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Email and Outlook

Outlook is an email client that is part of the Microsoft Office set of software. In addition to the email, the software includes a calendar and a small task manager. We deal on this page with

the basics of sending an email, i.e. sending a message with different attachments
various recipient fields, including the often confusing blind carbon copy (Bcc)
replying to messages
the basics of message searching
marking messages as important.

There are desktop, web and mobile versions of the software. In this training we will use the online version of Outlook.

Task: Start Outlook

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Launching the online version of Outlook

Use your browser to log in to Microsoft 365 and click on the **Outlook** icon on the left-hand side bar of the initial window.

Depending on your browser and settings, Outlook will open either in the same tab or in a separate tab.

The user interface of the web version of Outlook

The email window is divided into three different sections:

On the left-hand side, there is a bar showing all email folders. The Favorites list allows you to specify the folders you use most often. With the small barb you can collapse or expand the Folders and Favorites list.
In the middle section you can see the contents of the selected folder. The Filter button allows you to refine the information displayed.
In the preview pane, you can see the content of the selected message.

Task: Create a new email message

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Click on the **New mail** button in the top left corner of the window.

In the To field, enter the recipient's email address. You can write an email to a friend, or you can use your own email address as the recipient of this exercise. You will be offered addresses of your organisation or the last addresses you used, based on the start of an address you have typed; from them you can choose the right one. There can also be several recipients.

Include as descriptive subject as possible and write a concise, relevant text.

Try to keep your messages short and write the most important thing in the beginning. For example, if you are expecting action on a message, start with what you expect and by when.

If you later need to communicate with the same person on a different subject, always create a new message so that the recipient can find your message more easily by subject.

At the top of the message window, there is a bar that allows you to format text or add an image or a gif animation.

Send the message using the Send button.

Sent messages are shown in the Sent Items folder.

Info: Different recipients

An email can have three types of recipients.

The To field is to be filled in with the persons to whom the message is addressed and from whom an action might be expected.

The Cc field is to be filled in with persons to whom the message is for information only. No action is required from the recipients of the copy.

The Bcc field is used when you want to send a message to someone for their information so that others cannot see it. Try how to make the hidden copy field visible.

Task: Add an attachment to the message

Start a new message and add [email protected] as the recipient.
Add yourself as a recipient of a copy.
Add as subject Attachment and screen capture
Attach a copy of a file to the message using the Attach as copy functionality
Don't send the message yet, go straight to the next task!

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Attaching an attachment to an email

To send an attachment with your message, click on the **Attach file** button on the top bar.

The button opens a menu with three options:

Browse this computer. Select this if you want to attach a file from your own computer.
Browse cloud locations. Select this if the file is in OneDrive.
Upload and share. This allows you to search for a file on your own computer, copy it to the cloud and attach a link to it in your email, all in one go.

The options may be preceded by the heading Suggested attachments and names of the files you last used. If you want to send one of them, you can select it by clicking on it.

If in the Suggested attachments list, the icon in front of the file name has a **cloud**, it means that the file is stored in the cloud and you are sharing it with recipients so they can make changes to the file. In practice, a link to your file will be sent to the recipients.

You can also send a attachment as a traditional attachment, in which case a copy of your attachment will be added to the email you send. You can recognize this from the absence of a cloud in the file icon.

In emails sent as part of this course, we hope you will use this option.

If you want to send the file as a regular attachment, click on the barb in the right corner of the attachment and select Attach as copy. Now the cloud icon changes to a normal icon.

In the same menu, you can also change the permissions of the file stored in the cloud by selecting Manage access.

Mac: Screenshot and screen recording

On a Mac computer, screenshots and screen videos are taken with a separate tool.

The tool is started by pressing the Shift+Command+5 key combination.

The screen will then switch to screen shot and screen recording mode.

Screenshot

In screenshot and screen recording mode, there is a button ribbon at the bottom of the screen.

The buttons are from left to right:

Capture the whole screen
Capture the selected window
Capture the selected area

Select the part or area of the screen that you want and capture the image using the Capture button on the right.

Once you've captured the picture, it will appear in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. You can drag it to the program of your choice. You can also click on it to open it for editing. The edited image is saved in the Desktop folder. If you wait a moment, the capture will disappear from the bottom right corner and can be found on your desktop.

Screen recording

The tool also allows you to make a screen recording. To do this, you need the buttons of the tools:

Save full screen
Save the selected area
The Options button, which opens a menu where you can, among other things, select the audio source, if you want one.

Make the desired settings for the screen recording and start the recording with the Record button on the right.

The recording finishes when you click on the circle with a square inside, appearing in the icon list at the top right of the screen.

Task: Add a screenshot

Often there is a need to “capture” an image of the screen that can be saved, emailed, attached to a document, etc. We'll practice this here by capturing, say, the Word version information in a screen shot and attaching it to a message, but similarly you could also attach it to a file.

Open the Word version view
Add a clip from the screen of your choice
Finally, send a message

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Taking a screenshot

Go to the window you want to take a screenshot of and press Win+Shift+S key combination.

A toolbar opens at the top of the screen, where you can select the type of screen capture you want. The default is a rectangular capture. Other options include a single window or a full screen capture.

If you take a rectangular capture, use the mouse to limit the captured area.

Go to the message, click on the message area and paste the capture into it with theCtrl+V key combination. If the capture is of wrong size, resize it at the corner point.

Send a message

Finally, send the message by clicking on Send button.

Task: Reply to this message

When you receive a message, at the bottom of the preview screen you will find the buttons Reply, Reply all (if the message has been sent to multiple recipients) and Forward, which allow you to reply to the message or forward it.

Reply to the “Attachment and screen capture” message you sent to yourself
View the reply you sent in the**Sent Items** folder

Info: Grouping of messages

Go to the Inbox folder.

By default, Outlook groups together a message and the replies sent to it, replies to replies, etc. into a kind of chain.

You can see the grouping by the little barb next to the subject.

By clicking on the barb with the mouse, you can open the whole chain.

Info: Messages with attachment

If there is an attachment in the message, an image of a paper clip will appear next to the message.

To view the attachment you have received, click on it with your mouse.

A separate window will open where you can edit the attachment to the reply, upload it to your computer, or save it to OneDrive.

Use the check mark in the top right corner to close the window.

Task: Mark an important message

You can “flag” important messages to make them easier to find. Flagging is called marking.

You can also specify a time when you want Outlook to remind you.

Flag messages that you sent to yourself

Hover your mouse over the message you want to mark and click on the small flag. The flag of the flagged message will turn red.

To set a reminder, delete a flag or mark it as done, right-click on the flag.

A note will appear at the top of the flagged message.

Filter flagged messages

You can filter only important flagged messages by clicking the Filter button and selecting Flagged.

By clicking on Flagged you will get all messages back into view.

Message attachment

Important messages can also be moved to the top of the folder by clicking on the pin.

Task: Search all messages with which you have sent attachments

In everyday life and at work, emails can accumulate, so finding the right messages can be a chore just by scrolling through them. To help here, there is the Search box that allows you to search for messages. Clicking on the barb on the right-hand side of the screen opens a search window where you can enter more complex search criteria.

Let's practise using it: Search all messages in which you are the sender and that contain attachments.

Select Search in in the folder Sent Items
Add yourself to the From field
Click the Attachments box active
Click on the Search button

This was an optional introductory part of the course, where the most common terms and functions as well as essential tools were reviewed. Now you can mark this chapter as completed and get down to business.

Shall we mark it as completed and move on?

Mark as complete: