Gmail add-on that allows you to hold your incoming email until you are ready to process it
- Files must be copied to Google Scripts and then installed as a test deployment by your Google user
- You will also need to create a filter that automatically moves all incoming email to a hidden Gmail label
- This add-on then moves those messages out of the hidden Gmail label and into your inbox
- Choose how many times per day you would like to be able to release your email into your inbox (between 1-8)
- Optionally require that your inbox be empty (Inbox Zero) before you can release email (regardless of remaining release count)
- Optionally enable "Impulse Control" which limits your ability to change settings if limits have been reached
- A Gmail account
- Accept that gmail-hold only works if you exclusively use the official Gmail website or Gmail mobile apps (and the mobile apps require an extra step to release email). It will not work if you use any 3rd party apps or tools and you will not be able to access new email.
- Accept that you will not be able to receive incoming messages until you release them, and that the app is designed to limit how many times in a day you can release them.
- Accept that you can potentially run out of email releases in a day, leaving you unable to receive new messages until the next day (see FAQ for possible but not recommended work arounds).
- Read the FAQ.
- Use the app at your own risk.
- Go to Google Apps Scripts
- Click 'New project'
- Click 'Untitled Project' and rename your app Gmail Hold (or something else if you want)
- Delete all text in the code window (starts with
function myFunction() {and ends with a}) - Paste the contents of Code.gs file into the window
- Save (disk icon)
- Click the gear icon (Project Settings) at the bottom of the menu on the far left
- Check the box next to Show "appsscript.json" manifest file in editor
- Return to the Code Editor (< > icon 3 items above gear icon)
- Click on appsscript.json
- Delete all text in the code window (starts with
{ "timeZone": "America/New_York",and ends with a"runtimeVersion": "V8" }) - Paste the contents of appsscript.json file into the window
- Save (disk icon)
- Click on Code.gs
- Make sure the menu at the top reads Run - Debug - homepage; if it doesn't, click the third item and choose 'homepage'
- Click Run
- A 'waiting' circle spins for a bit; when the popup appears, click Review Permissions
- You will likely get a message, titled Google hasn’t verified this app that states that you, the developer, have not verified the app with Google
- Assuming you want to continue (the code is open source: feel free to see if there are any privacy issues), click Advanced, then Go to Gmail Hold (unsafe)
- Confirm your Google Account
- Click Allow
- Wait until the Execution log window shows
Execution completed
- Sometimes it takes a while, and sometimes it times out
- This shouldn't be an issue if you've already accepted the permissions
- Click Deploy in the upper right portion of the screen and choose Test deployments
- Next to
Application(s): Gmail, click Install - Go to your Gmail
- A new mail icon should appear on the right side of the screen (make sure you are showing the side panel)
- gmail-hold is now installed; continue reading to set up the required filter
- The filter is required to "hide" incoming email messages so you can later release them on your schedule
- Click the gmail-hold icon in the Gmail sidebar; this should open the app and show you some info an a Release Email button
- Don't click anything; you can now close the sidebar
- This step was needed to create the label for you
- Click the gear icon at the top of Gmail, then click See all settings
- Click on Filters and Blocked Addresses
- Scroll to the bottom of your existing filters and click Create a new filter
- Next to
Doesn't have, enter a long string of random characters (one recommendation is 'gmailHold123abc456def00000'); this will filter all messages that don't have this string, which should be all messages, as none should contain this string - Click Create filter
- Check the box next to
Skip the inbox (Archive it) - Check the box next to
Apply the labeland choose emailHold - Click the Create filter
- Your filter should now be functional
- Any time you want to release your email, click on the gmail-hold icon in the sidebar
- You will see a record of how many times you've released your email for the day
- Click Release Email if it's available
- Wait for it to finish processing (it's moving messages from the hidden label to your inbox)
- You usually will need to click on the inbox icon again to refresh your inbox and reveal the new messages
- Click on Settings at the bottom of the sidebar to change:
- How many email releases you would like per day
- Whether you would like to require Inbox Zero to release emails
- Whether you would like to impose 'Impulse Control', which keeps you from changing the number of releases if you've already hit your limit, or from disabling the Inbox Zero requirement if you have messages in your inbox (it also doesn't allow you to change the Impulse Control setting in either case)
Change:
"addOns": {
"common": {
"name": "gmail hold",
to:
"addOns": {
"common": {
"name": "YOUR APP NAME HERE",
Change:
"logoUrl": "https://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/material/system/1x/email_black_48dp.png",
to:
"logoUrl": "URL TO YOUR ICON HERE",
Make sure your icon is square or it will be stretched and look weird
You can uninstall by following these steps:
- Remove the filter you created that moves all of your incoming mail to the emailHold label
- Move all messages from the emailHold label to your inbox, either manually or by releasing them using the app button
- Remove the emailHold label
- Open the gmail-hold add-on, click the three vertical dots next to the X (close button), and select Manage add-on; this will take you to the Scripts page for the app
- Click Deploy in the upper right portion of the screen and choose Test deployments
- Next to
Application(s): Gmail, click Uninstall - Close everything, it's uninstalled
Yes. Here's a good test run:
- Once you install the add-on, open the app to ensure the label is properly created
- Move some existing messages into the emailHold label
- Move the messages, don't just add the label, so they do not appear in your inbox
- Release your email using the add-on button
- Your messages should be moved to your inbox
- That's it. That's the whole add-on, other than the settings. Once you set up your filter, it will be the same, except all of your incoming email messages will automatically be moved to the emailHold label and archived so they are not in your inbox until you release them.
Google has an unfortunate combination of not-very-granular permission scopes and increased requirements for permission scopes that require a lot of user data. So, even though gmail-hold does not collect any data, read any messages, send any messages, or really do anything but add and remove message labels, it requires a high level of permission scope, based on what scopes Google offers. The scopes required to change message labels are the same as those that give an app pretty much full access to all Gmail data. To get an app approved by Google with that level of access requires a lot of extra steps from a developer. This is normally a good thing for protecting users, but for gmail-hold, was a lot of extra effort. My concern was that I would go through all of that effort only to have Google reject the app anyways, as it doesn't improve Gmail's functionality or productivity, which are their primary use cases for add-ons. In fact, it deliberately hinders Gmail functionality. This app is also not quite mainstream functionality, and I had concerns about larger numbers of the general public not understanding the app, installing it, and then complaining to me that they couldn't read their email. So, it's saved for those with the know-how necessary to manually install.
First suggestion? Stop getting email on your phone (uninstall it if you're ready). You're out in the world; stay there and don't get sucked into messages that other people want you to read. If you have to have Gmail on your phone, you can release messages through the official Gmail apps or through the browser-based version of Gmail. However, in those apps, you cannot release email via the inbox, like you do in the desktop version. Instead, you'll need to open a message and scroll to the bottom to find the gmail-hold app icon (if you are at Inbox Zero, you'll have to search for a message to open or access one via the labels menu). Click the icon and you'll be able to release your email.
No. gmail-hold only works with official Gmail apps and websites. You will be unable to release your email if use a different email program.
What if I really need to access my email for a specific message I know is there (verification email, time-sensitive message, etc.)?
You can always release your email in order to see a time-sensitive email. If you are out of releases, or don't want to "waste" one, the easiest thing to do is to search for the message directly. All messages can appear in search results, even if they are in the hidden label. As an example, if you are expecting a verification email from a website, you can search for "verify" or "verification" to find your message. You can also search by email address or name to find messages from specific people. Note: there are ways to "cheat" Contented Email and get your email anyways. If you find yourself doing that a lot, maybe you should just uninstall the app. Otherwise, do your best to embrace the spirit of the app and see what it feels like to not be disrupted or distracted by every incoming email message.
Honestly, I'm not a github or version control expert, so feel free to add a pull request, and I'll try to figure out how to implement if it makes sense to do so.
Use Issues
Use Issues
If you like gmail-hold and want to show your appreciation, you can pay for my next cup of tea