Outlook is really just three trays of paper: mail that arrived, mail you sent, and mail you started but never finished. Once you can see those three trays, the rest of the screen stops being frightening.
When Outlook opens you see three columns. On the far left is a list of folders. In the middle is a list of messages. On the right is whichever message you clicked. Nothing has been hidden from you — those three columns are the whole program.
Only three folders matter at the start. Inbox holds mail that has arrived. Sent Items holds copies of everything you have sent, which is how you prove you replied. Drafts holds messages you began writing and closed without sending — a very common place for a 'lost' email to be hiding.
Try it yourself
Click Inbox in the left-hand list.
This tells the middle column which drawer to show. Everything else on screen follows from this one choice.
Click any message in the middle column.
The message opens in the reading pane on the right. It stays in your Inbox — clicking never deletes anything.
Now click Sent Items.
You are looking at your own outgoing mail. If someone says they never received something, this is where you check.
Click Drafts, then Inbox again.
Moving between folders proves the folder list is just a view switcher. Nothing moves unless you drag it.
Type a word into the search box at the top and press Enter.
Search looks through the folder you are standing in. It is faster than scrolling and it is how most people find old mail.
Words people use
Check yourself
If you can say yes to each of these, you are ready for the next lesson.
- I can tell the folder list, the message list and the reading pane apart
- I know where sent mail goes
- I know unfinished messages sit in Drafts
- I can search inside a folder and clear the search again