Google’s ongoing quest to woo us by dangling countless feature carrots until we bite and fork over all of our data continues. This time around, a pretty unique new feature comes by way of Gmail Labs that will be perfect for those who have been lulled to sleep by Gmail’s clean UI. Multiple Inboxes, introduced yesterday evening, gives Gmail users the option to add additional label-based inboxes to their inbox screens. The new feature definitely adds a healthy dose of busy to Gmail’s less-is-more interface but those who regularly utilize labels will likely find the addition appealing. Multiple Inboxes is being rolled out gradually, as with all Labs features so don’t fret if you’re not yet finding it on your Labs tab under settings. We liken the service to Outlook displaying multiple folders on one screen, which probably wouldn’t be overly helpful as far as productivity is concerned. As such, we far prefer the old fashioned way of doing things – clicking on a label in the sidebar to see relevant emails. Better yet, you can quickly and easily view all unread messages for any label(s) with this little trick we use:
- Go to Settings -> Labs and enable Quick Links
- At the top of any mail view in Gmail, perform a search – label:xxx label:unread – where xxx is any label for which you would like to see unread messages
- In the new Quick Links box at the bottom of your sidebar, click “Add Quick Link”
- Name the Quick Link and click “Ok”
- Lather, rinse and repeat for any other labels you’d like fast access to
As you save these pages you’ll see each one listed in the Quick Links box. Click on one at any time and you’re in business. Which method do you guys prefer?
