Video:Set up Apple's Mail Program

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Transcript:Set up Apple's Mail Program

Hi. I am Don Schechter for About.com Computing. Today I will show you how to set up Apple Mail.

Open Apple Mail

You can access the mail client either by clicking on its icon on the dock or by going to your application folder and double clicking on the mail program.

Why Use Apple Mail?

Apple's Mail Client comes with all Apple Computers and allows you to check all your email addresses at once. It works with iSync and .Mac to keep your email settings and message in sync regardless of where you have apple mail set up.

Setting up your Account

If you have not already tried to set up an account or open the program before you will likely see the guide for setting up an account. If you don't see the new account setup go up to Mail choose Preferences, then accounts and click on the plus sign on the bottom.

Apple Mail Account Types

This screen asks you to choose your email account type and start providing information. You can choose from a .Mac account if you purchased one, or choose POP, IMAP or exchange. If you want to check your gmail account or an account from a domain you own or work for then you will likely choose pop.

Apple Mail Description

The Description is what will appear within the program to help differentiate it from other email accounts you might set up.

Full Name

Whatever you enter next to Full Name will be displayed when someone receives an email from you. Now type in your email address and click continue.

Mail Servers

We are now asked for the incoming mail server. This information should be provided by your email service provider. For gmail it is pop.gmail.com. For email from a domain I own it is www followed by the name of the domain dot com.

Next enter in your email user name to log on and the password. Hit continue. The program will try logging on to see if you entered the information correctly.

If it is successful we now have to enter in the outgoing mail server information. Again, this should be in your email documentation. Very likely it will look something like smtp. your domain dot com or www. your domain .com

I use my private email account for outgoing mail so it is www.mydomainname.com followed by my user name and password.

I will hit continue again. Now I can either import mailboxes from other programs such as entourage or outlook, setup a second account, or I can be done.

Sending an Email in Apple Mail

Now we have mail set up. On the left is the one email accounts inbox that I set up. On the top right will be the list of my emails and I can read each individual message below it.

To send an email all I need to do is click new, type the email address, message, and hit send.

After I set up all my email addresses you can see all the different accounts and their respective inboxes.

Apple Mail Search

Mail has a useful and easy search function on the top right and you can sort by Name, subject, or date received.

Customizing your Apple Mail

There are many different options and settings you can choose from within Mail, but when you first get started take a look at the Preferences under the Mail drop down. Options that I change include how often new mail is checked for, setting up a junk email folder, and setting up a signature at the end of all my emails.

Finally, I will hide mail and keep in my dock at all times. Whenever I get a new message I hear a ding and just click on my program to read my email

Thanks for watching. For more information, please visit us online at Computing.about.com.