Switching to Gmail from

Microsoft Outlook 2016

Learning Center | gsuite.google.com/learning-center

 Welcome to Gmail
Now that you've switched from Microsoft® Outlook® to G Suite, learn how
to use Gmail as your new mail program.

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Access Gmail Make Gmail look Send email Reply to email Organize email Collaborate Productivity tips
like Outlook

Switching to Gmail from Microsoft Outlook 2

Differences at a glance
In Microsoft Outlook... In Gmail...

View messages and their replies by default as Group messages and their replies by default in conversation threads
individual entries in your Inbox so you see multiple related messages in one view

Create multiple signatures Use Canned Responses

Spell check automatically while composing Check spelling after composing

Attach and forward multiple messages Forward all or select messages in a conversation thread

Delete messages, typically to save space Archive messages to unclutter your inbox

Sort messages by sender, date, or size Find messages by sender, date, topic, and more using Gmail search

Organize messages in folders Tag messages with labels

Assign color categories to messages Color-code your labels

Flag important messages Star or add markers to important messages

Manage incoming email with rules Manage incoming email with filters

Flag messages for follow-up Add messages to your tasks list or a Follow Up label

Get desktop mail notifications via Desktop Alerts Enable desktop notifications in Chrome

Share a mailbox Delegate your mailbox to individuals or use Google

Groups to share more broadly

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1 Access 1.1 Get Gmail on your devices

Gmail 1.2 (Optional) Add multiple Google accounts

1.3 Create a browser bookmark
1.4 Add a Gmail desktop shortcut

Switching to Gmail from Microsoft Outlook 4

Access Gmail

1.1 Get Gmail on your devices

Open Gmail from...

● Any web browser—Go to mail.google.com.

● Most Google pages—In the upper right, click , and choose Mail.

● Android devices—Install and open the Android app.

● iOS® devices—Install and open the iOS app.

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Access Gmail

1.2 (Optional) Add multiple Google accounts

Have multiple Google accounts? Switch between them

quickly with Chrome profiles.

Note: Don’t have Chrome yet? See instructions on how to install Chrome.

1. In Chrome, in the top-right, click your name.

2. Click Manage people.

3. Click Add Person.

4. Enter a name, choose an image, and click Add.

5. Sign in with the Google account you're adding.

All settings and bookmarks will automatically sync.

6. Switch between accounts by clicking your name in the

top corner and choosing a different profile.

If you’re unsure which account you’re currently using, click

your name and see which profile is at the top.

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Access Gmail

1.3 Create a browser bookmark

1. In your Chrome browser, open Gmail.

2. In the top right, click More > Bookmarks.

3. Click Show bookmarks bar.

4. In the address bar, click Bookmark this page .

If you’re not using Chrome, follow your browser’s instructions to bookmark mail.google.com.

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Access Gmail

1.4 Add a Gmail desktop shortcut

1. Go to your desktop and right-click.

2. Choose New > Shortcut.

3. Type https://mail.google.com as the location.

4. (Optional) Name your shortcut.

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2 Make Gmail 2.1 (Optional) List messages separately

look like 2.2 Add a preview pane

Outlook 2.3 View your Google Calendar in your inbox

2.4 Create task lists
2.5 Add a signature
2.6 Use and change keyboard shortcuts

Switching to Gmail from Microsoft Outlook 9

Make Gmail look like Outlook

2.1 (Optional) List messages separately

Gmail: Conversation view

Outlook: Individual messages
By default, Gmail groups a message and its replies in a conversation
that’s listed as a single inbox entry. Conversation threads are the
recommended way to manage your email; they provide a fast, efficient
way to see multiple related messages in one view.
However, if you prefer to list messages separately, you can turn
Conversation view off. You can switch back at any time.

Note: Certain Gmail features (such as Snooze) are only available if Conversation view is on.

1. In the top right, click Settings > Settings.

2. In the General tab, scroll to Conversation View and select

Conversation view off.

3. At the bottom, click Save Changes.

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Make Gmail look like Outlook

2.2 Add a preview pane

Gmail: Preview Pane

Outlook: Reading pane
Similar to the Reading Pane in Outlook, the Preview Pane lets
you see the first few lines of messages in your inbox.
1. In the top right, click Settings > Settings.

2. In the Advanced tab, scroll to Preview Pane and select

Enable.

3. At the bottom, click Save Changes.

4. At the top of your inbox, click the Down arrow next to

Toggle split pane mode .

5. Select Vertical Split.

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Make Gmail look like Outlook

2.3 View your Google Calendar in your inbox

Gmail: Calendar view

Outlook: Calendar peek
To the right of your inbox, click Calendar .

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Make Gmail look like Outlook

2.4 Create task lists

Gmail: Task lists

Outlook: Tasks
On the right of your inbox, click Tasks to see your task lists.

● Add a new list—Click the Down arrow > Create new list.

● Change lists—Click the Down arrow and select a list.

● Add a new task—Click + Add a task. To add a new task from an email,
drag the email into a task list.

● Edit a task—Point at a task and click Edit .

● Delete a task—For incomplete tasks, click Edit , then click

Delete . For completed tasks, point at a task and click Delete .

To do more with Tasks, see

Keep track of tasks.

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Make Gmail look like Outlook

2.5 Add a signature

Gmail: Signature
Outlook: Signature
1. In the top right, click Settings > Settings.

2. In the General tab, scroll to Signature.

3. Add text, such as your name and contact information.

4. Use the format bar to add text colors, links, and images.

5. At the bottom, click Save Changes.

Need more than one signature? Learn how to add multiple

signatures with canned responses.

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Make Gmail look like Outlook

2.6 Use and change keyboard shortcuts

Turn on shortcuts: (Optional) Customize your shortcuts to match what

you used in Outlook:
1. Click Settings > Settings.
1. Click Settings > Settings.
2. In the General tab, scroll to the Keyboard
1. In the Advanced tab, scroll to Custom keyboard
shortcuts section and select Keyboard shortcuts and select Enable.
shortcuts on.
2. At the bottom, click Save changes.
3. At the bottom, click Save changes.
3. Click Settings > Settings.
4. Click Shift + ? when you have Gmail open to 4. In the new Keyboard shortcuts tab, change the
see available keyboard shortcuts. mappings you want.
5. At the bottom, click Save Changes.

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3 Send email 3.1 Compose a new email
3.2 Format text and add images or attachments
3.3 Use spell check
3.4 Send and undo send

Switching to Gmail from Microsoft Outlook 16

Send email

3.1 Compose a new email

Gmail: Compose
Outlook: New email
1. In the left sidebar, click Compose.

2. (Optional) Choose a window size with the buttons in the top right:

○ Exit full screen—

○ Full screen—

○ Open in a new window— Shift +

3. Add a subject and recipients (To, Cc, or Bcc).

Tip: To open the Compose window with a keyboard shortcut, just type “c.”
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Send email

3.2 Format text and add images or attachments

Gmail: Formatting options and add attachments

Outlook: Format text
View text formatting options

Add attachments up to 25 MB

Add Drive attachments up to 5 TB

Add images
Outlook: Attach file
Insert links

Delete draft

Note: Want to attach an email to another email? Either forward the email and
add your message, or print the email as a PDF and attach it to your email.
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Send email

3.3 Use spell check

Gmail: Check spelling

Outlook: Spelling & Grammar
After composing your email, click More > Check spelling.

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Send email

3.4 Send and undo send

Gmail: Send and Undo send

Outlook: Send and
recall message Send an email: At the bottom of the compose window, click Send.

Undo send: After sending an email, at the bottom left, click Undo.

Change send cancellation period:

1. Click Settings > Settings.

2. In the General tab, scroll to the Undo Send section and choose a time.
3. At the bottom, click Save changes.

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4 Reply to 4.1 Reply to, forward, and print email

email 4.2 Change recipients and subjects

4.3 Save attachments

Switching to Gmail from Microsoft Outlook 21

Reply to email

4.1 Reply to, forward, and print email

Gmail: Reply, forward, and print

Outlook: Reply and forward
1. Open the email you want to reply to.
Note: If a message includes a signature or previous replies, Gmail hides them
from view. Below your reply, click Show trimmed content to view all the
text that will be included in your reply.

2. In the top right, click More .

3. Click an option, such as Reply, Reply to all, Forward, and Print.

Note: Gmail’s Smart Reply may suggest some responses based on the email you
received. To save time, select one, then edit the suggested text or send it as is.
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Reply to email

4.2 Change recipients and subjects

Gmail: Change recipients and subjects

Outlook:
Change recipients and subjects When composing your reply:

● Change recipients—Click the To field to add or

remove recipients.

● Change subject—Click Type of response

and select Edit subject.

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Reply to email

4.3 Save attachments

Gmail: Download attachments or save them to Drive

Outlook: Save attachments
1. Open an email with an attachment.

2. Point to the attachment.

3. Choose one of the following options:

○ Save it to your device—Click Download .

○ Save it to Google Drive—Click Save to Drive .

Note: If you don’t see Save to Drive, it might not be enabled for your organization.
Contact your G Suite administrator for help.
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5 Organize 5.1 Archive or delete

email 5.2 Sort and filter vs. Search

5.3 Folders with color categories vs.
Labels with colors
5.4 Flags vs. Stars and importance markers
5.5 Rules vs. Filters

Switching to Gmail from Microsoft Outlook 25

Organize email

5.1 Archive or delete

Gmail: Archive or delete email

Outlook: Archive or delete email
Archive messages you're not using now but might need
later. Archiving moves email out of your inbox. You can find
them later in All Mail or through Gmail search.

Delete messages you no longer need. Deleted email are

moved to Trash and then permanently deleted after 30 days.

Note: If you don’t see All Mail or Trash, scroll to the bottom of the left sidebar
and click More.

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Organize email

5.2 Sort and filter vs. Search

Gmail: Search
Outlook: Sort
Calendar
and filter
peek
At the top of your inbox, search for one or more
keywords that appear anywhere in the email—in the
subject, body, or sender name.

If you’re looking for something specific, click the Down

arrow to use advanced search. For instance, you can
search for:

● Senders or date ranges

● Labels and keywords
● Message attributes, such as attachments

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Organize email

5.3 Folders and color categories vs. Labels with colors

Gmail: Labels with colors
Give messages one or more descriptive labels, such as Project X.
Outlook: Folders and color
categories 1. Check the box next to one or more email messages.

2. At the top, click Labels .

3. Choose one of the following:

a. To make new labels, click Create new. Type the name of your
label and click Create.

b. To select an existing label, click it in the list.

In the left sidebar, click a label to see messages with that label. Click
More > Label color to change its color.

[
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Organize email

5.4 Flags vs. Stars and importance markers

Gmail: Stars and importance markers

Outlook: Flags
Click Star or Important to mark an important message.

You can find messages with stars and importance markers

in the Starred and Important sections of your inbox.

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Organize email

5.5 Rules vs. Filters

Gmail: Filters

1. In the search box at the top, click the Down arrow .

Outlook: Rules 2. Enter your search criteria.

3. At the bottom of the search window, click Create filter.

4. Choose what you’d like the filter to do.

5. Click Create filter.

Ex: All emails from “[email protected]” that include the words “Project
X” will automatically be marked “Important” and have the label “Project X.” 30
6 Collaborate 6.1 Vacation notifications
6.2 Desktop notifications
6.3 Mail delegation
6.4 Shared mailbox
6.5 Chat

Switching to Gmail from Microsoft Outlook 31

Collaborate

6.1 Vacation notifications

Gmail: Vacation responder

Outlook: Out of Office
1. In the top right, click Settings > Settings.

2. Scroll down to the Vacation responder section.

3. Select Vacation responder on.

4. Fill in the date range, subject, and message.

5. (Optional) Under your message, check the box if

you only want your contacts to see your vacation
reply.

6. At the bottom of the page, click Save Changes.

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Collaborate

6.2 Desktop notifications

Gmail: Desktop Notifications

Outlook: Desktop notifications
You can get desktop notifications when you’re signed in to Gmail
and have it open in your browser.

1. In the top right, click Settings > Settings.

2. Scroll down to the Desktop notifications section.

3. Click Click here to enable desktop notifications for <your

organization>.

4. Select New mail notifications on or Important mail

notifications on.

5. At the bottom of the page, click Save Changes.

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Collaborate

6.3 Mail delegation

Gmail: Mail delegation

Outlook: Delegate access
If you're using Gmail through your work or school account, you can
add up to 25 delegates (such as an assistant).

1. In the top right, click Settings > Settings.

2. Click the Accounts and Import.

3. In the Grant access to your account section, click Add another

account.

Note: Your organization may restrict email delegation. If you

don’t see this setting, contact your G Suite administrator.

4. Enter the email address of the person you want to add and click
Next Step.

5. Click Send email to grant access.

The person you added will get an email asking them to confirm. It
may take up to 24 hours for you to see them as a delegate after they
confirm.

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Collaborate

6.4 Shared mailbox

Gmail: Shared mailbox

Outlook: Shared mailbox
If your team needs a shared mailbox, such as for technical
support or customer service, you can use a Google group as a
collaborative inbox.

For example, you can create a group with the address

[email protected], add your support staff as
members, and allow people outside your organization to send
messages to the group. Your support staff will receive your
customers' messages, and they can do any of the following
from the group's Topics view:

● Assign responsibility for a topic to a member of the

group
● Mark a topic as resolved
● Edit the tags associated with a topic
● Filter topics according to tag, resolution status, or
assignee
See instructions on how to set up a collaborative inbox

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6.5 Chat

If you have a quick or urgent question, you can send a chat message instead of an email. In Gmail, you
can start a chat right from your inbox.

1. At the bottom left, click Hangouts .

People you contact frequently appear below your name.

2. Click a person’s name to quickly start a chat.

3. If you don’t see the person below your name, click New conversation , enter their name, and
click the person to start a chat.

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7 Productivity 7.1 Read and respond to email offline

tips 7.2 Snooze email

7.3 Remember to follow up
7.4 Email templates
7.5 Priority inbox

Switching to Gmail from Microsoft Outlook 37

Productivity tips

7.1 Read and respond to email offline (Chrome only)

Read, respond to, and search Gmail messages when you aren’t connected to the internet.
Your messages will be sent when you're back online.

1. Click Settings > Settings.

2. On the Offline tab, check the Enable offline mail box.

3. (Optional) To choose how many days of email you want to store offline, next to Sync settings,
select the number of days. You can also choose whether to download attachments.

4. Choose whether to keep or remove offline data on your device.

5. At the bottom, click Save Changes.

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Productivity tips

7.2 Snooze email

Postpone email to a future date or time that’s more convenient for you.

1. Point to an email.

2. On the right, click Snooze .

3. Under Snooze until, choose a time.

The email moves out of your inbox. It will reappear in your inbox at the time you chose.

4. (Optional) To see all snoozed email, in the left sidebar, click Snoozed.

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7.3 Remember to follow up

You might see “nudges” in Gmail, which are old emails at the top of your inbox with a suggestion to
reply or follow up.

To turn on nudges:

1. Click Settings > Settings.

2. On the General tab, scroll to Nudges and select both options.

3. At the bottom, click Save Changes.

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Productivity tips

7.4 Email templates

Save and send common messages with canned

responses.

1. Click Settings > Settings.

2. In the Advanced tab, scroll to Canned Responses

(Templates) and select Enable.

3. At the bottom, click Save Changes. A

4. In your inbox, click Compose and write your email.

B
5. In the formatting toolbar, click More > Canned
responses.
C
6. Click New canned response to save your email as
a template.

7. After your first saved response, you can choose to

A) Insert, B) Save, or C) Delete canned responses
by clicking the template name under each section.

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Productivity tips

7.5 Priority inbox

Priority inbox automatically separates important messages from

the rest of your email so you focus on them first. Over time,
Priority inbox gets better at predicting what’s important to you.

1. In the left sidebar, next to the Inbox label, click the Down
arrow .

2. Select Priority Inbox.

This separates your inbox into 3 sections—Important and
unread, Starred, and Everything else.

3. (Optional) Train Gmail to identify important emails. In the

Everything else section:

○ Mark an email as Important by clicking .

○ Add an email to Starred by clicking the message

star .

4. (Optional) Customize Priority Inbox.

a. On the right of the inbox section, click More .

b. Choose from options, such as adding and

removing sections.
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Next steps
1. Help us improve this guide:

Submit feedback

2. Get more training resources at the G Suite Learning Center

(gsuite.google.com/learning-center), such as:
■ Cheat sheets
■ Product FAQ
■ Productivity tips
■ Customer examples

Visit the Learning Center

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