How to change the name of a recipient

Question

GMail has recently rolled out a new method of composing a message: the composition appears as a popup stable at the bottom of the screen, and one can look at other mail for reference, say, while composing the mail. Other things have changed about the composition process also.

One (to me unwelcome) change is as follows. Suppose GMail recognizes the name-and-address John Doe <[email protected]> from past e-mail I've sent, or from my address book. Suppose now I wish to compose an e-mail message to Mary Doe <[email protected]>. Using the old composition method, this is easy: I edit the "to:" line. Using the new one, any attempt to use [email protected] as a recipient will result in its getting labeled John Doe <[email protected]>.

I know of two solutions for this on a case-by-case basis:

• Use Mary Doe <[email protected]> or any other equivalent but not identical address.
• Add [email protected] as a contact (if he isn't already) and remove John Doe from the contact information.

Neither appeals to me, and I'm looking for any further possible solutions, either on a case-by-case basis (is there something to press while editing the "to:" line that will make my edits there stick?) or, preferably, as a preference I can set.

Answer 1

Double-click the person tag that appears after you've entered the email address. You'll then be able to edit the name as you want.

Mousing over the tag shows the person card:

Double-click the card:

After editing:

Answer 2

Works for me in two ways:

1. by typing the bare address manually and then clicking into the subject or main editor. As long as I don't click again in the "to" field Gmail doesn't try to find the contact.

2. by typing "NAME" <[email protected]> or NAME <[email protected]> and then tab or click in the editor. That manually adds any email + name in any form. I think the key is to type the ´<´ rather than the bare email.