IT Logo

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


U-M Information Technology Central Services * S4297 * July 2002

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


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

IMPORTANT! Mail.umich.edu requires that your web browser (Netscape or Internet Explorer) have Javascript enabled for full functionality. If Javascript is not enabled, some mail.umich.edu features may not work. Also, you may notice minor variations in appearance depending on which web browser you use.

  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. Screen shot of the login now button.

  4. 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.

  5. 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

You can sort your messages by date, who they are from, subject, and size. Click the heading (for example, Date or Subject) by which you wish to sort.

Screen shot of the login now button.

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

Screen shot of new message flag.

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.

Screen shot of answered message flag.

green

Answered message: one that you have replied to.

Screen shot of the important message flag.

pink

Important message: one that you have flagged as important.

Screen shot of the deleted message flag.

dark gray

Deleted message: one that you have marked for deletion.

Screen shot of the personal message glag.

 

Personal: the message was addressed to you as an individual rather than to you as a member of an e-mail group.

Screen shot of the draft message flag.

 

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

There are several ways you can check for new mail:

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

To display or open a message, click the subject or sender name.

Screen shot of refresh mail icon.

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.
  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. Screen shot of messages marked for deletion.

  4. 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.
A new window, with the message header information in it, will open.

Composing and Sending Messages

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

  3. A new message window will open. Use this window to compose your message. To send the message, click Send Message.
  4. Screen shot of the message composition window.

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