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LESSON 06 · DIGITAL SKILLS

Gmail: Organise & Manage Important Emails

Learn practical Gmail skills for managing important emails, documents, newsletters and your account security.

TODAY'S GOAL

What You Will Learn

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to manage your Gmail account without help.

You will practise how to:

  • Create Gmail labels
  • Organise important emails
  • Archive emails
  • Search for old emails
  • Find emails with attachments
  • Delete unwanted emails in bulk
  • Unsubscribe from newsletters
  • Manage spam
  • Change your Gmail password
  • Improve your account security
QUICK REFERENCE

Gmail Words You Need

You do not need to memorise these words. Use this table as a quick reference while completing the activities.

Word Meaning
Inbox Your main list of incoming emails.
Label A way to organise emails.
Archive Remove an email from Inbox without deleting it.
Delete Move an email to Trash.
Spam Unwanted or suspicious email.
Attachment A file sent with an email.
Star Mark an email so you can find it easily.
Search Find a specific email.
WATCH & LEARN

Gmail Labels

Watch this tutorial before starting the hands-on activity. Pay attention to how Gmail labels are created and used to organise emails.

Don't just watch.

Pause the video when necessary and try the same action in your own Gmail account.

SKILL 01

Create Gmail Labels

Labels help you organise important emails so you can find them later.

Create these labels

  1. Immigration
  2. Work
  3. Important Documents
  4. Appointments
  5. Finance

Steps

  1. Open Gmail.
  2. Look at the left-hand menu.
  3. Find Labels or Create new label.
  4. Create a new label.
  5. Give the label a name.
  6. Save the label.

Practice

Create all five labels before continuing.

  • ☐ Immigration
  • ☐ Work
  • ☐ Important Documents
  • ☐ Appointments
  • ☐ Finance
SKILL 02

Organise an Email with a Label

Steps

  1. Find an email in your Inbox.
  2. Select the email.
  3. Click the Labels icon.
  4. Select the correct label.
  5. Apply the label.

Practice

Find at least three emails and organise them.

  • ☐ One email → Immigration
  • ☐ One email → Work
  • ☐ One email → Important Documents
SKILL 03

Star Important Emails

Use a star when you want to find an important email quickly.

Steps

  1. Find an important email.
  2. Click the star next to the email.
  3. Confirm that the star appears.
Good emails to star:

Important documents, work information, appointments or emails you need to respond to.

SKILL 04

Archive Emails

Archiving removes an email from your Inbox but keeps the email in your Gmail account.

Archive vs Delete

Action What happens?
Archive Removes the email from Inbox but keeps it.
Delete Moves the email to Trash.

Steps

  1. Select an email you want to keep.
  2. Click Archive.
  3. Check your Inbox.
  4. Confirm that the email is no longer in Inbox.
  5. Use your label or Gmail search to find it again.
Remember:

Archive does NOT mean delete.

SKILL 05

Search Gmail

Instead of scrolling through hundreds of emails, use Gmail search.

Try these searches

Find emails from a specific person:

from:example@gmail.com

Find emails with attachments:

has:attachment

Find PDF files:

filename:pdf

Find emails with a specific subject:

subject:invoice

Practice Challenge

  1. Search for an email with an attachment.
  2. Find a PDF.
  3. Find an email from a specific person.
  4. Open the email.
SKILL 06

Find and Download an Attachment

Important documents are often sent as email attachments.

Steps

  1. Open an email with an attachment.
  2. Check the sender.
  3. Look at the attachment name.
  4. Check the file type.
  5. Download the document.
  6. Save it to the correct location.
Safety check:

Do not open unexpected attachments from unknown or suspicious senders.

SKILL 07

Bulk Delete Unwanted Emails

You can select multiple unwanted emails and delete them together instead of deleting them one at a time.

Find promotional emails

Try this search:

category:promotions

Steps

  1. Search for unwanted emails.
  2. Review the results.
  3. Select the emails you do not need.
  4. Click Delete.
  5. Check that they moved to Trash.

Unsubscribe from newsletters

  1. Open a newsletter you no longer want.
  2. Look for Unsubscribe.
  3. Follow the instructions.
  4. Return to your Inbox.
Important:

Always review emails before bulk deleting them. Important work, immigration, financial and document emails should not be deleted by mistake.

SKILL 08

Manage Spam Safely

What should you do with suspicious emails?

  1. Check the sender.
  2. Do not click suspicious links.
  3. Do not download unexpected attachments.
  4. Do not give your password to the sender.
  5. Report the message as spam when appropriate.

Practice

Open your Spam folder.

  • ☐ Check whether the messages are actually spam.
  • ☐ Delete unwanted spam.
  • ☐ Do not open suspicious attachments.
SKILL 09

Change Your Gmail Password

Your Google account may contain important emails, documents and personal information. Keep it secure.

Steps

  1. Open your Google Account.
  2. Open Security.
  3. Find the password settings.
  4. Choose the option to change your password.
  5. Verify your identity if Google asks you to.
  6. Create a new strong password.
  7. Save the new password securely.

Your new password should:

  • Be difficult for other people to guess.
  • Not be your name or birthday.
  • Not be the same password you use everywhere.
  • Never be shared with another person.

Check your account security

  1. Review devices signed in to your account.
  2. Look for devices you do not recognise.
  3. Review recent security activity.
  4. Turn on 2-Step Verification if available.
FINAL CHALLENGE

Can You Manage Your Gmail?

Complete the following tasks without asking your teacher for help.

Gmail Independence Checklist

  • ☐ Create an "Important Documents" label.
  • ☐ Find an important email.
  • ☐ Apply the label.
  • ☐ Star the email.
  • ☐ Archive the email.
  • ☐ Find the archived email again.
  • ☐ Search for an email with a PDF attachment.
  • ☐ Download the attachment.
  • ☐ Find unwanted promotional emails.
  • ☐ Select multiple unwanted emails.
  • ☐ Delete them.
  • ☐ Find your Spam folder.
  • ☐ Check your account security settings.
REAL-LIFE WORKFLOW

Email → Document → Google Drive

When someone sends you an important document, use this workflow.

1. Find the email

↓

2. Check the sender

↓

3. Open the attachment

↓

4. Download the document

↓

5. Upload it to Google Drive

↓

6. Put it in the correct folder

Goal:

You should be able to receive an important document by email and organise it yourself without needing someone else to do it for you.

QUICK REFERENCE

Gmail Cheat Sheet

Need to... Use...
Organise an email Label
Remove from Inbox but keep it Archive
Remove an unwanted email Delete
Find an old email Search
Find a document has:attachment
Find PDF files filename:pdf
Mark something important Star
Deal with suspicious emails Spam