Outlook Express How To:

Checking for new mail
When you open Outlook Express, it will automatically check for new mail. If it doesn't do this, click the Send/Receive button on your toolbar.

Reading your mail
Locate the message you want to view from the list.
Double click the subject line of the message.
A separate window will open showing you the entire message. When you have read the message click the Close button in the top right corner of the window

To Delete a Message
Click on it (it will go blue).
Right click on the area that is blue.
Select delete from the side menu. OR Click on it (it will go blue).
Click the Delete Button on the toolbar or hit the Delete key on your keyboard.

To Delete Multiple Messages all in a row
Click on the first message you want to delete.
Hold the SHIFT key down, scroll down to the last message and select the last message by clicking on it.
All the messages to be deleted will shaded blue.
Release the SHIFT key.
Click the Delete Button on the toolbar.
OR
Right click on any area that is blue.
Select delete from the side menu.

To Delete Selected Messages
Click on the first message you want to delete.
Hold the CTRL key down.
Click on the individual messages you want to delete.
If you want to 'unselect' a message click on it again.
All the messages to be deleted will shaded blue.
Release the CRTL key.
Click the Delete Button on the toolbar.
OR
Right click on any area that is blue.
Select delete from the Side Menu.

Replying to a message.
Click the message you want to reply to.
Click the Reply Button on the toolbar.
Type your message.
Click Send.

To Compose an Email (when you're ONLINE)
Click the New Mail Button on your toolbar.
A New Message window will appear.
In the To Box type the e-mail address.
In the Subject box, type the subject of the message (Don't leave this out as some people screen their mail by subject line).
Type your message in the message area.
If you want to check your spelling, click the ABC Spelling button on your toolbar or press the F7 key on your keyboard. Once that is done, give your message the quick once over, double check the email address is correct, then click the Send button on the toolbar.

Compose an Email (when you're OFFLINE, ie., not connected to the internet)
Note: you don't need to be connected to the Internet to compose a message. You can write all your messages offline then send them when you go online.
Compose your message.
Instead of clicking the Send/Receive button, click File on the control menu.
Select Send Later. Your message will be stored in the Outbox.
When you are ready to send it, click the Send/Receive button on the toolbar.

Saving a message before you've finished it
On the Control Menu -
Click File.
Select Save.
A message box will then appear telling you that your messages has been saved in your Drafts folder.
To finish your message -
Click the Drafts Folder in Folder List view.
OR Click the Drafts Icon Outlook Bar view.
Find your message.
Double click on it and the message will open in a new window ready for you to finish off.

Sending the same message to more than one person:
In the To: box, type the e-mail addresses of all the recipients separating each address with a semicolon and then a space
example: peter@domain.com; paul@domain.com; mary@domain.com
OR
In the To: box, type the email address of a single person.
In the CC (Carbon Copy) box type the rest of the names.
example: To: peter@domain.com
CC: paul@domain.com; mary@domain.com
NOTE: all recipients will be able to view the names and email addresses of everyone else who received the same email. If you prefer the recipients to NOT know who else in the list is receiving the message, use BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) instead.

If you want to check that your message has been sent:
Click on the Sent Items folder in Folder List view.
OR
Click on the Sent Items button in Outlook Bar view.
This will show all the messages that have been sent. If your message isn't listed there, then check the Outbox Folder/Button and see if it's sitting in there waiting to be sent. If this is the case, click the Send/Receive button on the toolbar.

Attaching a file to your messages:
Click New Mail Button on the toolbar.
A new window will open.
Type your message.
Click the Attachment Button on the toolbar (it looks like a paper clip).
OR
Click the Insert menu at the top then select File Attachment and the Insert Attachment dialog box will open
In the Look In box locate the file/s that you want to send.
In the File Name box type or select the name of the file.
To select multiple files hold the CTRL key down as you click on each individual file.
Click the Attach button.
The Insert Attachment dialog box will close.
Your message will be visible again and listed in Attach with the files you have selected.
Click the Send button on the toolbar.

Viewing a message attachment:
NOTE: be very careful when you open an email attachment that are programs, zipped files or a complete 'unknown' file type as it may contain a virus. Never open an attachment from someone you don't know.
Open the message with the attachment.
Right click the attachment icon.
Select Open.

Forwarding a message:
Click the message you want to forward (it will go blue).
Click the Forward Button on the toolbar.
The message window will appear.
In the To: box, type the address of the person you want to send it to.
Click Send on the toolbar.

How to see the list of folders in Outlook Express:
Click on the View menu, go down and click on Layout.
Put a check in Folder List and click OK.
Look for the list of folders on the left hand side and click on the one you want to view.

To deactivate account in Outlook Express:
Click on Tools => Accounts, then click on the Mail tab.
Click once on the name of the account you would like to deactivate to highlight it (if it not already highlighted), and click the Properties button. Click on " Include this account when receiving mail or synchronizing" check box to remove the check mark and the account will not look for mail for this account when it starts up. Click OK, then click Close.

To remove an account in Outlook Express:
Click on Tools => Accounts, then click on the Mail tab.
Click once on the name of the account you would like to remove to highlight it (if it not already highlighted), then click the Remove button on the right and side. Then click Close.

Outlook won't open attachments:
Outlook Express version 6 is set by default by Microsoft not to accept attachments.
Here is how you change the setting:
Go to Tools => Options => Security tab.
Uncheck "Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened . . ."
Click OK.

Outlook Express Disconnecting After Downloading Mail
It may be that Outlook Express is hanging up after sending and receiving your mail.
To fix it:
Go to Tools => Options => Connection tab
Uncheck "Hang up after sending and receiving . . ."
Click OK.

Outlook Express Previewing On/Off:
To turn off Previewing in Outlook Express:
Go to the Tools menu, click on Layout, uncheck Show Preview Pane, then click OK.

To fix links in Outlook Express:
First: Load Internet Explorer; click: Tools -> Internet Options - Programs Tab. Next, click Reset Web Settings, and Make sure to also uncheck "reset my home page" check box. Finally, go to Advanced tab and click Restore Defaults. Click OK at the bottom. Then try Outlook Express to see if links work.

Changing Reply To:
To change Reply To, open Outlook Express, click on the Tools menu, go down to Accounts and click on that. Click on the Mail tab and double click on the name of your account. At the bottom, in the Reply To box, change it to what you want.

Blocked Senders in Outlook Express
Check to see if disappearing mail is caused by a setting on your Blocked Senders list.
Click on the Tools menu, then down to Message Rules and choose Blocked Senders. Make sure you have the Blocked Sender tab chosen and look for the sender you do not want blocked and remove them from the list by clicking on the desired one and then click Remove.

Saving your message as a file:
From the Save to box select the folder you want to store the file.
click the Save button or double click the message so the message window opens.
Select Save As.
In the File Name box enter the name if it hasn't already done so.
In the File Type box enter the extension if it hasn't already done so.
Click the Save button.

Autoresponder to answer messages when you are away
If you are on dialup, your computer cannot autorespond.
If you are on wireless:
First, create the message you want to respond with and save it as a text file in a place you can find it easily.
In Outlook Express, click on Tools and then Message Rules, then Mail.
For Conditions (#1), scroll to the bottom and put a check in: For All Messages
For Actions (#2), put a check in: Reply With Message
For Rule Conditions (#3), click on message and go to where your text message file is and double click on it to choose it.
For Name Of Rule, we suggest naming it Autoresponse or On Vacation or something similar. Click OK and OK again to save the changes. Remember to remove the message rule when you get back!

Email Font Size Too Small:
In Outlook Express, open an email message, click on Tools, then go to Font Size and change to Medium or as large as you want.