Webmail settings

Open settings with Settings at the bottom of the webmail sidebar, or press , (comma). On a phone, open the sidebar with the button at the top left first; settings then fill the screen.

Type in Search settings to find a setting by name or by what it does — "vacation", "signature", "dark", "forward" and so on. Settings are saved for your mailbox, so they follow you to any browser where you sign in to it.

Most settings take effect as soon as you change them and the mail behind the window updates straight away. Automatic replies, forwarding, blocked senders, signatures and your name have their own Save button, because they change how your mail is handled.

AppearanceCopy Anchor Link

• Theme: follow your device, or always light or dark. The switch at the bottom of the sidebar changes the same setting.
• Density: compact, comfortable or roomy text and spacing in the message list. The preview at the top of the panel shows the result.
• Reading pane: messages open on the right of the list, below it, or — with Off — in place of the list.
• Motion: follow your device, or always reduce animations.
• Group messages: one row per conversation, or every message on its own row.
• Message preview: none, one line or two lines of each message under its subject.
• Sender first: show the sender on the first line of a row; turn it off to show the subject first.
• Sender initials, attachment names under each message, and date headers (Today, Yesterday, Last week…) between messages.

ReadingCopy Anchor Link

• Mark as read: when you open a message, after a few seconds, or never (mark it yourself with Shift+I).
• After deleting or archiving: open the next message, the previous one, or go back to the list.
• Mark as read when moving: archiving, reporting junk or moving to a folder also marks the message read.
• Remote images are always blocked and read receipts are never sent; see Remote images are blocked.

WritingCopy Anchor Link

• Signature: each of your addresses (your own and your aliases) has its own plain-text signature. It's added below new messages, replies and forwards after a -- line, and changes when you pick another From address. Mail apps on your phone or computer keep their own signatures.
• Reply button: whether Reply and the r key reply to the sender or to everyone.
• Undo send: how long you have to take a message back after choosing Send — 5, 10, 20 or 30 seconds.
• Always show Cc and Bcc in new messages.

Automatic repliesCopy Anchor Link

Turn on Send automatic replies to answer mail while you're away. You can:

• limit them to between these dates (in your time zone, both days included);
• give them a subject, and write the message people get;
• only reply to my contacts, so strangers and mailing lists don't hear from you.

Each sender gets one automatic reply every few days, however often they write. Mail from blocked senders, and mail your rules send to Junk, gets no reply. Automatic replies work for mail to any of your addresses, whichever app you read it in.

ForwardingCopy Anchor Link

Send new mail to one other address:

1. Enter the address under Forward to and choose Send confirmation.
2. We email that address a link. Its owner opens it and chooses Confirm forwarding. The link works once, for three days. Until it's confirmed, nothing is forwarded.
3. Back in settings, turn on Forward my mail. Choose whether to keep a copy here too.

You can't forward to one of your own addresses, and you can't set up forwarding while sending from your mailbox is paused (see sending limits). Mail from blocked senders and mail your rules send to Junk is never forwarded. Remove address stops forwarding and forgets the address; to forward somewhere else, remove it and start again.

Junk and blocked sendersCopy Anchor Link

• Blocked senders: mail from these addresses or whole domains (type example.com) goes straight to Junk.
• Safe senders: mail from these addresses or domains is never moved to Junk by your rules.
• Only trust my contacts and safe senders: everything else goes to Junk. Check your Junk folder now and then if you turn this on.

To deal with one message, use Report junk (!) or Not junk on it instead. Your automatic replies, forwarding and junk rules run on our mail server, so they also apply to mail you read in other apps. These rules are managed here, in your account's control panel and the webmail — a filter editor for your own rules is a later feature.

AccountCopy Anchor Link

• Your name, as people see it on mail you send.
• Addresses you can send from: your aliases. Manage them in the console.
• Storage: how much of your mailbox's space you use.
• Password: change your mailbox password. Enter your current password and a new one (or choose Generate and save it in your password manager). The new password needs 12 to 128 characters, no spaces at the start or end, and can't be your address or start with app_. You stay signed in here; the webmail signs out everywhere else. App passwords for your mail apps keep working. If you forgot your password, ask an owner or admin of your account to set a new one.
• Empty Trash when I sign out deletes everything in Trash, for good, each time you sign out of the webmail. Otherwise Trash is cleaned up automatically after a while.
• Sign out of this mailbox.

Region and shortcutsCopy Anchor Link

• Region: how dates look (English for now). Time format: the region's, 12-hour or 24-hour.
• Time zone: this device's, or one you choose. Automatic reply dates use it too.
• Start in: the folder the webmail opens with — Inbox, Priority or any folder.
• Keyboard shortcuts: on or off, with the full list. Turn them off if they get in the way of a screen reader's own keys.