Reading and Replying to E-Mail

You can receive e-mail anytime day or night ”even when your computer is turned off. You can retrieve your e-mail manually or set Outlook Express to do so automatically. When you start Outlook Express, the program checks for new e-mail. It continues to check periodically while the program is open . New messages appear in the Inbox along with any messages you haven't stored elsewhere or deleted. Message flags may appear next to a message. You can respond to a message in two ways: reply to it, which creates a new message addressed to the sender(s) and other recipients; or forward it, which creates a new message you can send to someone else. In either case, the original message appears in the message response.

Open and Read an E-Mail

Click the Inbox icon in the folder list for the mail service you want to view.

Click an e-mail message to read it in the Preview pane.

Double-click an e-mail message to open it in its own window, making it easier to read.

Click the Previous or Next button on the toolbar to read additional e-mail messages (if any).

See Also

See " Diverting Incoming E-Mail to Folders " on page 162 for information on how to send your e-mail directly to a specified folder.

Reply to an E-Mail

Open the e-mail message you want to reply to.

Click the Reply button to respond to the sender only, or click the Reply All button to respond to the sender and to all other recipients.

Add or delete names from the To or the Cc box.

Type your message.

Attach any files to send.

Click the Send button on the toolbar.

Forward an E-Mail

Open the e-mail message you want to forward.

Click the Forward button on the toolbar.

Type the name (s) of the recipient(s), or click the To button, and then select the recipient(s).

Type your message.

Attach any files to send.

Click the Send button on the toolbar.

Did You Know?

Attachments aren't sent on replies . When you reply to a message that had an attachment, the attachment isn't returned to the original sender. You can forward the message to the original sender if you need to send the attachment back.