Using Gmail Mouse Gestures

To begin, sign into your Gmail account. To enable the mouse gestures tool, click Settings. Next, click Labs. Here is a list of Google’s current Gmail experiments. Scroll down until you see Mouse gestures. There will be a thumbnail image of this tool, who authored it, and a brief description. If you like what you see, select the Enable circle. Scroll to the bottom (or top) of the screen, and select Save Changes. If you happen to change your mind before closing the Settings box, simply click Cancel to keep your current settings.

After saving your changes, you will be automatically taken back to your email screen. You cannot use the gestures here. You must first open an email message. When on the message screen right-click, hold, and move your hand to right to be taken to the next message. To return to the previous message, follow the same steps, just move to the left.

After navigating through your messages and you would like to return to the inbox, just make a forward gesture. Although there isn’t a function for the backward or down gesture as of yet, Google is currently working on it.

As you can see, using Gmail’s Mouse Gestures is rather simple. But don’t become too attached, as all features located in Google Labs are temporary and can stop working, or become inaccessible without warning. If you are having problems with this tool, simply return to the Labs Screen and select Send Feedback in the Mouse Gestures section. A new tab (or window) will open taking you to a discussion board. To use the discussion board, you must be a member of the Mouse Gestures group. There are links located on the right side of the screen to help you with this. Here you can post your questions or problems, as well as view the posts and replies of others. You can also suggest new ideas or improvements to aid in the further production of the feature.

Although there are a few kinks that need to be worked out, due to popular demand, mouse gestures aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Google is currently planning on enhancing the mouse gesture feature and adding it to more of its products. Stay tuned!