Using mail.umich.edu for E-Mail on the Web

NOTE: If you want a printed copy of this document, please select one of the following:

• Microsoft Word (version 98) copy for printing.

• Adobe Acrobat (PDF) copy for printing.

This document provides instructions for using the web-based e-mail program at mail.umich.edu. Anyone who uses the e-mail service provided by Information Technology Central Services (ITCS) -- the e-mail included in the Basic Computing Package -- can use mail.umich.edu for their e-mail. Mail.umich.edu is not currently able to access e-mail provided by other campus e-mail providers, such as CAEN.

Mail.umich.edu can be used interchangeably with Pine and Mulberry. Because your e-mail is stored on a central ITCS e-mail server, you can access the same mailbox and folders from different computers.

Table of Contents

• Connecting to mail.umich.edu

• Your INBOX

• Checking for New Mail

• Working With Your Messages

• Composing and Sending Messages

• Saving a Message as a Draft

• Reading Attachments

• Sending Attachments

• Using Mail Folders

• Using the Addressbook

• Log Out When You Are Finished

• Your E-Mail Quota

• Additional Resources

• Appendix A: Setting Options/Preferences

• Appendix B: Creating and Using a Signature File

• Appendix C: Setting Mail Filters

• Appendix D: The Software Behind mail.umich.edu (IMP)

• Appendix E: What to Do If a Page Looks Garbled

Connecting to mail.umich.edu

1. Use your web browser to connect to this URL: http://mail.umich.edu/
2. Click the Log in to mail.umich.edu link.



3. At the login screen, type your uniqname and UMICH password in the appropriate boxes, then click the Log in button.

   NOTE: Mail.umich.edu looks for your mail on the ITCS e-mail servers. If you do not have an ITCS mailbox, mail.umich.edu will not be able to make a connection. For example, mail.umich.edu is unable to read mail stored on the CAEN e-mail servers.

4. Your INBOX will be displayed. If you have more than one page of e-mail messages, your INBOX will open to the last page, where your most recently received messages are listed.

Your INBOX

Message flags at the left side of the screen provide information about each message. In addition, messages are color coded to indicate their status

Message Flag	Message Color Bar	What It Means
	blue	Unseen (new) message: one that you have not yet opened and read.
(no flag)	white	Seen message: one that you have opened at least once.
	green	Answered message: one that you have replied to.
	pink	Important message: one that you have flagged as important.
	dark gray	Deleted message: one that you have marked for deletion.
		Personal: the message was addressed to you as an individual rather than to you as a member of an e-mail group.
		Draft message: one that you have saved to work on and send later.

How to set message flags

1. Select a message by clicking the checkbox to its left.
2. Select the flag you want to use from the Mark as pop-up menu.

Checking for New Mail

• Click the Refresh Mailbox icon (two green arrows going in a circle).

  

• Click your browser's Reload or Refresh button.

You can set mail.umich.edu to check for your mail on a regular basis if you wish by setting New Mail options/preferences. See Appendix A: Setting Options/Preferences.

Working With Your Messages

Opening a message

Printing a message

1. Open the message you want to print.
2. Click the Print link at the top of the message.
3. The message will open in a new window so you can print it.

   Depending on the web browser and operating system you use, the Print dialog box may open for you. If it does not open, pull down the File menu and choose Print.

Replying to a message

1. Open the message you want to reply to.
2. Click the Reply or Reply to all link at the top of the message.
• Reply replies only to the person who sent the original message.
• Reply to all replies to the sender and to anyone else who was included in the original message.
3. A new message window will open with the recipients and subject already filled in for you. The original message text will be quoted in the body of the message. Enter your message text.
4. Click Send Message.

Forwarding a message

1. Open the message you want to forward.
2. Click the Forward link at the top of the message.
3. A new message window will open with the message you want to forward included in the body of the message. Enter whatever message text you wish to add.
4. Click Send Message.

Deleting a message from within the message

1. Open the message you want to delete
2. Click the Delete link at the top of the message to mark it for deletion.
3. To completely remove the message from your mailbox, return to the INBOX (or whatever folder the message is in), and click Purge Deleted (it is on the right-hand side of the window, both above and below your list of messages).

Deleting one or more messages directly from your INBOX

1. Click the checkbox by each message you want to delete. You can select as many messages as you want, as long as they are all on the same page.
2. Click the Delete link. (There are Delete links at both the top and bottom of the message list.) The messages will be marked for deletion; they will be crossed out, but will remain in your mailbox.



3. To completely delete the messages, click the Purge Deleted link. Once you have purged your deleted messages, they cannot be retrieved.

   HINT: You can use the Select pop-up menu to select (that is, check the checkbox next to) all the messages flagged a particular way. For example, you can select all the seen messages, all the important messages, or all the "not personal" (directed to you as a group member rather than as an individual) messages.

Viewing full message headers

1. Open the message whose full headers you want to see.
2. Click the Message Source link at the top of the message.

Composing and Sending Messages

1. Click the Compose icon at the top of your mail.umich.edu window.



2. A new message window will open. Use this window to compose your message. To send the message, click Send Message.

HINT: When addressing e-mail to a member of the U-M community, you can type either

• the person's uniqname (for example, bjensen)

OR

• the person's first name and last name separated by a dot (for example, barbara.jensen).
Mail.umich.edu will append @umich.edu to the uniqname or name when you send the message. If you want to see the @umich.edu appended before sending the message, click Expand Names (located on the left side of the message just above the message text).

For recipients outside U-M, you will need to enter their full e-mail address (for example, mymom@aol.com).

HINT: When sending mail to more than one person, type a comma between recipients.

Saving a Message as a Draft

You can use mail.umich.edu to save a message you are composing as a draft, so you can finish and send the message at another time. The message is saved in your Drafts folder, ready for you to resume at your convenience.
1. Begin composing your message. When you are ready to stop, click the Save Draft button.



2. From the Folders pop-up menu in the upper left corner of your INBOX window, select the Drafts folder.



3. The Drafts folder will open. To open the draft message, click its subject or sender.
4. To resume working on the message, click Resume.



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Back to table of contents.

Forward to next section, "Reading Attachments."