Is it possible to get access the address book when composing an email in gmail?

Brendan Burgess

Founder
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54,682
I have switched from Thunderbird to Gmail recently, but there is one thing which really annoys me.

In Thunderbird when I want to send an email, the address book is available within the email compose screen and I can scroll through it and just click on the contacts I want to add to the email.


So I choose Conor Pope. Then without leaving the email, I click on the drop down menu and pick Journalists Indo, and pick Charlie WEston.

But in Gmail, I don't seem to be able to do that.



If I am thinking about whom I might send this email to, I must
1) close the email compose screen
2) Open my contacts to prod my memory
3) Go back to the screen and start typing the name and it will autocomplete them.

Is it possible to get the contacts into the email compose screen in Gmail?
 
HI,
If you click on 'To' when you are composing your mail in gmail it opens your list of contacts - am not sure if this is the same as what you are referring to as 'Address Book'.
Might help
 
Brendan Burgess said:
View attachment 9522

If I am thinking about whom I might send this email to, I must
1) close the email compose screen
2) Open my contacts to prod my memory
3) Go back to the screen and start typing the name and it will autocomplete them.
Click to expand...
If you click on the To, Cc, Bcc text (or the people+ image?) are they links that open the contacts panel and let you select recipients without closing the message composition view?

Edit: post crossed with @GAAmam's saying the same thing.
 
That opens them all in alpha order which is no use

I would want a sub address book e.g. Radio journalists or neighbours or askaboutmoney contacts.
 
if you start typing the name in the To or CC textbox it sold give you the predictive text options. But this might only happen after you actually use it for while.

Actually when you click on To the contacts open and you have a drop down on the right which has sub-contact groups you can choose. You can also just type in the search text for the name you want and predictive text will find matching criteria.
 
You need to go into Contacts and set up a label for journalists, then add those contacts to the label. Then when composing an email, you click on "To" and can select the label.
 
What about using Thunderbird as a front end user interface to Gmail? Best of both worlds?

Thunderbird and Gmail | Thunderbird Help

Thunderbird can be set up to work seamlessly with Google's Gmail. Messages will be synchronized between your local version of Thunderbird and web-based Gmail.
support.mozilla.org
 
Last edited:
I use Labels, you can associate people/organisations with a label and bring up that label when you want to send an email:
e.g. my SB label:
.. AM trying to upload an image..
 
Fortune said:
You need to go into Contacts and set up a label for journalists, then add those contacts to the label. Then when composing an email, you click on "To" and can select the label.
Click to expand...

Brilliant.

That is what I was looking for.

I saw this and clicked in the space to the right of "To"



But you have to click on the actual "To" button itself.
 


I can see that I can click on To and then the drop down on the right gives all the groups I have.

I have just been typing the names/ groups into the email address, which also works. If I want to send an email to All Clients, I just type All Clients int the email bar and they add come up
 
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