Gmail - Find Emails That Never Got a Reply

Lost_BiomedE 12 years ago |

Ah, I thought it would be the other way around. Before I send a mail, I click 'expect reply'. If I don't get a reply in x days, I get a notice. Is that a current option?

wlj 12 years ago | |

Boomerang for Gmail [0] has implemented this functionality well.

I prefer it to say having an entire folder of emails I haven't received replies on as it allows me to specifically manage messages that are important enough to require a non-replied reminder.

[0] http://www.boomeranggmail.com/

hijonathan 12 years ago | | |

Boomerang and Followup.cc are both great alternatives, and I use them too. I like the granularity, but the downside is you're sending them a copy of your email, which might contain sensitive info :\

chimeracoder 12 years ago | | |

If you're looking for Boomerang functionality without the security/privacy implications, I wrote an open-source version that is designed to be self-hosted: https://github.com/ChimeraCoder/go-yo

It's written in Go; there's no external dependency except a service that downloads emails to a Mailbox-type directory (I recommend offlineimap).

I've been dogfooding it myself for the last few months - I haven't actually "released" it officially yet, but if anybody is interested in beta testing it, I'd love some feedback.

chany2 12 years ago | | |

Just curious, based on your research, are people really concern about security of their confidential emails?

When do the access to better features outweight the need of security?

If you use Mailbox, they actually temporarily hold on to your rebounce emails as well. Other email apps such as Skimbox, the emails are stored in their MongoDB server. Obviously the value of this 2 applications, granted they are still alive and used by folks, then the features > security concern. Not that they are compromising your messages anyway.

I am sure different people have different priorities. Just a curious question based on your findings.

Btw I also called myself an aspiring entrepreneur in most of my email introductions. I think its just my humble way of saying I am working on it and dedicated to growing - as oppose to being too boastful when asking for advice.

Find me @ http://www.linkedin.com/in/garyyauchan/

Also love to get your feedback for Hashtags for Email @ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6948659

andy10 12 years ago | | |

I like http://toolbox.mxhero.com, It's free for unlimited messages and also does interesting things with attachments and a few other features I find useful. They also have an open source version http://sourceforge.net/projects/mxhero/?source=navbar

mattbot5000 12 years ago | |

This could be accomplished by applying a label to the conversation and modifying the script to look for that.

plg 12 years ago |

Not to be too persnickety, but if you have to search for emails that didn't get a response, doesn't this imply that they didn't matter all that much to begin with? In other words if they mattered, you would know, and you would follow up on your own?

I guess if you're so busy you lose track of these things? But again...

kbenson 12 years ago | |

Sometimes a reply may be contingent on getting some other bit of information in the near future, such as a response from some person or entity that is required before the response will be useful.

In the end, not everyone's usage pattern is the same, and people end up using email for things other than direct communication (such as tracking future work items). While not ideal, for some it's easier than dealing with a completely separate application that integrates to various degrees.

r721 12 years ago |

My favorite gmail search tip: "has:nouserlabels" (via https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7190?hl=en)

nollidge 12 years ago |

I think this would just make me sad.

jaksmit 12 years ago |

I've written simplified instructions for how to use this (and simplified the script) here: http://jacksmith.quora.com/How-to-find-emails-youve-sent-tha...

chimeracoder 12 years ago |

> Some emails I send are sensitive, and I’d rather not forward it to a third-party service if I don’t have to. However, those sensitive emails are often important, so I need a way to remember to follow up.

I feel this pain.

Shameless plug: I wrote an open-source version of Boomerang/Followup.cc that is designed to be self-hosted, specifically because of this concern: https://github.com/ChimeraCoder/go-yo

(For the record: I like script in the original submission script, but for me, I rarely use the Gmail web interface, so I had to make something that works over IMAP).

It's still a WIP, but I've been using it myself for the "bounce-back" feature for the last several months.

andybak 12 years ago |

The scripting capabilities of Google Apps don't get enough love round here. I'm fascinated what's possible in terms of mashups and hacks when you allow stuff to be scripted. Web APIs get a lot of attention but not APIs on apps and app-like stuff.

noinput 12 years ago |

I pray recruiters never find this

1dundundun 12 years ago |

Yesware is an interesting option. Try it out. Haven't touched boomerang or followup.cc since discovering it.

There is that privacy/security issue though. I always look at web based email as being inherently insecure anyway.

andy10 12 years ago | |

I tried all 3 and settled on http://toolbox.mxhero.com. I like that they also have an open source version: http://sourceforge.net/projects/mxhero/?

cupcake-unicorn 12 years ago |

Oh no, I thought this was exactly what I was looking for, but I would like it to be able to flag emails that I haven't responded to yet in a few days or so..anyone done a modification to that?

baydinalex 12 years ago | |

Yup. I wrote a version to do this when Fred Wilson requested it a little over a year ago and I realized I needed it too: https://script.google.com/d/1B8YC4D7KT7pZKXyq3TkfJUJPv1mmjZj...

Matt Galligan and I put together a version of the No Response Apps Script back in June also. It's more basic than this, but might be easier as a starting point for modification. https://script.google.com/d/11c63LM4rOTxCP5uqffLDhIaEQFmNo0p...

I've been loving Apps Script for things that are too lightweight to need something like Boomerang, with a server and a full browser extension, but heavy enough that you can't do it with a search string.

cupcake-unicorn 12 years ago | | |

Awesome, thanks! I just found out about google Script today - was thinking my only choice would be something like Greasemonkey - so very grateful for all this.

shimon_e 12 years ago |

Google should hire this man.

ibsathish 12 years ago |

Good one, as long as marketers and recruiters don't use.

saraid216 12 years ago | |

You realize that marketers and recruiters have giant databases full of email addresses and whether or not you responded, right?