Microsoft Surface

Use the Mail app to read and respond to email messages from all your email accounts without switching views or apps.

Find out how to get the most from the Mail app:

Add your email accounts
Change account settings
Using mail: Managing messages, folder, and more
Using other email apps

Add your email accounts

The first time you start the Mail app, you're prompted to set up an account. You can add your accounts from Outlook, Gmail, AOL, Yahoo!, and even your work email (Exchange ActiveSync). To add an email account:

From Start, tap or click Mail.
Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap or click Settings.
Tap or click Accounts.
Tap or click Add an account, the type of account you want to add, and then follow the on-screen instructions.
Most accounts can be added with only your user name and password. In some cases, you’ll be asked for more details, which you can usually find on your email account’s website. Repeat steps 2-4 for each of your email accounts.

After you add an email account…

Contacts from your email account appear in the People app.
Appointments appear in the Calendar app.

Note If you have the most recent version of Mail, your Google calendar will not sync with the Calendar app—see below.

POP email

Mail doesn't support email accounts that use POP (Post Office Protocol). If your email account uses POP, see the options on the following page: Using email accounts over POP.

Syncing Google email, calendar, and contacts

To sync your email and contacts, you may need to remove your existing Google accounts and reconnect them. For more info about this, see How to sync Google services.

Microsoft Exchange account

To find out how to set up a Microsoft Exchange account and troubleshoot connectivity issues, see How to configure an Exchange account.

Outlook Express, Windows Mail, or Windows Live Mail

If you’ve been using Outlook Express, Windows Mail, or Windows Live Mail, you can move your email and address book from your old PC to the cloud. Once you do this, you can access your email and contacts in the Mail and People apps on your Surface. For info on how to move your email and address book to the cloud, see Move your mail and contacts off your old PC on Windows.com.

Change accounts settings

To change your email account settings:

Open the Mail app and then open the Settings charm (swipe in from the right edge of the screen and then tap Settings).
Tap or click Accounts and then choose the account that you want to change.
Settings appear in a window along the right edge. Here you can change things like your email password, how much email is downloaded, and your email signature.
Tap or click the back arrow.

Note For more info about Mail app settings, see Troubleshoot Mail.

Using Mail: Managing messages, folders, and more

The Mail app has three panes:

Built-in Mail app on Surface

The left pane shows you your email folders and accounts (in the lower-left corner).
Tap or click a folder or account to switch to it.

The middle pane shows you messages for the selected email account.

The right pane is the reading pane, showing you the content of the selected email message.

Here’s how to do some things in Mail:

*Install the latest version of this app from the Windows Store to use all of these features.

Task	What to do
Select multiple messages	Touch: Swipe across each message (in the middle pane) that you want to select. Mouse or trackpad: Right-click on each message that you want to select. To select a group of continuous messages, hold down the Shift key and the press the Up arrow or Down arrow key. To unselect a message swipe across the message or right-click on it.
Reply, Reply all, or Forward	Tap or click the Reply icon in the upper-right corner.
Delete messages	Select one of more messages and then tap or click the Trash icon in the upper-right corner.
Search for messages	Tap the search icon (above your messages) or open the Search charm, type what you want to find in the search box (someone’s name or text from an email message), and press Enter or tap the search icon.
Copy and paste text	Touch: Tap a word then drag the circles at each end of the word to extend the selection. Tap the selected text, then tap Copy or Copy/Paste on the app commands bar. Mouse or trackpad: Select text and then right-click to choose Copy or Paste. Keyboard: Press Ctrl+C for Copy and Ctrl+V for Paste.
Format text	Select text in a new email message to see basic formatting options like the font, emoticons or a bulleted list. You can also use keyboard shortcuts like Ctrl+B for bold and Ctrl+Shift+F for selecting a font. For a list of Mail keyboard shortcuts, see Keyboard shortcuts.
Print a message	Select an email message, then open the Devices charm , choose a printer, and then choose Print. For more info, see the Print from Surface.
Email notifications	New email notifications appear in the upper-right corner, on the lock screen, and on the Mail tile. To change how you’re notified about new email, see How to manage notifications for Mail, Calendar, People, and Messaging.
Send or receive email	To manually sync your email, open app commands and then tap Sync (or press F5). By default, the Mail app downloads new email as it arrives and downloads email from the last 2 weeks. To change when and how much email is downloaded, open the Settings charm , tap or click Accounts, and then select the account that you want to change.
Change your email signature	Open the Settings charm, tap or click Accounts, choose an email account, find the Use a signature option and change the text in the box below.
Send attachments	In a new email message, tap or click the paper clip icon (upper-right corner). Select the files you want to add to the message, and then tap or click Attach. If you have large attachments or want people to be able to edit the file, select the Send using SkyDrive instead link in the email message. For more info about this, see What’s the difference between basic and SkyDrive attachments?
Mark messages as unread, junk or flagged	Select one or more messages, then swipe down from the top of edge screen and choose Flag, Junk or Mark unread.
Send mail from an Outlook.com alias	If you use aliases with your Outlook.com account, see Mail app for Windows: FAQ for info on how to send mail from an Outlook.com alias.
Create folders and move messages	Swipe down from the top of the screen, then tap or click Folder options to create a new folder or Move to move the selected messages.
Add a contact	Tap or click an email address from a mail message. The People app opens. Add any additional info and then tap or click the save icon in the upper-right corner. For more info on adding contacts, see People app for Windows FAQ .

Using other email apps

You can also use Internet Explorer to access your webmail accounts. Pin your webmail page to the Start screen for quick access. For info on how to pin webpages to Start, see Your web favorites.

Surface RT: Look for an email app in the Store. For more info see Install and uninstall apps.

Surface Pro: You can install Outlook or another email app from the Windows Store or from another source. For more info see Install apps and programs.

Set up and use Mail

Add your email accounts

POP email

Syncing Google email, calendar, and contacts

Microsoft Exchange account

Outlook Express, Windows Mail, or Windows Live Mail

Change accounts settings

Using Mail: Managing messages, folders, and more

Using other email apps

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