Google's Gemini is quickly becoming more and more popular, as the search giant continues to update it with enhanced capabilities and new features. One such functionality is that it can be used within other Google services, like Gmail, Docs, and Drive.

In Gmail, you can easily compose or respond to emails and refine them using Gemini. Drafting an email using the AI chatbot can help save a lot of time and effort, allowing you to focus on other important tasks. So, let's see how to do so.

Using Gemini Within Gmail

Gemini can help you get a lot of things done right from Gmail. You can ask the AI model to draft emails using prompts, suggest responses, and even customize and refine them.

However, it must be noted that Gemini's capabilities are limited when it comes to personal accounts compared to Workspace accounts with a Gemini add-on. For instance, it cannot summarize email threads or fetch documents from Drive, but it can still help a lot.

To start using Gemini with Gmail, you should be on a Google One Premium AI plan since this feature is currently unavailable for free users. Simply sign in to Gmail using your premium account to get started.

Composing a New Email with Gemini

Gemini can write emails from scratch for you with just a prompt. Follow these instructions:

  1. When you log in to Gmail with a paid subscription for the first time, Google will first inform you about its new AI functionalities with Gemini. Click the 'Got It' button to get started.
  1. To start writing an email with Gemini, click the 'Compose' button on the top left side of the screen.
  1. This will bring up the 'New Message' window where you can compose an email.
  1. Click the ‘Help me Write’ (pencil icon) at the bottom of the window to start writing an email with the help of AI.
  1. Next, click the 'Help Me Write' button that’ll appear inside your new message window.
  1. It will expand into a text box where you can enter a prompt and ask Gemini to draft an email.
  1. You can enter a prompt like compose an email to catch up with an old friend.
  1. Click the 'Create' button or press the 'Enter' key to allow Gemini to come up with a response. Gemini will write a draft for you right away.
  1. If you want another variant, click the 'Recreate' button below the response generated by Gemini.
  1. You can also customize the draft using the 'Refine' button next to the 'Recreate' option.
  1. Clicking on this button will let you select between 'Formalise', 'Elaborate' and 'Shorten' options to adjust the text accordingly.
  1. Once you are finished writing the email, click the 'Insert' button on the lower right side to insert the message into the email body. You can then edit it yourself or send it as it is.

Responding To an Email With Gemini

Besides drafting an email with Gemini in Gmail, you can ask the AI chatbot to provide suggestions for responding to emails.

  1. Select an email from your Gmail inbox to which you want to respond by clicking on it.
  2. Scroll down to the bottom of the email and click on the 'Reply' button.
  1. You will get a new text box where to type in your response.
  1. At the bottom, click the pencil icon to activate the AI feature.
  1. When you click on the icon, you will get a 'Help Me Write' button; click on it.
  1. It will expand into a text box where you can enter prompts and get suggestions from Gemini.
  1. You can enter different prompts and ask Gemini to come up with suggestions for appropriate responses. For instance, you may be responding to an email for a job interview and may be unable to appear for it.

    Enter a prompt like suggest a response to the email saying I shall be unavailable for the interview.
  1. Click the 'Create' button or press the 'Enter' key to view Gemini's suggestion.
  1. Gemini will create a draft. If you don't like the response, you can click the 'Recreate' button at the bottom to get another draft.
  1. To make the output sound more formal, shorter, or longer, click the 'Refine' button and select the appropriate option.
  1. When you are happy with the response, click the 'Insert' button on the lower right of the screen to insert it into the email body.

Refining Your Drafts With Gemini

Other than using Gemini to draft emails and respond to them, you can also use it to refine messages that you have written. While it cannot take any prompts to edit your drafts according to custom instructions, it can make refinements to them, like making them more formal, shortening them, etc.

  1. Open a draft in Gmail and scroll down to the 'Refine' button.
  1. You will see three options when you click this button - 'Formalise', 'Elaborate', and 'Shorten'. These can be used to enhance your draft.
  1. Selecting the 'Formalise' option will make your draft sound more formal.
  1. Similarly, the 'Elaborate' option will make your email message more elegant.
  1. Finally, if you want to make your message smaller, use the 'Shorten' option.
  1. Click the 'Insert' to use the refinements made by Gemini.

That's all. By utilizing the power of Gemini in Gmail, you can write and respond to emails faster and come up with better responses. So, whether you are writing a formal email to your boss or coworker, an invitation to a party, or a cover letter for a job application, the AI assistant has you covered.