Shown below is the main Outlook Express (OE) window. The four main sections are labeled in red.

The Folder Pane (top left)

The Folder pane displays the standard message folders that are created by OE. The message folders are used to organize your messages. You can create additional folders (to organize and store messages) in addition to the basic ones shown here. You can even create folders within folders.   

The Inbox folder is used to hold all incoming new messages. You'll notice the there is a blue (1) to the right of the word Inbox. This is a counter that indicates the number of un-read messages stored in this particular folders. Unread messages are shown in bold print in the Message Header pane while read messages that are shown in normal print.

The Outbox folder stores messages that you are sending but have not yet been delivered to NetDotCom's mail server. (Click here for a explanation of how Internet e-mail works.) 

The Sent Items folder holds messages that you have sent and have been delivered to NetDotCom's mail server.

The Deleted Items folder holds messages that have been deleted from other folders. The Deleted Items folder can be set to hold messages forever or to empty the Deleted Items folders each time you exit Outlook Express. This setting is controlled at Tools, Options Maintenance 

The Drafts folder is used to hold messages that you are in the process of composing but are not yet ready to send. This allows you to save a "work in progress" message and come back to work on a message at a later time. 

Message Header Pane (top right)

To read a particular message you would click on the desired message in the Message Header pane. The body on the message will then appear in the Message Preview pane (bottom right). If you double click on a message in the Message Header pane the message will open up in a separate window. After 5 seconds (time adjustable in Tools, Options, Read tab) the message will be considered read. The un-read message counter in the Folders pane will decrease by 1 and the message listing in the Message Header pane will change from bold to normal print.

If you handle lots of messages finding the ones of interest can be difficult. To make the job easier, you can sort the messages by clicking on the column header (From, Subject, Date, etc., circled in red above) in the Message Header pane. If you look carefully to the right of the word "From" in the Message Header pane, you'll see a small gray triangle. This triangle indicates that the messages will be sorted by sender in ascending order. To change to descending order, click on the triangle and it will point down. To sort by Subject, Date, etc. click on the appropriate column heading in the Message Header pane.

To move message to other folders click on the desired message and then drag it to the target folder in the Folder pane. To drag a message you need to click on the message and hold the mouse button down while moving the mouse to the appropriate message folder.

Message Preview Pane (bottom right)

The Message Preview pane will display the contents of the message selected in the Message Header pane. 

Contacts Pane (bottom left)

The Contacts Pane displays e-mail addresses that are stored in your address book. You can quickly create a new message addressed to a particular contact by double clicking on their entry in the Contacts pane. This will open the New Message window with the message pre-addressed to them.

Creating a New Message

Click on the New Mail button to open the New Message window shown below. The most important items in the New Message window (highlighted in red) are To:, Subject, Message body & Attach. 

The To: field is where you type the e-mail address of the recipient. It has to be in the form of someone@somewhere.com or someone@someplace.net, etc. If you have addresses stored in the address book, you can click on the book icon to the left of the word To: to open the Select Recipients window. Any e-mail addresses recorded in your address book are shown in the left window. You simply click on the recipient's listing and click on the To: button (highlighted) to select a recipient. You can select any number of recipients. Click on the OK button to close the Select Recipients window and return the the New Message window.

The next area is the Subject: You should type a one sentence describing the purpose of this e-mail. The body of the message contains whatever you what to say to the recipient(s). 

If you want to send someone pictures, files, music, etc., click on the Attach button (Paperclip icon) to open the Insert Attachment window which will allow you to select the file(s) you want to send. When you locate and select the file you want, click on the Attach button to attach the file to your message and return to the New Message window. Note, more than one file can be attached to a message. Be aware that many mailboxes are limited in size and cannot accept large attachments.

When you are done composing your message, click on the Send button to send the message to your Outbox folder. If you are currently online and have the option set to send immediately, Outlook Express will deliver the message to NetDotCom's outgoing mail server for delivery to the recipient's ISP. Otherwise Outlook will hold the message in your Outbox till the next time your go online and check for new messages.

If you get stuck or need more information you can press the F1 key on your keyboard to open the Help window.

Pull-Down Menus

Across the top of Outlook Express is a row of pull-down menus starting with 'File' on the left and ending with 'Help' on the right. Below are descriptions of the more important menu selections: