Skip redundant pieces

Inbox Overview

Messages are delivered to your Inbox on the KU Exchange Server by default, unless you have a rule set up. The number of new messages in our Inbox appears in parentheses next to Inbox.

Note:

Archived messages or messages stored in a personal folder are not accessible through OWA since they are not located on the Exchange Server.

Reading Messages

  1. To open an email message, locate and select the message you want to read. New email is displayed in bold. Once read, the messages revert to normal type.
  2. Double-click the message to open it. The message opens in its own window.
  3. When you are done reading the message click the close button for the window.

Tips:
  • If the Reading Pane is turned on, you can view information about the sender or any of the recipients by double-clicking the person's name in the message preview.
  • With the message open, add the sender or any of the recipients to your Contacts folder by right-clicking the name, and then clicking Add To Contacts.

Viewing Attachments

When a message contains an attachment, the Inbox (or other mail folders) shows a paper clip icon beside the message. When you open the message to read it, the attached file appears in the message heading information. Some attachments, such as .txt and .gif files, are opened directly by the web browser. Other attachments may require you save the file to your computer before opening them. Before editing attached files, you must download them to your computer.

  1. Double-click the message with the attachment to open it.
  2. Click the attachment filename.
  3. The attachment opens in a new browser window.

Note:

If your browser is not configured for the application required to view the attachment, the Save As dialog box displays, allowing you to name the file and select a location. Click Save to save the attachment.

  1. When you are done viewing the attachment, close the attachment window. You are returned to the opened message.

Important Note:

Before editing attached files, you must download them to your computer.

Replying to or Forwarding Messages

To respond to a message you have read, click the Reply , Reply to all , or Forward buttons. When you respond to another person's message, you can reply to the sender only or reply to all message recipients if the message was sent to others in addition to you.

On Replies , the sender's name (and/or all recipients' names automatically appears in the To: and Cc: fields.

On Replies and Forwards , the Subject: field of the original message is retained and the text of the original message is part of the reply/forward. You can include your own message above or within the text of the sender's original message.

When replying to a message, attachments are not automatically included; the filename(s) is listed in the body of the message. When forwarding messages, attachments are automatically included.

Tip:

If you need to return the attachment to the original sender, forward the message instead of replying to it. Then add the sender's name to the To… field.

Creating Messages

  1. Click New . A new untitled message form appears.
  2. In the To… field, type the email address of the person to whom you are sending the message. Separate multiple names with semicolons (;).

Note:

You can type the full Internet address (username@server.com), or another Outlook user's ID (mjones) or full name (Mary Jones) or a distribution list. You can also click the To… or Cc… buttons to open the Find Names dialog box, which allows you to search through the KU Global Address Book for a particular recipient. Once you locate a person through Find Names, their name can be added directly to your email message.

Exchange has a feature called address resolving. You can verify the names of the message recipients listed in the To…, Cc… and Bcc… fields at any time by clicking Check Names . If the person or address is located in your Contacts folder or the KU Global Address List, then their name is underlined and placed above the field.

If you attempt to send a message to one or more recipients who cannot be matched to an email alias, the Find Names dialog box appears. A maximum of 100 names are returned to select from. If you don't see the recipient you are looking for, refine the name you originally typed. For each unresolved name, you will have the choice of:

  • Deleting the unresolved name, select Delete this recipient from the list, and then click OK. This does not delete them from the Global Address List. It only deletes their name from the email message you are creating and they will not receive your message.
  • Specifying the recipient under Change to, by selecting one of the names, and then clicking OK.
  1. Type the names of the people to whom you want to send courtesy copies to in the Cc… field.
  2. In the Bcc… (Blind carbon copy) field, type the names of people to whom you want to receive a copy of the message but whose address you don't want to appear in the list of message recipients.
  3. In the Subject: field, type a brief, informative description for your message.
  4. Type your message in the message body.

Tip:

Use the Formatting toolbar to format your text with different sizes, fonts, and colors.

  1. You can assign specific features to an outgoing message, by clicking the Options… button.
    • Importance. This helps the recipient of your message determine when they need to read and/or respond to the message. You can send messages marked as High, Normal, or Low importance. The default is Normal.
    • Sensitivity. You can mark a message with one of four sensitivity levels to help the recipient know if the message needs special handling. You can mark messages as Normal, Personal, Private, or Confidential. The default is Normal.
    • Tracking Options. Confirms the receipt of a message you have sent. You can request to be told via email when your message was delivered by the server and when it was read by the recipient.
  2. Click Send .

After the message has been sent, the untitled message form closes and you are returned to the folder you were working in. The message is copied to the Sent Items folder.

Attaching Files

You can attach any type of file that is accessible from your computer or through your network. This utility also allows you to remove attachments from email messages that you have already received or sent.

  1. Create a new message to send.
  2. Click Add Attachments . The Attachments dialog box appears.
  3. In the Choose a file to attach: field, type the path and filename; or click Browse to search for files.


  4. Click Attach under the Add the file to the list heading.
  5. The filename of the attachment appears in the Current file attachments list. Repeat steps 1-4 to add additional attachments.
  6. After the necessary file(s) has been selected, click Close. The attachment is listed next to the Attachments: field.
  7. Complete and send the message.

Check spelling

Important Note:

The spelling checker doesn't check the subject line of your message.

  1. After composing a message, but before sending, click Spelling . If the spelling checker finds a word that isn't in the dictionary, it highlights the word and presents you with options for correcting the error.
  2. In the Spelling dialog box, select the appropriate option.
  3. In OWA, you can not "add" words to the dictionary.
  4. Work your way through the Spell Check process, or to stop the spell check at any time, click Close.

Checking for New Mail

Outlook Web Access does not refresh the screen automatically. Check for new messages that have arrived since you opened your Inbox by clicking Check for New Mail on the toolbar.

Deleting Messages

There are several ways you can delete messages.

  • To delete an open message, click Delete .
  • To delete a message or multiple messages while viewing a folder, first select a message. To select consecutive messages, hold down the [Shift] key and click the last messages in the series . To select non-consecutive messages, hold down the [Ctrl] key as you click on each message you want to delete. With the messages selected, click Delete or press the [DELETE] key.

Deleted messages are sent to the Deleted Items folder. They are not removed permanently until they are deleted from the Deleted Items folder. Right-click on the Deleted Items folder and chose Empty Deleted Items Folder to permenantly remove items from the Deleted Items folder.

Tip:

To permanently delete items with out first going to the Deleted Items Folder, hold down [SHIFT] while clicking [DEL].

Flag messages for follow-up

Use flags to remind yourself to follow up on an issue. You can also use flags to categorize messages in your Inbox. There are six colors—red, blue, yellow, green, orange, and purple—that can be used to mean different things. Message flags are displayed in the last column of the Inbox view.

You can use message flags to do the following:

  • To flag a message with a particular color, right-click the flag that corresponds to the message and then select the flag color.
  • To flag a message as complete, right-click the message, and then click Flag Complete.
  • To sort your messages by color, click the flag column heading.
  • To clear a flag from a message, right-click the message, and then click Clear Flag.

Moving/Coping Messages

You can reorganize messages in your mailbox. You can move or copy a message to an existing folder or to a new folder. You can also drag and drop messages between folders.

  1. Highlight or open the message you want to move or copy to a different folder. Click Move/Copy . The Move/Copy Item dialog box appears.
  2. Select a folder from the list of available folder names. If needed, click the addition sign beside a folder to view additional folders nested within.

Tip:

If you need to create a new folder, click New…. In the Create New Folder dialog box, type a name for your folder in the Name: field. In the Folder contains: drop-down menu, select the appropriate item for your new folder, and then click OK.

  1. Click OK to move or copy the message to the selected folder.

Drafting Messages

You can save a message you want to complete at a later time if you don't have time to finish composing it. This can be done for new messages and for replies and forwards of other messages. By default, saved messaged are stored in the Drafts folder. To save an unsent message, click Save . You won't notice anything happening but the message is saved to the Drafts folder. You can continue working on the message or close the message window without sending the message.

You can go back to the message at any time to add information, send it, or delete it all together. Simply open the Drafts folder and double-click the message you want to edit, send, or delete.

Sorting the Message List

You can change the message list in a folder to display messages according to different characteristics, such as subject, sender, and conversation topic. To sort your messages, click the Messages list on the main toolbar and select one of the following views:

  • Two-Line View displays a two-line view of all messages.
  • Messages displays messages as they are received starting with the most recent message at the top of the list.
  • Unread Messages displays only unread messages.
  • By Sender groups and displays messages sent by the same person, alphabetically.
  • By Subject groups and displays messages according to text that appears in the Subject field, alphabetically.
  • By Conversation Topic groups and displays messages according to text that appears in the Conversation box. Each conversation group is displayed in the order received, starting with the most recent message at the top of the group. If there is no Conversation box in a message, the message is grouped by text that appears in the Subject field. If the message has neither a conversation nor a subject, the item is grouped under an empty heading.
  • Unread Messages by Conversation Topic groups and displays unread messages by text that appears in the Conversation box. Messages that have been read will not appear in the list.
  • Sent to displays messages according to the person or group listed in the To... field.