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How to use the Mail app in Windows 10 to access Gmail, iCloud, and more
July 21, 2025
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with using Microsoft’s default Mail app in Windows 10. It’s a native email client that supports Google, Yahoo, AOL, Apple iCloud, Microsoft Exchange, and other POP/IMAP email services. Given it’s baked into Windows 10, you may trust Microsoft will keep your messages secure and the app stable and reliable. We show you how to use the Windows 10 Mail app based on version 1809 (October 2018 update).
Add your first account
1.Click theStart button.2.Scroll down the Start Menu tolocate and open the Mail app.
3.On the Mail app’s welcome screen, selectAdd account.
4. Select a serviceon the following pop-up screen.
5.Enter your credentials in the followingConnecting to a servicescreen.6.ClickDonewhen complete.
Note that if you continuously use the Mail app, you can pin it to the taskbar. This will prevent you from having to hunt down the app on the Start Menu each time you want to check email.
1.With the Mail app already open,right-click on its iconshown on the taskbar.2.SelectPin to taskbar.
Another option is to pin a specific email account to Start. For instance, if you have multiple email accounts but use only one as your primary, such as Gmail, you may create a “shortcut” on the Start menu without pinning the Mail app:
1.With the Mail app already open,right-click on the accountyou want pinned to Start.3.SelectPin to Start.
Add another account
1.Open the Mail app.
- Click the gear-style iconat the bottom of the left panel toaccess Settings.
3.In the rollout menu, selectManage accounts.
4.SelectAdd account.
5. Select a serviceon the following pop-up screen.
6.Enter your credentials in the followingAdd an accountscreen.7.ClickSign inwhen complete.8.ClickDoneif successful.
Modify accounts
- Click the gear-style iconat the bottom of the left panel to accessSettings.
3.In the rollout menu, selectManage accounts.4. Select the accountyou want to modify.
There’s also a shorter way to change account settings. With the Mail app open, right-click on the email account you want to modify and selectAccount settings.
- Insert an optional custom namefor the account.6.Click theChange mailbox sync settingsoption.
This section provides control over how often the app checks for mail, when it downloads new content, and other synchronization options. you may also change your account password and server settings here.
7.While remaining on the sync settings screen, scroll down and clickAdvanced mailbox settings. Additional settings will appear:
ClickDoneand thenSavewhen complete.
A note on changing passwords
As of Version 1809, there is no way to manually change your email account password in Windows 10. For instance, if Google or Yahoo required you to update your account password, there is no direct method to change the same password in Microsoft’s Mail app. Instead, you have two options:
Delete an account
3.In the rollout menu, selectManage accounts.4. Select the accountyou want to delete.
5.In the pop-up window, selectDelete account.
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Snooze an account
If you need to temporarily disable automatic email retrieval on a specific account, you have two options.
3.In the rollout menu, selectManage accounts.4. Select the accountyou want to snooze.
5.In the pop-up window, selectChange mailbox sync settings.
6.On theDownload new emaildrop-down menu, selectManually. This turns off automatic email retrieval but retains the emails you already downloaded in the Mail app.7.A second option is totoggle off Email synchronization, but this de-lists the account and you won’t have access to the downloaded email. These emails aren’t deleted from your PC, just made unavailable.
General use
1.To create a new message,highlight the source accountand clickNew mail.2.In the new message window, selectFormatfor text-based options like italics, bold font, and more.3.TheInsertoption allows you to add files, pictures, links, emoji, and tables.4.TheDrawoption supports touch-based input, virtual pen widths, pen colors, and a drawing canvas.5.TheOptionscategory allows you to set the email to High Priority, check your spellings, and more.6.When complete, hit theSendbutton in the top-right corner.
Add a signature
2.Click the gear-style iconat the bottom of the left panel toaccess Settings.
3.On the roll-out Settings panel, selectSignature.
4.In the resulting window,select the source email accountthat will use the signature.5.Make sure theUse an email signature slider is blue(on).6. Enter your custom textin the what-you-see-is-what-you-get field.
Based on Windows 10 version 1809, you cannot use HTML script as a signature. Instead, you must build a signature from scratch. However, you can change the font face and size, insert links and images.
7.If you want to use the same signature across all email accounts, check theApply to all accountsoption.8.Click theSavebutton.
Change notifications
3.On the roll-out Settings panel, selectNotifications.
4.On the roll-out Notifications panel,select the accountyou want to modify.5.Toggle on or off theShow notifications in the action centeroption.6.Check or uncheckbanners, sounds, and notifications for folders.
If you simply want to turn off notifications for a specific email account,right-click on the accountin the Mail app’s Accounts menu and selectTurn off notifications. Repeat this set to turn on notifications.
Related:How to update Windows 10 and resolve update issues
Enable / disable grouped conversations
“Conversation” is a grouping mechanism that crams all emails stemming from a specific subject into one long message thread. For instance, if you’re emailing and receiving responses from multiple people about a specific topic, everything is crammed together into one entry in your inbox. This tidies up your inbox so there’s less to navigate. Conversations are toggled on by default, but you can easily disable this feature and return to your cluttered old-school email ways.
3.On the roll-out Settings panel, selectMessage list.4. Select the email accountyou want to modify.
5.Scroll down toOrganization.6.SelectIndividual messagesto turn off grouped conversations or selectGrouped by conversationto enable the feature.
Enable / disable Focused inbox (Outlook only)
Here’s another email filter you may find annoying. With Focused inbox, the Mail app splits your Outlook email into two tabs: Focused and Other. Emails deemed “important” fall under the Focused tab while everything gets dumped into the Other group. This filtering system doesn’t always work correctly despite its good intentions.
3.On the roll-out Settings panel, selectFocused inbox.4. Select the email accountyou want to modify.5.Toggle on or off theSort messages into Focused and Otheroption.
Enable / disable automatic replies (Outlook only)
3.On the roll-out Settings panel, selectAutomatic replies.4.Select acompatible account.
5.Toggle on/off theSend automatic repliessetting.6.If toggled on, you can set an automatic response delivered within your organization.7.Click theSend replies outside of my organizationto set a second message for everyone outside your organization.8.Click theSend replies only to my contactsoption if you don’t want strangers knowing you’re baking on a nude beach for the week.
Personalize the Mail app
3.On the roll-out Settings panel, selectPersonalization.4.Change youraccent color.5.Switch betweenLight,Dark, andWindowsmode.6.Switch betweenSpacious,Medium, andCompactfolder and message spacing.7.Toggle on theBackgroundfeature and select an image to fill the entire app window background. ClickBrowseto search for a custom image.
8.Tocollapsethe Accounts menu,click the three-line iconin the top-left corner. This is ideal when using the Mail app out in public.Click it again to expandthe Accounts menu.
Modify the reading pane
3.On the roll-out Settings panel, selectReading pane.
Here you can do the following:
Related:How to do a System Restore on Windows 10
Access iCloud mail with 2-step security turned on
1.Log in to yourApple ID account.
2.Scroll down to theSecuritysection and click theEditbutton.3.UnderApp-Specific Passwords, clickGenerate Password.
4.In a pop-up window,enter a labelfor the new password.5.Click theCreatebutton.6. Copy the password as-isand click theDonebutton.7.Open the Windows 10 Mail app and follow the steps tocreate a new iCloud account.8.Instead of using your Apple ID password,use the new app-specific password.9.Click theSavebutton.
Reset the Mail app
1.Click theStart button.2.On the Start Menu, clickthe gear-style iconto open the Settings app.
3.SelectApps.
4.TheApps & featuressection loads by default. Scroll down and click theMail and Calendar app.5.Click theAdvanced optionslink.
6.In the following window, scroll down toResetand click theReset button.7.Click asecond Reset buttonto confirm.
That concludes our guide on how to use the Mail app in Windows 10. For more Windows 10 fun, check out these guides:
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