AOL Email Tips
Read these 17 AOL Email Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about AOL tips and hundreds of other topics.
Checking AOL E-Mail From The Web
To check your AOL mail from the web, go to aol.com and select "AOL & AIM Mail". When prompted, type in your AOL screen name and password. You should then be able to check you e-mail, even from an account that was cancelled a short time ago.
Automatic AOL Mail
Automatic AOL is a great ISP service that offers a way to check AOL mail and read it offline. AOL will automatically check your email, download new mail to your local machine, and send AOL email you have marked as “send later”. If you have a cranky connection, this is a good way to get through your correspondence without having to wait for each new message to pop up on the screen. This feature used to be called “Flash Sessions” on earlier versions of AOL..
What To Do If You Are Having Trouble Sending AOL E-Mail
There are three solutions that one may try if they are experiencing trouble sending e-mail from their AOL account.
First, try an AOL Quick Restore. To do this, first select your "Start" button, then select "Programs" or "All Programs", then select "America Online", and select "AOL System Information". Once you have done this, select the "OK" button for AOL 9.0 Security Edition or the "Utilities" button for AOL 9.0 Optimized. Once that is done, select the "Quick Restore" option. Then select the "OK" button for AOL 9.0 Security Edition or the "Proceed" button for AOL 9.0 Optimized. Then select "OK", close the box, and sign on to your AOL account.
Second, you can try to re-detect your connection. To do this, log off (if currently on the internet)and go to your AOL sign on screen. Once there, select the "Sign On Options" button, select "Expert Setup", select you location, select "Delete", and then select "OK". Repeat this until all of your locations are deleted. Close the options box, at which time you should be back at the sign on screen. Press "Sign On" to enable yourself to re-select your locations.
Third, you may want to try your computer. To restart your computer simply select your "Ctrl", "Alt", and "Delete" keys all at once. When a box pops up, press all three keys again.
Using AOL Web mail
AOL software is obviously the best way to check your AOL mail, but if you're away from your computer and you don't have AOL email forwarded to a wireless device, you can use any internet-connected terminal to check your email using AOL web mail. Even your personal address book is available if you need to catch up on your correspondence.
Blocking An Email Address
Blocking an email address that you do not want to receive messages from is easy. Simply select the "Keyword" option on your AOL toolbar and select "Go To Keyword". A box will appear on your screen, at which time you will type in "Mail Controls" and select the "OK" button. When your Mail and Spam controls window pops up, select "Edit" by the Sender Filter and then select "Use A Custom Sender". Once there, type in the name of the address you want to block and then select "Add". Click "Save" on that window and the two windows that are behind it and your settings should be ready to go!
Adding An AOL E-Mail Address To Microsoft Outlook 2002
If you need to add an AOL e-mail address to Microsoft Outlook 2002, follow these steps: Launch your outlook software, select your tools menu, select "E-Mail Accounts", select "Add A New E-Mail Account", select "Next", select "IMAP", select "Next", fill in the "Your Name" box with your name or nickname, type in your full AOL e-mail address in the "E-Mail Address" box, type in your AOL address without the "@aol.com" into the "User Name" box, type your AOL password into the "Password" box, type "imap.aol.com" in the "Incoming Mail Server (IMAP)" box, type "smtp.aol.com" in the "Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP)" box, select "More Settings", select "Outgoing Server", checkmark the "My outgoing server requires authentication" option, select "Use same settings as my incoming mail server", select "Advanced", type 587 in the "Outgoing Mail (SMTP)" box, select "OK", select "Next", and then select "Finish".
Storing Sent AOL Mail
In recent versions of the AOL software, AOL email you've sent will stay in your “Sent” email folder for two weeks before it is deleted. If you want to hang on to your email, go to the Mail menu on the AOL toolbar and select “Mail Settings”. From there you can set your AOL email to store all your sent email on your local PC for as long as you want.
Unblocking An Email Address From Your AOL Address Book
Unblocking an email address that you want to receive messages from is easy. Simply select the "Keyword" option on your AOL toolbar and select "Go To Keyword". A box will appear on your screen, at which time you will type in "Mail Controls" and select the "OK" button. When your Mail and Spam controls window pops up, select "Edit" by the Sender Filter and then select "Use A Custom Sender". Once there, highlight the name of the address you want to let through and then select "Remove". Click "Save" on that window and the two windows that are behind it and your settings should be ready to go!
How To Find Out If E-Mail Has Been Read By Another AOL Member
If you are an AOL member and you send an e-mail to an AOL member, you can tell if the e-mail message has been by clicking on your mailbox icon, selecting the "Sent" tab, highlighting the e-mail in question, and then clicking the "Status" button. You will then be told if the message was read and when it was read. This will also let you know if the address you sent the e-mail to is currently in use.
AOL Mail Features
If you use AOL mail routinely to send email to the same group of people, the address book lets you create mailing lists to make the job simpler. Open your address book from the Mail option on the AOL toolbar and look under “Groups”. You'll see quickly how to set up email address lists.
AOL Email Security
Attaching files to AOL mail is a great way to send documents, pictures, music or whatever. It's also a great way to get a virus or trojan horse program. Using default settings AOL mail will warn you of this before your download an attached file. The safest rule of thumb is never, ever download an attached file if you do not know who the sender is.
Recovering Deleted AOL Mail
If while you check AOL mail and accidentally delete a piece of email from your mailbox, you have 24 hours to recover it. Just go to the Mail menu and select “Recently Deleted Email” to see a list of email you've deleted. You can find the email you deleted and put it back in your In Box. However, email you delete from your Spam folder is permanently gone and cannot be recovered.
The AOL Mail Address Book
One of the handiest ISP services AOL offer in mail is the address book. Did you know that you can retrieve a map of that specific location directly from your Address Book? On the Mail menu on the AOL Toolbar, click Address Book. Select the person or company whose address you wish to map. Under the person's contact information, scroll down if necessary, and click the "Map It! with MapQuest®" link.
Using AOL Web mail
To access AOL web mail, you need to use your regular AOL screen name. Go to the AOL website and use you screen name and password to sign in. Then click on the “Mail” icon to check your AOL email.
AOL Mail Help
Every once in a great while you'll get a message when you check AOL mail that says the AOL mail system is unavailable. Not to worry. AOL's mail system needs periodic upgrades and maintenance. During these normally brief periods of time you will not be able to see your online email. Wait a little while and try again.
AOL Email Security
AOL email is simultaneously one of the most useful and potentially the most dangerous feature on AOL. This is because files attached to email are the greatest source of viruses and other malevolent pieces of software. AOL mail home has lots of tips on how to protect yourself from viruses, trojan horse programs and other hazards of online life.
Recovering AOL E-Mail After 60 Days
Once AOL automatically deletes any mail that has been in your AOL mail box too long, there is no way for you to recover it. The only way to recover deleted email is if you delete it yourself and then restore it before it is taken from your "recently deleted" mail section.
