Your favorite webmail application might give you a toughtime when it is needed the most. But that shouldn’t stop you from accessing your emails and communicating the right things at the right time. Here’s how to deal with when Gmail is down but not out! Now you can still access Gmail even though you can use Gmail.com.
Switch Modes: To use Gmail when the webmail interface is not responding or is having trouble loading, switch to an alternate method by bookmarking the link for the Plain HTML version of Gmail. Although it doesn’t have all the fancy features that the regular old Gmail does, but it can do the job just fine in a jiffy!
Try Safe Mode: When using a lot of different Gmail Labs features, you might experience some of them conflicting with each other, or possibly causing Gmail to stop working. Use the Safe Mode link to disable all the Labs features and hopefully get Gmail back up and running again. Just visit http://mail.google.com/mail/?labs=0. Some people recommend the older version or bypassing browser checking links, but that won’t let you access the Labs settings.
Use Mobile Version: You can easily access the mobile phone versions of your Gmail from the desktop computer, although they can be very stripped down and lacking features. However you’ll be better off with the Plain HTML version, but you can also give a shot to the mobile version as well.
Opt iGoogle Gadget: The numerous comments and emails from readers during Gmail outages heavily recommended that the excellent Gmail gadget for iGoogle usually still works during any Gmail downtime. But if you aren’t an iGoogle user, you can still use the gadget by simply browsing to this page.
Check Gmail Offline Access: If you are yet to check out the Gmail’s new offline access, then prefer it as it is a must-use for anybody that really depends on Gmail access. You can continue to use your email whether Gmail is running or not, or even when the internet goes out. It’s not perfect, since it doesn’t store every single email in your inbox locally, but it does store enough email to be a great solution.
Use IMAP / POP3: During the last Gmail fallout, the IMAP and POP3 access weren’t affected at all, so those using a desktop or mobile client to access their email were still able to send and receive without even knowing there was an issue. Even if you use the web interface as your primary method of email access, it’s a good idea to at least keep a Thunderbird installation setup with IMAP access to your email in a pinch.