## Compose: sending mail

- Writing messages
- Including attachments
- Sending, canceling, and saving drafts
- Headers
- Automatic saves
- Displaying the Compose window in a new browser
- Selecting a compose encoding

The Compose screen is where you write and send messages. The Compose screen in divided into two sections:

- The header section is at the top. You use the header section to address the mail and control the text format.
- The message section is below the header. The message section is where you enter and format message text.

## Writing messages

1. On the menu bar, click Compose.
2. In the header section, enter the addressing information. By default, the header displays the To, Cc, and Subject fields. For information on displaying more header fields, see Headers.
3. In the message section, enter your message text. At the top of the message section, a formatting toolbar allows you to apply rich-text formatting to message text. You can also insert links and graphics using the formatting toolbar.
4. If desired, you can mark your message with a priority level. On the menu bar, point to Priority, and then click the level that you want for this message.

## Including attachments

1. On the menu bar, click Attach.
2. Enter the path and file name for the file that you want to attach, or click Browse to browse for the file and select it.
3. If desired, enter a description in the Description field.
4. Click Attach file.

## Sending, canceling, and saving drafts

To send mail

- On the menu bar, click Send.

You can control whether all send messages are automatically saved to your Sent folder. For more information, see Settings.

You can also control whether all sent email addresses are saved as contacts. For more information, see Settings.

To cancel an editing session

1. On the menu bar, click Cancel, or click any item in the left pane, such as your Inbox.
2. Click Discard to confirm. The Compose screen closes and your Inbox appears.

To save a draft of a message

- On the menu bar, click Save Draft. A copy of the message is saved to the Drafts folder. The Compose screen closes and you are returned to the screen that was displayed before the editing session began.

#### Note:

If you open a previously saved draft, make more changes, and then cancel the editing session and discard changes, the entire draft is deleted, not just the most recent changes.

## Headers

The header section is where you enter addressing information. By default, the header displays the To, Cc, and Subject fields.

To display all headers

- To the right of the To field, click More Headers.

To display only the default headers

- To the right of the To field, click Fewer Headers.

### Header fields

The following header fields are available:

- To. Use this field to specify email recipients:
  - Type the full email address of the recipient. Separate multiple addresses commas.
  - Type a name or nickname specified in your contact list and click. Alpine expands the name or nickname to the full address. Separate multiple addresses commas.
  - Click To to display to your contact list and select an address.
- Attachments. Lists any files that have been attached to the message.
- Subject. Enter a brief phrase describing the topic of the message.
- Cc (Carbon copy). Similar to the To field. Enter one or more addresses to receive a copy of the message. These addresses are seen by all message recipients.
- Bcc (Blind carbon copy). Similar to the To and Cc fields. Enter one or more addresses to receive a copy of the message. The recipients see only their own addresses; the other addresses are hidden.
- Fcc (File carbon copy). Specifies a folder to which a copy of your outgoing message is saved. You can control whether messages are saved with or without attachments. For more information, see Settings.

## Automatic saves

Alpine saves a draft every 5 minutes, overwriting the draft each time, so that only the most recent saved version is preserved.

## Displaying the Compose window in a new browser window

You can display the Compose window in a new browser window, so that you can see the message that you are writing and another Alpine screen, such as your Inbox, at the same time.

To display the Compose window in a new browser window

- On the far right end of the menu bar, click the Detach icon.

## Selecting a compose encoding

You can select an encoding for outgoing messages. For more information, see Settings.