Google Drive Search Tip

When you are hunting for a file in Google Drive and you type into the search bar, it searches your entire Google Drive - including files that have been shared with you.  This often creates a very long list and makes it more difficult for you to find your file.  If you are looking for a file you created, type "owner:me" into the search bar (do not include the quotes) and then type your text.  For instance, if you are looking for an English Essay file you made, and you don't want the 120 English Essays your students wrote to show up, type the following into the search bar:

owner:me English Essay

Your results will only include files that you created.  This helps narrow the results significantly and helps you find your files faster.

For more Google Drive tips check out these posts I made:

Google Drive Search Tips
Google Drive Organization Tips

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Get More Themes for Google Slides - Slides Carnival

When I suggest using Google Slides instead of PowerPoint, one complaint I get is that there aren't as many nice design themes.  Students might feel the same way.  It is true that there aren't many design themes native to Google Slides, but there are people who have created some great ones and they don't mind sharing!

Visit the Slides Carnival website and check out all the beautiful and practical Google Slides design themes they offer free of charge.  When you find one you like, you can click on it to bring up a more detailed page about that theme.  Now, Slides Carnival does have some advertising on their page, which I agree is no fun, however it enables them to offer us free themes, so we just learn to navigate around it.  When you want to download the theme, be sure you are clicking on the orange "Use this presentation template" button and not a download button of any kind.  

When you click that button it will take you to a view only Slides presentation.  You can then go to the File menu and choose "Make a copy".  

It will prompt you to name the copy.  I like to name it something that reminds me of what it looks like, so when I want to use it later, I can find it easily.  I also add the words "presentation theme" to the name.  I organize all of my presentation theme files into a folder in my Google Drive because it makes it easier to find the theme I want later.

Once you have your copy, you can close the window and browse for more themes.  When you are ready to use that theme in a presentation, open a new slide show and click on the "Change theme" button across the top.  At the bottom right hand corner of the panel that opens will be an "Import theme" button.  

Type in the words "presentation theme" and all of the slide shows you have named with "presentation theme" in the filename will pop up.  Choose the one you want and click, "Import theme".

Now you can build your presentation using that theme.  When you click on the "Layout" button across the top of the page, you can choose which layout you'd like to use on your slide.  You can also click on the little plus above the slide list.  A short cut is to click the tiny down arrow instead of the plus because it lets you choose which type of slide you'd like to add.  

Happy slide building!

Gmail - Undo Send

Ever wish you could hit undo after sending an email?  Maybe you sent it to the wrong person, or you accidentally hit send before you were finished?  With Gmail - you can!

To enable the undo send feature, click on the gear icon in the top right hand side of your Gmail inbox and select "Settings" from the menu.

Scroll down until you see "Undo Send" and click the box to enable it.  You can then use the drop down to set your desired time frame for the undo.  You will only have that amount of time to click undo before you lose the option.

Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the "Save changes" button.

Now when you send an email, you will get the normal message at the top of your screen that lets you know the message has been sent, but now it will include a link to undo.  After the time frame you selected has passed, the undo link will disappear.

The reason you only have a certain time frame to undo the send, is because it isn't actually sending your email when you hit send.  It waits for the time frame you selected before it sends the email, which is what gives you the chance to undo the send.  

This feature has come in handy for me several times!  I hope you find it helpful as well.  

Set Chrome to Open Your Favorite Tabs

There are probably a few websites you visit everyday.  Email, attendance, Google Drive, maybe even Hapara Teacher Dashboard.  Did you know Google Chrome can open all those tabs automatically each time you open the app?  It's really simple to set up.

First, open all the tabs that you want to have up each time you open Chrome and make sure they are in the order you want them to be in.

Then click the hotdog menu (the three little lines) on the upper right hand corner of your browser window and choose settings.  

Look for the "On startup" section.  Select the option for "Open a specific page or set of pages" and then click the little blue link that says "Set pages".

At the bottom of the window that pops up, click the button that says "Use current pages".  Then click "Save".  

That's it!  Now when you open up Chrome, all of your tabs will open just the way you want them to.  

*Note - If you use a Mac, these pages will only be opened each time you re-launch Chrome and not each time you open a new set of windows.

Google Keep

Are you one of those people who have sticky notes and lists littering your desk?  I was - until I found Google Keep.  Access to my sticky notes whenever, where ever, no matter what device I'm using.  You can make to do lists, set reminders, add pictures, and change the color of your notes.

To get started, be sure you are logged in with the Google Account you want to use, and browse to keep.google.com.  There will be some notes already there giving you some information about what you can do with Keep.  You can delete them when you are ready and replace them with your own notes.  Here is a picture of what my Keep looks like at the moment:

To add a new note, simply click on "Add note" in the white bar near the top.  If you know you want a list, you can click on the little list icon on the right side of the bar.  If you know you want a picture note, click the picture icon.  

Once you begin editing your note - you will have several different options.  

You can get reminders about your note, share it with others, change the background color, add an image to your note, or archive it (not delete it, but get it off the screen until you need it again).  

If you click on the three little dots to see more options, you can delete the note, add a label (for tracking your notes easier), make a copy of the note, choose to have checkboxes for a little list, or even copy to a Google Doc (the copy to Doc option will only show up once you have typed in some text). 

I love the "Copy to a Google Doc" option because if I start a list or some brainstorming on a note, I can click that and it will create a Google Doc with the text and/or photo that was in my note and it gives the document the same title as the note.  Pretty handy!

On the upper left hand side of your screen, you can click on the little menu to see a few more options. 

You are already on the "Notes" page.  You can click to see your reminders, filter notes by labels, see what you have Archived or even what you have deleted.  Under settings you can enable sharing of notes.  

Take a moment and check it out.  If you like it, you just might be able to get rid of the crazy sticky note parade.

Filters in Gmail

Ever wish you could have an email get automatically marked as unread in your inbox?  Maybe you would like an email to get labeled a certain way automatically instead of having to label it yourself?  Want a particular email to go straight to your deleted items, because no matter how many times you hit "unsubscribe" they just keep coming?  Well, you can, and it's easier than you think!

You can create filters in Gmail with just a few clicks.  To start out, the easiest thing to do is to select an email in your inbox, or actually open an email, either way - you will see the "More" option appear on the bar across the top of your inbox.  Click on "More" and choose "Filter messages like these".  It is good to choose an email that you'd actually like to filter, because it will autofill the senders email address, but it doesn't matter which email you use to get to the filter, because you can change all of the information anyway.

Once you click the "Filter messages like these" option, you will get a window that pops up where you can enter in all the information about what you'd like the filter to do.  The first set of options is for how to identify the emails you'd like to be filtered.

As I said, it will autofill the sender's email address, but you can change that to be whatever you'd like it to be, or even leave it blank.  You can have it filter by who an email is from, who it is to, what the subject is, what words are contained in the email, whether it has an attachment or not, what size the email is, etc.  Once you have entered in at least one of those identifiers, you can click the blue "Create filter with this search" link at the bottom right.  This will take you to the next set of options asking you what you'd like Gmail to do with the emails that fit the criteria you just set.  

You can have Gmail do all of the things you see listed.  One way that I use filters is to apply labels to an email.  To read about what labels are and how to create and use them, read my Labels in Gmail post.  If I want the email to be labeled and stay in my inbox, then that is the only option I choose.  If I want the email to be labeled and not be in my inbox, I can choose the option to apply a label, and also choose the option to "Skip the Inbox (Archive it)".  This will put the email in my "all mail" section but not in my inbox.  I can still access the email by searching for it, or by clicking on the label I asked Gmail to give it before it was archived.  I do this with newsletters so that they don't clutter up my inbox, but I can easily go to that label and read them whenever I have time.  

There are many reasons why you might create filters, as you can see by the list.  Once you have let Gmail know what you'd like it to do with the emails you identified, you can click the blue "Create filter" button.  You can choose the check box to apply it to the emails already in your inbox if you so desire.  

To edit or delete a filter after you have created it, or to see a list of all the filters you have created, click on the gear icon in the upper right hand corner of your inbox and choose "Settings".

Then find and click on the "Filters" tab across the top of the settings window.

I've blanked out my filter details to protect my privacy, but you'll see here that you can click on "edit" or "delete" on the right.  You can also click on "Create a new filter" at the bottom of your list.  There is currently no limit to how many filters you can create.  (You can only have 20 filters at a time that forward emails to another address.)

As you can see, it is pretty simple to create filters.  You can use them to save time and help organize email flow.  I have about 15 filters in use for my school account right now.  

I hope you found this helpful.  Happy filtering!

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Sign in to Google Chrome

It's no secret that my favorite internet browser is Google Chrome.  Some people like it, some people don't.  If you are going to use it, you should sign in.  Many people are using Chrome, but they aren't getting all the benefits of using it because they aren't signed in.  You may be signed in to Google, but not be signed in to Chrome.

To see if you are signed in to Chrome or not, click on the three dots menu on the top right side of your browser and click on "Settings".

If you are signed in to Chrome, at the top of the Settings page you can see who you are signed in as.

If you are not signed in to Chrome, it will give you a "Sign in to Chrome" button.

Click on the button and go ahead and sign in using your Google Account.  You will probably get a window that asks if you want to "Link your data".  This is where the magic happens.  If you are using a computer you will use frequently - one that is not a public use computer, then it is safe to link your data.  This means that all of your bookmarks, Chrome extensions and apps, and your settings will travel with you.  It is a wonderful thing!  I have my school account data linked on my work computer, my work Chromebook, and my home computer.  All three will keep my current bookmarks, extensions, and settings so that I can move seamlessly between devices.

Another nice thing is that you can create profiles for Google Chrome.  Between my husband and I, we have about 10 Google Accounts - some are work, some are personal.  We have Chrome set up so we can simply change profiles with a few clicks to be logged in to all those accounts - each one with its own bookmarks, extensions, settings, etc.  This can be handy if you want to access your work email or Google Drive at home or your personal email or Google Drive at work.

To add another profile on Chrome, click on the three dots menu and click "Settings".  In the top section, click "Manage other people".

A window will come up that shows all of your Chrome profiles.  At the bottom right you can click, "Add Person".

When you click "Add Person" it will open a new browser window and have you log in to your Google Account just like you did when you signed in to Chrome the first time.  You will again want to choose to "Link your data".  You can even choose an icon or picture to go with each profile.  You can name each profile as well.

To change the name or icon of your profile, you must be logged in under that profile.  Then go to the three dots menu and click "Settings".  Near the top where you see who you are signed in as, there is a little right arrow icon.  Click on that icon.

You can change the name and/or icon for your profile. 

Once you have more than one profile in Chrome, you can easily switch back and forth between them.  For a Mac, look at the bar across the top of your screen when you have Chrome open.  One of the options will say "People".  If you click on that menu, you can easily choose which profile you'd like to use.  For a PC, you should see the name of your current profile in the upper righthand corner of the browser window.  If you right click on that name, you will see the list of all your Chrome profiles and you can choose the one you'd like to switch to.  

Having different profiles makes it very easy when you need access to more than one Google Account on your computer.  Remember though - you want to always be sure you are doing this on a computer that is specifically for your use.  Doing this on a public computer could put your account and information at risk.  Creating different profiles instead of just switching between Google Accounts will help keep your information straight and you won't have any access issues because Chrome is trying to use the wrong account to access a file.

I hope you find this helpful!  Stop in again soon for more handy tech tips!