Reading Email Messages and Attachments
Reading messages
When you first open Outlook, the contents of the Inbox will be displayed on your screen as a list of mail messages. Messages you haven't yet read appear in boldface. If you have the Folder List open, the number of unread messages appears in parentheses next to the folder name.
Outlook is initially configured with Preview Pane turned on. With Preview Pane on, the beginning of a message will be displayed in the lower part of the screen when you click on that message. To turn Preview Pane off, go to the View menu, and select Preview Pane.
Double-click on a message to open it.
Reading an attachment
To open an attachment sent to you in email, simply double-click on it while reading your message.Outlook will launch the appropriate application for viewing the attachment. For example, if the attachment is a spreadsheet, Outlook will open the spreadsheet as a file in Excel.
Deleting a message
There are a couple of ways to delete messages.
- Click on the message to highlight it, then click on the delete button (the button with an x) in the toolbar.
- Open the message, then click on the delete button in the toolbar.
Deleted messages go to the Deleted Items folder, and are not really deleted until you log off Outlook. You can always look at the messages in your Deleted Items folder by clicking on that folder name in your Folder List.
Outlook is set up initially to have messages deleted from the Deleted Items folder when you log off. You can make sure that's happening:
- In the Tools menu, select Options
- Click on the Other tab
- In the General section be sure there's a check next to Empty the Deleted Items folder upon exiting
- Click OK
Sending a message
To start a new message, either
- In the File menu, select New, then Mail Message, or
- Simply click on the New button while in a mail folder such as the Inbox.
To fill in the TO: field, do one of the following:
- Type in a name or address. If you type in part of a name, Outlook will search in the usual Outlook lists for a match.
- Pick a name out of a list.
- Click on To...
- In the Show names from the list locate the list you want to look in
- In the box under Type name or Select from List type all or part of the name of the person you are looking for.
- Find the name you want in the list, then double-click on it to move it into the Message Recipients box.
- Click OK
To fill in the CC: field, follow the same process.
After filling in the TO and CC fields, enter a subject, then type your message. Click on Send when you're done.
A copy of the message is automatically placed in your Sent Items folder. All messages you send are saved there. You should go through that list occasionally and delete messages that you don't want to keep.
What are those lists?
- Global address list - includes everyone at UWB who has been given a Bothell email account.
- TWO NOTES:
- Not everyone who has a Bothell email account actually logs into it. If you aren't certain whether your intended recipient is reading the Bothell account, it might be wise to send your message to the Seattle email account address instead.
- Since this is the list of Bothell email accounts, people who only have Seattle accounts will not appear here. To locate those people, use the UW directory, which is listed at http://www.washington.edu/home/peopledir/
- Contacts - your own contacts list, individual to your own account.
- directory.washington.edu, also known as the LDAP Directory - a listing of UW Seattle accounts. If you have followed our directions for setting this up, your list includes only faculty and staff of UW (all three campuses).
- To use LDAP, first find the directory.washington.edu listing in the Show Names from the list.
- Click on Find... in the lower section of the box.
- In the box, type in part of the name you are looking for, like the last name.
- Click OK.
- A list of matches will appear. Double-click on the person who want to move that name into the message recipient list.
- Click OK.
Inserting attachments
The attachment will be inserted wherever your cursor is located when you begin this process, so first be sure your cursor is where you want the attachment to go (probably the bottom of your message).
- From the Insert menu, select File
- Navigate through your files, and double-click on the one you want
- Send the file as you normally would
Replying and Forwarding
To reply to or forward a message, start by reading the message. With the message open, click on Reply, Reply to All, or Forward.
- Reply will put the sender's name in the TO: field
- Reply to All will also include the names of anyone else the message was originally sent to.
- Forward will allow you to send the message on to another person. The TO: field will remain blank until you fill it in.
