Communicator Help: Using AOL<sup><font size=-2>®</font></sup> Communicator Mail

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Using AOL Communicator Mail

Mail Settings & Preferences

These sections describe mail settings and preferences that are not related to individual accounts:

Setting the Default Browser
General Mail Preferences
New Folder
Auto-Archive Mail
Backup Local Mail to .zip
Import Mail Messages

Unread Messages in AOL Spam Folder
Spam Filter Settings

Message Security Info (Write Mail)
Message Security Info (Received Mail)

Related topic:

For information about individual account settings, see Mail Account Settings.

Setting the Default Browser

When someone sends you a mail message (or instant message) that includes a link (for example, the location of a web page), clicking the link should launch the default browser for the computer you're using and open the web page or other information that the link points to.

If you haven't set the default browser for your computer, clicking links won't work. Instead, you'll see a message asking you to set your default browser.

Most browser software running on Windows operating systems provides a way to make that browser the default. Launch the browser you want to set as the default, then follow the instructions provided here (or equivalent for other browsers).

To set Netscape 7 as the default browser:

1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
2. Click Navigator.
3. Click Set Default Browser.

To set Internet Explorer as the default browser:

1. Open the Tools menu and choose Internet Options.
2. Click the Programs tab.
3. Click the Reset Web Settings button.

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General Mail Preferences

The Preferences window allows you to control general settings that apply to the entire AOL Communicator Mail application.

If you aren't already viewing the Preferences window, open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.

Click to turn these settings off or on:

- Use AOL Communicator as my system's default mail client: If this setting is selected, your system will use AOL Communicator as the default mail client software. For example, when you Send Page by E-Mail from Internet Explorer, AOL Communicator Mail launches and a Write Mail window opens.
- Show Mail Start Page: By default, the preview pane at the bottom of the Mail window displays the main AOL® Search page when you first start the program, or when an AOL account folder (rather than a folder within the account) is selected. To start up with a blank preview pane instead, deselect this option.

Display a confirmation when: These settings control whether you see a confirmation message after these actions occur.

- Mail has been sent: If this option is selected, you'll see a confirmation message every time you successfully send a message.
- Mail has been marked to send later: If this option is selected, you'll see a confirmation message every time you choose Send while you're offline (or Send Later at any time) and the message is moved to the Outbox for later delivery.
- Emptying trash: If this option is selected, you'll see a confirmation each time you empty the trash for one of your accounts.

When new mail arrives: By default, AOL Communicator Mail plays a sound each time a new message arrives in any of your accounts.

To turn off the default sound, click the Play a sound checkbox to deselect it.

To select a different sound, leave the checkbox and first radio button selected, click the arrow beside the name of the current sound, and choose the one you want from the drop-down list.

To use a custom sound file on your hard disk, click the second radio button, click Browse, select the sound file you want to play when a new message arrives, and click Open.

Writing mail: These settings control the Write Mail window settings for composing a new message.

- Default font for new rich text messages: Select the font you want to use for composing messages from the drop-down list.
- Use rich text for new messages: Select this option to make all new text messages use rich text by default.
  Regardless of whether this option is selected, you can still change the setting for individual messages manually.
- Auto-add addresses to my address book when I write mail: By default, e-mail addresses of recipients in any messages you send are added automatically to your "Auto-Added" category in AOL Communicator Address Book.
  After an address is auto-added, Mail can use it for "type-down" addressing. In addition, messages from addresses that have been auto-added will not be marked as spam (unless you change your spam setting for messages from people in your Address Book; for details, see Spam Filter Settings).
  To stop auto-adding addresses for recipients of your mail messages, deselect this option.
- Perform a spell check before sending mail. If this option is selected, AOL Communicator Mail runs the spell checker automatically when you click Send. If the spell checker finds any errors, it gives you a chance to fix them before the message gets sent.
- Manage Plain Text Domains: Click this button to specify the e-mail addresses or domains for which you want messages to be sent as plain text rather than HTML-formatted "rich text."

Click OK to confirm your choices.

Related topics:

Changing Plain Text Settings
Spam Filter Settings

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New Folder

The New Folder window allows you to create a new folder for any of your ISP mail accounts.

If you are not already viewing it, open the File menu in AOL Communicator Mail and choose New, then choose Folder from the submenu.

- Name: Type the name for your new folder.
- Create as subfolder of: Use the drop-down list to select the account (and if necessary a folder within the account) in which you want to create your new folder.

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Auto-Archive Mail

When you set up archiving for a mail account, copies of all messages sent and received by that account are automatically saved under Archives on your computer.

If you're not already viewing the Auto-Archive Mail window, open the Tools menu and choose Auto-Archive Mail.

Select one of these mail archive settings:

- All accounts: Archive all sent and received messages for all accounts.
- No accounts: Don't archive any messages.
- Archive mail only for the selected accounts: Archive sent and received messages for some but not all of your accounts.
  Click to select or deselect each account as appropriate.

Related topic:

Storing Messages for Offline Use

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Backup Local Mail to .zip

If you're not already viewing the Backup Local Mail window, right-click the folder you want to back up and choose Backup to .zip.

You use this window to confirm what you want to back up:

- Select a folder to back up: Confirm that the folder displayed is the one you want to back up. If not, click the down arrow and choose the folder you want from the drop-down list.
- Include subfolders: This option is selected by default, which means that all subfolders within the selected folder will also be backed up. To back up just the top-level folder, deselect this option.

After you've confirmed your backup settings, click Continue, then choose the location to which you want to save the backup file, type the name of the file, and click Save.

Related topic:

Backing Up and Restoring Local Mail

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Import Mail Messages

The Import Mail Messages window lets you select an application from which to import stored mail messages. To view this window, open the File menu and choose Import Mail Messages.

The application you select must be installed on your computer before you can import messages from it.

If you're importing from Outlook or Outlook Express, see Importing Local Mail from Outlook or Outlook Express before proceeding.

Click Import to begin the import process. The status bar near the bottom of the main Mail window displays progress.

When all messages have been imported, a message appears explaining which folders have been imported and where they are located.

To view your imported messages, look under Local Mail for the name of the application you were importing from.

Related topics:

Only mail messages stored locally by the application you select are imported. To import contact information from Outlook and other applications, see Importing Contact Information.

To import local mail messages from Netscape software, see Importing Local Mail from Netscape 7.0.

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Unread Messages in AOL Spam Folder

AOL 9.0 Optimized and later versions have spam filtering turned on my default. Messages that the filter identifies as spam are placed temporarily in the Spam folder within the AOL client software and don't show up in AOL Communicator Mail.

When you first launch AOL Communicator, you'll see a warning message if the Spam folder in your AOL client software contains unread messages.

If you have unread messages in the Spam folder for any AOL account, you should check them right away to make sure that they are indeed spam, and not messages that the spam filter has incorrectly identified as such. Messages are retained in Spam folder for AOL client software for five days before being deleted automatically.

The easiest way to deal with this issue (and to avoid seeing the warning again) is to

1. Use your AOL client software to check any unread messages in the Spam folders for the listed accounts.
2. Turn off Spam filtering for each account in your AOL client software.

This is a practical approach if you use AOL Communicator as your primary mail application and for filtering spam from all your mail accounts (not just AOL accounts). For detailed instructions, see Turning Off Spam Filtering in AOL 9.0 Optimized.

AOL 9.0 Optimized and later versions of AOL client software use host-based spam filtering, whereas AOL Communicator uses local spam filtering. If you plan to use both applications for checking mail, you need to decide whether you want to use and train both spam filters, or just one. For more details, see Host-Based Versus Local Spam Filtering.

Important: AOL Communicator checks the Spam folders only for AOL accounts that are currently set up in AOL Communicator Mail. Accounts for other screen names may also contain unread messages in their Spam folders.

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Spam Filter Settings

If you're not already viewing the Spam Filter window, open the Spam menu and choose Spam Filter.

General Tab

Select one of these spam filter settings:

- Filter spam for all accounts: Turn spam filtering on and apply it to all accounts. This is the default setting.
- Don't filter out spam (No accounts): Turn all spam filtering off.
- Only for the selected accounts below: Apply spam filtering to some but not all of your accounts.
  Click to select or deselect each account as appropriate.

Options Tab

These options apply to all accounts for which spam filtering is turned on:

- Messages from people in my address book are never spam: In general, it's best to leave this option selected (the default setting).
  However, spam messages may sometimes masquerade as messages from people you know.
  When this option is turned off, Mail checks incoming messages for spam regardless of whether the sender has an entry in your AOL Communicator Address Book.
- Auto-delete spam __ after I receive it. Select this option if you want to set a limit (3 days, 1 week, or 2 weeks) on the length of time AOL Communicator Mail retains messages marked as spam.
  When this option is selected, the drop-down list becomes active. Click the arrow, then click the length of time you want.
  Use this option with caution, since the spam filter sometimes makes mistakes (especially if you haven't trained it very much).
- Reset Spam Filter: Click to erase all the spam filter training that you have done so far and start over.
  You may need to do this if you accidentally train the filter to treat some of your non-spam messages as spam.

Related Topics:

To filter spam effectively, you need to train the filter as you observe the filters in action: Training Your Spam Filter

HOW IT WORKS: Spam Filtering
Turning On Spam Filtering in AOL Communicator
Turning Off Spam Filtering in AOL Communicator

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Message Security Info (Write Mail)

This section describes the Message Security Info window that you can open for any message you are composing. If you're not already viewing Message Security Info, click the Security icon in the toolbar near the top of the Write Mail window.

The Message Security Info window describes how your message will be sent:

Digitally Signed: This line describes whether your message will be signed. There are three possibilities:

Yes: Digital signing has been enabled for this message, you have a valid certificate identifying you, and the message can be signed.
No: Digital signing has been disabled for this message.
Not possible: Digital signing has been enabled for this message. However, a valid certificate identifying you for this purpose is not available, or there is some other problem that makes signing impossible.

Encrypted: This line describes whether your message will be encrypted. There are three possibilities:

Yes: Encryption has been enabled for this message, valid certificates for all listed recipients are available, and the message can be encrypted.
No: Encryption has been disabled or is not possible for this message.
Not possible: Encryption has been enabled for this message. However, a valid certificate for at least one of the listed recipients is not available, or no recipients are listed, or there is some other problem that makes encryption impossible.

Certificates: Certificates available for the recipients of your message.

View: Select the name of the certiicate you want to see and click View.

Related topics:

For information about obtaining certificates and configuring message security settings: Signing & Encrypting Messages.

To indicate your default signing and encryption preferences for all messages: Configuring Security for an Account

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Message Security Info (Received Mail)

In general, message security info for a received message is of interest only if you have a certificate (a form of digital ID) and receive digitally signed or encrypted messages from other people.

If you're not already viewing Message Security Info for a message, select the message whose status you want to view, open the View menu and choose Message Security Info.

The top part of the window displays information about the digital signature, if any, associated with the message.

The bottom part of the window displays information about the encryption status of the message.

Related topic:

Signing & Encrypting Messages

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The sections in this document that discuss security, encryption, and privacy are provided by AOL for your information only. They may help you take certain steps to protect the privacy and security of your personal information on the Internet. This document does not, however, address all online privacy and security issues, nor does it represent a recommendation by AOL about what constitutes adequate privacy and security protection on the Internet.

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Last Updated September 16, 2003