Windows XP Home Edition: The Missing Manual

Reading Email

Just seeing a list of the names of new messages in Outlook Express is like getting wrapped presents; the best part is yet to come. There are two ways to read a message: using the preview pane, and opening the message into its own window.

To preview a message, click its name in the list pane; the body of the message appears in the preview pane below. Don’t forget that you can adjust the relative sizes of the list and preview panes by dragging the gray border between them up or down.

To open a message into a window of its own, double-click its name in the list pane. An open message has its own toolbar, along with Previous and Next message buttons.

Regardless of your viewing preference, any attached pictures, sounds, or movies also appear in the body of the message; what’s more, these sounds and movies can be played in the email message itself.

Once you’ve read a message, you can view the next one in the list either by pressing Ctrl + right arrow (for the next message), Ctrl + U (for the next unread message), or by clicking its name in the list pane. (If you’re using preview mode, and haven’t opened a message into its own window, you can also press the up or down arrow key to move from one message to the next.)

Tip

To mark a message that you’ve read as an unread message, so that its name remains bolded, right-click its name in the list pane and choose Mark as Unread from the shortcut menu.

Here’s another timesaver: To hide all the messages you’ve already read, just choose View ...