Ready to feel old? Gmail made its debut 15 years ago, while Google Chrome recently turned 10.
As of this writing, Chrome is still the top browser on computers, with almost 68 percent of users, according to NetMarketshare. As of June 2018, Gmail had a 27 percent market share, according to Litmus—second only to the iPhone's Mail app (29 percent) in overall email client use.
It stands to reason that using Google's Gmail in Google's Chrome browser would be like mixing chocolate and peanut butter, right? Actually, Gmail works fine with any browser, but several Chrome-specific extensions add amazing features and abilities to the everyday Gmail experience.
Here is a collection of our favorites, many of them free (we indicate the price, if not). All are worth a try if you're a serious Gmail-er using Chrome on almost any platform, be it Windows, Mac, Linux, or a Chromebook.
Checker Plus for Gmail
The best extension for users of multiple Gmail accounts—I've got three!—is Checker Plus. It gives you fast access via a drop-down menu in Chrome, desktop notifications, color coding, even voice input for writing messages. A donation of any amount unlocks even more features.
Developer Jason Savard also makes Checker Plus extensions for Google Calendar and Google Drive.
Send from Gmail
There are links on the internet that do nothing except open an empty email for you to send to someone. Most browsers react to them by opening up an external email client. If you're a Gmail user, Send from Gmail ensures all those "mailto:" links open a new compose message window where it should: Gmail. Go into options to set it to use the domain name you use in GSuite, if necessary. It also puts a button on the toolbar that lets you forward anything you see online via a Gmail message.
Batch Reply for Gmail
If you receive a bunch of messages from the team on different topics, you can reply-all with this extension. Check the box next to each message in your inbox and click the Reply button that Batch Reply puts on the toolbar.
ActiveInbox
($49.92 per year for personal account)
Turn your inbox into a massive "Getting Things Done" workshop with ActiveInbox. It'll cost you (after a free trial), but could be invaluable if you're leaving things undone. This extension turns your messages into tasks, tracking and prioritizing, even turning groups of tasks into projects. Everything will get done, even if it's just because you don't want to waste the money. The personal account works with one Gmail, the Pro account ($69.96 per year) works with one to three accounts (even on mobile), and the team and enterprise versions kick it up a notch for a whole team.
Turn your inbox into a massive "Getting Things Done" workshop with ActiveInbox. It'll cost you (after a free trial), but could be invaluable if you're leaving things undone. This extension turns your messages into tasks, tracking and prioritizing, even turning groups of tasks into projects. Everything will get done, even if it's just because you don't want to waste the money. The personal account works with one Gmail, the Pro account ($69.96 per year) works with one to three accounts (even on mobile), and the team and enterprise versions kick it up a notch for a whole team.
Auto Text Expander
Gmail has a built-in feature called Canned Responses (look for it under Settings > Advanced > Canned Responses (Templates) > Enable), which lets you create text snippets to auto-insert into messages. Think of Auto Text Expander as that feature on steroids. It can insert text in any editable field in the browser, or with any web-based mail program, not just Gmail. Create a shortcut (like "jerk@") and set it to correspond with a long block of text, even a block full of HTML code. You can import and export your shortcuts and text as needed for backup and restore to set this extension up on other PCs.
Digify for Gmail
Digify provides complete control over the attachments you send, acting really as a storage middle-man so you can track who gets what you send, or even un-send and reclaim attachments if you must. It even employs a "self-destruct" so the attachments only can be grabbed for a limited time.
Discoverly
Not sure who just emailed you? Discoverly does a deep dive into social media to find info on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and even Gmail to tell you more about the sender.
Dittach
If your Gmail is full of attachments, prepare for some Dittach-ment. This well-named extension prepares a feed of all the attached files you've sent or received, making it a breeze to search, forward, print, and share them all as you see fit.
Dropbox for Gmail
You're probably using Dropbox to store files online and sync them between devices. If you've got a file to send via Gmail, integrating Dropbox—where that file probably originates anyway—only makes sense. Click the icon at the bottom of the compose window, select the file or files, and "attach" it. Except you're not attaching it—you're providing a link to the online file, so it doesn't count against Gmail's 25MB file size limit.
Gmelius
(Free; Sales version for $108 per year; CRM version for $240 per year)
Gmelius (pronounced 'gee-meal-ee-us') used to be all about improving the Gmail interface. That's still part of it, but the company (also named Gmelius) has pivoted to embrace the business side, enhancing its extension with advanced features. Some are still free—like email tracking, scheduling messages to send later, email templates, and setting snooze/reminders on messages—but with some limitations. If you pay, you get more unlimited usage plus remote support, activity reports, and CRM integration. The business version for teams includes collaboration tools. Give it a try for free for 14 day. Gmelius is also available as an app on iOS and Android.
Gmelius (pronounced 'gee-meal-ee-us') used to be all about improving the Gmail interface. That's still part of it, but the company (also named Gmelius) has pivoted to embrace the business side, enhancing its extension with advanced features. Some are still free—like email tracking, scheduling messages to send later, email templates, and setting snooze/reminders on messages—but with some limitations. If you pay, you get more unlimited usage plus remote support, activity reports, and CRM integration. The business version for teams includes collaboration tools. Give it a try for free for 14 day. Gmelius is also available as an app on iOS and Android.
FlowCrypt
Need a quick and easy way to encrypt a message and send it using PGP encryption? FlowCrypt (formerly CryptUp) sticks a button on the interface that reads "Secure Compose." It even encrypts the attachments. If the recipient has your PGP key, no matter what email client they use, they should be able to decrypt and read it. It's also available for Firefox and on Android in beta.
Inbox When Ready for Gmail
Perhaps the worst distraction when you're trying to get your email on is... your email. Inbox When Ready hides the messages in your inbox until you're ready to click a button that says Show Inbox. That way, all those pesky messages won't get in the way of composing a new missive. The creators claim this extension will help you reclaim one hour of productivity per week. It's free or $48 per year to use it with multiple Gmail accounts and avoid embedded signature ads.
Just Not Sorry
Do you have a habit of using equivocating language in your email messages? Like the word "just" or phrases like "I'm no expert" or "I think"? They can undermine your message and your credibility. Just Not Sorry is an open-source extra that will put a subtle underline on such phrases so you can revise before you send. If you keep them, no one else sees the underline.
PixelBlock
Sick of others tracking when you read messages from them? PixelBlock prevents that from happening with most messages. The little red eye will show up on the message to indicate a block. You can read the message without any issues.
Mailtrack
On the other hand, MailTrack promises to tell you if your message has been seen. Just look for a green double-checkmark next to a message. Click it and you'll even see how long ago it was read. Pay $9.99 per month to remove the "Sent with Mailtrack" mark that goes on each message, and add features like tracking history and daily reports. It's also available for Firefox, Opera, and Microsoft Edge.
Simple Gmail Notes
Available for Chrome and Firefox, Simple Gmail Notes lets you do just that: put notes on your Gmail messages. But they're only for you to see. Notes are stored in the Google Drive account associated with your Gmail, so you can access them on any computer, and even share them with others.
Rename Email Subjects
Sometimes it's the simple things that bring joy. Like being able to change the name of an email, giving it a subject line that makes a lot more sense. To do that you need an extension like Rename Email. The sender never knows you made the switch; the change is just for you (unless you reply, then the cat's out of the bag). Later, you can search on the new subject line as desired. It's also a great way to break up a long threaded Gmail conversation, by changing the subject line(s) as desired for new topics.
WiseStamp
Gmail's ability to leave a signature—that bit of pre-written text at the end of your emails—isn't exactly robust. With WiseStamp, you can create one with all sorts of extras (your latest tweet, company logo, etc.), all of which WiseStamp can import into the extension. The premium "Awesome" version allows five or more signatures to rotate as needed for $72 per year. It works with Outlook, Yahoo Mail, Apple Mail, even on mobile email.
Giphy for Gmail
The most important methods of communication in human existence: email and the animated GIF. Finally, they become one thanks to the Giphy extension for Gmail, which puts an icon on the compose window that makes it easy to pull from Giphy's seemingly limitless collection of animated nonsense.
Murmure
If you are sending an email and plan to BCC someone—that's a "blind carbon copy" that the BCC person gets without the main recipient knowing—you can now use Murmure for free to send a private message to the BCC. All without having to send a second, separate message to get that BCC person's attention or send to send extra, specific instructions.
Delete Key for Gmail
It's possible to delete a whole thread of messages in Gmail quite easily, and even possible to delete one single message in a thread with a few clicks. But with Delete Key, you create a hot-key that lets you delete individual messages even faster.
Gmail Reverse Conversation
One of the more frustrating aspects of Gmail threads is that the new messages go at the bottom of the thread. This extension uses CSS to do one thing, and one thing only: it puts all the messages in reverse, so new messages are always at the top.
ToDoist for Gmail
If you're a big ToDoist user, and use a lot of Gmail, you're doing yourself a major disservice if you don't install this extension. It puts the ToDoist task list tool right at your fingertips every time you access Gmail, and combines the two into a task management powerhouse.
Email This
This one isn't specific to Gmail, but is great for anyone: Install Email This on Chrome and if you see any article you want to read later, click the link. The article is sent directly to your email to read later, sans all the gunk like ads. Perfect for those who want to read later, but don't want a read-later-service like Pocket (though Pocket is pretty great). If you pay $19 for the premium version, you can do a lot more.
Convert Google Docs to Gmail drafts
This is one of those extensions where all you need to know is in the title. You make a Google Doc. You fill it full of formatting, charts, images, whatever. Then click the button installed by the Convert Google Docs to Gmail drafts extension. Voila, you can now send it in Gmail, with all the formatting included. It may be free, but beware: you have to create an account with developer cloudHQ for it to work. But they make a lot of extensions (like Rename Subject, above) so you may already have one!