Manage Multiple Email Accounts with Outlook 2010

Outlook 2010 can handle all your electronic mail accounts. This offers you a single interface for working with all your messages. There are two aspects to making this happen. The first is having quality instructions for how to configure Outlook for Gmail or whichever services you are using. Unfortunately, I don't have adequate room here to address how that works. The link at the conclusion of this piece will take you to a site that does have all the information.

The next aspect is knowing how to work with the various accounts after you have them configured. This article covers those basics.

When you Receive Messages

You will be able to receive mail from a variety of different types of email accounts. Outlook 2010 automatically checks each email account for you, based on the settings in your Send/Receive groups. Messages end up in assorted locations based on the kind of account. Typically, messages from Gmail and Hotmail accounts get placed in their own mail folders, while messages from other types of accounts get placed in the Inbox.

So how do you see which messages go with which accounts? The messages that end up in their own unique group of folders are easy. Other types take a tiny bit more effort. For other types of accounts, if you can't tell just by looking, the To: field of the message provides the answer. The email address that the message was meant for will appear here.

When You Send Messages

When sending e-mail, you direct which account Outlook 2010 makes use of. Outlook always has a default account for sending mail, but you can tell Outlook to use a different account like this:

• When you create a new message, Outlook uses the default account (unless you change it).
• If you are replying to a message, Outlook replies using the account the message was sent to. But you still have the option to tell Outlook to reply using a different account.
• When you forward a message, Outlook handles it the same way as a reply.

Wondering how to tell Outlook to use a different account? You do so in the message window. Look for the "From" button next to the "Send" button (you will only see this button if you have more than one account set up). Click From to see a list of the accounts you can use.

Set Outlook's Default Email Account

If you want to change Outlook's default account, here's what you have to do:

1. In the Ribbon, click the File tab.
2. In the menu that appears, click Info to display the "Account Information" screen.
3. Click the Account Settings button and select Account Settings... in the menu that appears. This opens the "Account Settings" dialog box to the "E-mail" tabbed page.
4. In the box that contains the list of email accounts, select the account you want to use as the default account (the current default account has a checkmark in a blue circle next to it).
5. If the account isn't already the default account, the "Set as Default" option (look above the box containing the email accounts) should now be clickable. Click Set as Default to change the default account.
6. Click Close to return to the Outlook window.

You now possess the basic information you need to work with multiple accounts. All you need now is solid instructions for connecting each of your eamil accounts to Outlook 2010.

If you want to manage your existing Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo Mail account with Outlook 2010, or would like to create new accounts for this purpose, I have just the website for you. To get detailed, illustrated instructions for setting up Gmail Outlook, Hotmail Outlook, and Yahoo Outlook connections (along with many several others), go to Outlook 2010 Email Accounts