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Carnegie Mellon University
Office of the CIO  ›  Computing Services  ›  Services  ›  Communication and Collaboration  ›  Email and Calendaring  ›  Google Mail  ›  How to Use Google Mail

How to Use Google Mail

Your CMU Google Mail account is more than just an email service. It comes with quick access to several Google Workspace for Education tools, including Google Calendar, Google Contacts, Google Keep, and Google Tasks. Follow the steps below to set up and work with your CMU Google Mail.

Important:If you are learning or working remotely from a country with a firewall, including but not limited to China, you may need to access your Google Mail or other services through Virtual Andrew. Visit Virtual Andrew for more information.

Log In  Mail Basics  For Delegates For Managers FAQS

LOG IN TO GOOGLE MAIL

Screen Reader Guide

Google will disable Basic HTML view in Google Mail for desktop web and mobile web in early 2024. If you use a screen reader and are used to using Basic HTML view, visit Google's Guide for Screen Readers in Standard View to help you transition.

Log In and Configure Google Mail

  1. Visit email.myxiwei.com.
  2. Log in with your Andrew userID and password, then authenticate with DUO when prompted.
  1. Click Settings (upper right). A list of all available Quick settings will display where you can set the density, theme, inbox type,  reading pane, and email threading (i.e., conversation view) for your mailbox.
  2. Click Settings (upper right), then click See all settings (top) in the Quick Settings pane.
  3. Under General, consider adjusting the following:
    • Maximum page size - change the total number of messages displayed per page. Note: the default is 50.
    • Keyboard Shortcuts - turn this feature on to enable shortcuts. Check out our favorites!
    • Signature - enter a signature to apply to your email. You can even add your name pronunciation to help others address you correctly.
  4. Once you've finished customizing your mailbox, click Save Changes.

Follow the steps below to enable Google Mail notifications in a browser.

  1. Click Settings (top right), then click See all settings.
  2. Under Desktop notifications, select from the following options: New mail notifications on, Important mail notification on, or Mail notifications off.
  3. Click Save Changes. You must keep your browser running and Google Mail and Calendar open on one tab to receive notifications. Note: It does not need to be maximized.

If you prefer to receive notifications even if your browser isn't open, consider installing the following extensions for persistent Google Mail notifications:

Note: This extension is available for most browsers.

  1. To add your CMU alias to a CMU Google account, click Settings (upper right) and then click See all settings.
  2. Click Accounts and Import. 
  3. Under the Send mail as section, click Add another email address.
  4. Enter the address of your CMU Alias, then click Next Step.
  5. If prompted, click Send Verification.

    Note: Please wait at least 4 hours after creating the alias before sending the verification email. If you do not receive the email verification within 24 hours after creating the alias, please report it to it-help@myxiwei.com.
  6. You will receive an email with a link in your Andrew email inbox. Click the link to verify.
  7. Click Confirm. If desired, change your settings to always respond from the account the message was sent to.
  1. Click Settings (upper right) and then click See all settings.
  2. Click Accounts and Import. 
  3. Click the make default link to the right of the account you would like to send from.
  4. Click your Inbox (left) to return to your mail.

 

  1. Log in to your CMU Google Mail with your Andrew userID and password, then authenticate with DUO when prompted.
  2. Click the profile icon with your initial or picture (upper right).
  3. Select your shared mailbox from the list that displays.

Owners can add/remove members following the steps below:

  1. Go to emailtools.myxiwei.com.
  2. Log in with your Andrew userID and password, then authenticate with DUO when prompted.
  3. Click Shared Mailboxes.
  4. Select the shared mailbox you want to manage.
  5. Add or remove the Andrew userID in the correct field.
  6. Changes may take up to 4 hours.

Note: Adding someone to owner allows access to add/remove individuals from the mailbox. Delegate allows the individual to view, send, delete and move messages in the mailbox.

This step will allow you to set up your primary mailbox to reply to messages as either yourself or the shared mailbox. Note: If you don’t need this functionality, jump to step 2.

  1. Log in to your CMU Google Mail with your Andrew userID and password, then authenticate with DUO when prompted.
  2. Click Settings(upper right) and then click See all settings.
  3. Click Accounts and Import.
  4. Under the Send mail as section, click Add another email address.
  5. Enter the address of your shared mailbox, then click Next Step.
  6. If prompted, click Send Verification.
  7. You will receive an email with a link in your Andrew email inbox. Click the link to verify.
  8. Click Confirm. If desired, change your settings to always respond from the account the message was sent to.
  9. You can customize your Send mail as to Reply from the same address the mail was sent to.

Next, you’ll set up your shared mailbox to forward a copy of all messages received to your primary mailbox.

  1. Click your profile icon (upper right) and select your Shared Mailbox.
  2. Click Settings(upper right) and then click See all settings.
  3. Click Forwarding and POP/IMAP.
  4. Click Add a forwarding address.
  5. Enter your primary Andrew email address to which you would like to forward messages sent to your shared mailbox.
  6. Click Next > Proceed > OK to continue.
  7. In another tab, return to your primary mailbox. Click the link in the confirmation email you received to confirm mail forwarding.
  8. Return to your shared mailbox. Under the Forwarding section:
    1. Click Forward a copy of incoming mail to.
    2. Select your primary CMU email mailbox.
    3. Select Keep Gmail’s copy in inbox to leave a copy of the messages in your shared mailbox.
  9. Click Save Changes (bottom) to apply the mail forwarding.
  10. Click your Shared Mailbox.

This next step will allow you to separate the mail in your inbox into two separate sections.

  1. Click Settings (upper right) > See all settings > Inbox.
  2. Click the Inbox Type drop-down and select Multiple Inboxes.
  3. Under Multiple Inbox Sections, enter:
  4. Under Search query enter:
  5. Under Section Name.
    • Enter a name for the Shared Mailbox. Note: This is just for use in your mailbox. The title will not be visible to anyone else.
  6. Modify the other items on the page as preferred to:
    • Adjust the position of the inboxes
    • Add or remove a reading pane
    • Add important markers
    • Override mail filters
  7. Save Changes.

If you prefer not to have multiple inboxes, you can set up a filter to automatically label and remove shared mailbox messages from your inbox.

  1. Click the Search field and select Show search options.
  2. Click From and enter the shared mailbox email address.
  3. Click To and enter the shared mailbox email address.
  4. Click Create Filter.
  5. Click Skip the Inbox (Archive it).
  6. Click Apply the label and choose an existing label or create a new one with your shared mailbox name.
  7. Click Also apply to matching conversations.
  8. Click Create Filter to apply the message. There may be a brief delay while the change is applied.

Resources

Google Mail Basics

Create and Send Mail

Work with Mail

Organize and Automate Mail

Use Google Mail as a Delegate

A delegate is an individual who has been granted the appropriate permissions to manage another individual's mailbox. Please note that Delegate permissions are different in Google Mail and Google Calendar. For example, it's possible to give a delegate only calendar permissions, only mail permissions, or both mail and calendar permissions.

Although you can send mail as a delegate from your mailbox, we recommend sending messages from within your manager's mailbox.

  1. Visit email.myxiwei.com.
  2. Click your profile icon (upper right).
  3. Select the mailbox you are a delegate for from the drop-down list.
    Note: A key icon will appear next to the mailbox name and the text delegated.

Google recommends accessing your manager's mailbox (above) to send and act on all mail. It's important to note, however, that messages show as being sent by another individual but with your email address.

Send Mail on Behalf of Someone Else

Resources

Work with a Delegate in Google Mail

If someone else manages your mail or calendar on your behalf, review the steps in this section to verify their permissions.

Delegate permissions are different in Google Mail and in Google Calendar. For example, it's possible to give a delegate only calendar permissions, only mail permissions, or both mail and calendar permissions.

We recommend reviewing the options below, then double-checking your setup in Google to ensure things are configured according to your preferences.

  1. Click Settings (upper right).

  2. Click See all settings.

  3. Click Accounts and import. Any delegates will display under the Grant access to your account section.

If your delegate is not listed:

  1. Click Add another account and enter the Andrew email address of the delegate.

    Note: If a delegate sends mail from your account (rather than sending it from their account) the sent mail goes into your Sent folder instead of theirs.

  2. Click Next. 
  3.  Click Send email to grant access.

  4. The delegate will receive an email with a link. They should click the link in the email to confirm access. Note: This change can take up to 30 minutes to take effect.

  5. Adjust the options under the Grant access to your account section to control how messages are marked as read and how messages are sent.

Frequently Asked Questions

When replying to or forwarding a message, it appears as though the message history is above the Compose window and not below it. The message history is hidden by default, but you can display it with a single click.

  1. Click Reply, Reply all, or Forward.
  2. Click the Show trimmed content ellipses. 

We recommend using Google Mail and Calendar via a browser. If you are unable to use Google Mail and Calendar in a browser for technical reasons, we offer best-effort support for the following clients:

Google has limits on sending emails. When emailing a large number of people or performing mail merges, we recommend Massmail.

GOOGLE SUPPORT 

  1. Log in to your CMU Google Mail with your Andrew userID and password, then authenticate with DUO when prompted.
  2. Click Settings (upper right) and then click See all settings.
  3. Click Accounts and Import. 
  4. In the Send mail as section, click Reply from the same address the message was sent to.
  5. Close your browser to save.
  1. Set default mail client:
    1. Open Mail.
    2. Click Mail and select Preferences from the drop-down.
    3. Click General.
    4. Click Default email reader, then select Google Chrome.app from the drop-down list.
    5. Close Mail.
  2. Set Chrome handling:
    1. Open Chrome and click the menu (stacked dots) in the upper right.
    2. Click Settings.
    3. Click Security and Privacy.
    4. Click Site settings.
    5. Under Permissions, click Additional permissions.
    6. Click Protocol Handlers.
    7. Click the Sites can ask to handle protocols option (if not already selected).
    8. Close the Settings window.

  3. Allow pop-up notifications for Google Mail:

    1. Return to your Google Mailbox in Chrome.

    2. Within the Address Bar, click on the diamond icon (upper right).

    3. Under Allow Google Mail to open all email links? click Allow, then click Done.

  1. Set default mail client:
    1. Open Windows.
    2. Click Start and then Settings.
    3. Click Apps.
    4. Click Default Apps (left).
    5. Under Email (right) click Mail, then select Google Chrome from the drop-down list.
  2. Set Chrome handling:
    1. Open Chrome and click the menu (stacked dots) in the upper right.
    2. Click Settings.
    3. Click Security and Privacy.
    4. Click Site settings.
    5. Under Permissions, click Additional permissions.
    6. Click Protocol Handlers.
    7. Click the Sites can ask to handle protocols option (if not already selected).
    8. Close the Settings window.
  3. Allow pop-up notifications for Google Mail:
    1. Return to your Google Mailbox in Chrome.
    2. Within the Address Bar, click on the diamond icon (upper right).
    3. Under Allow Google Mail to open all email links? click Allow, then click Done.
    4. Click Outlook and then select Chrome if prompted. 

There are several things customers can do to make their labels more manageable.

  1. Hover your cursor over a label and click the menu icon that appears.
  2. Then click Remove label. Unlike folders, deleting a label will NOT delete the messages it appears on.
  1. Click on More (left) and click Create new label. 
  2. Click Create.
  3. Hover your cursor over a label and click the menu icon that appears.
  4. Click Edit.
  5. Click the Nest label under checkbox and choose the new label you just created.
  6. Click Save. Repeat the process to combine other labels as desired.
If you don't use Google Chat or Meet from your mailbox, you can hide these panels.
  1. Click Settings > See all settings.
  2. Click the Chat and meet tab.
  3. Under Chat.
  4. Click Off.
  5. Under Meet, choose Hide the Meet section in the main menu.
  6. Click Save changes to apply.

Yes. To enable offline mode:

  1. Click Settings > See all settings.
  2. Click Offline.
  3. Click Enable offline mail.
  4. Click Save changes.

If you need to send mail on behalf of someone else and your name or email cannot appear, you'll want to add your manager's mailbox to your account using Google's Send as mail feature.

  1. Log in to your CMU Google Mail with your Andrew userID and password, then authenticate with DUO when prompted.

  2. Click Settings (upper right).

  3. Click See all settings.

  4. Click Accounts and import.

  5. Under Send mail as click Add another email address.

  6. Enter your manager’s name and email address.

  7. Deselect Treat as alias.

  8. If you would like all replies to come to your account, click Specify a different “reply-to” address and enter your email address.

  9. Click Next step.

  10. Click Send verification. Your manager will receive an email and they will need to either provide you with a code or click the verification link in the message.

  11. Once the account has been verified, return to your inbox and click the plus sign (upper left) to compose a new message.

  12. Click the From drop-down and select your manager's account.

  13. Proceed with composing and sending the message as you normally would.

Note: If you send mail from your manager's account (rather than sending from your account) and select their address in the From field, the sent mail goes to your manager's sent folder instead of yours.

Your Andrew email account will expire 90 days after graduation. Export your Google Mail after graduation to avoid an interruption in work.

Your CMU Google Mail account is to be used for University work only and should be considered separate from your personal Google account(s). Never use your personal Google Mail account to conduct University business.

New voicemail messages will display in your Inbox and the voicemessages label. Use the voicemessages label to locate your voicemail quickly.

You can access voicemails from email, phone, Cisco Jabber, or Voicemail Manager. Messages are synchronized across these options, so deleting a message from any of these technologies deletes it across all.

 

Computing Services does not support configuring personal Google Mail accounts to send as your Andrew email address.