Gmail Labs is an experimental pre-release feature that users of Gmail can enable to add key business functionality to their Inboxes. Gmail Labs can be considered as a testing ground for validating features that aren’t quite ready to be launched. Simply put, they are add-ons to Gmail that enhance its functionality. Some of them can be really exciting that would definitely feature if you were to build a email service.
To enable any Gmail Lab feature, just follow these simple steps:-
- Log on to your Gmail account
- Click the gear icon in the top right of the Gmail pane to bring the Settings menu. Go to Settings > Labs.
- Scroll down to the feature you want, select the Enable radio button, and click Save Changes.
We take a look at 5 Gmail labs you should definitely use.
Authentication icon for verified senders
Well, it’s always safety and security first. The ‘Authentication icon for verified senders’ Gmail Labs feature tries to verify the real sender of the mail through a method called email authentication and displays an icon indicating that the mail is from a trusted vendor. This prevents you from falling prey to phishing pages sent by spammers. This Gmail Labs helps you stay safe by being able to easily identify the real senders from the fake.
Canned Responses
Well, this Gmail labs feature is for guys who are either too busy or too lazy. You can save canned responses and then send your common messages that are more often used using a button next to the compose form. Also, it enables you to automatically send emails using filters. A feature similar to this might very soon find full-fledged deployment in Gmail. It is currently being tried in Inbox by Gmail. Using this Gmail labs feature, you can have standard replies saved as canned responses and use them whenever required to save your ‘valuable’ time.
Google Maps Preview in mail
This Gmail Labs you should definitely use shows Google Maps previews of any addresses found in an email and is especially useful for individuals who travel often. This would give you an idea of the route to take to reach the given address, helping you avoid going through the pain of asking for directions and saves your time for the best of activites. You get a view of the location of the address beforehand.
Preview Pane
The Preview Pane Gmail labs feature provides a preview pane to read emails right next to your list of conversations, making reading emails faster and adding more context. This works similar to the reading pane that we have been seeing in Microsoft Outlook for ages. It is especially useful in getitng a gist of the contents in the mail and deciding on what to do next!
Google Calendar gadget
The Google Calendar gadget labs feature adds a box in the left column which shows your Google Calendar. This helps you see upcoming events, locations, and details while checking your emails eliminating the need to go to the Google Calendar separately. It helps you in planning your work and keeps you well organized and informed about the events..
These exceptionally well-developed Gmail labs would help make your life easy as well as add some buzz to it. However, they may change, break or disappear at any time. So, do not expect them to be there all the time. If you wish to disable Gmail labs, you can logon to Gmail and use the link https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?labs=0. This should revert your setting, removing the Gmail Labs from Gmail. There are other Gmail labs you can make use of but I feel these are the Gmail labs you should definitely use once.
