Q.
E-mail
Short for electronic mail, e-mail or email is
information stored on a computer that is exchanged
between two users over telecommunications. More
plainly, e-mail is a message that may
contain text, files, images, or other attachments sent
through a network to a specified individual or group of
individuals.
The first e-mail was sent by Ray Tomlinson in 1971.
Tomlinson sent the e-mail to himself as a test e-mail
message, containing the text "something like
QWERTYUIOP." However, despite sending the e-mail
to himself, the e-mail message was still transmitted
through ARPANET.
By 1996, more electronic mail was being sent than
postal mail.
E-mail address breakdown
How to send and receive e-mail
Writing an e-mail
What makes a valid e-mail address?
Advantages of e-mail
What's the difference between an e-mail client and webmail?
What are some of the popular e-mail clients?
What can be sent in an e-mail?
Should I use "e-mail" or "email" in my writing?
Related e-mail pages.
E-mail help and support.
E-mail address breakdown
support@computerhope.com
The first portion of all e-mail addresses, the
part before the @ symbol, contains
the alias, user, group, or department of a
company. In our above example, support is
the Technical Support department at
Computer Hope.
Next, the @ (at sign) is used as a divider in
the e-mail address; it is required for
all SMTP e-mail addresses since the first
message was sent by Ray Tomlinson.
Finally, computerhope.com is the domain
name to which the user belongs.
Q. How to send and receive e-mail
E-mail program
To send and receive e-mail messages, you can use
an e-mail program, also known as an e-mail client,
such as Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird.
When using an e-mail client, you must have a server
that stores and delivers your messages, hosted by
your ISP or in some cases, another company. An e-
mail client needs to connect to a server to download
new e-mail, whereas e-mail stored online is always
available, from any of your devices connected to the
Internet. For more information about cloud e-mail
service, see the difference between webmail and an
e-mail client, below.
Online e-mail
An alternative way of sending and receiving e-mail
(and the more popular solution for most people) is an
online e-mail service or webmail. Examples
include Hotmail (now Outlook.com), Gmail,
and Yahoo Mail. Many of the online e-mail services,
including the ones we mentioned, are free or have a
free account option.
Note
An e-mail service will not provide you with an Internet connection. You'll still need
to use an ISP to connect to the Internet to use the e-mail service.
How to create an e-mail account.
Writing an e-mail
When writing an e-mail message, it should look
something like the example window below. As you
can see, several fields are required when sending an
e-mail:
The To field is where you type the e-mail
address of the person who is the recipient of
your message.
The From field should contain your e-mail
address.
If you are replying to a message,
the To: and From: fields are automatically
filled out. If it's a new message, you'll need to
specify the recipients in the To: field, either
by selecting them from your contact list, or
manually typing the full email addresses. If
you are manually specify more than one
recipient (as in a group e-mail), the
addresses should be separated by a comma
and a space, or by pressing the Tab key.
The Subject should consist of a few words
describing the e-mail's contents. The Subject
lets the recipient see what the e-mail is about,
without opening and reading the full e-mail.
This field is optional.
The CC ("Carbon Copy") field allows you to
specify recipients who are not direct
addressees (listed in the "To" field). For
instance, you can address an e-mail to Jeff
and CC Linda and Steven. Although the e-
mail is addressed to Jeff, Linda and Steven
will also receive a copy of the message, and
their addresses will be visible to Jeff, and to
each other. This field is optional.
The BCC ("blind carbon copy") field is similar
to CC, except the recipients are secret. Each
BCC recipient will receive the e-mail, but will
not see who else received a copy. The
addressees (anyone listed in the "To" field)
remain visible to all recipients. This field is
optional.
Finally, the Message Body is the location
you type your main message. It often
contains your signature at the bottom; similar
to a handwritten letter.
Q. What makes a valid e-mail address?
There are several rules that an e-mail address must
follow to be valid:
As mentioned earlier, an e-mail must have
a username followed by @ (the at sign) which
is followed by the domain name with
a domain suffix.
The username cannot be longer than 64
characters long, and the domain name
cannot be longer than 254 characters.
There should be only one @ sign in an e-mail
address.
The space and special characters: ( ) , : ; <
> \ [ ] are allowed. Occasionally,
a space, backslash, and quotation mark work
but must be preceded with a forward slash.
Although valid, some e-mail providers do not
allow these characters.
The username and e-mail addresses as a
whole cannot begin or end with a period.
The e-mail must not have two or more
consecutive periods.
Advantages of e-mail
There are many advantages of e-mail and the usage
of e-mail versus postal mail. Some of the main
advantages are listed below.
Free delivery - Sending an e-mail is virtually
free, outside the cost of Internet service.
There is no need to buy a postage stamp to
send a letter.
Global delivery - E-mail can be sent to
nearly anywhere around the world, to any
country.
Instant delivery - An e-mail can be instantly
sent and received by the recipient over the
Internet.
File attachment - An e-mail can include one
or more file attachments, allowing a person to
send documents, pictures, or other files with
an e-mail.
Long-term storage - E-mails are stored
electronically, which allows for storage and
archival over long periods of time.
Environmentally friendly - Sending an e-
mail does not require paper (paperless),
cardboard, or packing tape, conserving paper
resources.
Q. What's the difference between webmail and an e-mail client?
Both webmail and an e-mail client perform the same
function: they allow the user to send and receive e-
mail. However, an e-mail client requires the user to
install software directly onto their computer; if the
software is not installed, e-mail may not be accessed.
Also, many e-mail clients cost money, but are
generally more secure. Webmail, on the other hand,
is a free service, hosted in the cloud. The cloud
service will automatically synchronize your e-mail to
all your devices, including your desktop
computer, tablet, or smartphone.
Q. What are some of the popular e-mail clients?
There are many e-mail clients (those that are
software-based, not online) available for users today.
The following list contains some of the most popular
clients, and some of these are free to use.
Mozilla Thunderbird
DreamMail
Microsoft Outlook
Mail for Windows 10
Mailbird
eM Client
Q. What can be sent in an e-mail?
In addition to text messages being sent over e-mail, it
is also possible to attach a file or other data in an e-
mail. For example, an attachment could be
a picture, PDF, word processor
document, movie, program, or any file stored on your
computer. However, because of some security issues,
it may not be possible to send certain types of files
without additional steps. For example, many
companies will block .exe files from being sent over e-
mail and would require you to compress the file into
a .zip file. Also, most e-mail providers have file
size restrictions that would prevent any large files or
programs from being sent over e-mail.
Should I use "e-mail" or "email" in my writing?
Both "e-mail" and "email" are valid words and what
you decide to use should be determined by the style
guide you're following. Computer Hope chooses to
use a hyphen in "e-mail" because it is a compound
noun that is made of the words "electronic" and "mail."
