Mail User Guide

Use the Mail app to send, receive, and manage email for all of your email accounts in one location. Simply add the accounts—such as iCloud, Exchange, Google, school, work, or other—you want to use in Mail.

Apple Product Documentation. Never miss an email. When you add your email accounts (such as iCloud, Exchange, school, or work) to Mail, you get all your emails in one place—without signing in to any websites. Quick actions that feel like email wizardry. Get to Inbox Zero using Postbox's incredible Quick Bar. It's like Spotlight on the Mac but built for everyday email actions. Move or copy messages, switch folders, tag or label messages, or navigate across folders by typing a few keystrokes. Move mountains of messages.

Add an email account to use in Mail

• The first time you open the Mail app on your Mac, it may prompt you to add an account. Select an account type—if you don’t see your type, select Other Mail Account—then enter your account information.

• If you already added an email account, you can still add more. In Mail, choose Mail > Add Account, select an account type, then enter your account information. Make sure the Mail checkbox is selected for the account.

• If you’re using an account on your Mac with other apps, such as Contacts or Messages, you can also use that account with Mail. In Mail, choose Mail > Accounts to open Internet Accounts preferences, select the account on the left, then select the Mail checkbox on the right.

Temporarily stop using an email account in Mail

1. In the Mail app on your Mac, choose Mail > Accounts.

2. Can't allow third party apps on mac. Select the account, then deselect the Mail checkbox.

   Now the account’s messages are not shown in Mail. Foldio360 app for mac.

Start using an email account again in Mail

1. In the Mail app on your Mac, choose Mail > Accounts.

2. Select the account, then select the Mail checkbox.

   The account’s messages are shown again in Mail; they don’t need to be downloaded from the server again.

Remove an email account from Mail

When you remove an email account from Mail, the account’s messages are deleted and no longer available on your Mac. Copies of messages remain on the account’s mail server and are still available (from webmail, for example).

Important: If you’re unsure whether messages you want to keep are still on the mail server, move or copy them to a mailbox stored on your Mac (the mailbox appears in the On My Mac section in the Mail sidebar) before you delete the account in Mail.

1. In the Mail app on your Mac, choose Mail > Preferences, then click Accounts.

2. Select an account, then click the Remove button .

   Note: If the account is used by other apps on your Mac, you’re asked to remove the account in Internet Accounts System Preferences. Click the button to open Internet Accounts, then deselect the Mail checkbox for the account. To stop using the account in all apps, make sure the account is selected, then click the Remove button .

Apple and Microsoft go toe-to-toe on several fronts like Word processing apps. However, Apple aims to offer a solid email experience with the Mail app on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, but it still leaves a lot to be desired. That's why you can't help but look at a viable alternative from Microsoft's camp - Outlook for Mac.

Recently, Microsoft revealed the brand-new look for Outlook for Mac, which is available through the Fast Insider group. That coupled with a bunch of other software integration in the Outlook for Mac app makes it a viable rival to the Apple Mail app.

In this post, we shall compare Outlook Mail for Mac to the default Apple Mail app. The comparison will be based on UI, Email Organization, Compose Mail, features, and apps integration. Let’s get started.

Cross-Platform Availability

I know cross-platform availability doesn’t matter much in an Email app. But I’m mentioning here so that you can expect a seamless experience on every platform. Apple Mail is only available on iOS, macOS, and iPadOS.

On the other hand, Microsoft Outlook is accessible on Android, iOS, Windows, macOS and Web.

Download Microsoft Outlook for Mac

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User Interface and Customization

Microsoft's plans to redesign the interface of Outlook for Mac is much needed to keep it in line with other platforms. There's a catch when it comes to trying out the new Outlook for Mac. You'll have to install it along with other Office apps through an ISO installer.

When you open Outlook for Mac, you'll notice the Compose (New Message) button and Search bar at the top. On the left sidebar, you'll find your email accounts and other folders. It is impressive how Microsoft uses a column layout style and adds the calendar integration to the extreme right. You won’t have a hard time navigating the new look.

You can change the default fonts for new mail, reply mail from the Outlook settings.

Apple Mail looks quite vanilla compared to the Outlook. The default interface shows the Email as well as folders on the left sidebar, messages list in the center, and mail view on the right. Interestingly, Apple Mail offers several customization options.

Go to Mail > Preferences > Fonts & Colors. From there, you can change the message list font, message font, and even fixed-width font. Apple Mail also allows you to change the list view preview from the default 2 lines to 3 lines or more.

Mail App Mac Hidden

Compose Mail

Apple Mail offers a bunch of editing options when you compose a mail. While writing a mail, you can change the font type, size, color, play with bold, italic options, and even add a bullet or number list.

I like how the Mail app lets you add the picture or scanned documents directly from the connected iPhone.

Outlook’s compose menu toolbar is richer than Apple Mail. It lets you highlight the words. You can even add tables and signature. Guess what? Outlook for Mac also supports templates. Yes, you can create ready-to-use templates with images and text. You can save them for later use. While composing an email, just tap on the three-dot menu above and select view templates and add a relevant one in the mail.

Such templates can be when you are composing emails related to specific subjects like marketing surveys, inquiries, and so on. Just create a master template with necessary text for each type or topic of emails you use often.

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Additional Features

If you like flagging emails, the Apple Mail offers a couple of options for neater organization. For instance, you can assign an orange flag for Bank mails and green flag to all finance mails. Most mail apps only support the normal flag (Red color) option.

From the flagged mail section, you can quickly jump to the exact mail that you are looking for. Apple Mail also supports Rules. You can select Mail > Preferences > Rules and create personalized email rules for you. I have created a rule to archive all the emails that come with Coronavirus in the subject.

We can only hope that Apple integrates services such as Reminders, Calendar, and Notes in the Mail app. It would be easy to set reminders for an email or create an event for the Mail app meeting.

Mail App Mac Os

Outlook for Mac app also supports to Rules options. I would highly recommend you to set some of the effective rules to organize emails like a pro. The app comes with Calendar, Sticky Notes, and Microsoft To-Do integration.

It works like a charm. If you are using Outlook as your mail provider and if you flag an email in it, the mail automatically gets saved into the Flagged mail section in the Microsoft To-Do app.

Email Export and Third-Party Integration

Apple allows you to export any mail as a PDF file menu. Open any mail and go to File > Export as PDF, and it will create a PDF file from the selected mail. Unfortunately, the app doesn’t offer any third-party app integration.

Microsoft offers a dedicated third-party app store. You can tap on the three-dot menu and go to Get add-ins from a dedicated store in Outlook.

For example, I use OneNote and Trello extensions in Outlook to directly send the selected mail to the OneNote or Trello.

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The comparison above gives you a clear view of the Apple Mail and Outlook’s strength and weaknesses. Apple Mail wins with the simple UI, mail organization, and iPhone integration. However, several folks complain that it is sluggish and buggy. Also, it doesn't translate to a pleasant performance on iOS either. Outlook for Mac brings a breath of fresh air with Microsoft apps integration, richer compose menu, and third-party add-ins. Hopefully, the Outlook for iOS also gets a facelift soon. As of now, I’m sticking with Microsoft’s offering. What about you? Sound off in the comments section below.

Next up:Recently got a new Mac? Read the post below find the best Mac apps to stay organized.

The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Read Next

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Email existed even before the world wide web.

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