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Gmail wants to write your messages, among other new features

Google is rolling out several updates to its email app. Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images

If writing emails isn’t something you look forward to, then Google has some good news for you.

The company has announced that Gmail will begin to “smart compose” emails. That means it will suggest phrases and sentences, using artificial intelligence technology. You can add the suggestions to the email as you write it by hitting “tab” on your keyboard.

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In a blog post, Gmail gave one example for how the technology will work. It explained that those sending an email on Friday could be prompted to end the message with “Have a good weekend!”

The company explained that the new feature will help make emailing faster and eliminate typos and grammar errors.

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The new feature is an extension of an existing one called “smart reply,” which offers short phrases such as “Sounds good!” as quick responses to emails.

It will become available to consumers in the coming weeks.

Gmail has unveiled several new features in the past few weeks in a larger revamp of the email service.

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Here are some other new Gmail features, several of them are available on the web now, with others coming in updates within weeks.

To try the new features click on the “settings” option and then select “Try the new Gmail.”

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Snooze emails

Emails that you don’t have time to answer (or don’t want to answer) can be saved for later with Gmail’s snooze button.

There will be a snooze icon beside unread emails that suggests snooze timings and reminders such as “later today” or “later this week.”

The snoozed email will pop up as an unread email at the time chosen.

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Nudges

Google will sent sending gentle “nudges” to consumers if an email goes unanswered for several days, with a message that reads something like, “Received 3 days ago. Reply?”

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The nudge will appear next to emails in the inbox.

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Layout changes

Gmail’s new layout is meant to help users do more in the inbox without opening up conversations. Emails can be archived, deleted, snoozed, marked as read in one click.

Email attachments can also be downloaded directly from the inbox.

Other Google features such as the calendar, Google Tasks, and Google Keep, are all visible on the right side of the inbox.

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Confidential mode

Users will be able to mark messages as confidential, and therefore remove options to forward, copy, download or print the emails.

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This is useful for emails that contain personal identification information, Google points out.

Confidential emails can also be sent with an expiry date that prevents the recipient from having it in their inbox.

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