Gmail crapped on me!

Was writing a long email with a bunch of specific notes that relate to a cut I was ready to send a client.

I lost connection somehow, couldn't get Gmail to respond for a long while. I had to restart the computer and my draft email was EMPTY! Except for a couple of lines, all GONE.

This is the old ghost creeping in, what's not on your computer... Can you really trust it? Does it really save your work all the time?  Answer: NO! IT DOES NOT!

We are offered a convenience with no guarantee in exchange for our personal data. No guarantee.

Lesson learned, I will type my emails in TextEdit before I Copy n'Paste and send at once.

How to mark all messages in a Gmail mailbox as read

Gmail allows you to mark emails as read only on one page worth at a time. Infuriating if you have a backlog of unread messages in your mailbox - as I do.

How to mark ALL messages in the mailbox as read at once?

Easy:

Select All or Unread messages on the page, at which point you will see a little message at the top of the list: "All XX conversations on this page are selected. Select all YYY conversations in "MailBox"

Click on this "link": Select all YYY conversations in "MailBox"

At that point you will see the message: All YYY conversations in "MailBox" are selected. Clear selection

Now that all messages are selected, click on More/Mark As Read.

Confirm the bulk action...

Done.

I cannot download any attachment with Gmail (Part 2)

This problem is driving me nuts!  I wrote about it previously.

Not only do I have to systematically save to Google Drive, now it sometimes DOES NOT EVEN SAVE to Google Drive.

Gmail shows that the document is in the Google Drive, but when I go there NOTHING!  Restarting Safari doesn't do anything.

I found a temporary workaround though: Right-click on the attached document / Copy link, then open the Safari Show Downloads window and Paste. Presto the download starts.

Puff... It's MADDENING that I have to go through this crap to download a simple attachment.

I cannot download any attachment with Gmail (Part 1)

What the heck is going on?  I've been having on and off problems with downloading attachments from gmail recently.  It sometime works, sometimes not.

Now it looks like the download button stopped functioning altogether.  It does't work with the Download button on the attachment as part of the message, it does't work with the download button after opening the attached document by clicking on it.

I can Add to Google Drive and then download from there, but that's a waste of time.

Ideas?

I'm on Mac Yosemite 10.10.5, Safari 10.0


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UPDATE!  I found the answer and culprit(s): freaking Safari Plug-ins! 
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UPDATE!  NOPE! - I thought that was the problem, but it is NOT.  I CAN'T download any attachment. Read on if you want, but that stuff below didn't fix the problem.

Go to: Safari / Preferences / Security

There is a box for Internet plug-ins, I turned OFF "Allow Plug-ins", and bam! I can download attachments just fine.

 When "Allow Plug-ins is checked, one can click onto Plug-in Settings and you get to see what's there, what's allowed to run or not, and make changes.

But darn it! With 8 Plug-ins installed already and hundreds of websites, forget it!  I'm not tweaking these by hand. I think I'll simply delete them all and re-install with an eye on it.
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To remove Safari plug-ins: Go to 

• /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/
• ~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/

https://support.apple.com/kb/PH19241?locale=en_US&viewlocale=en_US

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Interesting info from Safari help:


Allow Plug-ins

Let Safari show plug-in content on websites.

Websites use plug-ins for pictures, music, video, animation, interactive features, and other enhancements. Some plug-ins track your browsing history.

Click Plug-in Settings to see which plug-ins are installed, disable or enable plug-ins, see which websites you visited use each plug-in, and set blocking policies for plug-in use.

To disable or enable an installed plug-in, deselect or select the checkbox to the left of the plug-in name.

To set a blocking policy for a visited website that uses a plug-in, select the plug-in on the left, select the website on the right, then click its pop-up menu and choose a policy:

• Ask: When you visit the website, Safari displays a placeholder instead of the plug-in content. You can click the placeholder to allow the website to use the plug-in.
• Off: When you visit the website, Safari will first attempt to load content without using a plug-in. If a site still requires a plug-in, Safari displays a placeholder instead of the plug-in content.
• On: Safari lets the website use the plug-in, unless it’s blocked by macOS File Quarantine. For more information, see the Apple Support article About the "Are you sure you want to open it?" alert.
• Enable Security Protection: Safari prevents the website from using the plug-in if it’s blocked by macOS File Quarantine. To run the plug-in, hold down the Option key, click the plug-in’s pop-up menu, and deselect Enable Security Protection. Deselecting Enable Security Protection may present a security risk, so choose this option only for a website you trust.
• Run in Safe Mode: Safari lets the website use the plug-in but runs malware checks. To run the plug-in outside of Safe Mode, hold down the Option key, click the plug-in’s pop-up menu, and deselect Run in Safe Mode. Deselecting Run in Safe Mode may present a security risk, so choose this option only for a website you trust.

To set the blocking policy for other websites that use a plug-in, select the plug-in on the left, then click the “When visiting other websites” pop-up menu and choose an option described above.