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Desktop Email Client Setup Made Easy

Desktop Email Client Setup Made Easy
Desktop Email Client Setup Made Easy

Did you know? The first email was sent over 40 years ago — in 1971, to be exact — by a man named Ray Tomlinson, who is often credited as the inventor of email. Since then, email has become ubiquitous in communication. Every day, more emails are sent and received than on the previous day. Email has its place in society as a norm, to the point where if you don't have email, others might find that odd. Email is so common that today, you may be thinking about setting up an email client for your desktop to save time and make your life easier. These clients help you save an email as a pdf for offline use..

At first, the usability of email was limited. Some early systems required users to be logged into the same host to send a message. Later iterations only allowed communication between the same email client. But as the internet has advanced, so has email. Now, you have a choice for which email client you would like to use — and there's a lot to choose from!

The first decision you have to make is whether or not you should use a desktop or webmail/cloud-based email. Both systems have their advantages, so the choice is mainly a matter of personal preference. We'll outline the pros and cons of each in the next section and discuss in detail how to set up an email client.

Desktop Email Client vs. Webmail: Which Should You Choose?

To start, let's look at desktop email clients — applications that enable you to manage your inbox by sending, receiving, unsending the useless emails and organizing messages directly from your desktop or mobile device. A few names that might ring a bell include Microsoft Outlook, Thunderbird, and, of course, Mailbird.

Desktop email clients are best for people with multiple email addresses, especially on different domains. You simply cannot beat the functionality and organization of managing multiple email addresses in a desktop email client. They also allow you offline access to your email, which webmail cannot do, and they typically have better security features and far superior filtering, sorting, flagging, and tagging capabilities than webmail.

Plus, desktop email clients have become so sophisticated that they are now more than just full email addresses. Many applications integrate with calendars, to-do lists, and other apps to increase productivity. If any of these features are important to you, a desktop email client is the way to go, but you first have to understand how to set up an email client.

Desktop Email Clients

Pros and cons of desktop email clients
Pros and cons of desktop email clients

Webmail, on the other hand, is an email system that allows you to access your email address via a web browser. Think Gmail, Yahoo, or Hotmail. The obvious advantage to webmail is that you can access your email from anywhere on any device without needing to access a third-party application.

However, webmail does not typically support custom domains without upgrading or paying a premium. You might also be inundated with advertisements. And, if you are a user with multiple email accounts and different domains, you have to log into all your accounts on separate tabs or browsers, which can get messy and complicated.

Webmail

Pros and cons of webmail
Pros and cons of webmail

For the purpose of this article, we are going to focus on desktop email clients.

Manage your email accounts from your desktop.

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Choosing the Right Email Client

Now that you've decided to go with a desktop email client, the big question becomes: Which email client should you use? Should it be paid or free? If its paid than what makes it best alternative to free email clients? There are many options available, and it can be challenging to sift through them all. Fortunately, to narrow your search, we have answers to some of the questions you may have.

  1. Is the interface of your email account simple, clean, and intuitive? By far the biggest complaint with desktop email clients is that the user experience is outdated and clunky. Fortunately, new desktop email clients like Mailbird come equipped with a modern, sleek interface that's uncluttered and easy to navigate. You'll want to select a system with that type of experience.
  2. Does the email client support multiple email addresses from different providers? 90% of the time, they will. Still, it's smart to double check.
  3. Can you integrate with other apps along with your email addresses, such as Google Calendar or social media platforms? As we've mentioned previously, desktop email clients have evolved into productivity hubs that do more than just send and receive email. Accessing your calendar, social media accounts, messaging apps, and more in one place turns your email client into a productivity machine.

Integrating social media accounts in desktop email clients
Integrating social media accounts in desktop email clients

  1. How much storage do you get? A differentiator between desktop email clients may be the amount of storage they provide, which affects attachments and how much email address you can back up. If you need to back up everything, more space is better. If you don't really care to back up your emails, then storage won't matter to you as much.
  2. What is the setup like? Some desktop email clients get you signed up with just a valid email address and a password. Others require protocol addresses, port numbers, email aliases, and additional preferences. If you're not particularly tech savvy, this can be intimidating and frustratingly complex. Take a quick look through the email client's setup process so you can get up and running with minimal irritation.

Of course, these questions will only help you if you know which desktop email account to look at. And we've already done some of the work for you! This blog post describes Mailbird, Thunderbird, Inky, Outlook, Zimbra, and Hiri and provides the necessary input to help you make your decision.

How to Setup an Email Client on Your Desktop

Phew! You did it. You picked your desktop email client. Now it's time to set it up! This process can seem daunting, especially when you're bombarded with acronyms like POP3, IMAP, and SMTP. Fortunately, it's not as complicated as it looks, especially with an email client like Mailbird. We'll use this as an example of how to get set up an email client!

Step 1 — Log in and add account

If this is your first time opening Mailbird, you'll be greeted with an "Add email account" dialog box that asks for your name, email, and password. Type in your information (email address and password) and click "Continue." Mailbird will find all the information required to set up your account.

To add an additional email account (after you've already added your first account), click the menu button on the top left of Mailbird and select "Settings." In the Accounts tab, you'll see a button for "Add." Use this to add an email account. You can add multiple email accounts at this step.

Adding multiple accounts to your email client
Adding multiple accounts to your email client

Step 2 — Configure network settings

Once you've done that, a box titled "Network settings" pops up. Click "Continue." In this step, the system will use your email address and password to search for network settings — all those funky acronyms we mentioned earlier. Once the system detects your settings associated with your email address, you'll be prompted with the next step.

If you're using a custom domain, it's possible the system will not be able to detect your network settings and a "Settings not found" box will pop up. In that case, you'll have to enter the settings for an email address yourself. If you don't have that information, check with your email provider. (For example, if it's your work email, your IT team will have the information.) Once you've filled in all the required information, click "Continue."

Step 3 — Customize your experience

After the system connects all your network settings, a few other prompts to customize your Mailbird experience will pop up. The first asks you to assign profile photos to your contacts, which you can do by connecting to Facebook, or you can skip this step.

Next, you're offered the opportunity to customize your layout and theme color. You can always come back to this setting later if you want to experiment.

Step 4 — Add your favorite integrations

Finally, you'll be prompted to connect third-party applications, such as WhatsApp, Google Calendar, social media accounts, and more. Select the apps you'd like to integrate and click "Continue." If you do not want to connect any apps at this time, just click "Continue."

Voila! Your email account is set up. The last step allows you to add more email accounts, or simply click "Close" to start playing around in Mailbird!

See how easy that can be? In less than five minutes, you'll be on your way to becoming an email ninja!

Conclusion

Considering how often we check our email in one day and how frequently we use it for communication, having an awesome email address client makes that process much less stressful. If you are thinking about setting up an email client, this article is for you. The more organized your inbox, the simpler the interface, and the more intuitive the system, the less time you'll waste on email — which means more time for the important tasks!

Do you have any tips for choosing the right email client, or are you still thinking about how to set up an email quickly and easily? Let us know in the comments!

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FAQ

What is meant by "email client?"

An email client is a computer program used to manage a user's email. You can add multiple email addresses to your email client. These come with various features and preinstalled apps.

Is there a Gmail client for desktop?

No, there is no Gmail downloadable desktop app. So, users cannot download the app to their desktops. There are other ways to add a Gmail desktop email account to email clients.

What is the best desktop email program?

Mailbird is the best desktop email program. It comes equipped with a modern, sleek interface that's uncluttered and easy to navigate.

Does Windows 10 have an email program?

Yes, a Windows 10 Mail app is available with the free version of Microsoft's Office suite. It comes with a preinstalled calendar.

Does Windows 11 have an email program?

Yes, the new Windows version comes with a desktop email client; however, its functionality is quite limited. If you need a fully functional app for keeping your inbox organized, try Mailbird - it is supported on Windows 11 and earlier versions.