Although Gmail does not have all the options that people used to Microsoft’s Outlook program are accustomed to, Google’s email is one of the easiest and most feature-laden free email options available. It is also one of the easiest programs to use in order to send basic messages. This tutorial will walk through the basics of sending an email.
To begin writing any email, you must first click the “Compose” button on the left menu of your Gmail screen. This button and left menu should be visible at any time you are using Gmail, and you can see an example in the screen shot above.
Sending a Basic Message
Once you click “Compose”, the email draft window will appear on the right. You can see that window in the screen shot as well. Type and send a simple email by:
- Entering the email address of the person you want to send the message to in the “To” box. You can send the message to multiple recipients by separating the email address with a comma. For example, you might enter:mighty@aol.com, sister@gmail.com, Note that all the email addresses include the email name, the @ symbol, the name of the email provider and a correct ending such as .com or .net.
- Enter a short description for your email in the “Subject” box. Although you can send a message without a subject, it is a good idea to provide a few word description so that the person on the other end will know what the message is a about. This helps ensure your message is read in a timely manner. For example, subjects might include, “More about that movie we were discussion,” “Info for Mom’s birthday,” or “Application for File Clerk Position.” The type of subject you enter will depend on whether this is a personal or professional email. If you are forwarding or replying to a message, you can change the subject that already exists to a more appropriate designation if you desire. Simply click in the subject box in your new message and delete what is there.
- Click inside the body of the email and begin typing your message. You can type within the body of a Gmail message just as you would in a word processing program. You can also use formatting options, which will be covered in other tutorials. Remember to use punctuation, spaces and returns in order to make your message easier to read.