Five Gmail settings that cut the inbox chore down to size

Gmail has built-in tools that can handle much of the repetitive work in an inbox. A writer at How-To Geek says five of them, all set up with filters and settings, made email far less of a chore. A filter is a rule that tells Gmail what to do with certain incoming messages.

Star what needs follow-up

The writer uses starred messages as a to-do list. Instead of starring by hand, filters now do it for messages from a manager, emails containing "action required," and calendar invites containing "invitation." To build one, click the search options icon in the search bar, enter your criteria, choose Star it and create the filter.

Reply and forward automatically

For business email, a saved template acknowledges incoming inquiries so people know their message arrived. A filter matches words such as inquiry, request or quote, then sends the template. Templates must first be turned on under Settings, See all settings, Advanced.

Another filter forwards only emails containing "invoice" or "payment" to a personal account. The address must be added and verified first. General forwarding stays off, so not everything is copied. The originals stay in the business inbox.

Away replies and labels

The vacation responder tells senders you are unavailable and when to expect an answer. Under Settings, General, you set start and end dates and a short message. You can limit replies to your contacts. After the end date, Gmail stops replying but keeps the settings for next time.

Filters can also apply labels, such as ones for PayPal and two-factor authentication codes, and skip the inbox for chosen messages. The trade-off is that skipped messages no longer trigger device notifications. Labels with unread mail show in bold with a count in the left sidebar.

What to do

• Use Gmail search first to check which emails your filter terms would catch.
• Keep auto-reply filters narrow so clients and suppliers do not get the wrong reply.
• Leave general forwarding off if you only want certain messages sent elsewhere.
• Check the left sidebar often if you skip the inbox for some messages.