Do you use Google's Chrome as your browser? If you do, there are two tips you should know to make using it easier. Before we look at these two tips, let's take a look at a website and get to know some of the features that we will be using.

In this screenshot, I'm looking at the Legacy Webinars website. The website is in my browser window. In this case, I only have one website open but I could have multiple tabs in one window. At the top right are three horizontal dots that when clicked, reveal a drop-down menu. At the top left is the tab with the title of the website, and next to it is the button to click to open a new tab "+".  At the bottom is a toolbar with the Google Chome logo.

#1 Opening the Closed Browser Tab

The first tip is one that I use quite a bit. I'm one of those people who opens way too many browser tabs as I research. And then, I get so caught up in researching and stop paying attention to what I'm doing that I accidentally close a  tab with a website I'm using.  What can you do if you close a tab before you want to?

There are three ways you can reopen that closed browser tab. First, you can simply use a keyboard shortcut, in this case, CTRL + Shift + T.

Or you can hover your mouse and click the right-click button where the "+" sign appears in the browser.

Finally, you can click on the three dots to the upper right of the browser, and then in the drop-down menu, hover your mouse over the word History and you will see a history of the websites you've looked at. Choose "Recently Closed."

Now that dread of losing the web page you were using is gone.

#2 Focusing your Search with More than One Window

Let's go back to this problem of having too many open browser tabs. When I'm on the computer I typically am multitasking which means I'm working on genealogy but I'm also taking a look at other websites. Perhaps you multitask. Maybe you're checking social media, researching that new refrigerator you need, or mapping out your research trip. All of those open browser tabs make it challenging to focus on just one project, and you may have so many browser tabs open that you lose sight of which one is for which website.

One way to focus is by opening another window. You can have more than one window open and keep your genealogy research in one  and all your  other tasks in another. Thus lessening how many browser tabs you have open.

To do this, click on the New Tab button "+" at the top to open a new browser tab. Enter the URL or conduct a search. Now that the website is open right-click on the browser tab. This will open a drop-down menu. One of the choices is "Move tab to another window." By clicking on that, your website will go to another window.

Now, to access that other window, go to your toolbar (most likely at the bottom of your screen), where it shows the Chrome icon, and hover your mouse. Your windows will appear, and you can click on the one you want to use.

Browsers Do More than Search

Browsers have all kinds of options to make searching and finding websites easier. If you need more help with Google Chrome, see Google Chrome Help.

Gena Philibert-Ortega is an author, instructor, and researcher. She blogs at Gena's Genealogy and Food.Family.Ephemera. You can find her presentations on the Legacy Family Tree Webinars website.

We're pleased to offer Legacy Family Tree Webinar members a new, short ten minute or less TechZone video just for them! This week enjoy "Customize Your Google Chrome Homepage" by Gena Philibert-Ortega.

Customize Your Google Chrome Homepage

In this TechZone video learn how to customize your Google Chrome homepage to add a background image, add recipe cards or add shortcuts.

About the Presenter

Every Friday we're pleased to offer Legacy Family Tree Webinar members a new, short ten minute or less TechZone video just for them! This Friday enjoy "How to Prevent Gmail from Going to Your Spam Folder" by Marian Pierre-Louis.

How to Prevent Gmail from Going to Your Spam Folder

Sometimes a Gmail that you want to receive ends up in your spam folder. We can prevent that from happening by using filters. Marian Pierre-Louis shows you how to set up the filter for specific email addresses.

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Every Friday we're pleased to offer Legacy Family Tree Webinar members a new short ten minute or less TechZone video just for them! This Friday enjoy "Get it Together! 5 Tips to Make Google Calendar Work for You" by Cheri Hudson Passey.

Get it Together! 5 Tips to Make Google Calendar Work for You

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There are all kinds of reasons to use Gmail for your email. I have long recommended to genealogists to use an online email account so that a change in internet providers won't change your email address. This is so important if we want researchers to be able to find us over the years. I'm a big fan of Gmail and the following new additions are just some of the reasons why. 

Send That Email to Tasks

There's a new icon found at the top left of Gmail. You might have seen it, it looks like a circle with a check mark. So what does this new feature do? It allows you to send an email link to your Tasks list (on the right-hand side of Gmail). You can then add information to that task. So now you have the the link to the email and additional information in your tasks so that you don't forget what needs to be done. 

So how does this benefit your family history research? Let’s say a cousin emailed you asking for a copy of your grandparent’s marriage certificate. With their email open, click on the Add to Tasks icon and this will send a link to that email to your Tasks list. Next to that link you can type Send Grandparent’s Marriage Certificate this week. This way you have the information in your task list reminding you what you need to do and you have a link to the email that it involves.

Customize Your Signature

You may have known that Gmail allows you to create a custom “signature” that appears at the end of all your outgoing emails. This is terrific for customizing the “look” of your emails depending on if they are going to DNA matches, your family, volunteer endeavors or work. So for example, my email signature includes my name and that I am the author of the book, From the Family Kitchen, along with the URL for my food history blog. But sometimes the signature you want for one email isn’t what you want for another.

Now Gmail allows you to have multiple signatures and to choose which one to use when you send or reply to an email. To use this feature, go to the Gear icon at the top right of Gmail.

In that drop-down menu, choose Settings and then General. Scroll down and you will see Signature on the left-hand side. This is where you can customize each signature you want.

Consider creating a few different signatures that reflect your genealogy interests such as the surnames or places you are researching. If you are a board member of your society, create one with your contact information and title.

Now when you write or reply to an email, you will see a pen at the bottom. Click this to choose which signature you want to appear in the email. You also have the option to choose no signature.

Pay careful attention to that bottom tool bar to the right of the Send button. There’s also a new option that allows you to set emails as confidential which can restrict what the recipient can do with that email (forward, copy, print). That menu also includes the options to attach items to your email and to utilize various formatting features such as bold and bullet points.

Schedule Your Emails

There is one more feature I want to show you that you will want to take advantage of. Imagine you’re working on a family reunion and you want to plan ahead. You have an email for your family but you are getting ready to leave for vacation and won't be able to send it next week when you want to. 

No problem! Write the email now and then schedule it to be sent while you are away. After you write the email, instead of just clicking the Send button, click on the down arrow next to Send. Now, click on Schedule Send. You will then see a box that will suggest three times in the future to send your email or you can pick your own date and time.

Gmail has so many great features and best of all you can customize it depending on how you use it. Check the Legacy TechZone for more tips and tricks for using Gmail and other Google products.

Gena Philibert-Ortega is an author, instructor, and researcher. She blogs at Gena's Genealogy and Food.Family.Ephemera. You can find her presentations on the Legacy Family Tree Webinars website.