Using e-mail

E-mail's great. It's cheap and quick.

Your message can reach someone on the other side of the world in minutes or seconds.

The route an e-mail takes from your computer to its destination has many parts.

Let's begin where you'll write your e-mail - on your computer.

Your computer

You begin on your computer because that's where your e-mail program is.

Most of the e-mail programs you need to send and receive e-mails are free.

You'll often find one already installed when you buy your computer.

Your modem

Your modem is the piece of hardware that connects you to the internet.

So, your computer uses it to send and receive e-mails as well once you are online.

Sometimes the modem is outside your computer in a box (external) and sometimes it is inside the
computer (internal).

Your internet company (ISP)

When you send e-mails they first go to your ISP (Internet Service Provider).

Once they are there they go to your outgoing mailbox.

It's called outgoing because it's where your e-mail goes 'out' from.

The e-mail then goes to the ISP of the person you are sending it to.

First it goes into their incoming mail box and waits there until she connects.

It's called the incoming mailbox because that's where new e-mail goes in.

Getting your e-mail

The person who you send the e-mail to will need a computer to get your e-mail.

When they ask their e-mail program to check for e-mails, their modem will go online by connecting to their ISP.

Their e-mail program will then get their e-mail from the incoming mailbox at their ISP.

The e-mail has travelled from your computer to your modem to your internet provider (ISP) to their internet provider (ISP) though their modem to their computer.

E-mail programs

To open an e-mail program you have to double click on the icon on your desktop.

You control the program using the main control buttons.

The Send / Receive button is where you click when you want to go online to send and receive e-mails.

This is the button you use to send and check your e-mail. When you press this your e-mail program will try and connect to the internet.

Reading your e-mails

The e-mail program lets you easily see which e-mails you have read and which you haven't. If an e-mail is listed in bold text that means you haven't opened and read it yet.

And if an e-mail is not listed in bold text that means you have already opened and read it.

You can see any currently selected e-mails in the 'preview pane'. The preview pane allows you to read any e-mails you have selected.

E-mail folders

Most of the time you will read e-mails from your 'inbox' - the name of the folder you are looking at will appear in the toolbar. If you choose a different folder its name will appear in the toolbar instead.

If you do choose to look inside another folder you need to choose one from the folder list. The folder list shows all the folders in your e-mail program.

For example, e-mails that are waiting to be sent are in the outbox folder.

Attachments and advanced controls

Sometimes e-mails come with other files attached like photos. If an e-mail has an attachment it will have an icon next to it. This is usually a folder, envelope or paperclip.

If an e-mail is really urgent the sender might flag it as important. A flag icon will appear next to the e-mail in your inbox if this happens.

If you ever need more advanced controls you will need to click on the 'File' menu at the top of your e-mail program screen to open these.