Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with gmail

gmail to hotmail

page123 — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:41:31 -0800

How do I set my gmail to be forwarded automatically to my Hotmail account?

Google Offline for iPod Touch

rossination — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:58:02 -0800

On the iPod touch, how do mail and calendars work when you are not connected to wifi? I'm thinking of getting an iPod touch but I have a few important questions first.

I have a Gmail account and several Google Calendars that I would want to be able to view on my iPod touch. I understand that Google has native iPhone versions of these pages, so I can view them in mobile Safari (and I also know I also have the option of syncing my mail via IMAP). But what happens when I'm not connected to wifi? Can I see my old emails? Can I set up my device to "download", say, the past 2 months of email and all my current calendars? I can think of a lot of situations where I'd want to refer to an email that I had previously gotten (say, double-check the address of the place I need to be at) but I'm not able to get online with my device.

I feel like this is a simple question but I haven't been able to find answers yet. Any help is appreciated!

Are .edu emails professional looking for recent grads?

fontophilic — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:18:05 -0800

Are .edu emails professional looking for a recent grad? Is XYLastname@gmail.com better?

I'm under-empolyed and freelancing, but always job seeking. Does .edu look like I'm still in school?

I'm looking to transition to a Droid, which means I need to get friendly with some google services. My university uses google apps, and I've got a gmail account previously used as a dump/spam account. Both will be compatible with the Droid, but I'm looking to simplify my "digital life."*

So, which is better looking to potential clients/employers?

Alumni are guaranteed email for life, so that's not an issue. Thanks.

*I loathe that term as much as you do.

Causes of failure on a free email account

TimTypeZed — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:04:56 -0800

When a free email account fails, what are the possible causes? About three weeks ago, I awoke to find that I could no longer log into my gmail account. This had also happened three months earlier, after four years of no problems with gmail. When I went through the password reclamation process, I would enter my email address, complete the captcha that appeared in response to the email address, and then be told that the address wasn't registered. On the previous occasion I was able to have the account restored through a secondary hotmail address that was used when I established the account. However, this time I found that I was also unable to log into hotmail for similar reasons. Having two email accounts through different providers disappear simultaneously made me worry that someone had gained access and was messing with my settings, but I didn't know who would bother doing that. Without the hotmail address, I was unable to answer enough questions about the account to satisfy gmail sufficiently that they would return it to me again. I lost the account. People have told me that mail sent to the old addresses bounces back with notice of permanent failure on that address. This is a relief, because I know people won't be sending letters to me into the void and expecting replies. It is also assurance that someone else hasn't accessed my account. While I am told that gmail no longer recognizes the address, the address is said to be not available when I try to reregister it.

In ten years I have lost one gmail account and two hotmail accounts when they failed to recognize passwords that I'm certain are the ones I've been using all along (yes, I checked the capslock). I'm unable to reestablish the accounts through whatever password reclamation process they have. Which has left me wondering, what could be possibly going wrong when these things happen. Hardware failure on whatever box my account is stored? Some sort of database corruption? Some response to peculiar activity on it, perhaps outsiders trying to access it, for example? You get what you pay for, and I was never that surprised to hear of emails to a hotmail address that never reached me or to see a couple years of stored email suddenly disappear, but I had a little more faith in Google. With Documents and other services, a person could be storing a lot of information on a gmail account. And losing an email address means losing contact with people I stayed in occasional touch with, because I can't remember their addresses to notify them of the change.

Strange cursor behavior in gmail

RandlePatrickMcMurphy — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:49:17 -0800

Gmail wants me to type in the search box instead of the email text. Its baffling and very very annoying. This is one of the oddest and most annoying things I've experienced with Gmail. I have an email window open, either a reply or composing a new response. I'll be typing along. Suddenly, instead of typing in the email text box, the cursor has moved to the "Find" box and I'm typing there, Gmail finds whatever text I've typed and jumps the cursor to there. I can then move the cursor back to the main message frame, but I can't type there. If I try to type the cursor jumps back to the Find box.

Its as if I were hitting a combination of letters (maybe ctrl-F?) that open the Find box and puts the cursor there, but then won't let me out of that function to type normally.

The only way I can go back to normal typing is to close the Firefox window (saving the text with ctrl-C) and starting over again. I haven't been able to replicate this under controlled conditions.

Any ideas?

Can I change a sender's display name in Gmail?

Siobhan — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 10:06:39 -0800

I would like Gmail to display a sender's name as I have entered it in my contacts, not as the sender has specified it. Is this possible? I have a contact who uses a made-up name on his email account -- so let's say email from him shows up in my inbox as being from "Bill Watson" even though his actual name is "Warren Smith." This has become sort of maddening for a number of reasons (I am always momentarily confused about who this mail is from; I think using the alias is sort of crazy; I have a close friend named Bill; etc.).

When I get an email from this person, I would like it to display in my Gmail inbox as being from Warren Smith (the name associated with this email address in my Gmail contacts). Is there a way to do this?

Gmail fail! Please help!

genmonster — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:37:23 -0800

Gmail shame! My account was accessed and all my contacts were spammed. How do I keep this from happening again? I'm not even sure the spam was really sent from my account:it doesn't show up in my sent folder. However there was an entry in 'account activity' that I'm pretty sure wasn't me accessing my account. I already changed my password (which, I admit, hadn't been changed in years). I use the latest version of firefox on my macbook (i don't even know if this is relevant, but whatever). How do I keep this from happening again??

Are gmail addresses private?

sandyfrd — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:57:39 -0800

gmail alerts...Through gmail alerts I try and watch which sites my son goes to. He has had some trouble. Is it possible anyone else could have the same gmail address, in another country or with a different password?

You've Got Too Much Mail

bonsai forest — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:43:28 -0800

I am helping a friend who just got a mac set up their computer. They use gmail and I wanted to set up his macmail to get his emails from his gmail account, but when i had the mail account "auto set-up" it began grabbing ALL his emails from his gmail account, and he has more than 10,000 and a great many with large attachments. We quit program, and now when we restart, it still tries to get all of these emails. So my question is: How do we stop this? If it grabs a 100 or so of the newest emails, that would be fine, but mac mail is trying to grab everything, starting from 2006, and that is unacceptable to my friend.

A second question, is: how do we guarantee macmail doesn't try to delete his gmail emails after grabbing them?

Help me get out from under all these piles of to-do lists!

lunasol — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:52:37 -0800

I'm looking for a productivity app that can help me manage both my projects and my time. I use google for email and calendars (my employer uses google apps, plus I have a personal gmail account). I use two computers, both of which are PCs, and an iPhone.

I have a job where I have up to 10 different projects going on at any given time, all with varying timelines and complexity, and many involving other people. My current system of making to-do lists of the things that have to get done today is really not going to cut it anymore.

Here's what I'm looking for in a productivity app:

- Something that can sync across all the platforms I use on a daily basis (iPhone, gmail/google calendars, PCs)

- The functionality to easily take big projects and break them into smaller tasks. For instance, if the project is "Go grocery shopping with Susan," I could break it up into: "ask Susan what time works best for her," "make a meal plan for the week with needed ingredients," "Check pantry to see what I already have," "make shopping list," "go shopping."

- The ability to give these tasks a deadline and/or schedule, and then integrate them into my calendar. So if something needs to be done at a specific time, it automatically goes on the calendar at that time. Bonus points if I can easily take a day's to-do list and slot the tasks into empty spots in my calendar (drag and drop, maybe?)

I'm willing to pay a bit for such a program if necessary. Also, I'm already mucking around with Remember the Milk and Evernote - both of these are appealing, but don't have the ability to easily break projects into tasks and neither integrates the way I'd like with calendars. Although I'm new to both, so let me know if there's something I'm missing!

Gmail Contacts Restore from Sent?

moedym — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:12:07 -0800

I accidentally (long story) deleted all my Google contacts. They are all just sitting there in my Sent and All Mail folders, however. Is there an easy way to re-add them to My Contacts in Gmail. Or do I have to just patiently email everyone over time?

How do I start using OS X Mail?

Junior687 — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:46:45 -0800

How can I start using OS X .Mail App when I'm so in love with Gmail on the web? I recently purchased a Mac and I'm really interested in using OS X's Mail program. The only problem is Gmail is my bread and butter. It has a lot of different features and I love the labeling system. Is there a way to integrate labels, IMAP, and some other Gmail features with Mail? Will it hurt my current setup on the iPhone? What are the pros and cons? Thanks!

Gmail organization for a mail with a specific sender and subject

poppo — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:23:13 -0800

Gmail question: How do I make a specific mail not group itself into the same thread over and over? Or how do I otherwise solve my minor annoyance? Every day my mom scans me a crossword puzzle and emails it to my gmail account. It's always 'From:' the same person, and the 'Subject:' is always "FW: Attached".

Because of this, I guess Gmail's default behavior is to group these emails together, and sometimes we're replying to each other in these threads about the crossword puzzle or other stuff, and the result is a lot of mails in the same thread. Since I don't print the crossword until the end of the day it can be hard to find the one mail with the attachment. Further, if I don't Delete the mail completely that day, then it's hard to find the one that comes the next day, and so on.

I know Gmail has a lot of customization possible, but I'm not familiar with any of it. What's the best way to configure gmail so I can easily find my new crossword every day?

Delete Gmail Custom Folder

KRS — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:10:12 -0800

How Do I Delete a Gmail Custom Folder? In Gmail, under the logo at the top left, there's a column of links to standard folders: Compose Mail, Inbox, Starred, Sent Mail, Drafts, Spam and Trash.

Below that is divider line and then a list of custom folders I've created to save various categories of mail.

I accidentally created a duplicate custom folder. It's not findable via Vista Explorer, but exists only within Gmail.

I can't find any way within Gmail to delete a custom folder. Right-clicking on it brings up a menu with no delete option. When I go into the folder, the Delete option works only on messages already in the folder.

Help.

Someone else's gmail

obloquy — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:24:37 -0800

I'm getting someone else's gmail along with my own. What to do? I have a gmail account the address of which is my name, in the format firstlast@gmail.com. It seems that someone who shares my name was able to register first.last@gmail.com. I am assuming that I am getting a lot of mail for this person due to the address being mistyped, since I doubt I get all of her mail. 1) Is this a reasonable assumption? 2) What are the chances that this person is getting any of my mail? 3) What is the appropriate action regarding the misdirected mail? Should I set up a script to forward it, ignore it, or what? I'd rather not have to communicate directly with this person; I know too much about them for comfort due to having accidentally read their mail so often.

I'm writing a terrible novel and it would be a huge loss if it disappeared

tylerfulltilt — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:31:48 -0800

Help me come up with some sort of automated way of sending a file to myself in gmail. Writing a novel. Paranoid about losing it. Currently backing it up to two different ipods and a thumb drive after each writing session, in addition to saving it on the laptop drive.

I'm also sending the file to myself in gmail after each session. However, this process gets annoying. Is there any way to create some sort of script or macro or something that I can click with one button to automatically open safari, navigate to my gmail account, fill in the fields, attach the file and and send it to myself?

If I'm asking for something ridiculous feel free to say so.
Using an iBook g4 with leopard installed.

I can no longer add html to gmail signature?

ragtimepiano — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:32:31 -0800

As of a few days ago, I can't tweak gmail signature anymore? I had been using Blank Canvass, which apparently has been disabled? Any information would be helpful! Is anyone still able to add photos and html to gmail sigs?

How to export AutoArchive e-mail exported & transferred from MS Outlook

willie11 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:40:40 -0800

Help me get my AutoArchived e-mail out of MS Outlook and the info from off Exchange server before work shuts it down tonight, please. I'm dumbfounded. Old job is shutting down my e-mail account today and I'd like to take all of my contacts, calender and saved e-mails for my own use. I know how to export the contacts as an excel file but I cannot find the "AutoArchive" folder on my hard disk.

The IT folks delete all messages from the sever after 9 weeks or so, but my desktop version of Outlook tells me that it autoarchives the messages. Where can I find these and how to I get them?

Also, what could I import them to? Gmail? My iPhone?

The iPhone (not synched with the server, which uses something called GOOD) seems to import contacts, calender etc from Outlook. Is there a way to upload the contacts, calender and ESPECIALLY the AutoArchived email to Gmail so I have them permanently? Or at least save the AutoArchived messages?

Many, many thanks for your help!

GMail AutoReply

tomcochrane — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 07:30:26 -0800

[Gmail Filter] I have email being forwarded by a domain to a Gmail address. I set up an auto-reply to certain emails by using a Gmail filter (filtering to:me@mydomain.com) and a canned response. However, it sends the canned response to the domain instead of the original sender. How can I get it to send the reply to the original sender?

Google, please believe me when I say this is my password.

banannafish — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:44:44 -0800

After getting a new logicboard installed on my MacBook Pro this past week, why does GoogleUpdateInstaller constantly ask for my password every few minutes? I'm only using GMail notifier and it is making me insane. Sooo, after a new logicboard (thank you cat vomiting all over computer) install this past week, I have been getting a log-in prompt every twenty or so minutes saying, "Type your password to allow GoogleUpdateInstaller to make changes" and has my computer name and blank password, but no option for "remember password" or the ability to add it to my password chain. After I type in my password and hit "OK" it brings up the Google Notifier, but there are no software updates available. I have uninstalled and reinstalled GMail notifier about five times now, and I'm still getting this error and it is driving me insane. How can I get this to disappear? As an added note, no other program has exhibited any of these problems, or even asked for my password. My Google-fu is completely busted.

Living abroad and can't access Gmail or Facebook - help!

nicoleincanada — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:01:16 -0800

I can search Google, read the news and view most websites, but specific sites like Facebook and Gmail won't load on my Mac Powerbook - I just get page load errors. Any idea what the problem is? I'm a Canadian living in France temporarily, and I've taken my laptop from home with me. While here I'm using a shared internet connection at a school, and although I can do web-searching and such, Gmail and Facebook won't load, in Firefox or Safari (or even the crappy discontinued version of Internet Exporer I just downloaded in the hope that it might work). I suspect the problem is with my computer, since other people using the same network connection are able to access these sites with no problems.

The page load error message suggests I might have a firewall in place, but I've checked the settings and nothing seems to be enabled. That said, I'm not terribly well-versed in this stuff. As well, the local tech support guy gave my computer a thorough once-over and can't figure out the problem.

Any ideas? For what it's worth, I've used both Gmail and Facebook in Canada and elsewhere on this computer with no problems.

What do I need to learn to write a Gmail Labs feature?

Matt Arnold — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 22:14:09 -0800

What do I need to learn to write a Gmail Labs feature? What programming languages and other technologies do I need to learn to write one of the experimental features for Gmail found in the Labs tab under Settings?

I currently know Python and some Java. In case it is necessary to your answer, here is what I want to develop:

The feature, named Herdcat, is intended to help me keep in touch to make sure I and my friends and associates have not forgotten the projects we're working on together. It uses Spaced Interval Repetition (SIR). I got the idea from flashcard software, in which SIR modifies the rate of how often to repeat a flashcard by recording the number of repeated failures or successes. In Herdcat, SIR determines how often to prompt me to nag someone, based on how seldom they reply in Gmail. Each collaborator's interval starts at a length of two weeks. Every week that a collaborator emails me, the interval until Herdcat reminds me to email that person increases in length by one day. Every week that person does not email me, the interval until Herdcat reminds me to email that person and remind them about our project decreases in length by one day. When the interval on one of my projects reaches zero, I get an alert that I should give up on that collaborator and their contact is removed from Herdcat.

Alternatives to Gmail?

NorthCoastCafe — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:02:00 -0800

What's the best alternative to gmail? I ask for several reasons, not just that today there's another massive fault with gmail's system. I've used and dislike both Yahoo and Hotmail. I've been a gmail user since forever and have liked it until recently. Time has come to search for alternatives. What's out there?

Older Gmail Messages Into Thunderbird

davidstandaford — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 20:42:32 -0800

How do I backup my gmail account and get all of my older gmail messages into Thunderbird on Windows XP? I'm trying to backup gmail using Thunderbird and it's not downloading older messages. When I installed Thunderbird and set it up with my gmail account it downloaded messages going back to 6/22/2009 4:08 AM. I have no idea where Thunderbird got that date from.

I have emails much older than that and when I tell Thunderbird to get messages it only downloads the newer ones. How do I get Thunderbird to backup all of those older gmail messages onto my computer.

If there is any other information I can provide that would help I'll update in comments.

Is gmail just too good for Publisher?

lunasol — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 10:42:37 -0800

I made a not-awful email newsletter in Microsoft Publisher. Now I want to send it via Gmail. Help! The only publishing/image software I have on my work computer is Microsoft Publisher (2003). My work email is through Google Apps, so my work email is essentially gmail. Usually I love this, but I'm having trouble getting gmail to cooperate with Publisher.

I made a newsletter that I want to send in the body of an email. Simply copying and pasting the whole document doesn't work, as I lose all the formatting. I tried setting my computer's default email client as gmail so that I could choose to send the document as an email, but this doesn't seem to work.