13. Send and receive email messages

In this chapter

Create and send messages

Attach files and Outlook items to messages

Display messages and message attachments

Display message participant information

Respond to messages

Practice files

For this chapter, use the practice file from the Office2016SBSCh13 folder. For practice file download instructions, see the introduction.

Although Microsoft Outlook 2016 is an excellent tool for managing your schedule, contact records, and task lists, the primary reason most people use Outlook is to send and receive email messages. Over the past decade, email has become an important method of communication for both business and personal purposes. Outlook provides all the tools you need to send, respond to, organize, find, filter, sort, and otherwise manage email messages for one or more email accounts.

When creating email messages in Outlook, you can format the text, include images, attach files, and set message options such as voting buttons, importance, sensitivity, reminders, and message receipts.

Outlook has many features that make it easy to display and track information about the people you correspond with, particularly if your organization uses technologies that interact with Outlook such as Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint, and Skype for Business. These features include presence icons that indicate whether a person is online and available, and information cards that provide a convenient starting point for many kinds of contact.

This chapter guides you through procedures related to creating, sending, and displaying messages and message attachments; displaying message participant information; and responding to messages.

HTML Supports paragraph styles (including numbered and bulleted lists), character styles (such as fonts, sizes, colors, weight), and backgrounds (such as colors and pictures). Most (but not all) email programs support the HTML format. Programs that don’t support HTML display these messages as Plain Text.

Rich Text Supports more paragraph formatting options than HTML, including borders and shading, but is compatible only with Outlook and Exchange Server. Outlook converts Rich Text messages to HTML when sending them outside of an Exchange network.

Plain Text Does not support the formatting features available in HTML and Rich Text messages, but is supported by all email programs.

Email message content isn’t limited to simple text. You can create almost any type of content in an email message that you can in a Microsoft Word document. Because Outlook 2016 and Word 2016 share similar commands, you might already be familiar with many processes for formatting content.

You can personalize your messages by using an individual font style or color and add a professional touch by inserting your contact information in the form of an email signature. (You can apply other formatting, such as themes and page backgrounds, but these won’t always appear to email recipients as you intend them to, and they can make your communications appear less professional.)

You can format the text of your message to make it more readable by including headings, lists, or tables, and you can represent information graphically by including charts, pictures, and other types of graphics. You can attach files to your message and link to other information, such as files or webpages.

For the purposes of this book, I assume that you know how to enter, edit, and format content by using standard Word techniques, so I don’t discuss all of them in this book.

Creating an email message is a relatively simple process. You will usually provide information in the following fields:

To Enter the email address of the primary message recipient(s) in this field. This is the only field that is absolutely required to send a message.

Subject Enter a brief description of the message contents or purpose in this field. The subject is not required, but it is important to provide information in this field, both so that you and the recipient can identify the message and so that the message isn’t blocked as suspected junk mail by a recipient’s email program. Outlook will warn you if you try to send a message with no subject.

Message body Enter your message to the recipient in this field, which is a large text box. You can include many types of information, including formatted text, hyperlinks, and graphics in the message body.

You can enter email recipients into any of three address boxes:

To Use for primary message recipients. Usually, these are the people you want to respond to the message. Each message must have at least one address in the To box.

Cc Use for “courtesy copy” recipients. These are usually people you want to keep informed about the subject of the email message but from whom you don’t require a response.

Bcc Use for “blind courtesy copy” recipients. These are people you want to keep informed, but whom you want to keep hidden from other message recipients. Bcc recipients are not visible to any other message recipients and therefore aren’t included in message responses unless specifically added to one of the address boxes in the response message.

The To and Cc address boxes are always displayed in the message header. The Bcc address box is not displayed by default. You can display it in the message header by clicking the Bcc button, located in the Show Fields group on the Options tab of the message composition window.

If your email account is part of a Microsoft Exchange network, you can send messages to another person on the same network by entering only his or her email alias—for example, joan; the at symbol (@) and domain name aren’t required. If you enter only the name of a person whose email address is in your address book, Outlook associates the name with the corresponding email address, a process called resolving the address, before sending the message.

Depending on the method you use to enter a message recipient’s name or email address into an address box, Outlook either resolves the name or address immediately (if you chose it from a list of known names) or resolves it when you send the message.

The resolution process for each name or address has one of two results:

If Outlook successfully resolves the name or address, an underline appears below it. If the name or address matches one stored in an address book, Outlook replaces your original entry with the content of the Display As field in the contact record, and then underlines it.

If Outlook is unable to resolve the name or address, the Check Names dialog box opens, asking you to select the address you want to use.

In the Check Names dialog box, you can select from the suggested options, or do any of the following:

• Click Properties to learn more about the selected option.

• Click Show More Names to display your default address book.

• Click New Contact to create a new contact record in your default address book, directly from the dialog box.

To open an email message composition window

1. Do either of the following:

• In any module, on the Home tab, in the New group, click the New Items button, and then click E-mail Message.

• In the Mail module, on the Home tab, in the New group, click the New Email button.

To enter an email address into an address box

1. In the message composition window, click in the To, Cc, or Bcc box, and then do any of the following:

• Enter the entire address.

• Enter part of a previously used address and then select the address from the Auto-Complete List that appears.

• Click the address box label to display the Select Names dialog box, in which you can select one or more addresses from your address book(s).

To enter a subject for an email message

1. In the message composition window, in the Subject box, enter the subject of the email message.

To enter content for an email message

1. In the message composition window, in the message body field, enter the content of the email message.

To format the content of an email message

1. In the message composition window, in the message body field, select the content you want to format.

2. Apply basic font and paragraph formatting from the Mini Toolbar that appears when you select the content, or from the Basic Text group on the Message tab.

Or

Do any of the following:

• Apply an extended range of font and paragraph formats from the Format Text tab.

• On the Message tab, click the Basic Text dialog box launcher, or on the Format Text tab, click the Font dialog box launcher to open the Font dialog box. Apply the full range of font formatting, including character spacing, from this dialog box.

Sometimes the Auto-Complete List might contain incorrect or outdated addresses—for example, if you have previously sent a message to an incorrect email address, or if a person changes his or her email address. The list might also contain people with whom you no longer correspond. If you don’t remove incorrect or outdated addresses from the list, it can be easy to mistakenly accept Outlook’s suggestion and send a message to the wrong address.

You can modify the Auto-Complete List settings in the Outlook Options dialog box.

If you have multiple address lists, such as those in custom contact folders that you create or associated with additional email accounts that are configured in Outlook, you can specify the order in which Outlook searches for names and addresses, or you can exclude an address list from the search if you don’t want to accidentally resolve to an email address from that list.

You can instruct Outlook to accept commas as address separators in the Outlook Options dialog box.

To remove a name or email address from the Auto-Complete List

1. In the To, Cc, or Bcc box, enter the first letter or letters of a name or email address to display the Auto-Complete List of matching names and addresses.

2. In the list, point to the name or address you want to remove.

3. Click the Delete button (the X) that appears to the right of the name or address.

To open the Outlook Options dialog box

1. In any module, click the File tab to display the Backstage view, and then click Options.

To change the Auto-Complete List settings

1. Open the Outlook Options dialog box, and then click the Mail tab.

2. On the Mail page, scroll to the Send messages section.

3. Do any of the following:

• To prevent the Auto-Complete List from appearing when you enter an address, clear the Use Auto-Complete List to suggest names... check box.

• To remove all entries from the Auto-Complete List (and start the list from scratch) click the Empty Auto-Complete List button, and then click Yes in the dialog box that appears.

4. Click OK to apply the changes and close the dialog box.

To use commas as a separator between email addresses

1. Open the Outlook Options dialog box, and then click the Mail tab.

2. On the Mail page, scroll to the Send messages section.

3. Select the Commas can be used to separate multiple message recipients check box.

4. Click OK to apply the changes and close the dialog box.

To change the order in which Outlook searches the address books

1. On the Home tab of any module, in the Find group, click Address Book to open the Address Book displaying your default address list.

2. In the Address Book window, on the Tools menu, click Options.

3. In the Addressing dialog box, do one of the following:

• Click Start with Global Address List to have Outlook search first in your default Exchange account directory.

• Click Start with contact folders to have Outlook search first in the contact records in the People module of your default account.

• Click Custom, and then reorder address lists by clicking the list and then clicking the Move Up or Move Down button, to specify a custom search order.

4. In the Addressing dialog box, click OK. Then close the Address Book window.

To modify the address lists that Outlook searches

1. On the Home tab of any module, in the Find group, click Address Book.

2. In the Address Book window, on the Tools menu, click Options.

3. In the Addressing dialog box, click Custom to activate the buttons below the list. Then do any of the following:

• To search additional address lists, click Add. In the Add Address List dialog box, click the address list you want to add, click Add, and then click Close.

• To prevent Outlook from searching an address list, click the address list, and then click Remove.

• If you’re uncertain of the source of an address list, click the address list, and then click Properties to display the server address or account name and folder name of the address list.

4. In the Addressing dialog box, click OK. Then close the Address Book window.

When you send a message, Outlook deletes the message draft, if one exists, and moves the message temporarily to the Outbox. After successfully transmitting the message, Outlook moves it from the Outbox to the Sent Items folder. If a connectivity issue prevents Outlook from transmitting the message, it remains in your Outbox.

To save a draft of an email message

1. In the message composition window, do either of the following to save a draft without closing the message:

• On the Quick Access Toolbar, click the Save button.

• Press Ctrl+S.

Or

1. At the right end of the title bar, click the Close button.

2. In the Microsoft Outlook message box, click Yes to save a draft and close the message window.

To change how often Outlook automatically saves email message drafts

1. Open the Outlook Options dialog box, and then click the Mail tab.

2. On the Mail page, scroll to the Save messages section.

3. Do either of the following:

• In the Automatically save items that have not been sent after this many minutes box, change the number of minutes.

• Clear the Automatically save items that have not been sent after this many minutes check box to turn off automatic saving of message drafts.

4. Click OK to apply the changes and close the dialog box.

To modify an email message draft

1. Do either of the following in the Mail module to display the message draft in the Reading Pane:

• In the Folder Pane, click the Drafts folder, and then click the message you want to continue composing.

• If the draft is a response, right-click the received message in the Inbox, click Find Related, and then click Messages in this Conversation. Then click the message draft in the search results.

When you click the message in either message list, the message becomes active for editing in the Reading Pane, and a Message tool tab appears on the ribbon.

2. Do any of the following:

• Edit the message in the Reading Pane. The Message tool tab contains the most frequently used commands from the message composition window ribbon.

• In the upper-left corner of the Reading Pane, click the Pop Out button to open the message in a message composition window (with the full ribbon).

• In the message list, double-click the message header to open the message in a message composition window.

3. After you edit the message, you can send it or close it. If you close the message, it remains in the Drafts folder.

To send an email message

1. In the message composition window, do either of the following:

• In the message header, click the Send button.

• Press Ctrl+Enter. (The first time you press this key combination, Outlook asks whether you want to designate this as the keyboard shortcut for sending messages.)

2. The message window closes and the message is sent. If the message was saved in the Drafts folder, sending it removes it from the Drafts folder.

To verify that an email message was sent

1. In the Folder Pane of the Mail module, click the Sent Items folder to verify that the message is in the folder.

2. If the message is not in the Sent Items folder, check the Outbox folder.

When Outlook is set to your default email app, you can email files by using several different methods:

From Outlook You can create a message, and then attach the file to the message. If the file you attach is stored in a shared location such as a OneDrive folder or SharePoint library, you have the option of sending a link rather than a copy of the file.

From an Office app You can send a document from Word, a workbook from Excel, or a presentation from PowerPoint while you’re working in the file. You have the option of sending a copy of the file as a message attachment or, if the file is stored in a shared location, you can send a link to the file.

From File Explorer You can send any file as an attachment directly from File Explorer. When sending pictures from File Explorer, you have the option of resizing the pictures to reduce the file size.

After you attach a file to an email message by using any of these methods, and before you send the message, you can modify or remove the attachments. When you attach files that are from shared locations, a cloud symbol on the file icon indicates that the attachment is a link, rather than a copy of the file. If you want to send a copy of the online file, you can easily do so.

In addition to sending files, you can send Outlook items, such as email messages or contact records.

To attach a file to an outgoing email message

1. In the message composition window, do either of the following to display the Attach File menu:

• On the Message tab, in the Include group, click the Attach File button.

• On the Insert tab, in the Include group, click the Attach File button.

The Attach File menu includes a list of files you’ve worked with recently, and that are stored in locations Outlook can connect to.

2. On the Attach File menu, do any of the following:

• If the file you want to attach is in the list, click the file.

• At the bottom of the Insert File menu, click Browse Web Locations, and then click a connected online storage location to open the Insert File dialog box displaying the storage structure of that location. Browse to the file you want to attach, select it, and then click Insert.

• At the bottom of the Insert File menu, click Browse This PC to open the Insert File dialog box displaying your local storage structure. Browse to the file you want to attach, select it, and then click Insert.

The attached file or files appear at the bottom of the message header. If the file that you attached is stored online, the file icon includes a cloud.

To create an email message with an attachment from within an Office file

1. In the document, workbook, or presentation, click the File tab to display the Backstage view.

2. On the Share page of the Backstage view, click Email to display the email options.

3. In the Email pane, click Send As Attachment, Send a Link, Send as PDF, or Send as XPS to create an email message and attach the specified version of the file.

To create an email message with an attachment from File Explorer

1. Select the file or files you want to send.

2. Right-click the selected file or files you want to email, click Send to, and then click Mail recipient.

3. If the files are pictures, the Attach Files dialog box opens and provides the opportunity to reduce the file size. In the Picture size list, click a size to display an estimate of the total file size of the pictures at those maximum dimensions.

4. After you specify the picture size if necessary, click Attach to create the message.

To attach a copy of an online file

1. Attach the file to the email message.

2. In the Attached area, point to the file attachment, click the arrow that appears, and then click Attach as copy to download a temporary copy of the file to your computer and attach that copy to the message.

To remove an attachment from an outgoing email message

1. In the Attached area, point to the file attachment, click the arrow that appears, and then click Remove Attachment.

To attach an Outlook item to an outgoing email message

1. In the message composition window, do either of the following to open the Insert Item dialog box:

• On the Message tab, in the Include group, click the Attach Item button, and then click Outlook Item.

• On the Insert tab, in the Include group, click the Outlook Item button.

2. In the Insert Item dialog box, browse to the message, calendar item, contact record, note, or task you want to send.

3. Click the item, and then click OK.

Or

1. In the Outlook program window, locate the item you want to send.

2. Right-click the item, and then click Forward.

The item type (message, meeting request, task assignment, and so on)

Who sent it

When you received it

The subject

Icons displayed in the message header indicate optional information such as:

The most recent response action taken

Whether files are attached

If the message has been digitally signed or encrypted

If the sender marked the message as being of high or low importance

The message list displays the message header information. You can open messages from the message list or display message content in the Reading Pane.

If a message contains external content, which many marketing email messages do, the external content will be automatically downloaded only if your security settings are configured to permit this. Otherwise, you must give permission to download the external content.

To display the content of a message

1. In the Mail module, do any of the following:

• Open a message in its own window by double-clicking its header in the message list.

• Read a message without opening it by clicking its header once in the message list to display the message in the Reading Pane.

• Display the first three lines of each unread message under the message header by using the Preview feature.

To move through message content in the Reading Pane

1. In the Reading Pane, do any of the following:

• Scroll at your own pace by dragging the vertical scroll bar that appears at the right side of the Reading Pane.

• Move up or down one line at a time by clicking the scroll arrows.

• Move up or down one page at a time by clicking above or below the scroll box.

• Move up or down one page at a time by pressing the Spacebar. When you reach the end of a message by using this feature, called Single Key Reading, pressing the Spacebar again displays the first page of the next message. This option is very convenient if you want to read through several consecutive messages in the Reading Pane, or if you find it easier to press the Spacebar than to use the mouse.

If a preview app for a file type hasn’t been installed, Outlook won’t be able to preview a file of that type in the Reading Pane. You can display the apps that are used to preview files from the Attachment Handling page of the Trust Center window, which you open from the Outlook Options dialog box.

Clicking certain types of attachments displays a warning message asking you to confirm that the content comes from a trusted source. You can approve the content on a case-by-case basis or give Outlook permission to skip the warning message for files of this type.

Previewing a file can save you a great deal of time. You can interact with the preview in many ways, to the point that you might not have to take the time to open the file at all.

If you suspect that an attachment might contain a virus, and you have a reputable anti-malware program installed, you might want to download the file and scan it for viruses before you open it.

To preview the content of a message attachment

1. In the open message window or Reading Pane, click the attachment once. The Attachments tool tab appears on the ribbon, and a preview of the attachment appears in the message content pane or Reading Pane.

To work with attachment content in the preview

1. Display the attachment preview, and then do any of the following:

• Scroll vertically or horizontally through content.

• Point to comment markup in a Word document to display the full comment.

• Click worksheet tabs at the bottom of the preview area to switch between worksheets in an Excel workbook.

• Scroll vertically or click the Next button to move through slides in a PowerPoint presentation. Transitions and animations function in the preview area.

• When previewing a PowerPoint presentation, click the slides in the preview area to advance through the presentation, including all transitions and animations; or click the Next button (the arrow) at the bottom of the vertical scroll bar to advance through the presentation without displaying the animated elements.

• Click hyperlinks to open the target webpages or files, or click mailto links to create email messages.

To return from the attachment preview to the message content

1. Do either of the following:

• In the upper-left corner of the message header, click Back to message.

• On the Attachments tool tab, in the Message group, click the Show Message button. (The ScreenTip that appears when you point to the button says Return to Message.)

To open an attachment in the default app for that file type

1. In the message window or Reading Pane, do either of the following:

• In the message header, double-click the attachment.

• In the message header, click the attachment to display a preview. Then on the Attachments tool tab, in the Actions group, click Open.

To save an attachment to a storage drive

1. From the message window or Reading Pane, do either of the following:

• Point to the attachment, click the arrow that appears, and then click Save As.

• On the Attachments tool tab, in the Actions group, click the Save As button.

2. In the Save As dialog box, browse to the folder in which you want to save the file, and then click Save.

To save multiple attachments to a storage drive

1. From the message window or Reading Pane, do either of the following to display a list of all the files that are attached to the message:

• Point to any attachment, click the arrow that appears, and then click Save All Attachments.

• On the Attachments tool tab, in the Actions group, click the Save All Attachments button.

2. In the Save All Attachments list, all the attached files are selected by default. If you want to save only some of the files, click one file that you want to save, and then do either of the following:

• Press Shift+click to select contiguous files.

• Press Ctrl+click to select noncontiguous files.

3. When the files you want to save are selected in the list, click OK.

4. In the Save All Attachments dialog box, browse to the folder in which you want to save the files, and then click OK.

Outlook uses presence information provided by central administration server programs such as Office 365. If presence information is available, a square presence icon appears in the Reading Pane or message window to the left of each message participant’s name, and a rectangular icon to the left of each contact picture, when shown in a message.

The presence icon (casually referred to as a jelly bean or chiclet) is color-coded to indicate the availability or online status of the message participant as follows:

Green The person is online and available.

Red The person is busy, in a conference call, or in a meeting.

Dark red with a white bar The person does not want to be disturbed.

Yellow The person is away or has not been active online for a certain length of time (usually five minutes).

Gray The person is offline.

White The person’s presence information is not known.

Pointing to a message participant’s name displays an interactive contact card of information that includes options for contacting the person by email, instant message, or phone; for scheduling a meeting; and for working with the person’s contact record.

Clicking the Open Contact Card button displays additional contact information and interaction options, and links to a more extensive range of information. From the expanded contact card, you can view the contact’s position within the organization and which distribution lists he or she is a member of.

Clicking any of the blue links initiates contact with the person through the stored phone number or email address, initiates a meeting request, or, if the person is in your address book, opens his or her contact record.

The Organization tab displays information about the person’s manager and direct reports. The What’s New tab displays social updates. The Membership tab displays information about distribution lists the contact is a member of. This information is available only for Exchange accounts.

The People Pane is an optional pane that displays information about conversation participants and your past communications with them, at the bottom of the message window or Reading Pane. In Outlook 2016, the People Pane is hidden by default; you can display it by clicking Normal or Minimized in the People Pane list on the View tab of any module.

In its minimized state, the People Pane displays small thumbnails that represent each message participant. If a person’s contact record includes a photograph, the photo appears in the People Pane. If no photograph is available, a silhouette of one person represents an individual message participant, and a silhouette of three people represents a distribution list.

You can expand the People Pane to display either large thumbnails or a tabbed breakdown of communications for each message participant.

The All Items tab of the detailed view displays all your recent Outlook interactions with the selected person. If you’re looking for a specific item, such as a meeting request or a document attached to a message, you can filter the item list.

The People Pane displays past interactions only when the Cached Exchange Mode feature is enabled. If the expanded People Pane doesn’t display past information when you’re viewing an Exchange account message, the likely problem is that Cached Exchange Mode is not enabled.

To display a message participant’s contact information

1. Point to the person’s name to display a simple contact card.

2. In the contact card, click the Open Contact Card button to display a more extensive range of information and interaction options.

To initiate contact from a contact card

1. In the basic contact card, do any of the following:

• Click the Instant Message icon to initiate a Skype for Business message.

• Click the Phone icon to initiate a phone call through Skype for Business or your connected enterprise phone system.

• Click the Video icon to initiate a Skype for Business video chat.

• Click the Email icon to create a preaddressed email message form.

2. In the expanded contact card, click any blue link.

To expand the People Pane

1. Do any of the following:

• Click the Expand button at the right end of the pane.

• Drag the horizontal bar at the top of the pane.

• On the View tab of any module, in the People Pane list, click Normal.

To switch between detailed and simple views of the People Pane

1. Near the right end of the expanded People Pane header, click the Toggle button.

To filter the All Items list

1. Click the Mail, Attachments, or Meetings tab to display only interactions of that type.

To enable Cached Exchange Mode

1. On the Info page of the Backstage view of the Outlook program window, click Account Settings, and then in the list that appears, click Account Settings.

2. On the E-mail tab of the Account Settings dialog box, click your Exchange account, and then click Change.

3. On the Server Settings page of the Change Account wizard, select the Use Cached Exchange Mode check box, click Next, and then on the wizard’s final page, click Finish.

4. Exit and restart Outlook to implement the change.

When you choose one of the following options, Outlook creates a new message based on the original message and fills in one or more of the address boxes for you:

Reply Creates an email message, addressed to only the original message sender, that contains the original message text.

Reply All Creates an email message, addressed to the message sender and all recipients listed in the To and Cc boxes, that contains the original message text. The message is not addressed to recipients of blind courtesy copies (Bcc recipients).

Reply with Meeting Creates a meeting invitation addressed to all message recipients. The message text is included in the meeting window content pane. Outlook suggests the current date and an upcoming half-hour time slot for the meeting.

Message replies include the original message header and text, preceded by a space in which you can respond. Replies do not include any attachments from the original message.

You can add, change, and delete recipients from any reply email before sending it.

You can forward a received message to any email address (regardless of whether the recipient uses Outlook) provided the message was not sent with restricted permissions. Outlook 2016 has the following message-forwarding options:

Forward Creates a new message that contains the text of the original, and retains any attachments from the original message.

Forward As Attachment Creates a blank message that contains no text but includes the original message as an attachment. The original message text and any attachments are available to the new recipient when he or she opens the attached message.

Both types of forwarded messages include the original message header and text, preceded by a space in which you can add information. Forwarded messages include attachments from the original message.

When you forward a message, Outlook does not fill in the recipient boxes for you.

If you reply to or forward a received message from within the message window, the original message remains open after you send your response. You can instruct Outlook to close original messages after you respond to them—you’ll probably be finished working with the message at that point.

If your organization has the necessary unified communications infrastructure, you may also have these additional response options:

Call or Call All Initiates a Voice over IP (VoIP) call from your computer to the phone number of the original message sender or sender and other message recipients.

Reply with IM or Reply All with IM Opens an instant messaging window with the message sender or sender and other recipients as the chat participants. You must enter and send the first message to start the IM session.

Nonstandard messages have alternative response options, such as the following:

A meeting request includes options for responding to the request.

A task assignment includes options for accepting or declining the assignment.

If a message contains voting buttons, you can respond by opening the message, clicking the Vote button in the Respond group on the Message tab, and then clicking the response you want to send. Or you can click the InfoBar (labeled Click here to vote) in the Reading Pane and then click the response you want.

To reply to an email message

1. At the top of the Reading Pane or in the Respond group on the Message tab, do either of the following:

• Click the Reply button to create a response already addressed to the original sender. If the message had been sent to any other people, the reply would not include them.

• Click the Reply All button to create a response already addressed to the original sender. If the message had been sent to any other people, the reply also includes them.

The RE: prefix appears at the beginning of the message subject to indicate that this is a response to an earlier message. The original message, including its header information, appears in the content pane, separated from the new content by a horizontal line.

2. At the top of the content pane, enter the text of your reply.

3. In the response header, click the Send button to send the reply. The original message remains open on your screen.

To forward an email message

1. At the top of the Reading Pane or in the Respond group on the Message tab, click the Forward button to create a new version of the message that is not addressed to any recipient. The FW: prefix at the beginning of the message subject indicates that this is a forwarded message.

2. At the top of the content pane, enter the text of your reply.

3. In the response header, click the Send button to send the reply. The original message remains open on your screen.

To have Outlook close messages after responding

1. Open the Outlook Options dialog box, and then click the Mail tab.

2. On the Mail page, scroll to the Replies and forwards section.

3. Select the Close original message window when replying or forwarding check box.

4. Click OK to apply the changes and close the dialog box.

Create and send messages

Attach files and Outlook items to messages

Display messages and message attachments

Display message participant information

Respond to messages

1. Start a new email message. Begin entering your name or address in the To box, and notice the results that the Auto-Complete List provides. If you want to, remove one or more names or addresses from the list. (They’ll be added to the list again the next time you send messages to them.)

2. Create a new email message, and do the following:

• Address the message to yourself.

• In the Subject box, enter SBS Test.

• In the content pane, enter Welcome to Outlook!

• Format the word Welcome in bold font and the word Outlook in blue font.

3. Close the message window, and have Outlook save a draft copy of the message.

4. Open the Outlook Options dialog box. Locate the Auto-Complete List, comma separator, and AutoSave settings discussed in this chapter and make any changes that you want to the standard configuration. Then close the dialog box.

5. Display the Drafts folder, and edit your draft in the Reading Pane. Append Sincerely, and your name on separate lines at the end of the message. Then send the message.

6. Display the Address Book and find out what contact lists are available to you. If you want to, follow the procedures described in this chapter to change the order in which Outlook searches the address books. Then close the Address Book.

7. Display the Sent Items folder and verify that the SBS Test message was sent.

1. From the practice file folder, open the AttachFiles document in Word. Enter your name in the Contact Information section and save the file. Then save a copy of the file in the same folder with the name AttachCopy.

2. In the AttachCopy document, display the Share page of the Backstage view. Send a PDF copy of the document to yourself. Then close the document.

3. Display your Outlook Inbox. Create a new email message, and do the following:

• Address the message to yourself.

• In the Subject box, enter SBS Attachment from Outlook.

4. In the message window, display the Attach File menu. Notice that the two files you worked with in Word are at the top of the list. Attach the AttachFiles document to your message. Then send the message to yourself.

5. Display the contents of the practice file folder in File Explorer. Select the AttachFiles and AttachCopy messages. Right-click the selection, click Send to, and then click Mail recipient to create a new message.

6. Address the message to yourself, and enter SBS Attachments from Explorer as the message subject. Then send the message.

1. In your Inbox, locate the SBS Test message that you sent to yourself in an earlier practice task.

2. Display the message content in the Reading Pane, and magnify the Reading Pane content.

3. In your Inbox, locate the SBS Attachments from Explorer message.

4. Click the AttachFiles attachment to preview its content in the Reading Pane. Scroll through the document by using the tools that are available in the Reading Pane, and by pressing keyboard keys.

5. Return from the attachment preview to the message content.

6. Save the AttachFiles attachment from the message to the practice files folder with the name AttachCopy2.

1. In your Inbox, locate an email message from another person (preferably someone in your organization or who you have saved contact information for). Display the message in the Reading Pane.

2. In the Reading Pane, point to the sender’s name or email address. Notice the information that is displayed in the contact card. Then expand the contact card to display more information.

3. From the contact card, initiate an email message to the person. Then close the message window without sending it.

4. If you want to, turn on the display of the People Pane. Then experiment with the display of the People Pane in the Reading Pane and in received and outgoing message windows.

1. In your Inbox, locate the SBS Attachment from Outlook message that you sent to yourself in an earlier set of practice tasks. Using this email message, do both of the following:

• Reply to the message. Enter Test of replying in the message content, and then send it.

• Forward the message to yourself. Enter Test of forwarding in the message content, and then send it.

2. Open each of the received messages from your Inbox. Notice the difference between the message subjects, and that only the forwarded message contains the original attachment.

3. If you want to, follow the procedures in this chapter to change the way that Outlook handles received messages after you respond to them.