Also, we listened to your requests and launched a YouTube video! Be sure to subscribe here to our YouTube channel and like our first video below. Also, if you have any ideas or questions, be sure to leave them in the comment, and we’ll try to make a video tutorial for it. As always, thank you so much for your support!

1. UNSEND A MESSAGE

Wait what?

Yeah, you heard that right. Sounds like magic but it’s real. You can actually recall a message on Gmail by using “Undo Send”. Here’s how it works; first activate Undo Send, and then use it ASAP when you need to recall a message. There’s a timeframe for its usage, so you have to act fast if you want to recall a message.

2. PLACE A PHONE CALL FROM GMAIL

We bet you didn’t know you could place a call to any of your Gmail contacts. Sometimes, you may need to communicate urgently with one of your Gmail contacts; Emails may be too snail-paced to do that which is why phone calls are an excellent option. All you’ll need to do is download the Google Talk plugin for hangouts (which brings us to our next tip), get a microphone and speakers, and you are good to go.,

So, how do I place a call precisely?

We knew you’d ask. It’s simple; click the Make a call link in the lower left corner of your Gmail inbox, type the number you wish to call and click on it and voila, your phone call is placed.

3. USE HANGOUTS ON GMAIL

Ever thought communication via email was too slow? Well, introducing Google Hangouts. Google Hangouts is a faster way to communicate with any of your Gmail contacts that are online. With this feature, you get instant responses and don’t have to wait for a reply like with Emails. This is how it works; click the Hangouts icon in the bottom left corner of your inbox. Click the name of the person you want to Hangout with, a Hangout dialog box will pop up on the right side of your inbox, and you can start chatting.

4. VIEW YOUR GOOGLE CALENDAR VIA GMAIL

Now, this is one life and time-saving trick if you’ve ever missed an important meeting or appointment, just because you were poring through tons of unread emails. Not anymore! Now you can manage both your emails and calendar with the Google Calendar Gadget. This pops up reminders about meetings or appointments as you work your way through your inbox.

5. MUTE CONVERSATIONS

Wouldn’t it be such a relief if you could keep unwanted messages out of your inbox? Well, you can do that on Gmail. By using the mute feature, you can stop unsolicited messages from trickling into your inbox. Instead, these messages go into your archives, where you don’t have to see them unless you want to.

6. SYNC YOUR OTHER EMAILS WITH YOUR GMAIL

We’ll be honest; if you operate several email accounts, it can get pretty hard and chaotic to manage it all at once. It can be time and energy consuming logging into and browsing through your different emails. The good news is you can sync your other emails with your Gmail account and save yourself all the hassle. You can simply sync all your emails into a single inbox where you receive all your emails.

7. TRACK YOUR GMAIL ACTIVITY

This tip is dead helpful, especially if you suspect that your Gmail account has been accessed by someone else. Google monitors your account usage and keeps a record of your account activity. This record can show you the last time your account was used, including the IP address of the user. To access this feature, simply look at the bottom right corner of your computer screen to see when your Gmail account was last used.

8. SEND LARGE ATTACHMENTS WITH GOOGLE DRIVE

If you’ve used Gmail long enough, you’ll realize that you can only send an attachment of up to 25 Mb as a message. Which is a pretty reasonable size for any attachment but there are times when attachments could exceed Gmail’s specified size limit.

Hmmm, what to do?

For files larger than 25 Mb, use Google Drive to send them. Here’s how it works; copy the file to your Google Drive, then type your message in Gmail. Next, attach the file to your composed message, click the Google Drive icon (if you are unsure what this is, it’s right next to the Attachment icon), insert the file(s) and send!

9. ACTIVATE GMAIL NOTIFICATIONS

Before you roll your eyes and say this is a simple trick, don’t forget that this is a handy feature. Turning on your Gmail notifications can help notify you every time you get a new message. The coolest part is that you can fix your notifications for specific messages flagged as urgent or important.

10. PREVIEW MESSAGES WITH THE PREVIEW PANE

The preview pane form Gmail Labs allows you to see and reply to messages without opening them. You can also customize your preview pane as vertical or horizontal.

Step 1

Open Microsoft Outlook and create an email account. If you already own an Outlook account, you can skip this step and move on to step 2.

Step 2

Click on File in the top left corner; this will take you to the “Account settings’ box in the middle, then click on the ‘Account Settings: Add or remove accounts or change existing accounts’ box that appears.

Step 3

Click on the box that appears and select the Email tab or email and then click on “new.” Next, enter your email account and then click on “Advanced options.”

Step 4

Click on “let me set up my account manually and then click “connect.” Next, click on “POP” and enter your account settings. The incoming port should be 587 while outgoing port should be 995.

Step 5

For the encrypted method, check “auto.” Next, check ‘This server requires an encrypted connection (SSL/TLS).’ Do not check Secure Password Authentication (SPA) logon; it is not required.

Step 6

If you already own an Outlook account, you can merge both your new and old account by clicking “select an existing outlook data file.” For a new account, create a new Outlook data file.

Step 7

Select “Next” and input your password, then click “Next.”

Note; Outlook passwords are case sensitive (you probably knew this already)

Almost there, don’t give up!

Step 8

Click on the recently created account and select “Outgoing Server” tab. Then, uncheck the box which reads “Leave a copy of messages on the server.”

Step 9

Click the box ‘remove from server when deleted from deleted message.’ This will help keep your account clutter-free.

Step 10

Finally!

The final step to configuring your email with Outlook Office 365 is simple;

Click the OK button, then Click the Next button, this will take you to the final page. You will find a “finish” button on this page, click the Finish button and voila, your email has been successfully configured.

Note; if you follow all these steps carefully but still experience difficulties in configuring your email, check if you are logged in via webmail. If you are not, log in with webmail, this will verify your account.

So, you see, configuring your email with Outlook office 365 is a piece-of-cake. Why don’t you get started now?

Create a Good Password

If your password is guessable or too simple, it may be time to change it. Date of birth, spouse or pet name is super easy to guess, so they make horrible passwords. Instead, opt for unique passwords (and don’t forget to insert numbers, upper and lower cases), trust us, the weirder your password, the less likely someone somewhere can guess it and gain access into your Email account. Also, if you own more than one Email account, don’t use the same password for all your accounts, it’s a bad idea!

Avoid Public Connections

Public hotspots and computers are hard to ignore and can be very tempting to connect to, but they are a great way for hackers to gain access into your Email. Avoiding public connections and shared computers will keep your system and account safe from hacking.

Secure Your Sent Emails

You just sent a hilarious photo of your dog directly to your cousin via email. What you probably don’t know is that emails don’t travel directly; they go through third-party servers before getting to their destination. This leaves your emails vulnerable and susceptible to hacking by a third-party. To ensure that your outgoing emails are protected, you can enable TLS encryption, place your emails in a zip file or attach a password to your attachment. This cuts off any form of third-party access to your sent emails.

Don’t Click Links in Emails Or Open Unknown Attachments

You’ve presumably heard this tip before, but here it goes again. Links and unsolicited attachments can be dangerous if attended to. You may have received a message asking you to click on a link to enable you to purchase an item or win a price, don’t do it! Anytime you see a link or an unknown attachment in your email, DO NOT click on or open it. This is common bait most of these hackers throw out to trap unsuspecting web users.

Subscribe To an Email Security Service

Cyber-criminals are getting better and more sophisticated, so spending some extra bucks on securing your email is worth. This is why an Email security service is an excellent option if you want to keep your email protected.  Using Email security companies protects your email from both known and unknown threats, these companies use filters and other tools to block and protect emails from spams, malware, and potential risks.

1. Disable Desktop Alert

Desktop alerts have got to be one of the biggest distractions ever. They notify you every time you get a message, but the point is you don’t need a notification every time you get a message; it’s distracting. However, you can disable Desktop Alert in Outlook, all you have to do is click the Options – Mail – disable “Display a Desktop Alert” option.

2. Clean Up a Folder

Is your inbox too cluttered? Then, this feature is for you. The “Clean Up” feature allows you to delete multiple messages that have been read and replied, retaining only the unread or important messages.

3. Manage Public Holidays

If you love public holidays, as we do, you wouldn’t want to miss them for anything in the world. And now, you can ensure that you don’t ever forget any public holidays with Outlook. With Outlook, you can automatically add public holidays from over 100 different locations to your calendar.  To enjoy this amazing feature, select File>Options>Calendar>Add Holidays, and then select the countries you want to add up.

4. You Can Open Multiple Outlook Windows

Yes, that’ right. Outlook allows you to open multiple windows so you can joggle different tasks seamlessly. This amazing feature allows you to quickly go back and forth between Have you ever wanted to quickly go back and forth between your tasks, inbox, notes, calendars, folders, shortcuts and so on. To access this feature, simply right click the click on “Open in New Window.”

5. Manage Two Time Zones

So, it’s 2:00 pm in the US but you need to urgently schedule an online meeting with some investors in South Africa, you are not sure what time it’ll be there, and wouldn’t it just be downright annoying video calling someone in the middle of the night? Well, Outlook solves that problem! You won’t even need to Google time zones before making any decision; Outlook can show you two different time zones at the same time. To enjoy this feature, select Options>Calendar>Time zones >Show a second time zone and choose your preferred country. Problem solved!

6. You Won’t Forget to Attach a File Again

The chances are that at some point in your life, you’ve probably composed and sent an email and forgot to attach the necessary file. With Outlook, you don’t have to worry about remembering to attach a file; Outlook will remind you. Whenever you compose a message that contains the words “attached” or “attachment” and you try to send the email without attaching a file, Outlook will automatically remind you, so you don’t make that silly mistake.

7. You Can Keep Tabs on Appointments and Reservations

If you receive any reservation or appointment via email, Outlook will automatically add them to your calendar. This allows you to keep track of these without forgetting.

8. Ignore Conversations

Stuck in an email thread you really don’t want to read? The solution is simple. Rather than deleting the conversation, you can “Ignore” it instead. Using the “ignore” feature automatically sends all ignored messages to the Deleted Items folder.

9. Never Miss an Important Message

If you’ve been expecting a crucial email, Outlook can help you ensure you don’t miss it. So, you don’t have to stay stuck to your email all day. Simply activate “New Item Alerts”, this notifies you whenever you receive a new message that meets specific criteria. This alert will pop up over any application or task you are doing, ensuring that you don’t miss your message.

10. @Mentions

One of the coolest things you probably didn’t know about Outlook is the @Mentions feature. This feature allows you to specify contacts you want to get a reply from whenever you send an email to a large number of people. You simply type @ followed by the name of the contact(s) and watch the magic unfold.

11. Customized Colors

Another interesting thing you probably didn’t know about Outlook is that your email and calendar can apply colors to your emails and meetings based on customized rules. This can help you tell when you are the sole recipient of an email or just one of a dozen recipients. To access this feature go to; View>View Settings>Automatic Formatting, and then you can customize the automatic color feature according to your preference.

12. Manual Mark as Read

Outlook automatically marks items as read when your selection changes and this can make your inbox unorganized. To solve this go to; Options>Mail>Reading Pane>disable “Mark item as read when selection changes”. And you’re done!

According to a 2013 study conducted by Sendmail, at least 64% of business professionals say emails could be a cause of confusion and tension. To ensure your email doesn’t fall among this value depreciating email group, we’ve summarized the top writing strategies to deliver effective emails for your reading pleasure.

1. First, understand what you want to communicate

Creating an email without a clearly defined goal is similar to driving a car without knowing your destination. In both instances, even though there’s an effort, the effort is unlikely to yield a valid result. Your goal serves as a focal point to center your message.Keep in mind that when defining your goal, you’re better off keeping it short and simple. A single email can only contain so much without crossing the lines of clumsiness. So, let’s say your own a marketing company, a short and focused goal would be to get your reader to click through to your landing page as opposed to one that tries to get a click, a social media share and maybe make sales.

2. Get your readers hooked with the first line

The first line (as you might have already guessed) is your subject line. It is what attracts the reader and when done right, it captures their attention. Again, the formula here is short and simple but this time with a side serving of “catchy”.That said, never make the mistake of misleading your audience in an attempt to sound catchy and exciting. That certainly leaves a bad impression, one that many readers will find hard to shrug off. Consider these two subject lines

“Avoiding sunburns just got easier.”

“The best way to prevent sunburns and protect your skin from damage.”

While the second certainly sounds informative, the first undoubtedly comes off as simpler and catchier. Everyone loves the easy way out, and you’re going straight to the point while also making the subject sound appealing to the user.

3. Start bright and sharp

After catching the attention of your readers with your subject, the last thing you’d want to do is bore them off with a dreary intro. Your intro should communicate the intent of your email as soon as possible, in a language and tone that speaks to your users. Get creative if needed, but remember that there’s a limit. Emails, regardless of the audience, should retain a shade of professionalism.

4. Outline your points

Like virtually everyone else, your readers have a short attention span. No one enjoys going through email inboxes, so it’s best to present your points in an itemized format so readers can simply scan the email and get a picture of the message you’re trying to pass across. Remember also to highlight key points and all the relevant info you don’t want them to miss.

5. Finally, content is key

Is there a better way to present the information you want to pass across? Can you perform additional research to include eye-catching stats? Or perhaps you could tune your tone to better appeal to your audience demographics. Delivering value creating content is the best way to ensure your email gets read, archived and put on a priority list. It also means your reader will look forward to future emails from you – that’s a simple case of guaranteeing the future with a small effort in the present.

How to Compose a New E-mail Message

To create a new email on Outlook, simply go to; Home>Mail>New group> New Email. A shorter route would be to press CTRL+SHIFT+M which will instantly take you to a “create a new email” page.

How to Reply to an E-mail Message

With Outlook, replying to an email is a piece-of-cake, simply go to; Home (or Message tab)>Respond group>click Reply or Reply All.

How to Forward an E-mail Message

To forward an email, simply go to; Home (or Message tab)>Respond group>click Forward.

How to Add and Delete a Recipient from the “To,” “Bcc” and “Cc” Box

While composing a message, you’ve most likely noticed the “To,” “Bcc” and “Cc” boxes just above the “compose box” and wondered how you could add a recipient in any of these boxes. Adding or removing a recipient from the “To,” “Bcc” and “Cc” lines is another basic thing you should know while using Outlook.

• To add a name, click in the “To,” “Bcc” or “Cc” box and enter the name of the recipient.
• To remove a recipient from the To and Cc lines, select the name and then click DELETE.

How to Create a Note

One of the fantastic features that come with Outlook is “Notes”. You can use this feature to note down ideas, to-do lists or questions. To enjoy this feature, go to: Notes> New group>New Note, and you can jot down whatever you want to. A shorter route to this is by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+N

How to Add an Attachment to an E-mail Message

When sending a message, you can add attachments to them such as pictures, documents, contacts, notes or tasks. To do this:

• Create a new message or reply to a message
• Go to; Message window> Message tab> Include group>and click Attach File.

How to Create a Calendar Appointment

Outlook does more than just manage emails; you can also schedules appointments in your calendar with Outlook. Simply go to;Calendar>Home tab> New group> click New Appointment. The shorter route is to press CTRL+SHIFT+A.

How to Set a Reminder

Reminders can help you keep track of significant events that you may have likely forgotten. To set reminders on Outlook, go to; Appointment or Meeting tab>Options group>click on the Reminder drop-down list and choose the timeframe before the appointment or meeting. And voila, reminder set!

How to Create a Task

So, you have a couple of things to do, and you want to make sure that you remember and keep track of each one of them. Instead of scribbling them on paper, you can create and keep track of tasks on Outlook. To do this, go to; Home>Tasks>New> New Task. For a shorter alternative, press CTRL+SHIFT+K.

How to Create a Contact

Whether it’s an email address, a picture, personal information, mobile number or jut a name, Outlook can save all these details to your contact list. To create a contact, go to the Home tab>Contacts>New group>New Contact, or opt for a shorter option by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+C. It’s that simple.

Hotmail

Hotmail is one of the many free web-based email service providers provided by Microsoft. This software seamlessly blends with the entire Microsoft Office and can also work well with Gmail (you can migrate contacts from your Gmail to your Hotmail account). From the late ’90s to late 2000s, Hotmail was the in-thing but was quickly usurped by Outlook in 2013. This software comes with Skype, Ajax, OneDrive, and 15GB cloud storage. Hotmail also features an integrated calendar and comes with customizable features such as reminders, calendars, and even incoming emails.  A significant downside to this software is its inability to scan advertising information.

Microsoft Outlook

Users of Hotmail or Microsoft Word will find using Microsoft Outlook very easy. This software allows users to manage emails and personal information and comes with the Microsoft Office package.  It comes with unique features such as;

• Calendar, to help keep appointments
• Tasks to notify you of important tasks
• Notes
• Contacts, to save email address and contact details.

A good reason why Microsoft Outlook is popular in the cooperate world is that it can be used as an exchange server for multiple users. Outlook works seamlessly with Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft exchange server and only requires inputting your email address in Outlook to get Microsoft exchange running. Microsoft Outlook is compatible with third-party applications and mobile devices, which makes it a winner for everybody. Microsoft Outlook allows voting and comes with impressive security features such as blocking potential malware like web bugs and junk mail filtering.

Is Microsoft Outlook and Hotmail the same?

There are many reasons why many people still think that Hotmail and Outlook are quite similar. Two of these are;

• Outlook.com can be interchanged with Hotmail.com
• Users of Hotmail can use Outlook easily

However, these similarities don’t measure up to the stark differences between both email service providers.

Is There a Difference between Hotmail and Outlook?

Yes, there are several differences between Hotmail and Outlook. Some of which are:

• Outlook is original to Microsoft, while another entity developed Hotmail and Microsoft eventually acquired it.
• Outlook is the newer, upgraded and more-user friendly version of Hotmail.
• Outlook is a desktop email client, while Hotmail is a webmail client.
• Outlook is the domain name of Microsoft, while Hotmail is just a domain owned by Microsoft.
• Outlook is an application and can function independently or a Microsoft Exchange server, while Hotmail is just a domain name.