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title: Innovation Partners Email & Gmail description: [M.8] How to set-up Gmail to use with your IP Email published: true date: 2026-06-30T08:08:22.729Z tags: editor: markdown dateCreated: 2021-04-27T23:39:18.119Z

Activate Your IP Email

After you've received your @innovationpartnersllc.com email the first thing you need to do is to log into MS Outlook Online. - Your username is your full IP email address, such as jgalt@innovationpartnersllc.com - Your password is in your welcome email, but is usually Iplc{last-4-SSN}!, such as Iplc4444!.

Next, change your password and save it!

I recommend using Bitwarden; an open-source password manager to store your passwords and other vital information, instead of your browser's password manager.

If you have difficulties setting up your IP email account, please contact AppRiver support: Phone: 866.223.4645 Email: support@appriver.com


Setting Up Gmail to Use IP's Email

Innovation Partners uses Outlook as their email front-end. You can change this to use your personal Gmail to send/recieve your IP emails.


Set-Up Gmail to work with IP Email

If you don't want to use Gmail and are fine with Outlook you can skip this step. I don't recommend this as Gmail is much more robust and has many more features.

  1. Go to Gmail / Settings / See All Settings / Accounts & Import.


Send Mail As

  1. Under the section Send mail as click Add another email address.
  2. In the pop-up window enter your full IP email address.
  3. In the next screen, enter the following:
    • SMTP Server: smtp.live.com
      • If sending emails doesn't work try using: smtp.office365.com
    • Port: 587
    • Username: your complete IP email.
    • Password: your IP email password from step 1 above.
    • Check Secured connection using TLS
  4. Next it will ask you if you want to attach a label to all messages sent/recieved from this email address. Select "yes" and create a label, such as Innovation Partners.


Check mail from other accounts

  1. After the pop-window closes, you should be back at the Accounts & Import section. In the Check mail from other accounts section click Add a mail account.
  2. Enter the following info in the pop-up window:
    • Username: your complete IP email address.
    • Password: your IP Outlook password.
    • Pop Server: outlook.office365.com
    • Port: 995
    • Box 1: unchecked
    • Box 2: checked
    • Box 3: checked
    • Box 4: unchecked


  1. Now test this set-up by sending an email (using Gmail) from your IP email address to completely different email (such as to your spouse). Make sure it arrives. If it does, reply to it and make sure the reply shows up in Gmail.


Compliance: When sending emails where you should be using your IP email always make sure to change the From field in the compose window to your IP email.


Create Your IP Email Compliance Signature

  1. Go to Gmail / Settings / See All Settings / General.
  2. Scroll down to the Signature section and click Create New. Give it a name, such as Innovation Partners.
  3. In the text box enter your required IP signature: (obviously change the information to your own).

Michael Paulding Thomas
Registered Representative
Innovation Partners LLC.
(Member FINRA/SIPC)
InnovationPartnersllc.com
Phone: 714.602.3192

CONFIDENTIAL: This communication, including attachments, is intended only for the exclusive addressee and may contain proprietary, confidential and/or privileged information. This email is not a solicitation to buy or sell anything. This email is for informational purposes only and may not be construed as legal or tax advice. The recipient must at all times rely on the recipient’s own independent counsel for legal and tax advice. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this document in error, and any use, review, copying, disclosure, dissemination or distribution is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately by return e-mail, delete this communication and destroy any and all copies of this communication

  1. After you've pasted the above text, and edited it with your information, make sure to highlight (Member FINRA/SIPC) and make it one size smaller.
  2. In the Email drop-down select your IP email address.
  3. In the FOR NEW EMAILS USE field enter the signature you just created.
  4. In the ON REPLY/FORWARD select No signature.
  5. Scroll all the way down and click the Save Changes button.
  6. Finally, send an email to compliance@innovationpartnersllc.com with the subject: My compliant signature for IP Rep #XXX. Obviously, use your Rep ID #.


Gmail Settings


“Pin” the Gmail tab in your browser and never close it! Do this by right-clicking on the tab and selecting "Pin Tab". Do this for all your other most-used tabs, as well. These pinned tabs are your "digital workspace".


Advanced Settings


Chat & Meet Settings


Inbox Type Settings

  • Go to Gmail / Settings / See All Settings / Inbox.
  • In the Inbox type drop-down select Default.
  • In the Categories section UNcheck all of the options. This feature is non-sense.
  • UNcheck Enable reading pane.
  • Scroll down and click the Save Changes button.


Labels Settings

  • Go to Gmail / Settings / See All Settings / Labels.
  • In the System labels section set all of them to show.
  • In the Categories section set all of them to hide.
  • In the Labels section there should be a label for your Innovation Partners emails. Make sure it is set to show.


General Settings

Below is a screenshow of my recommended settings in the General tab. - Go to Gmail / Settings / See All Settings / General.

gmail-settings-general.png


Compose Window Full Size

To set the "Compose New Message" window to full size (recommended), 1. Compose a new email. 2. If the pop-up window is small, then click on the little arrow in the lower-right, and click Default to full-screen. compose-large.png


Various Tips & Tricks

Watch 7 Best Hidden Features in Gmail YOUTUBE VIDEO


Inbox-to-Zero

Inbox-to-Zero is a rigorous approach to email management aimed at keeping the inbox empty, or almost empty, at all times. An clean inbox is like a tidy desktop - it clears the mind of cutter and demonstrates organization.

Pro-tip: The most effective tool in this effort is the use of the “Archive” function in Gmail. Once you are done with an email either Archive it or Delete and get it out of your Inbox.

  • Your email is also your "to-do" list (specifically your "Inbox").
  • All emails in Gmail are stored in one "bucket" called "All Mail". (With the exception of "Trash" and "Spam").
  • If you are overwhelmed with the current number of emails in your Inbox, perhaps in the 100's or 1,000's, and you want to a fresh start, then do the following:
  • Go to your Inbox.
  • Select all the emails, and make sure to select the pop-up message that says, "Select all xxxxx in your Inbox".
  • Then click the "More" button, and select "Mark messages as Read".
  • Repeat step 2.
  • Then click the "Archive" button.
  • Now that you have a ZERO-INBOX, please keep it that way! It just takes a little diligence.
  • When an email comes into your Inbox, and you are done with it, take a moment and determine if you want to set up a filter/label for it. Even though you may in "work" mode, please pause take the time to do this. It may take a few weeks, or even months, to get all your filters set up, but eventually you will have a streamlined system.
  • Your Inbox is sacred and reserved for emails which you have yet to act upon. When you are done with an email Archive it! Your daily goal is to get your Inbox-to-Zero. (And have no “bolded” emails; see Tip #5.)
  • Archiving just removes the email from your Inbox (they are still stored in "All mail"). Use "search" or “labels” to find them.
  • When replying to an email, and you have no further action to take on it, click "Send and Archive". This will send and then archive in one step (you must enable this feature in “Labs” - see Tip #4).
  • Three actions you can take on an email:
  • Keep it in your Inbox, only until you complete the required action. It’s a form of “To-Do List”.
  • Act on it, then Archive it. If you're done with an email ARCHIVE IT!
  • If waiting for someone else act on it, and your want to track the progress, then "Star" it and Archive it.

Watch Gmail Inbox-to-Zero VIDEO


Unread (Bolded) Messages

A big part of Inbox-to-Zero is identifing which messages haven't been read yet (and then acting on them). * Unread messages are always bolded. As soon as you open an email it is considered “read” and no longer bolded. * You can identify new incoming emails because the corresponding label is bolded, and it will indicate the number of unread messages in parentheses (x).

gmail-unread-messages.png


Snooze Emails

When you snooze an email, Gmail will resurface it in the future (you decide when), meaning it will simply pop back up in your inbox when you want it to, as though it's a fresh email. If you have a email that you want to act on in two days, but want it out of your inbox for now, just snooze it for two days from now.

Another great use is if you send an email to someone and they have to act on it, but you want to follow-up next week, snooze it until then.

Sometimes you just don’t have time to answer an email and you want to temporarily remove it from your Inbox (Inbox-to-Zero, remember?), you can snooze it for a later time/date. When the time/date occurs your email will re-appear in your Inbox.

In addition to cleaning-up your Inbox, another great use for snoozing, is when you are waiting for another person to respond to your email, but you don't want to forget about it.

For example, I send an email to Jon asking him to speak to Daenerys about her IRA. After I send it, I go into the "Sent" folder, find the email and set it to "Snooze" until next Monday. On Monday my email will appear in my Inbox reminding me about the it. If he hasn't responded back to me by then, I'll follow-up again. This process avoids me having to move this email into a "Waiting for Others" folder (which is what I used to do before the "snooze" function), or having to make a separate reminder.


Method 1

While viewing your email list (ie, you're not inside the email). Hover your mouse over the email you wish to snooze. From the icons that appear to the right side of the email, select the clock "snooze" icon. gmail-snooze1.png


Method 2

While inside your email (ie, it's open and your reading it), simply click the Snooze button across the top of your window. gmail-snooze2.png


Schedule the Snooze

Next, set the date and time you wish to be reminded of the email. On that time/date the email will re-appear in your Inbox (this is key). gmail-snooze3.png


Need the Email Before the Snooze-Date?

If you’ve decided you can’t wait for a snoozed email, view the email instantly by selecting the Snoozed folder in the left menu pane, directly underneath the regular Inbox option. gmail-snooze4.png


Labels

  • Labels are a method of identifying emails (or "tagging' them). They help you organize your messages into categories - work, family, to do, read later, jokes, recipes, any category you want. Labels do all the work that folders do, but with an added bonus: you can add more than one to a message.
  • Your primary organizational tool is search. Resist the temptation to "over label" your emails . You can always find them via searching by title, sender, text and other factors.
  • A special label is “Starred”. I use this to indicate an email with which I am done, but I’m waiting on another person to take action on. So, if I send an email to “John” asking him to do something, I will “Star” it (because I am waiting for John) and I will archive it (because I’ve done my part and I want it out of my Inbox).
  • Show/hide the labels you want.
  • Go to "Settings / Labels".
  • Show all labels, except "Important", “Categories” and “Circles”.
  • You can create and edit your own labels on this screen.
  • Only you can see your labels, so whether you mark a message with "Best friend" or "Read later," the sender will never know.
  • Labels can be color-coded for easy identification.

Pro-Tip: create labels for "Docusign", "Faxes" and "waiting on others".

FYI: “Inbox”, “Drafts”, “Trash”, even “Spam” are nothing more than built-in labels.

Watch Gmail Labels walkhtorugh VIDEO


Filters

Filter allow you to automate actions on emails when they're recieved or sent. For example, "When an email arrives from DocuSign then label it 'Docusign' and make sure to never send it to Spam."

Let's set-up a filter for DocuSign as an example: 1. Go to Gmail / Settings / See All Settings / Filters and Blocked Addresses. 1. Click on Create a new filter. 1. In the pop-up window in the From field enter @docusign.net. By removing the text before the "@" it will filter all messages from "docusign.net". 1. Click the Create filter button, not the "search" button. 1. In the next screen, set the following: 1. Check Skip the Inbox (Archive it). 1. Check Apply the label and select or create a label called DocuSign. 1. Check Never send it to Spam. 1. Check Also apply filter to matching conversations. 1. Click the Create filter button. 1. Now you'll see the DocuSign label in the left column of your main Gmail window. Hover over it, click the three-dots and change the color to your preference. I like eiter yellow or blue since those are the DocuSign colors.

Repeat the same steps for other email type such as "faxes" or all emails from "Innovation Partners", for example.

Pro-tip: If you change the name of a label it will not break the filter; Gmail will automatically adjust the filter.

Pro-tip: You can edit filters by going to “Settings / All Settings / Filters.


Additional Gmail Tips & Tricks


Watch my video Wrangling Your Gmail VIDEO


Open Two Emails at Once in Gmail

If you want to view two emails side-by-side, or compose an email in a separate window while viewing an existing email, you can simply hold shift or ctrl when selecting an email or the Compose button.

  • shift + mouse click = Open in a new window.
  • ctrl + mouse click = Open in a new tab.


Gmail's Confidential Mode

If you are sending an email with sensitive information, you can protect it using Gmail’s Confidential mode.

This will restrict the recipients from forwarding, copying, downloading or printing the message and its attachments. You can even set expiration date and require an SMS verification code for recipients to access the email.


Step 1: Select the Confidentail Mode

Once you have the compose window open click the Confidential Mode icon. gmail-open-confidential-mode.jpeg


Step 2: Select Your Options

gmail-confidential-mode.jpeg


Deliveryslip for IP Email (and Gmail)

Deliveryslip for IP by Zix is a secure messaging system allowing you send fully encrypted ("banking-level") emails and large attachments to other IP email addresses. It is included in your monthly technology fees.

- Install the Android app.


Google Calendar for your IP Email Address

Pro-tip: You’ll notice that my MKOM Calendar invites come from my IP email address.

If you want to use google calendar with your IP email address, you can easily do that by creating a new Google Account awith your IP email address as the username.

When you do so, you’ll only use the calendar function (not gmail, not google drive etc), and then give your regular gmail’s calendar access to your new Google/IP calendar and you can control it from there.