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Email Basics: Common Email Features
Common email features
No matter which email service you choose, you'll need to learn how to interact with an
email interface, including the inbox, the Message pane, and the Compose pane.
Depending on the email provider, the interfaces may look and feel different, but they all
function in essentially the same way.
In this lesson, we'll talk about using an email interface to send and receive messages.
We'll also discuss various terms, actions, and features that are commonly used when
working with email.
Understanding the email interface
Below are some examples of different email interfaces from Gmail. Review the images
below to become familiar with various email interfaces.
Keep in mind that these examples will only provide a general overview. You can visit
our Gmail tutorial to learn how to use an email application in detail.
Inbox
The inbox is where you'll view and manage emails you receive. Emails are listed with the
name of the sender, the subject of the message, and the date received.
Message pane
When you select an email in the inbox, it will open in the Message pane. From here, you
can read the message and choose how to respond with a variety of commands.
Compose pane
You can click the Compose or New button from your inbox to open the Compose
pane to create your own email message. From here, you'll need to enter the recipient's
email address and a subject. You'll also have the option to upload files (photos,
documents, etc.) as attachments and add formatting to the message.
A Compose pane will also appear when you select Reply or Forward. The text from the
original message will be copied into the Compose pane.
Common email terms and actions
All email applications use certain terms and commands you will need to understand
before using email. The examples below use Gmail's Compose pane and Message
pane to introduce basic email terms, but these will still be applicable for Yahoo! and
Outlook.
To: Field and Recipients
Whenever you send an email, you'll add recipients to the To: field. Recipients are the
people you are sending the email to. You will need to type the email address for each
recipient. Most of the time you'll add recipients to the To: field, but you can also add
recipients to the Cc: and Bcc: fields.
Email Address
You must have an email address for any person you want to email. All email addresses
have a user name, the @ (at) symbol, and the email provider's domain. Email addresses
must be entered correctly or the message won't be delivered.
Cc
Cc stands for carbon copy. This is used when you want to send an email to someone who
is not the main recipient. This helps to keep that person in the loop while letting him or
her know that there's no need to reply to your message.
Bcc
Bcc stands for "blind carbon copy." It works almost the same way as Cc, except all of the
email address in the Bcc fields are hidden, making it ideal when emailing a very large
number of recipients or when privacy is needed.
Subject
The subject should say what the email is about. Keep the subject brief, but give the
recipients a reasonable idea of what's in the message.
Body
The body is the actual text of the email. Generally, you'll write this just like a normal
letter, with a greeting, one or more paragraphs, and a closing with your name.
Signature
You can choose to create a signature that will appear at the end of every email you send.
Signatures often include a name and contact information, like a phone number, website,
or professional title.
Emoticons or Emoji
Most email providers include graphic emoticons (also known as emoji) that you can add
to your messages. Emoticons can help to express your mood and convey tone in a
message.
Send
When you are satisfied with your message, you will click Send to send it to the recipients.
Formatting Options
Formatting allows you to change the look and feel of your message. For example, you
can change the font style, size, and color, as well as include links.
Attachments
An attachment is a file (like an image or document) that is sent along with the email
message. Click the Attachment button to include an attachment with the email.
Sign Out
If you're concerned about privacy or are using webmail on a public or shared computer,
you should always sign out when finished.
Navigation Menu
Most email clients will provide a menu to help navigate to your different services,
including your contacts list, calendar, and more.
Compose
You can use the Compose or New button to create a new email.
Inbox
Your inbox is where received messages will appear. Unread messages will usually
appear in bold.
Conversations
Most email providers will group messages you have replied to into conversations,
keeping your related emails together.
Drafts
Drafts are messages you have composed but not sent. When composing a message, you
can choose to save your message as a draft and finish it later. Some providers will even
save drafts automatically.
Folders and Labels
All major webmail providers offer folders or labels, which allow you to organize your
messages any way you want.
Spam
Just like snail mail, you will likely receive junk or spam emails in your inbox. Spam
emails often carry viruses or scams, so you won't want to read these messages. Your
email provider will usually filter suspicious emails into a Spam folder. If, however, you
do receive spam in your inbox, you can always move it to the Spam folder, which will
help your email provider filter these messages in the future.
Trash
You can delete any email from your inbox by moving it to the Trash. Just like the
Recycle Bin or Trash on your desktop, messages in the Trash can be retrieved for a short
time. However, emails will be permanently deleted after a certain amount of time in the
Trash. Some providers, like Gmail, allow you to archive your messages instead, which
removes emails from the inbox but does not delete them.
Forward
Whenever you want to share an email you've received, you can use
the Forward command to send the message to another person.
Reply
Whenever you receive an email, you can use the Reply command to respond to the
message. The Compose pane will appear with the text of the original message copied into
the body of the email.
Reply All
Sometimes you may receive emails addressed to you and several other recipients.
When responding to these messages, you'll need to decide whether you want to reply to
the original sender or all recipients. Only use the Reply All command if you want to
send a message to everyone included in the original email. Many people accidentally use
Reply All when they mean to reply to just the original sender.
Continue
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