Email and Communications Basics
Today we’re going to finish up the series on Computer Basics with our section on Email and Communications.
The previous sections in this series can be found here:
Unlocking the Digital World: A Beginner’s Guide to Understanding Computers
Getting Familiar with Operating Systems
Keyboard, Mouse, File Management, and More
Mastering Internet Connectivity: A Comprehensive Guide to Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and Browsing Essentials
CHOOSE AN EMAIL SERVICE PROVIDER
There are a ton of Email service providers. Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) probably offers an Email account, and it’s probably adequate. The drawback to using your ISP’s Email account exclusively is that you may change providers in the future. When you close your account with that ISP, you will lose access to the Email account.
There are several providers of free Email accounts that are not tied to ISPs. Among these are Gmail from Google, Outlook.com from Microsoft, Yahoo mail, the privacy-focused Proton Mail, AOL mail (yes, AOL mail is still available, and I know several people with AOL Email addresses), and Mail.com from the United Internet Group based in Germany. Each of these will allow you to create an Email account free of charge.
There are some things you need to consider when setting up your Email account. You need to look at the storage space offered by each of the providers you’re considering, as well as security features, how easy it is to use, and whether you need to integrate it with other services. Most of the providers of free accounts are going to be very similar in what they offer, with additional options available for an extra cost.
CREATING AN EMAIL ACCOUNT
You should be able to create an Email account from either your mobile device or your computer. Visit the website of the provider you’ve chosen. You’ll need to provide your name, and there may be other information required as well. Select an Email address for your account. You may not be able to get the Email address you’d most prefer if someone else has already chosen it, but you may be able to add distinguishing characters or digits to get close. You don’t have to be extremely professional, but if you will be doing business or seeking employment, you will want to have an Email address that isn’t too “cute.” It can be fun to have a creative Email address, but you may have to explain it to a prospective business contact. In this case, it’s really better that it be kind of boring.
Select a password, and don’t make it easy to guess. Your Email account is going to end up being a gateway to a lot of other things, and if you make it easy for an attacker to take control of your Email account, it could lead to a serious case of identity theft and data loss. I have a tutorial on creating a great password that will be hard to guess, but that you’ll be able to remember without writing it down. Better yet, use a password manager and let it choose the password for you.
From there, you’ll follow the instructions to complete the setup process. The service provider will also have instructions to set up your Email client or app to download mail to your device, if you don’t want to always be using the website to access your mail.
LOGGING IN AND ACCESSING EMAIL
Navigate to the login page of your Email if you’re using the website, or open the Email app if you’re using a separate app or program. Enter your Email address and your password. Once you’re there, you’ll be able to get to your Inbox, which is where incoming Email messages will land, you’ll be able to create and send messages, and you will be able to manage your various Email settings. The available settings will be different for each provider, so I can’t give you any information on that in this document.
SENDING AND RECEIVING EMAIL
To send an Email, click on “Compose” or “New Email.” Most providers will be using one of these two options. Enter your receiver’s Email address, type a subject into the Subject line, type your message, and hit “Send.” You should always type something into the subject line, because other Email programs are suspicious of empty Subject lines. It doesn’t have to be extensive, just a few words regarding the topic of your message. You can also send a single message to more than one recipient. Your provider or client will tell you how to separate the messages. It’s usually a semicolon ( ; ) between addresses.
Your incoming Emails start out in your Inbox, unless your program allows you to set up rules or tags to send certain types of mail somewhere else. Most programs will allow you to set up additional folders so that you can sort and manage your messages. When your account is new, that’s not usually much of a problem, but over time, if you don’t practice diligent inbox management, you could end up with thousands of Emails sitting there waiting for you to handle them.
Sent mail will end up in its own Sent Items folder. It’s a good idea to go through that folder periodically, because it’s an easy folder to forget about, and it can grow to an enormous size. Some messages you can delete after a few hours, but some are important enough to keep for quite a while. If you need to hang onto a message for some legal or other important reason, you will almost always be safe keeping just the last message in the thread, provided that that message contains all previous communication.
When you receive an Email message, you can share it with others by forwarding it to other recipients, or you can reply directly to that message back to the sender. You can also reply and add other recipients as well. Be judicious in adding others to the message, and only use the “reply all” option if everyone in the address line actually does need to receive the reply.
MANAGING YOUR CONTACTS
Every Email provider offers an address book so that you can store the information of people you add to it. Many will offer the option to import contacts from other Email accounts and even other devices. Additionally, you will have the option to add a sender’s contact information to the address book. That makes it easy to populate the “To” field without always having to manually type the address in. Using the address book rather than typing it makes it less likely that you’ll mistype the address.
SETTING PREFERENCES AND SECURITY
You will have the option to set notification preferences, such as audible alerts, desktop alerts, preview pane, etc. You can also write a custom signature with a tagline or credential added, and you can set rules for automatic responses. Automatic responses are useful if you’re creating an account that you’re going to be using for business or if you expect to be away and unavailable for a period of time. For a personal account, I absolutely do not recommend telling anyone that you’re going on vacation or that you’ll be away from home for a period of time.
You can also, and absolutely should, enable 2-Factor Authentication (2FA) on your account if it’s available. 2FA can make it much, much more difficult for an attacker to take over your account.
ATTACHMENTS AND FORMATTING
Your Email client or web page will have an icon of some sort that will allow you to attach files to your messages, but some providers will also allow you to just drag a file into the body of the Email message. To provide emphasis and personality, you can also format the text of your message in much the same way you can do in a Word document, using bold, italic, and underlining, and you can add bullet points and even insert an image into the body of the text rather than attaching it.
CHECK AND MANAGE YOUR EMAILS
For Email to be of any value to you, you need to check the inbox regularly, so that you can promptly respond to important messages. If you don’t want to keep messages around but don’t feel comfortable completely deleting them, you can use the archive function to move them out of the inbox, and review that folder from time to time.
INSTANT MESSAGING AND VIDEO CALLS
There are several instant messaging apps, and one will likely suit your needs: WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Signal, Teams, Skype, Slack, Discord, and Facetime are the ones in common use. They vary in their respect for your privacy and in how they function, but you should be able to find one that works for you. Some of them offer end-to-end encryption, and some of the platforms that offer it don’t offer it for group chats.
Download and install the app from the app store for your device or from the provider’s official website. Do not install any apps from other sources. You’ll create an account with a username and password, and you can customize the account with a profile picture, status message, and you can adjust your privacy settings to match your comfort level.
Most apps and programs let you use features like read receipts, message reaction, and even forwarding of the messages. You can create groups for family, friends, colleagues, and even particular topics. Many providers let you mute conversations and leave a group chat, and you can often decide how to manage your notifications.
PRIVACY AND SECURITY
Take the time to check the privacy settings so that you control who can see your profile, your read receipts, and your online status. If it’s an extra step to enable end-to-end encryption, it’s worth it to do it. As with any online platform, you need to be cautious about sharing any sensitive information over messaging apps, and you need to avoid clicking on any suspicious links or attachments. If you can find an app that works with all the people you want to communicate with, and that it will work on all the devices you want to use. That alone isn’t a security thing, but the fewer things you have to keep up with, the better.
…AND WE’RE DONE HERE
This wraps up the series on Computer Basics. I think I gave enough to get everyone started safely. Sometimes I need to go back to my techie roots and remind myself where it all began for me. Drop a comment below and let me know if this series has been helpful, or if there’s something else you’d like to see more of.