How to send an email with MS Outlook

This documentation requires your Outlook to already be installed and configured with at least one mailbox. This is normally done by a technical person/systems administrator.

Contents

1. What is an email
2. Information needed to send an email
3. How to open MS Outlook
4. Composing and sending of email
5. How to structure an email
6. How to send an email to multiple recipients

1. What is an email

Short for Electronic mail. Emails are messages distributed by electronic means from one computer user to one or more recipients via a network.

2. Information needed to send an email

It is minimally required to have the email address of the recipient(s) to send an email; but it is recommended to populate the following fields:

• Subject (Short description of email contents)
• Email body (Full contents of email)

3. How to open MS Outlook

3.1. Click on the Windows Start button.

3.2. Find and open Outlook in the list of applications.

4. Composing and sending of email

4.1. Click on the New email button on the top left of Outlook under the Home tab.

4.2. Add recipient email address in To… field (refer to email screen below).

4.3. Add text in Subject field (refer to email screen below).

4.4. Add text to email body (refer to email screen below).

When you have completed the above steps and ready to send the email, click on the Send button on the top left of screen.

5. How to structure an email

5.1. Salutation

The salutation directly addresses the person you're sending the email to. It's always used in formal email messages, but sometimes skipped in informal messages.

5.2. Body

The body of a formal email typically elaborates on the purpose of the email. Elaboration may not be needed in an informal email. Although the body contains detailed information, it's important to write clearly and concisely in a formal email. Remember your reader isn't familiar with you and may not be familiar with your topic. You don't want your email recipient to misunderstand an important point.

5.3. Closing

A good formal email closing reminds the reader who you are since it should include your full name, contact information, and title.

6. How to send an email to multiple recipients

To add more than one recipient in the To, Cc or Bcc fields, you need to separate the email addresses with a semi-colon (;). See the illustration below: