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Open a Message

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

You can view your messages in the Reading Pane, or you can open them in a separate browser window.

How do I use the Reading Pane?

Click the message you want to read, and it will appear in the Reading Pane.

You can control the Reading Pane by clicking View in the Toolbar and selecting the options you want.

How do I open a message in a separate window?

  1. Find the message you want to read in Mail.
  2. Double-click the message to open it, or select the message and then press ENTER.

What else do I need to know?

  • Messages that haven't been read are displayed in bold type. To mark a message as Read without opening it, select the message, and then press CTRL+Q on the keyboard (to use the CTRL+Q shortcut with Internet Explorer 7, you need to disable Quick Tabs). You can also right-click the message, and then click e-mail Mark as Read on the menu. To mark a message as Unread, right-click the message, and then click unread e-mail Mark as Unread on the menu, or highlight the message and then press CTRL+U on the keyboard.
  • When you open an e-mail message, it's displayed in the read message form. The read message form and Reading Pane display the following information in the message heading:
    • Subject   The subject of the message.
    • Importance   The importance level of the message if it's set to Low or High.
    • From   The name or e-mail address of the sender or organization.
    • Sent   The date and time the message was sent.
    • To   The names or e-mail addresses of the primary recipients.
    • Cc   The names or e-mail addresses of the carbon-copy (Cc) recipients.
  • You can do several things with names on the From, To, and Cc lines. Double-click any name for more information about that person. You can also right-click any name to display a menu that lets you:
    • View basic contact information about that person.
    • Add that person to your Contacts.
    • Look up properties for that person.
    • Apply junk e-mail settings for that person's e-mail address, for example, adding the person to your Safe Senders and Recipients list. For more information about the Safe Senders and Recipients list, see Learn About Junk E-Mail Messages.

What if I want to know more?