Outlook Web App Light > Getting Started

Applies to: Office 365 for professionals and small businesses, Office 365 for enterprises, Microsoft Exchange, Live@edu

You can use a Web browser to access your mailbox from any computer that has an Internet connection. You can read and send e-mail messages, organize contacts, and schedule appointments.

To help protect your mailbox from unauthorized access, Outlook Web App automatically closes its connection to your mailbox after a period of inactivity. This is especially important if you access your mailbox from a public-access computer or Internet kiosk. If your connection closes and you still want to use your mailbox, refresh your browser and sign in again.

Supported Browsers and Operating Systems

You can access your mailbox with any browser that supports HTML 3.2 and ECMA. This includes Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, or Safari, in addition to other Web browsers from many UNIX, Apple Macintosh, or Windows-based computers.

Working with Messages

Outlook Web App lets you access your mailbox from any computer that has a Web browser and an Internet connection. In addition to reading and sending e-mail messages, you can customize your messages, for example, by adding attachments, requesting receipts when a message is read or delivered, and adding a category to a message.

You can use folders to organize your messages just as you'd use a file system to organize papers. You can manage the messages you receive using rules to sort them into different folders.

For more information, see Outlook Web App Light > Mail.

Using the Calendar

Your calendar in your mailbox is just like a paper calendar on the wall, but it has lots of extra features. When you add an appointment to your calendar, you can customize it in many ways, for example, adding attachments, filling in as many details as you want, setting a reminder, or making it a repeating appointment so it's automatically added to your calendar on a regular basis.

In addition to creating appointments, you can set up meetings using your calendar. A meeting is just like an appointment, except you send an invitation to it to other people. Each person you invite will receive an e-mail that contains the details of the meeting. Depending on their e-mail service, they may be able to use the e-mail message they receive to add the meeting to their own calendar.

For more information, see Outlook Web App Light > Calendar.

Contacts

The Contacts folder of your mailbox is where your personal contacts and groups are stored. It's like a Rolodex or address book with an entry for each person or group you want to store information about. A contact can be used to store information about a person or business you want to communicate with.

Groups let you send a message to multiple contacts from a single entry. You can't create or edit groups in the light version of Outlook Web App, but you can use groups you've created using regular Outlook Web App or Outlook.

For more information, see Outlook Web App Light > Contacts.

Customizing Your Mailbox

Outlook Web App is ready to use as soon as you sign in. You don't have to change any settings or turn anything on or off to start to send and receive e-mail messages using Outlook Web App. But you might want to change some settings to suit your preferences.

You can do things like add a signature to the messages you send, set up a special message to let people know you aren't available, and select a default font for your messages.

For more information, see Outlook Web App Light > Options.

Getting Help

For help in the window you're working in, click Help on the toolbar. For information about other features or instructions for how to do something, browse the table of contents in the Help window.

Some features described in the Help won't be available depending on your service or if the administrator for your organization has turned off those features.

Sign Out

When you finish using your mailbox, make sure you click Sign out on the toolbar and then close all browser windows. Signing out helps prevent someone else from using the computer to access your mailbox. Even if you plan to continue to use the computer to visit other Web sites, click Sign out and close all browser windows when you're done using your mailbox.

Languages

Outlook Web App supports more than 45 languages.

In Internet Explorer, on the View menu, select Internet Options, and then click Languages.

1. To add a language to the list of available languages, in Language Preference, click Add. If you're not sure whether a particular language is supported, contact your helpdesk.
2. To move a language to the top of the list, select the language, and then click Move Up.

Common Error Messages

Outlook Web App uses HTTP to display Exchange mailbox information in a Web browser. The following table lists some common HTTP error messages that may occur.

What if I want to know more?

• Getting Started > Mailbox Folders
• Getting Started > Navigation Pane
• Getting Started > Toolbars
• Getting Started > Accessibility for Blind and Low Vision Users
• Getting Started > Legal Information
• Outlook Web App Light > Security and Privacy