Canned responses is one of many Gmail "labs" – applications created by Google staff and other Gmail users that are still in the testing phase (but we get to play with them already).
Whenever I notice myself typing or pasting the same thing over and over again in emails, I can quickly and easily save it as a canned response. Then, when I want to include it an another email, I just click the list of canned responses to select and insert it.
Here are some of the things I am using canned responses for:
- Welcome emails to new clients
- Alternate signatures (e.g., in emails to my music therapy clients)
- Instructions for clients (e.g., how to use tracked changes in MS Word)
- Template for project estimates
- Technical support issues (e.g., where to find missed emails from my Roadblocks to Creativity e-course)
More praise and adulation for Gmail and Gcal coming up in future posts about my transition from Outlook to Google.