Don't Delete Your Gmail!

***For the first time in over a month, I missed my daily blog. I'll give myself a break, though, as I had a rough day at work (dumb CAASPP testing), went to the school board meeting, and didn't leave work until 10:15pm.***

Especially if you're a Google Apps for Education (GAFE) user, you should never, ever, ever, delete an email again. Even if you're a regular Gmail user, you'll probably never reach your limit. But if you have a school account, you should really take advantage of this.

I've got a colleague (he shall remain unnamed) who keeps deleting his email. It's not entirely his fault...it's the power of a habit. Our district formerly had Groupwise, and had a RIDICULOUSLY LOW amount of storage space for emails. Like...within my first month on the job, I had to archive (save) my emails, then delete them from the email server. STUPID.

So this unnamed colleague of mine has grown used to this workflow. I had emailed him something, and we talked about it the next day. I asked him to pull up the email, and he said he couldn't...that he had deleted it. MY MIND WAS BLOWN.

You have unlimited storage, I said. You never had to delete a message again, I said. I like to clear out my email, he said. I shook my head. I let it go (until this post). WOW.

Leave them all there! If you MUST, you can organize! Learn how to use labels. Folders. Archive (why?). You have organization options. But you never have to delete again. EVER.

What's the advantage of having every message you ever sent or received? SEARCH.

I like to remind people that Google is, at its core, a search engine. You can find anything in there. And this applies to Gmail, as well. Here are a couple of quick links to deepen your learning, if you choose:

Search tricks: http://www.popsugar.com/tech/Tips-Gmail-34542860

Gmail Tips & Tricks: https://davidleeedtech.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/gmail-features-for-teachers-tricks-tips/