Get up to speed after time off

Want to use Google apps at work or school?  Sign up for a Google Workspace trial

What you'll learn

How to use Google Workspace features to quickly get productive when you return to work.

What you'll need

About 10 minutes.

Google Workspace account. Don't have one? Start your 14-day trial today.

In this tutorial

Reset notifications & vacation responder See what you missed Start work

1  Reset notifications & vacation responder

Expand all  |  Collapse all

1.1 Turn Google Workspace notifications back on

If you turned off notifications for your Google Workspace services when you were out of the office, turn them back on.

Turn on Google Calendar event notifications:

1. In Calendar, click Settings Settings.
2. On the left under General, click Event settings.
3. Click Notifications and select an option:
   • Off
   • Desktop notifications
   • Alerts
4. (Optional) To set up a sound for your incoming notifications, check the Play notification sounds box.
5. (Optional) To manage your notifications, on the left, click your calendarGeneral notifications.
6. Next to each option, click the Down arrow and select None or Email.

Turn Google Chat notifications on or off:

For messages in Chat:

1. Open Gmail.
2. At the top, click your statusChat notification settings.
3. Under Desktop, click the Down arrow and choose an option:
   • All Messages—Get a notification for all direct messages and all messages in spaces.
   • New threads, threads I’m following and direct messages—Get a notification for all direct messages, the first message of every new thread, and all threads you’re following.
   • Threads I’m following and direct messages—Get a notification for all direct messages and threads you’re following.
   • Only @mentions and direct messages—Get a notification for direct messages and @mentions in Spaces.
   • Off—Turn off all notifications.
4. (Optional) To hear a sound for incoming chat notifications, check the Play notification sounds box.
5. (Optional) To receive incoming messages as pop-up windows in Gmail, check the Open chat pop-ups for new messages box.
6. (Optional) To turn email notifications for unread messages on or off, under Email, select Only @mentions & direct messages or Off.

   Email reminders apply to messages that you haven't read after 12 hours. They are not sent for @mentions.

For Chat messages in Gmail:

1. Open Gmail.
2. At the top, click your statusChat notification settings.
3. Under Desktop, click the Down arrow and choose an option:
   • All Messages—Get a notification for all direct messages and all messages in spaces.
   • New threads, threads I’m following and direct messages—Get a notification for all direct messages, the first message of every new thread, and all threads you’re following.
   • Threads I’m following and direct messages—Get a notification for all direct messages and threads you’re following.
   • Only @mentions and direct messages—Get a notification for direct messages and @mentions in Spaces.
   • Off—Turn off all notifications.
4. (Optional) To hear a sound for incoming chat notifications, check the Play notification sounds box.
5. (Optional) To receive incoming messages as pop-up windows in Gmail, check the Open chat pop-ups for new messages box.
6. (Optional) To turn email notifications for unread messages on or off, under Email, select Only @mentions & direct messages or Off.

   Email reminders apply to messages that you haven't read after 12 hours. They are not sent for @mentions.

1.2 Turn off your vacation responder

Note: To use Vacation responder, your account must be at least 24 hours old.

1. Open Gmail .
2. At the top right, click Settings See all settings.
3. Scroll down to Vacation responder and select Vacation responder on or Vacation responder off.
4. If you turned on the vacation responder, enter the dates you're away and add a message. Then, select who should get a response.
5. At the bottom, click Save Changes.

2  See what you missed

2.1 Check email for important messages

1. Open Gmail.
2. At the top right, click Settings .
3. Under Inbox Type, click Default and choose an option:
   • Important first
   • Unread first
   • Starred first
     Note: You'll see the Important, Unread, and Starred sections appear at the top of your inbox. You can see the rest of your email under Everything else.
4. (Optional) To hide email in a section, next to the section heading, click the Up arrow .
5. To show email again, click the Down arrow .

2.2 Reply to new meeting invitations

When you get an invitation to an event, it appears on your calendar. You also get invitations by email if you subscribe to email notifications. If you're using Gmail, you can respond to the invitation in the email invite.

Reply to an invitation:

1. In the calendar grid, click the event.
2. At the bottom next to Going?, click Yes, No, or Maybe.

Tip: To respond to the event from Gmail, open the email and next to Going?, click Yes, No, or Maybe. 

All guests can propose a new time, except for events with more than 200 guests or all-day events.

2.3 Create a checklist of post-vacation tasks

Create a task from an email:

1. Go to Gmail.
2. On the right, click Tasks .
3. Find the email you want to save as a task.
4. Drag and drop the email to the side panel.
5. To add a date and time, click Date/time​.

2.4 Check for important to-do items

Make sure you haven’t missed any important changes to Google Drive files or to-do items in other Google Workspace services, such as Tasks in Calendar or Gmail.

You can keep track of changes to items created in or uploaded to Drive. You can also see specific information about your files and folders. To view the activity for a specific file or folder, select the file or folder and click Information .

See Drive activity on the Activity tab:

See changes made to your files in Drive and keep track of who made those changes. You might see changes when someone:

• Edits or comments in Google Docs
• Renames a file or folder
• Moves or removes a file or folder
• Uploads a new file to a folder
• Shares or unshares an item

Important: Version history for Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides is different than history for .pdf files, images, and other files stored in Drive. Learn how to see the history of changes for Google files. 

See Drive activity on the Details tab:

1. In Drive at the top of the Activity pane, click Details to see information and changes, such as:

   • File type and owner.
   • Folder size and number of items.
   • Person who last modified, created, or opened the item.

2. Click Edit to add a description of the item.

View Tasks on a web browser in Gmail or Calendar:

You can add tasks to the side panel in some Google Workspace apps.

1. Go to Gmail, Calendar, Chat, Drive, or a file in Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides.
   • Important: If you can't see Tasks app, click the arrow in the bottom right of the screen to expand the panel.
2. On the right, click Tasks .

Tip: In Gmail spaces, you can create, assign, edit, complete, and delete group tasks.

View Tasks on Android devices:

1. Tap Play Store  to open Google Play.
2. Install the Tasks app.

View Tasks on iOS devices:

Install the Tasks app for Apple iPhone or iPad.

2.5 Review changes to your files

See changes at a glance:

1. In Google Drive, open your file.
2. If there are new changes to a document, you can do one of the following options:

   • Next to the menu bar, click See new changes.
   • Click FileSee new changes.

3. At the top, use the arrows to scroll through the list of changes. Added text is highlighted, and deleted text has a strikethrough.
4. (Optional) To see your document’s entire revision history, in the top corner, click See revision history.
5. (Optional) To go back to the original view, click the back arrow at the top.

See or revert to an earlier version:

In Google Drive, open your file. From Docs, Sheets, or Slides, select FileVersion historySee version history. Note: You need Owner or Editor access to the file. Click a timestamp to see a previous version of the file. Below the timestamp, you’ll see: Names of people who edited the document. A color next to each person’s name. The edits they made appear in that color. (Optional) To revert, name, or copy a previous version, click: Restore this version to make it the active version. MoreName this version to name a previous version.  MoreMake a copy to create a copy of a previous version.

3  Start work

3.1 Get up to date on important and upcoming work

To find out about current priorities or upcoming plans, send an email to your team or send a message to your co-workers in Chat.

1. On your computer, go to Gmail.
2. At the top left, click  Compose.
3. In the "To" field, add recipients. You can also add recipients:
   • In the "Cc" and "Bcc" fields.
   • When you compose a message, with a "+ sign" or "@mention" and the contact's name in the text field.
4. Add a subject.
5. Write your message.
6. At the bottom of the page, click Send.

Tip: To add individual recipients and groups of contacts you created with labels, click To:. 

Send a direct message to someone:

1. Go to Google Chat or your Gmail account.
2. If the name isn’t already under "Chat," click Start a chat .
3. Enter a name or email address. Suggestions appear as you enter text.
   • To send a 1:1 message to someone outside of your organization, enter their email address.
4. Click the person you want to message.
5. Enter a message, then click Send .

Start a group conversation:

1. Go to Google Chat or your Gmail account.
2. Under "Chat," click on an existing group conversation, enter a message click Send .
3. If the group conversation isn’t under "Chat,” click Start a chat Start group conversation.
4. Enter a name or email address. Suggestions appear as you enter text.
5. Click Done .
6. Enter a message, then click Send .

3.2 Review your transition doc

If you created a transition doc for your co-workers while you were out of the office, check to see if there are any updates or changes to it.

1. In Google Drive, open your file.
2. If there are new changes to a document, you can do one of the following options:

   • Next to the menu bar, click See new changes.
   • Click FileSee new changes.

3. At the top, use the arrows to scroll through the list of changes. Added text is highlighted, and deleted text has a strikethrough.
4. (Optional) To see your document’s entire revision history, in the top corner, click See revision history.
5. (Optional) To go back to the original view, click the back arrow at the top.

3.3 Check project plan for updates

Want to see tasks assigned to you or due on a specific day? Create a filter view in Sheets.

	At the top, click DataFilter viewsCreate new filter view.
	In the top left corner, click next to Name and enter a name for the filter view.
	Click the arrows in the column headers and select options to sort and filter the data.
	(Optional) To email a link to the filter view, copy the URL and paste it in an email.
	At the top right, click Close to close your filter view. Your filter view is automatically saved.

 

3.4 Track tasks

Keep track of tasks and important deadlines using Tasks. Open Gmail or Calendar, and on the right, click Tasks .

In Tasks, each task goes into a list. There's a default list that you can add tasks to, or you can create your own lists.

Create a list:

1. At the top of the Tasks window, click the Down arrow Create new list.
2. Name the list and click Done.

Add a task to a list:

1. At the top of the Tasks window, click the Down arrow  and select the list you want to add the task to.
2. Click Add a task.
3. Enter a task. As you enter text, the task automatically saves.

Create a task from an email:

1. Go to Gmail.
2. On the right, click Tasks .
3. Find the email you want to save as a task.
4. Drag and drop the email to the side panel.
5. To add a date and time, click Date/time​.

Create a subtask—Organize related tasks under a main task.

Choose an option:

• Right-click a task and select Add a subtask.
• Under the main task, add a new task and press Ctrl + ] (Windows) or Command + ] (Mac).
• Next to the main task, click Edit  and in the Add subtasks field, enter a task.

To un-indent a subtask, right-click the subtask and click Unindent. You can also click on the subtask and press Ctrl + [ (Windows) or Command + [ (Mac).

_{Google, Google Workspace, and related marks and logos are trademarks of Google LLC. All other company and product names are trademarks of the companies with which they are associated.}