MAIL

Reading mail and checking for new mail
When you open your IBM® Lotus Notes® mail application, your Inbox displays mail messages you have received.

You can read messages in your Inbox, use other mail views and folders, and check for new messages. See any of these sections:


To read a message

In your Inbox message list (or the message list in any other view or folder), double-click the message. For shortcuts you can use to step through messages, see the Related Reference topics at then end of this topic.

To preview a message

You can view a message and keep the message list open at the same time.

1. Click the message in the message list.

2. Click Preview in the bar at the bottom of the message list to open the preview pane and display the selected message in it. To hide the preview pane, click Preview in the bar again.

3. Click Show above the message list, and then click Preview on Bottom or Preview on Side to open the preview pane and display the selected message in it. To hide the preview pane, click Show > Hide Preview.

The next time you open your mail, Notes® remembers whether you left the preview pane displayed or hidden.

A mail message grouped together with all of its replies is called a thread. In the message you are reading, you can display the subject lines of all messages in the same thread at the top of the open message. To do so, click Display above the message, and then click Thread.

This way, you can access any part of the thread. To open a different message in the thread, click its subject line.

Tip: To view a list of all messages grouped together with their replies, click Views in the mail navigation pane, and then click Mail Threads.

To work with unread messages

Notes displays mail messages that you have not read yet in red (unless you set colors for specific senders in the Inbox) and displays a star next to them.

In the mail navigation pane, Notes displays the names of folders and views that contain unread messages in bold and displays the number of unread messages. Notes also displays the names of parent folders of folders that contain unread messages in bold.

Tip: To open your mail and open the first unread message, click the envelope icon in the Notes status bar, and then click Scan Unread Mail.


Unread message tasks
    Task
    Description
Go to the next or previous unread message in a folder or view (such as the Inbox)Press Tab to go to the next unread message, or press Shift+Tab to go to the previous unread message.

Press F4 to go to the next unread message, or press Shift+F4 to go to the previous unread message.

Display only the unread messages in a folder or viewSelect View Unread above the message list. To display the read messages again, select View All.

Click Show above the message list, and then click Unread Only. To display the read messages again, click Show > Unread Only again.

Note: Notes saves this setting for the folder or view, so if you leave and come back to it, only unread messages are displayed.

Mark all messages you show in the preview pane as readClick File > User Preferences (Macintosh OS X users: click Lotus Notes > Preferences > User Preferences), and under Additional Options, select Mark documents read when opened in preview pane.
Mark messages unread or readSee To mark documents unread or read.

Note: It is recommended that you keep the default application property Do not mark modified documents as unread selected for your mail application. This setting ensures that changes made to the mail application do not affect the unread status of a message, and that unread status is changed only by you.

To use other mail folders or views

You can use any mail view or folder by clicking its name in the mail navigation pane. Notes remembers the last folder or view you use and opens it the next time you open your mail.


Mail folders and views
    Folder or view
    Description
InboxShows messages that you have received. Messages remain in the Inbox until you move them to a different folder or delete them.
DraftsShows messages that you have saved without sending. You can go back to these messages and edit and send them later.
SentShows messages that you have sent and saved.
Follow UpShows messages that are currently flagged for follow-up action.
All DocumentsShows all messages that are currently in your mail application. This view contains a Folders column that displays any mail folders that a document is in.
JunkShows messages that have been identified as junk mail. See Managing junk mail.
TrashShows messages that you have marked for deletion. See Deleting mail.
Chat HistoryShows chat transcripts that you have saved to your mail application.
FoldersShows a list of all personal folders you create.
ArchiveAppears only if archiving is set up for your mail. Shows all your archive policies and lets you open the archive application.
Tools - RulesShows rules that you create to filter new messages. See Filtering new mail using rules.
Tools - StationeryShows stationery that you create for sending messages. See Creating and using stationery for mail.

To check for new messages
Notes mail users

Your mail is set to refresh the Inbox with any new messages you receive automatically by default. For information on this preference, see Setting how Notes checks for and announces new mail.

To refresh the Inbox manually, click the Refresh button above the message list or press F9.

Internet mail users

Your Internet IMAP Offline or POP mail may be set up to store incoming mail in your Notes mail application. If so, you can read both your Notes and Internet mail in the same "universal" Inbox in Notes. If your Internet IMAP Offline or POP mail is set to use a separate Notes mail application, you must specify that application as the primary mail for at least one location in order to open that mail application.

1. If necessary, switch to a location from which you want to access your Internet POP/IMAP (incoming mail) and SMTP (outgoing mail) accounts.

2. Click File > Preferences > Location Preferences.

3. Click FilePreferences. 4. Click Locations, select the current location, and then click Edit.

5. Click the Mail tab.

6. In the Mail file field, specify the file name for your IMAP Offline or POP mail application if it's not already specified, and then save the location.

7. Replicate your Internet mail (download it from the server).

8. Open your mail, if necessary, and then click the Refresh button above the message list or press F9 to update the Inbox with new messages.

Note: If you use IMAP Online mail, see To specify your IMAP mail as your primary mail.

Related topics
Mail
Commonly used keyboard shortcuts for mail and calendar
Commonly used keyboard shortcuts for mail and calendar (Macintosh)
Using the preview pane
Sorting mail in a folder or view
Viewing an attached vCard file
Switching to a different location
Preferences for sending and receiving mail