you run into problem. One of the most common problem is that you cannot see the other person or the video has lines in it. Here are the steps to fix:

1. Verify video chat settings. If there is video or sound problem, change the respective driver on the problem device.

2. If no joy, in Gmail fix video chat with Video Chat Enhancement lab
or in Google+ or iGoogle go to Chat settings and select Enable high resolution video.

3. If the problem is that the other person cannot see you, have the other person add the Video Chat Enhancement lab.

Other helpful references:
I can’t see/hear my friend
My friend can’t see/hear me

How to Disable Gmail as Default Mail Handler in Chrome

2012-04-03T12:16:00.000-07:00

Google makes it easy for you to enable Gmail as the default mail handler in Chrome. But if you change your mind or make a mistake, it is not so easy to go back.

If you selected Use Gmail and you really wanted to select No,

Click the wrench icon on the browser toolbar.
Select Options (Preferences in Mac and Linux; Settings in Chrome OS) > Under the Hood.
Click Content settings.
In the dialog that appears, find the “Handlers” section.
Click Manage handlers.
Select mailto Gmail.
Click remove this site.
Close and open Gmail.
Answer the question correctly.

If you made a mistake and selected No and you really wanted to select Use Gmail,

Click the wrench icon on the browser toolbar.
Select Options (Preferences in Mac and Linux; Settings in Chrome OS) > Under the Hood.
Click Content settings.
In the dialog that appears, find the “Handlers” section.
Click Manage handlers.
Under Ignored protocol handlers, highlight mailto Gmail
Click on X to the right to delete.
Close and open Gmail.
Answer the question correctly.

Create Gmail Whitelist

2012-02-26T14:59:00.000-08:00

To make sure emails from people or companies you know lands in your Inbox and not Spam folder, you need a whitelist. You can use a filter to accomplish this task.

1. Log in to your Gmail account, click on Gears icon in the top-right corner and go to Settings.

2. Select the Filters tab and click on Create a new filter, near the bottom of this area.

3. In the From field, add the e-mail addresses or names of people or companies you never want in your spam folder, using capital letters OR between each address/name. The whitelist can include:

A specific e-mail address, like username@gmail.com
An entire domain name like @google.com
A friend's name, no matter what e-mail that person uses, like "Chris Wong"
A nickname used by a friend, like Wardog

So if you wanted to include all of these, it would look like this:

username@gmail.com OR @google.com OR "Chris Wong" OR Wardog

4. Click the Next Step button after you're finished entering all the information.

5. Check the box next to Never send it to spam and then click Create Filter.

That's it! If you want to create several filters to keep them organized by domain, friends, family, or work, you can repeat steps 2 through 5.

Undocumented Gmail Keyboard Shortcuts

2012-02-24T17:38:00.000-08:00

1. If you ever try to use a Gmail shortcut, and was unsuccessful, you need to enable keyboard shortcuts in Gmail's settings page. Gmail is the only Google service that doesn't enable keyboard shortcuts by default.

2. Gmail has documented keyboard shortcuts, or hit Shift + ? to see. The one for composing new messages is c. There are two undocumented shortcuts that let you compose a message, while also adding the CC (carbon copy) and the BCC (blind carbon copy) fields:

b - compose new message and add both CC and BCC
d - compose new message and add CC

3. More undocumented shortcuts: Select the mails in the list that you want to delete. Press # key (Shift+3), and all the selected message will move to Deleted Items folder,

4. In Gmail Chat (and Google Plus chat) Google enables some shortcuts for emphasis.

To bold a word, use asterisks like this: *Ninja*
To add italics, underscore before and after the word like this: _Ninja_
And to strike a word through, add hyphens before and after like so: -Ninja-

5. Gmail Chat has documented and undocument emoticons shortcuts.

Gmail POP3 vs IMAP

2012-01-06T14:12:00.000-08:00

Gmail offers free POP3 and IMAP accesses for free accounts, much more than more than most email services. But these accesses or protocols are different than most email services.

POP3 Access

Gmail POP3 access will download all Gmail emails except those from Trash, Spam, and Chat folders. That means it will download emails from Inbox and Sent folders. This is great news for some users who want to synchronize their Sent folders between webmail and email client or mobile device. Here is how to set up POP3 for your email client.

For those who do not want a copy of sent mail in Inbox, set up a filter to delete the sent copy to Trash folder.

IMAP Access

Gmail IMAP will download all messages to your email client except those from Chat folder. In client the emails will appear in a separate set of folders from Personal or Local folders. Here is how to get started with IMAP for your email client.

Normally IMAP is ideal for seeing all your emails in webmail, but Gmail has some non-standard implementations.

If you have an email in webmail Inbox, All Mail, and a label, they will appear as 3 copies in Inbox, All Mail and label folders. In webmail, 2 of 3 copies are labels. In client, all 3 are real copies. Because of the duplications, the total emails in client can be twice the size or more of those in webmail. A workaround is to hide or unsubscribe from one or more folders in client.

If you delete an email from Gmail IMAP Inbox, the message will disappear but a copy remains in All Mail. Deleting from Inbox is equal to archiving in Gmail webmail. A workaround is to drag and drop the email from Inbox to Trash folder in client IMAP. Or you can do the following:

Go to Gmail webmail Settings. In Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab > IMAP settings for Auto-Expunge, set to Do not automatically expunge messages
Only same tab, When a message is marked as deleted, select Move the message to Trash.
In Labels tab, hide the All Mail folder in IMAP.

Then you can do a delete and mail will go to Trash folder.

There are some known issues with IMAP. including

IMAP clients timeout or crash when downloading very large folders.
Gmail does not fully support upload of emails to IMAP folders.

How to log into two Gmail accounts at same time on same browser

2012-01-06T13:46:00.000-08:00

Many users have two Gmail accounts and would like to log into both accounts at same time. Also, some have a Gmail account and Orkut account with another Google ID. Normally you can log into two Gmail accounts by using two different browsers, like Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Google Chrome browser.

Some users would like log into the accounts with same browser. For each type of browser, there is a different way to log into two Gmail accounts at same time.

Google Switch Account

To switch it on, go to the the new settings page for the feature. You can also reach that page from your Google Accounts management dashboard. Look for the “Multiple account sign-in” option.

Then click on your name at top of Gmail page and select Switch account. This method is easy but is limited to Gmail, Calendar, Google Docs and Reader. If you go to another Google service, you go back to original account. To have truly separate accounts, you can do the following, depending on you browser.

Internet Explorer 8

There are a couple of ways:

Add -nomerge to command line. Create a shortcut of IE8 on desktop. Then change the Target in Properties from “C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" to “C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe” -nomerge Make sure there is a space and one hyphen after iexplore.exe" The folder where IE8 program is loaded in your computer may be different.
You can use InPrivate Browsing mode to run one Gmail account and normal mode to run another account. Access InPrivate Browsing mode by going to Safety in IE8 menu and select InPrivate Browsing.

Then you can open IE8 in two different windows, and each window can run a different Gmail or Google account.

Firefox

There are several methods to run multiple Gmail accounts:

Use IETab addon. It allows user to run IE within a tab of Firefox. Download and install IE Tab addon. Then a Gmail account can run in normal tab, and another account can run in IE tab
Use Gmail Manager addon. It manage multiple Gmail accounts.
Use CookiePie addon. It enables you to keep different cookies storage in different tabs and windows.

Then you can open Firefox in two different tabs, and each tab can run a different Gmail or Google account.

Chrome

You can use Incognito mode to run one Gmail account and normal mode to run another account. Access Incognito mode by going to Wrench icon in Chrome and select New incognito window. Then you can open Chrome in two different windows, and each window can run a different Gmail or Google account.

Note: If you access Gmail in Incognito mode, your login info is not saved. This means that you have to log in every time you go to Gmail. If you use the normal mode of Chrome, your login info can be saved, so you can be logged in automatically the next time you visit Gmail.

Import emails and contacts from other email providers

2012-01-06T13:38:00.000-08:00

Gmail has provided several useful features to import emails and address book from other email providers like Hotmail and Yahoo. But user should be careful in using import features. They can result in some common issues.

Import emails and contacts

Follow the directions from Import email and contacts article in the Gmail Help Group to import all emails and folders and address book from some common accounts.

Common Issues

1. If a user cannot import his account, this is due to the feature not supporting the account. This feature works only with some common accounts like Yahoo and Comcast. Click here to see which email providers are supported.

2. User can use this feature more than once, but you should delete all traces of earlier import.

a) To start the import a second time, go to Settings > Accounts and Imports tab > Import mail and contacts section. Click on the Stop or Hide link next to the listing of the import. Try to import.

b) If no joy, go back to Accounts and Imports tab > Send Mail As section, click Delete link by the listing of the address. Try to import.

c) If no joy, delete all the imported emails and contacts. Then try again to import.

3. If emails continue to import after 48 hours, the user has selected to download new mail for next 30 days. User will have to wait 30 days for emails to stop downloading.

4. When user imports his contacts, the contacts may not show in My Contacts folder. Some contacts may show in Most Popular and Other Contacts folders.

Mail Fetcher

User can import emails from external account using check mail using POP3 feature, or commonly called Mail Fetcher. User can import emails from Inbox of external accounts which has POP3 access. User can also import sent mail as well as Inbox from other Gmail accounts. User can import up to maximum of 5 accounts.

Common Issues

1. During the setup process, the default is set to delete emails from external account. If user wants to leave a copy of mail in external account, he must uncheck this option.

2. If user decide to delete the account, emails may continue to download to Gmail. This is due to emails in queue. Once the queue is emptied, no email will download.

Import mail from email client

To download emails from an email client Thunderbird or Outlook to Gmail, user can set up an IMAP account of Gmail in the email client. Here is how to set up IMAP of Gmail in Thunderbird 3. A new set of folders will appear. Copy the emails from local or personal folders to Gmail IMAP folders.

Common Issue

To prevent corruption of emails during copying process, copy 300 emails or less at one time. Gmail has a bandwidth limit. Copying more emails can result in email corruption.

Import address book from other email accounts to Gmail

2012-01-06T13:36:00.000-08:00

Users of Gmail wants to import their address book from other mail providers like Hotmail or email client like Outlook to Gmail Contacts list.

Use Gmail Import

Use Gmail Import feature. This feature will import contacts and emails from select email accounts to Gmail. Important: Choose your settings carefully.

Use CSV Method

1.If your account is not among the select accounts, export contacts from your email account or email client.

2. Then import CSV file into Gmail Contacts Manager.

a. If you cannot import the CSV file, see create or edit CSV file. Create headings like in the article to match what are in the columns.

b. If you still cannot import the CSV file into Gmail, export the existing Gmail contacts as CSV file. Then compare the formats in a spreadsheet to see what format Gmail likes.

c. There are some known issues with importing contacts

Address with Non-ASCII or non-Latin characters may not be accepted.

Gmail has trouble with importing large number of contacts. Do not import more than 3,000 addresses at one time.

How to move emails from Hotmail to Gmail

2012-01-06T13:21:00.000-08:00

From recent changes implemented by Microsoft, Hotmail users who wants to move their emails from Hotmail to Gmail will find several methods to move their emails.

Gmail Import

Use Gmail Import feature. This feature will import emails and contacts from Hotmail to Gmail. Important: Select your settings carefully.

Gmail Mail Fetcher

If you make a mistake in the above import or it does not work, use Gmail Mail Fetcher to fetch emails from Hotmail Inbox into Gmail.

Windows Live Mail

1. User can download emails to Windows Live Mail.

2, Create an IMAP account of Gmail in Windows Live Mail

3, Copy Hotmail emails in Windows Live Mail local folders to Gmail IMAP folder. This is like copying emails to Gmail server, since IMAP synchronize with the server.

Note: Gmail IMAP does not fully support uploading of emails. So copy in batches of 300 emails at one time and verify that emails are copied to server correctly.

Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Connector

1. User can download Hotmail emails to Outlook via Outlook Connector. Outlook Connector will work with Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007.
2. Create an IMAP account of Gmail in Outlook.
3. Then copy Hotmail emails in Outlook to Gmail IMAP folder. This is like copying emails to Gmail server, since IMAP synchronize with the server.

Note: Gmail IMAP does not fully support uploading of emails. So copy in batches of 300 emails at one time and verify that emails are copied to server correctly.

How to move emails from Yahoo to Gmail

2012-01-06T13:05:00.000-08:00

Users who wants to move their emails from Yahoo Mail to Gmail will find that there are several methods to do so.

Gmail Import

Use Gmail Import feature. This feature will import emails and contacts from Yahoo Mail to Gmail.

To start the import a second time, verify that you are in Yahoo new mail interface. Click All new mail at upper left corner. Try to import.

If no joy, in Gmail go to Settings > Accounts and Imports tab > Import mail and contacts section. Click on the Stop or Hide link next to the listing of the import. Try to import.

If no joy, go back to Accounts and Imports tab > Send Mail As section, click Delete link by the listing of the address. Try to import.

If no joy, delete all the imported emails and contacts. Then try again to import.

Gmail Mail Fetcher

If the above method does not work,uUse Gmail Mail Fetcher to fetch emails from Yahoo Inbox into Gmail. Paid Yahoo and International Users have POP3 access. You may need to enable POP3 in Yahoo.

Use YPOPs

1. Free Yahoo users can download emails to an email client via YPOPs!
2. Create an IMAP account of Gmail in same email client.
3. Then copy Yahoo emails in email client local folders to Gmail IMAP folder. This is like copying emails to Gmail server, since IMAP synchronize with the server.

Note: Gmail IMAP does not fully support uploading of emails. So copy in batches of 200 to 300 emails and verify that emails are copied to server correctly.