There are a variety of reasons why it’s sometimes a good idea to write now and send later with emails. Maybe you’re planning a big personal announcement, but it’ll take place at a time when you won’t be available.
Perhaps you’d like to tell a friend about everything you loved in Spider-Man: No Way Home while it’s still fresh in your mind, but they won’t see it until tomorrow.
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It’s also useful at work. Many of our employers have employees spread out across the country, if not the world, in different time zones. Something you send during an Australian coworker’s overnight may get buried.
But if you schedule the send, you can ensure it appears when they’re actually awake. Sometimes it’s simply momentum: you’re working hard, meeting deadline after deadline, and you want to get a head start on future business.
Whatever the case may be, the ability to schedule emails is a boon for those of us who prefer to work and live at our own pace. Fortunately, Google’s widely used makes this extremely simple. I’ll walk you through it step by step.
1. Start a new email
Whether you’re writing in a browser or on a mobile device, the first step is to open Gmail and compose your email. Yes, this is self-evident given that this is what we’re here to discuss. But it’s critical! Because scheduling an email is the same as sending it, you’ll want to get your note written before you schedule when it’ll be sent.
2. Select “Schedule send” and choose your time
Once you’ve configured your email, it’s time to schedule that puppy. When sending from a browser versus a mobile app, the process is slightly different, but the result is the same.
Click the little downward-facing arrow on the right side of the “Send” button if you’re writing from Gmail.com. Tap or click the three dots in the top right corner of the email window if you’re in the app.
Both of these open up more email options; the one you’re looking for is “Schedule send” (it’ll be the only option that appears when you’re writing from a browser).
Wherever you send from, you’ll see a pop-up with a few fixed options for selecting a time as well as one that allows you to customize a specific day and time.
In most cases, the last option is your best bet, but Gmail provides useful suggestions such as “tomorrow afternoon” or if you’re writing on the weekend, “Monday morning.”
That’s the only thing there is to it! Choose the day and time you want to send your emails, and Gmail will handle the rest.
