Using the Webmail Mail Tab

The mail tab is the default view you'll see immediately after signing in to Hover webmail, and it's where most of your day-to-day email work happens. It's divided into three panes: a folder list, an inbox message list, and a preview of the selected message. This article walks through checking, organizing, composing, and filing your mail from this view.

Getting to Know the Mail Tab

The mail tab opens automatically each time you sign in to Hover webmail. Former Vistaprint email accounts can be reached from any browser at mail.b.hostedemail.com.

Note: Sign in to Hover webmail using your full email address, not your hover.com account username.

Before you begin

• A Hover mailbox with mail service set up: you'll need an active Big or Small Mailbox to use the mail tab.
• Your email address and password: these are different from your hover.com account login.

Checking for New Mail

Select Refresh from the toolbar above the inbox message pane to check for new mail. All system and user-defined folders update immediately.

Viewing Only Unread Messages

To see just the unread messages in your mailbox, click the envelope icon at the top of the inbox message pane. This filters the list down to messages you haven't opened yet.

Resizing the Mail Panes

To adjust the size of a pane, move your cursor to its bottom right corner until the resize handle appears, then click and drag it to the size you want.

Selecting Messages for Bulk Actions

The Select tool lets you choose how you want to select messages before acting on them.

Note: The message preview pane only shows one message at a time.

1. Click Select at the top of the message pane and choose a selection option.
2. If you're using a checkbox-based selection, check the box beside each message you want to include.
3. With your messages selected, choose Forward, Delete, Spam, Mark, or More to act on them.
4. If you choose Spam, confirm by clicking Accept.

Warning: If you accept sharing your data with Hover's spam partner, you won't be prompted again on future spam confirmations. If you decline, you'll see the confirmation pop-up every time you mark a message as spam.

Marking Messages as Spam or Not Spam

Marking unwanted email as spam moves it straight to the spam folder and helps train your spam filter to catch similar messages automatically, which also improves filtering for other Hover customers.

Note: Messages in the spam folder are automatically deleted after 30 days, so it's worth checking it occasionally in case something legitimate ends up there.

To mark a message as spam:

1. Select the message or messages you want to mark as spam.
2. Click Spam.
3. Click Accept to confirm.

To mark a message as not spam:

1. From the spam folder, select the message.
2. Click Not spam to move it back to your inbox.

Marking Messages as Read or Unread

1. Select the message you want to update.
2. Click Mark, then choose As read or As unread.

Flagging Messages for Follow-Up

Flags make it easy to find and track a message for later.

1. Select the message you want to flag.
2. Click Mark, then choose As flagged or As unflagged.

Tip: You can also flag or unflag a message by hovering over the flag icon beside it and clicking it directly.

Deleting Messages

When you delete a message from the inbox, sent, drafts, or any other folder, it moves to the trash folder, where it stays for seven days before being permanently purged, or until you delete it manually.

Note: Messages deleted from the trash folder are gone permanently. Don't use trash as a storage folder.

1. Select the message or messages you want to delete.
2. Click Delete in the message preview pane.

Composing and Sending a Message

The message composer supports sending, replying, and forwarding, along with a built-in text editor and spellcheck.

Email Size Limits

The maximum size for an email, including attachments, is 35 MB. Because attachments are MIME-encoded for transmission, which increases their size, it's best practice to keep individual attachments under 27 MB.

Note: Some mail providers reject large messages outright, so an oversized email may never reach its recipient.

Tip: If you have a Big Mailbox and need to share large files, store them in Files and share a link instead of attaching them directly to an email. See Using Webmail Files (Hover).

Composing and Sending an Email

1. Click Compose.
2. Add your recipient's email address in the To field. To add Cc, Bcc, Reply-to, or Followup-to, click +.
3. Add a subject in the Subject field.
4. Write your message in the body field.
5. Add any attachments by clicking Attach.
6. Click Send.

Note: When you set a Reply-To address, replies go to that address instead of your From address. Followup-To is useful for mailing lists, so replies go to the list address rather than your personal one.

Replying to a Message

1. Select the message you want to reply to.
2. Choose Reply or Reply all.
3. Add your response and click Send.

Forwarding a Message

1. Select the message you want to forward.
2. Choose the forwarding option that fits your needs.
3. Add any recipients or notes, then click Send.

Formatting Text in Your Message

The text editor lets you send plain text or richly formatted HTML email.

1. In the compose window's text body, select the HTML tab to access bold, italic, underline, and alignment controls.
2. Adjust font, size, color, and background as needed.
3. Click the ... icon for advanced tools, including numbered lists, indenting, block quotes, source code, links, images, tables, emoticons, find and replace, and undo/redo.

Using Spellcheck

Spellcheck is available in 44 languages from the compose window.

1. Click the Spell box to turn on spellcheck — it turns green when active. Use the dropdown arrow to choose your language.
2. Questionable spelling is underlined in red as you type. Left-click a highlighted word to see suggested replacements.
3. Click a suggestion from the list to apply it.

Note: Right-clicking a highlighted word activates your browser's built-in spellcheck instead. If both are active, you'll see both sets of suggestions.

Inserting an Image

You can insert images by URL or by uploading a file from your device. Supported formats include .jpg, .gif, and .png.

1. Click the Insert/edit image icon in the text editor.
2. For an image already online, paste its URL into the Source field, adjust the dimensions, and click Save.
3. To use a file from your device, click the Source icon, then Add image.
4. Browse to the image you want and click Open.
5. Once the image is added, click Close, then Save.

Attaching a File

1. Click Attach.
2. Browse to the file you want and click Open.
3. Once uploaded, the attachment appears in the options and attachments pane beside your message.

Organizing Mail with Folders

Folders keep your mailbox organized as your mail volume grows.

System and Personal Folders

System folders — Inbox, Drafts, Spam, Sent, and Trash — support core email functions. You can't rename or remove them, but you can add sub-folders to any of them.

Personal folders are ones you create yourself, up to the limit set by your email plan. You can add, rename, remove, or empty them, and nest sub-folders inside other sub-folders. Personal folders appear below the system folder list, after Trash; sub-folders added to a system folder appear beneath it.

Creating a Folder

1. Click Settings, then Folders, then Create.
2. Type a name in the Folder name field. To make it a sub-folder, choose a parent folder from the drop-down.
3. Click Save.
4. From the List view mode drop-down, choose whether messages display as a list or as threads.

Tip: You can also get here by clicking the three vertical dots above the folder pane and choosing Manage folders.

Sorting Messages Within a Folder

By default, folder contents display by date, newest first. To change this:

1. Click the folder you want to sort, then click Options above the message pane.
2. Choose a sort field — arrival date, sent date, subject, from/to, from, to, cc, or size — and whether to sort ascending or descending. Choose whether to group conversations into threads.
3. Click Save.

Finding Messages Within a Folder

You can run a case-insensitive search across specific parts of a message.

1. Click the folder you want to search, then enter your search term in the search field and press Enter.
2. For a more advanced search, click the search drop-down, enter additional criteria, and click Search.
3. To clear your results, click the X in the search field.

Note: Searching the entire message can take longer than a basic search, depending on how many messages are in the folder.

Renaming, Emptying, or Deleting a Folder

1. Click Settings, then Folders, and choose the folder you want to change.
2. To rename it, enter a new name and click Save.
3. To empty it, click Empty, then Delete to confirm.
4. To delete it, click Delete, then confirm by clicking Delete again.

Note: Emptied messages remain recoverable until the trash folder is purged. Deleting a folder moves its messages to the trash folder.

Moving Messages to Another Folder

1. Select the message you want to move.
2. In the message preview pane, click More, then Move to, and choose the destination folder. Alternatively, drag the selected message directly to the folder you want.

Filtering Mail into Folders Automatically

Filters sort and route incoming mail automatically, based on criteria you set, triggering one of three actions: forward the message, move it to a folder, or delete it.

1. Click Settings, then Filters.
2. Click Actions, then Create.
3. Enter your filter criteria and click Save.

Next steps

• Add senders to your contacts: see Managing Contacts in Webmail so you can quickly address new messages.
• Fine-tune your mail preferences: visit Using Webmail Settings at Hover to adjust display, filter, and spam settings.

Questions? Contact Hover Support.