Reply, forward and organise
When to use Reply, Reply all and Forward, how to keep your inbox tidy, find old emails, and deal with spam.
Reply, reply all, forward, and keeping your inbox tidy.
Three ways to respond
Reply sends your answer only to the person who sent the email. Reply all sends your answer to everyone who got the email. Be careful. If forty people are on it, all forty will see your reply. Forward sends the email on to someone new, who wasn't on it before. Your inbox lists your emails, with the newest at the top. Emails you haven't read yet are in bold. To tidy up, archive emails you've finished with. They leave the inbox but stay saved. Delete moves an email to the bin. Use the search bar at the top to find any old email, by a name or a word inside it.
New word: Spam
Spam is unwanted junk email: adverts you didn't ask for, and scams. Gmail moves most of it to the Spam folder by itself. If spam gets into your inbox, mark it as spam instead of opening it.
Good inbox habits
Reply to important emails within a day or two. Unsubscribe from emails you never read. The unsubscribe link is usually at the very bottom. Use labels or folders to group emails, for school, work, or the foundation. And if you're waiting for an email that hasn't come, check your Spam folder.
Quick check
Quick check. You're one of forty people on a class email. You only want to tell the teacher you'll be late. What do you press? Reply. Only the teacher needs to know, so there's no need to message the whole class. Options: Reply all; Reply; Forward; Delete.
Recap
Reply goes only to the sender. Reply all goes to everyone on the email. Forward sends the email to someone new. And archive, search, and mark spam to keep your inbox under control.
Key points
- Reply answers only the sender. Reply all answers everyone on the email. Forward sends it to someone new.
- Unread emails are bold. Archive finished emails to keep them without cluttering your inbox.
- Use the search bar to find old emails by a name or a word.
- Spam is junk email. Mark it as spam, unsubscribe from emails you never read, and check Spam if an email is missing.
Try it: Reply, reply all or forward?
Choose the right button for each situation.