"Sort" your Gmail messages

"Sort" your Gmail messages with filters and labels



There are lots of things to like about Google's Gmail service: It's free (unless you count the
text ads at the top of each window; it is available on any device with Internet
access, and it's easy to use as a central repository for multiple e-mail accounts.
Unfortunately, there are also many useful features of Microsoft Outlook,
Mozilla Thunderbird, and other standalone e-mail programs that Gmail lacks. One
of the features I miss most is the ability to sort messages by sender. I used to
have to page through old mail 50 messages at a time to find the one I was
looking for. Now I use the service's filters and labels as a sort
substitute.
If you're looking for a message from a particular person, select that
person's entry in the Contacts list on the left of the main Gmail window, and
copy the address in the To: field. Next, click Settings in the top-right corner
of the window, and choose Filters > Create a new filter.


Find all the messages from a single person by entering
their address in the From: field of Gmail's Create a filter screen.


Paste the address in the From: field and click the Next Step button. After a
few seconds you'll see all the mail from that person listed at the bottom of the
screen. Check Apply the label, and choose New label from the drop-down menu to
the right. Enter a name for your filter, and click OK. You can select the
messages you want to view in the list, or simply click Also apply filter to the
xx conversations below to add all of them. Click Create Filter to return to the
Filters tab of the Settings window.


Sort your Gmail messages by applying a label to a
filter.


The messages you selected and all subsequent mail from that person will now
be viewable by clicking the entry you just created in the Labels list on the
left side of the main Gmail window, just below your list of contacts. Of course,
you can also create a labeled filter to find the mail you sent to a specific
address, with or without certain words in the subject or elsewhere, and with
attachments.