Forward or Forward All in Gmail?

Forward or Forward All in Gmail?

We've all received long email threads that start with "FYI," followed by a backward chain of replies that shift further and further to the right. It gets messy fast and makes the context difficult to follow. 

If you want to keep your communication clear, you need to choose the right tool for the job. Depending on whether you want to share a single update or the entire history, you have two main options, Forward or Forward all.

Forward (single message)

Most people default to using the Forward button found at the bottom of the most recent email in a thread. When you click this, Gmail takes the content of that specific message along with the "quoted text" below the signature.  

Best for: 

• Sharing the most recent update
• Quickly passing along a single piece of information
• Situations where the quoted text is already clean and contains the relevant history

The drawbacks 

The conversation is sent in reverse order with the most recent news at the top. Also, if the conversation has branched off or if previous replies didn't include the full history, your recipient might only receive a small fragment of the actual conversation. 

Forward All (the entire thread)

When a conversation includes many messages and your recipient needs the full conversation, "forward" isn't the best option. Instead, click the "More" (three-dot) menu in the main toolbar and select Forward all. Gmail includes every single individual reply in that thread into one continuous, chronological document.

Best for:

• Ensuring no side-conversations or branched replies are missing
• Providing a complete paper trail
• Bringing someone up to speed on a project or conversation

Tips for forwarding

No matter which forwarding option you choose, below are some tips to make your emails readable.

• Include a summary. Tell the recipient why they are receiving it and which parts require their attention.
• Clean up the content. Delete side conversations that are not relevant, any personal information, long email signatures, etc.
• Rename the subject. If the subject has several "Re: Re: Fwd:", change it to something descriptive like "Reference: full history on project"
• Verify attachments. "Forward all" doesn't always include every attachment.

Article by Karen Matthes, Extension Learning Technologies, klm@umn.edu