Tips & tricks

The up arrow fixes your last message

↑

Typo in a message you just sent? Press the up arrow and you're editing right away — no hunting through menus.

Custom channel sections: important on top, noise below

Split your sidebar into sections — Projects, Team, Noise. Channels you don't need to see get collapsed.

Reply in threads, not in the channel

A threaded reply keeps a discussion together and doesn't flood the channel. A team that threads has half the noise.

Saved items: bookmarks for Slack

The bookmark icon on a message adds it to Later — your personal list of things to come back to.

Set working hours for notifications in Slack

A notification schedule automatically quiets Slack outside working hours. It leaves you alone in the evening — and shows colleagues when you're reachable.

Slack search: from:, in:, before:

Operators narrow a search to a specific person, channel, and time period — instead of scrolling through history.

Formatting in Slack: code, quotes, lists

Backticks turn text into code, three of them make a code block. A readable message saves time on both ends.

Remind yourself about a message when you'll have time for it

“Remind me about this” brings a message back at a time you choose. Slack stops being the place where tasks get lost.

Slack: Ctrl+K jumps to any channel or teammate

Ctrl+K

The quick switcher finds a channel, a message, or a person in a few keystrokes. Slack's single most important shortcut.

Color categories: an email's status at a glance

A category like “Waiting on reply” or “Client A” colors emails across folders — and you find them with one click.

The two-minute rule for your inbox

Anything that takes less than two minutes, do right when you read it. Longer things go to your task list — and archive the email.

Email three times a day in blocks, not sixty times in drips

Constantly checking your inbox shreds your focus into pieces. Three fixed blocks a day are enough for 95% of jobs.

Delayed delivery in Outlook

Even in Outlook, an email can wait until Monday morning. The new version has Schedule Send right next to the Send button.

Essential Outlook shortcuts: reply, send, switch modules

Ctrl+R

Ctrl+R replies, Ctrl+Enter sends, Ctrl+1/2/3 switches between mail, calendar, and people.

Quick Steps in Outlook: three actions in one click

A Quick Step can move a message, mark it read, and forward it all at once. Turn a repeated sequence into a single button.

Outlook rules: let your inbox sort itself

Automatic rules move system notifications, reports, and CCs into folders — your inbox stays reserved for messages that actually need you.

Drag an email onto your calendar and it becomes a meeting

In Outlook, drag a message onto the calendar icon — it creates an event with the email's text inside. No more retyping.

30 seconds to undo a sent email

Gmail can “hold” sending for up to 30 seconds. A typo in the recipient or a forgotten attachment stops being a disaster.

Search Gmail like a pro: from:, has:attachment, older_than:

Search operators find in seconds an email you'd otherwise spend fifteen minutes hunting for by hand.

Inbox sections: to-do, awaiting reply, to read

Multiple Inboxes splits Gmail into sections by label — turning your inbox into a clear working desk.

Mute the conversation that's no longer about you

M

An endless “reply all” thread? The M key mutes the conversation — new replies go straight to the archive.

Filters: keep newsletters out of your inbox for good

An automatic rule moves newsletters under a label and marks them as read. You read them when you want to.

Templates in Gmail: never write the same reply twice

Answering similar questions over and over? Save the reply as a template and drop it in with two clicks.

Snooze an email until you can actually do something about it

The Snooze feature hides an email from your inbox and brings it back at a time you choose. Your inbox stays clean and nothing gets lost.

Schedule your email to send at the right time

An email written Saturday evening can go out Monday at 8 AM. Scheduled sending respects the recipient's time — and your reputation.

Gmail from the keyboard: E archives, R replies

E

Turn on keyboard shortcuts in Gmail and clear your inbox several times faster — without a single click.

Zoom the page: Ctrl+plus, minus, and zero

Ctrl++

Tiny text on the web isn't something you have to live with. Ctrl and your scroll wheel (or +/−) zoom the page in, Ctrl+0 resets it.

The middle mouse button: opens and closes tabs too

Middle-clicking a link opens it in a new background tab. Middle-clicking a tab closes it — no need to hit the tiny X.

Browser profiles: work and personal, kept apart

Two profiles means two sets of bookmarks, logins, history, and extensions. No more signing out and mixing work with personal.

A floating video window over everything else

Picture-in-picture keeps a video (a call, a tutorial) in the corner of your screen while you work elsewhere.