Different types of messages

You might receive a few different types of email message.

Your friends and family might send you chatty emails to keep in touch.

Other people, like your bank, email provider or some supermarkets, might email you to tell you about their latest news or offers.

This will only happen if you've given them your email address.

You may receive messages you don't want. This is called 'spam'. 'Spam' is the email version of junk mail. You'll find out how to deal with 'spam' in the 'Safety and security' part of this course.

eSafety Tip

Don't worry if you receive 'spam' or unwanted mail - it is, unfortunately, just part of having an email address. Just like getting unwanted advertisements or mail through the post, you will also get them electronically in your email inbox. Treat these spam emails the same as you would unwanted post to your house - delete them.

Unread messages

When you receive a new email, it will be in a brighter colour or in bold compared to the ones you've already read.

Sometimes there'll be an image next to it, for example a circle or a closed envelope.

Salma has received a reply from Maryam. Because she hasn't read the email yet, Salma can see that it's in bold text.

Sender and subject

From her inbox, Salma can see who the email is from and what it's about, which helps her decide whether or not to open it.

Reading the message

Now that Salma has received a message, she'll need to open it.

Selecting the message

To open the message from Maryam, Salma will need to select where it says what the email is about.

Sender and subject

When Salma has opened the email, she'll still be able to see who it's from and what it's about.

Reading the message

She can then read the message from Maryam, which will be in the big box underneath.

What shall I do with this email?

When you've read an email, you can decide to do a few different things.

You might choose to reply to the email if you want to keep the conversation going or you need to let the other person know a piece of information.

You can 'star' the email to read it later. This is like bookmarking a page in a book, and means that you'll be able to find your message quickly when you want to.

You can also choose to delete the email. It's a good idea to do this if you think the message might be harmful. You can find out more about the types of email you should delete in the 'Safety and security' part of this course.

Replying to an email

Salma wants to keep the conversation going with Maryam, so she chooses to reply to her email.

At the bottom of the message there are some options, including ‘Reply', ‘Reply All' and ‘Forward'.

'Reply' or 'Reply all'

Sometimes you'll get an email that has been sent to more than one person. If you want to reply to just the person who sent it, you can press ‘Reply'. If you want to send a reply message to everyone, you can select ‘Reply All'.

It's a good idea to double check the ‘To' box and make sure that the email is going to the correct person before you press ‘Send.'

Reply

Salma wants to send a message back to Maryam so she selects ‘Reply.' This creates a conversation between Salma and Maryam.

Receiving an attachment

When Maryam receives the email from Salma, the paperclip symbol lets her know there's an attachment.

Once Maryam has opened the email, she'll see the photo of the dogs at the bottom. She'll need to select it to view a larger version of the photo.

Attachments

It's not just photos that can be attached to emails. Salma has heard about a better paid job. Let's see how Salma can attach her CV to apply.

Salma has written the email ready to send. She just needs to attach her CV.

The paperclip symbol

First, Salma will need to select the paperclip symbol.

The file directory

Once Salma has done this, the file directory will open.

Salma is using a PC. You might see a slightly different layout for the file directory when you attach a document depending on what device you are using.

The documents folder

Salma has saved her CV in the 'Documents' folder. As she's using a PC she select the folder then selects the 'Open' button.

Selecting the CV

Now Salma will need to select her CV, then select 'Open' to attach it to the email.

eSafety Tip

Don't open or download any attachments from an email that looks like it is spam mail. Delete the email without clicking on anything in it or downloading anything from it.

Congratulations!

Well done, you've reached the end of the 'Receiving and responding to email' activity.

You've seen how Salma can read the emails she receives, keep a conversation going and even send attachments using her email account. In the next activity, 'Email safety and security' you'll find out how to keep safe when using email.