Gmail Labs I use and love

If I didn't use many of these Labs, I might be inclined to think Gmail wasn't very functional (read: Gmail sucks). Thanks to the work of many enthusiastic people however, Gmail Labs do a great job of improving the usability of Gmail to the point where I was able to replace my desktop client completely. Goodbye crashing, freezing, slow Outlook!

You can find the Labs in Settings --> Labs.

I'll try to keep this list updated as I make changes to my preferred Labs and as Google updates them. Really the Labs are beta features for people to test and work out bugs before Google decides if they are worthy to become a permanent part of the base Gmail app.

This list includes all the labs I use:

Updated: 1/12/2010

YouTube previews in mail
by Stanley C and Braden K

Shows a video preview whenever you receive a YouTube link in an email. You can watch the video right inline!

Picasa previews in mail
by Dan, Stanley, Mark & Umesh

Shows photos previews whenever you receive a Picasa link in an email.

Flickr previews in mail
by Dan P

Shows photos previews whenever you receive a Flickr link in an email.

Yelp previews in mail
by Dong C, Braden K, and Raylene Y

Shows previews of Yelp listings (rating, location, phone number, etc.) whenever you receive a Yelp link in an email.

Google Voice player in mail
by Robert D

Lets you play voicemails left on your Google Voice account right from the email notification.

Google Docs previews in mail
by Steven S, Jim M, Bob B, and Ted C

Shows previews of documents, spreadsheets and presentations directly in the email when you receive any link to a Google Doc. Also gives an option to open directly in Google Docs.

Message translation
by Darren

Uses Google Translate to translate messages you receive in other languages.

Signature tweaks
by Keith C and Dave C

Places your signature before the quoted text in a reply, and removes the "--" line that appears before signatures.

Right-side chat
by Emily C

Move the chat box to the right side of the inbox.

Canned Responses
by Chad P

Email for the truly lazy. Save and then send your common messages using a button next to the compose form. Also automatically send emails using filters.

Forgotten Attachment Detector
by Jonathan K

Prevents you from accidentally sending messages without the relevant attachments. Prompts you if you mention attaching a file, but forgot to do so.

Vacation Time!
by Darick

Lets you specify starting and ending dates for the vacation autoresponder.

Mark as Read Button
by Mark K

Tired of spending all that effort to click on the more actions menu every time you want to mark messages as read without reading them? Now just enable this lab and that is just a button click away!

Filter import/export
by Luke B, Slava C, and the Data Liberation team

Export your mail filters as a file: back them up, share them, or save them before deleting so you can restore them later. Import one of these files to quickly add or restore filters. These options become available under Settings/Filters when you enable this Lab.

Text Messaging (SMS) in Chat
by The SMS Team

Allows you to send and receive text messages (SMS) in Chat. US phones only for now.

SMS in Chat gadget
by The SMS Team

Adds a gadget that makes it easier to send SMS messages. Please note that for this lab to work, the "Text messaging (SMS) in Chat" lab needs to be enabled as well.

Authentication icon for verified senders
by E R

Displays a key icon next to authenticated messages from certain senders that spammers attempt to fake. Currently works for mail from PayPal and eBay only.

Send & Archive
by Pal T

Adds a button to the compose form that lets you send a reply message and archive the email conversation in a single action.

Undo Send
by Yuzo F

Oops, hit "Send" too soon? Stop messages from being sent for a few seconds after hitting the send button.

Title Tweaks
by Fedor K

Changes order of elements in the browser title bar from "KM Authorized Mail - Inbox (20) - keegan@kmauthorized.com" to "Inbox (20) - keegan@kmauthorized.com - KM Authorized Mail". This way you are able (most of the time) to see if a new mail has arrived even if KM Authorized Mail window is minimized.

Don't forget Bob
by Ari L, Naty L & Ron M

Once you pick some email recipients, KM Authorized Mail suggests more people you might want to include based on the groups of people you email most often.

Got the wrong Bob?
By Assaf B.D. & Naty L

Doh, have you ever addressed an email too quickly, and included Bob (your boss) instead of Bob (your friend) by accident? If you're emailing more than two people at once, KM Authorized Mail will check if you meant to include Bob Smith rather than Bob Jones based on the groups of people you email most often.

Green Robot!
by Chad Y

Chat buddies show up as robot icons if they are currently using Android. Helpful to determine if you are chatting with someone on a computer or someone on an Android device.

Search Autocomplete
by Ibrahim B, Chris P, and Andrew C

Provides search suggestions for contacts and operators as you type in the search box.

Hide read labels.
by Damian G & David de K

The visible labels in the navigation bar will be hidden under the 'more' menu when they don't contain any unread conversations.

Inserting images
by Kent T

Allows you to insert images into a message body. You can upload and insert image files in your computer, or insert images by URLs. This lab will not work if you have offline enabled.