Guide to Outlook email

Microsoft Office Outlook                                                               

The complete user guide

Microsoft Office Outlook is e-mail software package designed to be internally used within a specific computer system – like a business, or a school.

This user guide will help you understand how to send e-mails properly, how to use the software, and what different features you can use to help make your e-mails more effective.­

Logging on:

The first step to take when using Outlook is to log on to your desired network, this is where the e-mail software is being used to send and receive e-mails via the users on the network. If you work for a business or you are in education, it is likely you are on a network already and should’ve been given an e-mail address that is linked to Outlook. (For example: jp.simpson@jpsenterprises.com)

To log on, simply type your e-mail address (or username, if you have one) and your password in the allocated areas and click ‘log on’, you will instantly be presented with the main hub of Outlook where you have access to all the features, and it will display your recent activity/e-mails.

Now you can begin to use Outlook properly, the first things you might want to do is set-up some additional folder for specific e-mails to go to, or list your contacts for quicker use. Also, remember that you can use Outlook wherever you are at Outlook.com, as long as you have an internet connection.

If you don’t have an e-mail address linked with Outlook or you have forgotten it, you should see your system administrator within your workplace and they will give you further information. Otherwise, consult the IT department.

Creating an e-mail:                                                                                           

Once you have had a look around and got a feel for Outlook, you are now ready to send an e-mail. The first thing you will want to is to head over to the main hub and in the top-left part of the page, just above your inbox, you will see a list of tabs:

For now, let’s just click on ‘new’

You will be brought to a new page where you can create and design your e-mail. At the moment in is just a default blank e-mail, as you can see there are three main boxes to take notice of. Here’s how it works:

Find the little box that says ‘to’ on it and click on the long text box to the right of it, here you type the address of the person or business you wish to e-mail. You can also add multiple addresses if you want your e-mail to go to a specific number of people, remember that it will be the same e-mail that will be sent to those addresses.

After you’ve added your desired addresses, you can add an address to the text box with ‘CC’ next to it, which means ‘carbon copy’, this allows you to send an additional e-mail to a specific person anonymously – so the others who received the e-mail won’t be aware that the other person received it. Alternatively, ‘BCC’ means ‘Blind Carbon Copy’, this basically does the same thing as CC but sends another additional e-mail to another user anonymously.

Next, we are going to want to specify the subject the e-mail is based on. Underneath the box you just wrote in should be a second box that says ‘subject’ next to it. You will want to put the subject in there, for example: If your e-mail is going to be about dates for a trip, the subject could be ‘Trip dates’.

It is vital you put something in the subject box if you are preparing a formal letter.

Finally, we are going to design and create the e-mail message. The large text box you see is where the actually message will go, it is important that you structure your e-mail well and make sure that your grammar and punctuation is correct so that the reader will be able to clearly read and understand your message. If you have misspelled a word, it will underline it in red to show you it is incorrect, simply right-click on that word to correct it. Or, when you go to send your e-mail, an automated spellchecker will review your message and correct the errors for you if you allow it.

The small bar above the main text box features a raft of editorial functions to help you structure and type your message more professionally. You should start your message by addressing whoever you are sending it to, for example: If you are sending a message to Jordan Simpson, you should start your e-mail by saying ‘Dear Mr Simpson,’ and then follow it with whatever you want to say. Remember, when typing an e-mail it is always good to paragraph your message as this makes it look neater and easier to pick out important information.

Below I have created an example of a well-structured e-mail:

Now for the crowning moment! Hit that glowing golden ‘send’ button and your e-mail will be at its destination within seconds. Yes, it’s really that easy.

Additional functions of Outlook:

In your inbox you will see a list of e-mails you have received over time; at the top of the inbox are your most recent e-mails. To open an e-mail you have received, simply double click on it and it will open the up the message. To reply to an e-mail, hit the ‘reply’ button, and you will be brought to and new blank piece of the text box where you can write your message, then hit ‘send’.

To forward an e-mail, right-click on the e-mail and scroll down until you find ‘forward’. Click on that and type in the address or addresses you want to forward that message to, and then hit send.  When creating your e-mail, you can add an attachment file; this means that the user you are sending the e-mail to will receive the file to download. To add the attachment, simply click ‘add attachment’ then you can browse your files for the specific file you want, once it is attached you can send the message.

Thank you for reading this informative guide to Microsoft Office Outlook.