Gmail add-ons have become a popular way to expand Gmail's capabilities. The right Gmail plugins can save you hours of extra work. In this post, I provide an overview of popular Gmail plugins in seven useful categories:

1. task management
   
2. contact management
   
3. email tracking
   
4. inbox management
   
5. security
   
6. message composition
   
7. miscellaneous

Use these categories to find a plugin that does what you need it to. (Note: some Gmail add-ons perform functions in more than one category. In those cases, we've assigned the plug-ins to a single, relevant category.)

Whether you need to integrate task management, stay on top of your inbox better, or improve your email security, there is a quality Gmail Chrome plugin featured here that solves the problem effectively.

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Task Management Gmail Plugins

These five add-ons help you integrate tasks with Gmail, making email management easier. If you base work tasks on messages you receive, use these Gmail plugins to improve your productivity:

1. ActiveInbox

Do you need a more robust task list for Gmail? If most of your tasks come through email messages, you may need task/email integration. 

It's worth looking at ActiveInbox for your task list needs. This tool lets you manage your daily workflow from within your email. It also tracks emails and allows you to send messages in the future.

Assign tasks based on the messages you receive. Follow through to ensure that those tasks are completed in a timely fashion. Stay on top of your tasks by creating reminder messages and scheduling them for future delivery.

2. Boomerang for Gmail

When it comes to sending messages, timing is important. This Boomerang for Gmail plugin manages when you send and deal with your Gmail messages. With the detailed Send Later options, define when a recipient receives an email message. You can also schedule recurring messages for a future date to save time.

Use this plugin to manage when you deal with the messages you receive. It temporarily removes a message with a later due date from your inbox, but sends a reminder when the message needs to be handled.

3. Sortd

Organize your Gmail inbox into a series of ToDo lists. Name the lists according to your needs. Drag and drop emails and place them where you like into the appropriate list. Even rename the email in the list so it is clear what you need to do.

Hide the inbox and work directly from the ToDo lists if you like or work from both your inbox and your lists. If you rely on your email to perform your daily tasks, this could be helpful.

4. ToDoist for Gmail

ToDoist for Gmail is a task management tool that you operate from within your Gmail inbox. This feature-rich tool includes:

• email to task creation
• automatic syncing across all devices
• task prioritization tools
• collaboration tools      
  
• task tracking tools
• a clutter-free interface

Make the most efficient use of both your task list and your inbox with this handy tool.

5. Yanado

Yanado works within Gmail to identify and manage tasks that you develop based on your messages. It integrates with Google Calendar. Here's just some of what you can do with it:

• set up recurring tasks
• use various search methods, including Boolean
• set task reminders
• receive updates and real-time notifications
• use for team management

The project management features make this a good tool for team leads and managers. It could also be used to manage employees.

Contact Management Gmail Add-Ons

People are what make your business run. That's why your contacts are so important. Keeping your contacts organized and yourself on track of interactions can be a hassle. Use these three Gmail plugins to keep your contacts organized:

6. Clearbit

If you deal with companies, Clearbit could help ensure that your email gets to where it needs to go. Enter a company's name and the position you are trying to reach from within Gmail. Clearbit finds the right contact information for you.

This tool can also be used to find out more about the sender of a message. If you wonder how you're connected to a message's sender, now there's a way to find out quickly.

7. FullContact for Gmail

Do you ever wonder why someone is in your contact list? Have you ever added a "new" contact, only to find out that they're already in your contact list?

FullContact helps you gain control of your contacts' information from within your Gmail inbox. Identify and remove duplicate contacts. Edit contact information from within your inbox. Scan business card information into your contact list. Search your contact list from your inbox and find who you are looking for fast.

Your contacts are important. Use this app to keep your list current and relevant.

8. Streak

Use Streak to transform your Gmail into a contact relationship management tool. This cloud-based tool provides a way to track and manage your contact interactions. Add boxes for your customers so that you can stay on top of your interactions. Find out the status of each message you send quickly.

Streak is also compatible with other Google tools. It also adds Gmail message composition tools like Send Later. The Send Later tool allows you to compose and schedule when your messages are sent out.

Email Tracking Gmail Chrome Add-Ons

Email tracking plugins work with Gmail to help you discover what happens to your Gmail messages after you send them. Learn whether a message was opened, when it was opened, and even whether the recipient clicked links within an email.

9. Bananatag

Did your client really get that important email? Unless you contact them and ask, you often have no way of knowing what happens to an email after it's sent. Bananatag shows you what happens. Never wonder whether your client got an email again.

Learn when an email is opened. You'll receive a notification in your own email. Even track trends over time, making this a good tool for email marketing. Other features include the ability to schedule emails.

10. FollowUp.CC

FollowUp.cc keeps your messages from falling through the cracks. This Gmail add-on notifies you when a message is opened. Schedule reminders for future delivery of follow up messages so you don't lose track of a contact. Even set up a recurring reminder. If you get a response before the reminder is scheduled, the reminder is cancelled.

Manage your reminders with Google Calendar. Besides working with Gmail, this plugin also works with other email platforms. If you deal with customers on a regular basis, this can save you a ton of time.

11. Yesware

The Yesware add-on allows you to track emails. Find out when your recipients open an email or click on a link within an email. Check an email's status without ever leaving your Gmail inbox.

This tool also includes:

• mail merge
• reminders
• click-to-call (make phone calls from within your inbox)

If you deal with customers and need to track responses to your Gmail messages, this tool could help.

Inbox Management Gmail Plugins

A cluttered inbox keeps you from finding what you need. These three Inbox management tools declutter your Gmail inbox.

12. BatchedInbox

Is your work frequently interrupted while you deal with a Gmail message that just arrived? Those constant interruptions can be time consuming and lead to costly errors in your work. BatchedInbox offers an alternative.

Use this tool to receive your messages in batches at specified times during the day. This makes your schedule more manageable and reduces distracting email notifications. You're free to perform important tasks and deal with email later.

13. SaneBox

Did you ever wish for someone to rank your emails for you? Say hello to SaneBox, which will prioritize your messages. Important messages are left in your inbox. Less important messages are sorted to a SaneLater folder. You'll receive a regular digest of what has been sent to your SaneLater folder so that you can decide what to do with them at your leisure.

Use other Sane folders to store messages based on their importance. Once SaneBox knows where to put your messages, you'll save time that you would normally waste on processing less critical emails.

14. Unroll.Me

One of the coolest features of Unroll.Me is its ability to combine your favorite subscriptions into a single message, called the Rollup. Subscriptions can clutter your inbox, which is why so many other inbox management tools make it easier to get rid of them. This Gmail plugin takes a different approach. It aggregates your subscriptions into a single daily digest so you don't have to miss a thing.

Of course, Unroll.Me also makes it easier to unsubscribe to those subscriptions you don't want. Plus, check your individual subscription emails from within the Unroll.Me folder.

Security and Privacy Gmail Plugins

Keeping your messages secure can be a challenge in today's online environment. Sometimes you need to send or receive sensitive information. The last thing you want is for your information to be compromised when you send a critical message. These three Gmail plugins can help secure your messages:

15. Gmelius

Gmelius adds several features to your Gmail, but its ability to detect and block email tracking makes it a valuable addition to your privacy arsenal. Some email services give your contacts the ability to tell when, where, and how many times you've opened an email. Without Gmelius you may not even know email tracking is being used. With it, you will.

Gmelius includes a long list of other features, including (but not limited to) the ability to:

• categorize emails with #hashtags
• integrate a to do list
• schedule messages to send later
• search messages from your Chrome address bar
• improves the unsubscribe process

If you're looking for a way to improve Gmail's functionality and preserve your privacy, this could be the Chrome plugin for you.

16. Mailvelope

Your email messages are important to your business. They often contain confidential business details. You rely on your email to get your work done, but is it secure?

With Mailvelope encrypt and decrypt Gmail messages for better email security. Mailvelope offers end-to-end encryption. It's also easy to use once it's set up. To use it, simply click the Encrypt button from within the Mailvelope Compose window.

17. SnapMail

Do you ever need to send Gmail messages with sensitive data? Perhaps you have to send passwords or financial data through a text email. SnapMail can help.

SnapMail adds the SnapMail option to the compose window. When you select the SnapMail option instead of Send, your message is encrypted with military grade encryption. The recipient receives a link with the encrypted content. After they click that link, the message is removed from the SnapMail servers.

Message Composition Gmail Add-ons

How your Gmail messages are put together is important. Your messages leave a powerful impression. Your writing needs to be clearly understood and free of errors. This pair of Gmail add-ons can help:

18. Grammarly

Grammarly is a well-known spelling and grammar checking tool. They also have an extension for Chrome that works with Gmail. Adding the extension will also check the spelling and grammar anywhere you post your writing online.

Making grammar or spelling mistakes in your Gmail messages can be more than embarrassing. It can be professionally disastrous. Sending a Gmail message full of mistakes to a client or to your manager flags you as someone who is careless.

19. Strikethrough

There are times when you want to show that you've revised a message. Striking through the text is the perfect way to do that. Unfortunately, a strike-through feature is missing from the standard Gmail package.

This handy Chrome plugin offers what Gmail does not. It adds a strike-through option to Gmail's formatting menu. It's a simple, but effective solution.

Miscellaneous Gmail Plugins and Chrome Add-ons

This pair of Chrome Gmail add-ons may not fit neatly into a category, but they are too helpful to leave off this curated list:

20. Assistant.to

This plugin integrates meeting scheduling with your email. Normally, it takes a lot of effort to find a meeting time that suits both of you. Assistant.to works with Gmail and your Google Calendar to find the best meeting time. Then it schedules the meeting.

When you plan a meeting, your recipient receives a message giving them several meeting choices. They select the time that works best for them. Assistant.to automatically schedules the best meeting time. It also integrates with popular conferencing software.

21. Checker Plus for Gmail

With this handy Gmail plugin you'll get a preview of each message as it arrives complete with the sender's data. There's no need to open Gmail to deal with your messages. This apps runs in the background even if Google Chrome is closed.

Deal with your messages right from the notification window:

• read
• delete mark as read
• archive
• more

If you often receive email messages that need to be dealt with right away, this app could save you from the hassle of constantly opening and checking your Gmail.

Make the Most of Gmail With the Right Plugins

If you're ready to take your Gmail to the next level, one or more of these Chrome Gmail add-ons may be right for you. There are Gmail plugins for just about every need. All you need to do is find the right tool for your email management needs. 

But, keep in mind that it's also important to have the right strategy as well...

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Learn More About Working With Gmail

Discover even more about Gmail and how to manage your emails efficiently in it, jump into this kickstart series: How to Use Gmail (Ultimate Beginner Guide) or begin with one of these articles: 

• Gmail
  How to Create a New Gmail Account (Quick Start Guide)
  Laura Spencer
• Gmail
  How to Organize Your Gmail Inbox to Be More Effective
  Laura Spencer
• Gmail
  14 Killer Gmail Features to Make Use of Now
  Laura Spencer

Also, to learn more about productivity, review our series on Essential Productivity Principles.