Microsoft 365 for Beginners

When you first start Microsoft Outlook, you will need to add an account. Follow the steps to add an Outlook.com or Microsoft 365 email account. After you’ve finished, you can add more accounts.

Open Outlook.
Type in your email address, then select Connect.
Type in your password and select OK.

If you want to add an additional account, select File > Add Account and repeat the steps.

There are many different types of email accounts you can add to Outlook, including an Outlook.com or Hotmail.com account, the work or school account you use with Microsoft 365, Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud, and Exchange accounts.

Add a new account in new Outlook

On the View tab, select View settings.
Select Accounts > Email accounts. You can now add a new account.
Under Email accounts, select Add Account, and select a suggested account from the dropdown menu or enter a different email address. Click Continue.

Note: Some non-Microsoft email providers, like Gmail, Yahoo, and iCloud, require you to change some settings on their websites before you can add these accounts to Outlook.
If prompted, enter your password for the account and select Done.

Set as primary account in new Outlook

On the View tab, select View settings > Accounts > Email accounts.
In the Email accounts section, find the account you want to make changes to or delete. Beside the account name, select Manage.
Under Account details, select Set as primary account.
When you’re finished, select Return to accounts page, or close the Settings window

Remove an account in new Outlook

On the View tab, select View settings > Accounts > Email accounts.
In the Email accounts section, find the account you want to delete. Beside the account name, select Manage.
Under Account details, select Remove to remove this account from Outlook. Any offline cached content for this account will be deleted when you remove the account.

Note: This step only removes the account from the Outlook app, it doesn’t delete the account. To delete an account, get help from your email provider.
For accounts where Microsoft isn’t the email provider (for example, Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud, and non-Microsoft IMAP and POP accounts), the Remove Account window appears. Select an option to remove the account from only this device or from all devices.If you select, Remove from all devices, your account will be removed from all devices where you added your account to Outlook.
When you’re finished, select Return to accounts page, or close the Settings window.

Create and Send Email

Create and send an email

Select Home > New Email.
Add recipients, a subject, and a message in the email body.
Select Send.

Reply to an email

Select an email to reply to.
Select Reply.
Type your message.
Select Send.

Forward to share email with others

Select an email to forward.
Select Forward.
Add who you’d like to forward to.
Add a note in the email body if you’d like.

Select Send.

Create an email signature

Select New Email.
From the Insert section of the ribbon, select Signature > Signatures.
Select New, type a name for the signature, and select OK.
Under Edit signature, type your signature and format it the way you like.
Select OK and close the email.
Select New Email to see the signature you created.

If you have multiple signatures, go to Choose default signature and select the one you want to appear on New messages. You can always change to another signature when writing the the email.

Add an attachment

Select Home > New Email.Or, for an existing email, select Reply/Reply All or Forward.
Select Home > Attach File, and choose an option:
- Recent items – select the arrow to find a file or image you have saved or worked with recently. These files could be saved locally, or they might exist on internal network locations.
- Attach Item > Outlook Item – attach an email message.
- Attach Item > Business Card – attach an electronic business card to the message.
- Attach Item > Calendar – insert a calendar, with specific date range and other details.
- Browse Web Locations – select files from OneDrive, SharePoint sites, or Group Files that you have accessed earlier.
- Browse This PC – select a file from your local computer.

Tip: When you’re attaching a file stored in OneDrive or SharePoint, pick how you want to share the file: a link or Attach as copy. Right-click online docs to Change Permissions for editing or viewing.

Another way to add an image

Select Insert > Pictures and locate the image. Select Insert.
The image appears inside the message body. Use the Picture Format tab for tools to adjust the image as need be.

When you receive an attachment

Select to preview or open the attachment.
When done, select Back to message.

If you’re using the Microsoft Outlook app or Outlook.com, and if you and your recipients are all on Microsoft Exchange or Microsoft 365 and in the same organization, you can recall or replace an email message that you sent.

Important: If your account is a MAPI or POP account, recall won’t work.

Select the Sent Items folder.
Select or double-click the message so it opens in another window.
Select File > Info.
Select Resend or Recall and select one of the two options.
1. Select Recall This Message… to delete or replace a sent message.
2. Select Resend This Message… to send a message again with the option to update content or change recipients.
Select the Tell me if recall succeeds or fails for each recipient check box.
Select OK.

Manage Emails

Set up Auto-reply

Select View
Select View Settings
Select Account> Automatic Replies.
Select Send automatic replies.
If you don’t want the messages to go out right away, select Only send during this time range.
Choose the dates and times you’d like to set your automatic reply for.
Type in a message. You can format the text using the tool bar, or cut and paste text you’ve formatted, including hyperlinked text.
Select OK.

Set Up and Customize

Add an email account to Outlook for Windows