Like many people who work inside Gmail all day, I often caught myself thinking:
“Did I reply to that email?”
Gmail is great, but it doesn’t have a simple built-in way to visually track follow-ups directly in the inbox. Most tools hide reminders in side panels or require multiple clicks.
So I decided to build a small Chrome extension to solve this problem.
The Idea
The goal was simple:
Make follow-ups visible directly in the inbox
Reduce the number of clicks needed to set reminders
Keep everything private and local
The extension adds a few small features that change the workflow significantly.
Key UX Decisions
- One-Click Follow-Ups
Instead of opening a dialog every time, reminders can be set directly from the inbox row:
Click → reminder for tomorrow
Shift + Click → reminder next week
Alt + Click → custom date picker
This reduces friction when processing emails quickly.
- Visual Status Indicators
Reminders appear inside the Gmail thread list as badges:
Blue badge → scheduled follow-up
Red badge → overdue reminder
This makes it possible to scan your inbox and immediately see which conversations still need attention.
- Automatic Cleanup
If you reply to a thread, the reminder is automatically cleared.
This keeps the inbox from filling with outdated reminders.
- Dynamic Email Templates
Templates support simple variables like:
{first_name}
{subject}
{days_since}
These are replaced automatically when inserting a template.
The Result
The extension ended up becoming a lightweight productivity tool that helps reduce inbox anxiety and repetitive typing.
If you're curious about the project, you can check it out here:
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