Writing and staying in touch
Find an email you received
What you will be able to do In 5 minutes, you'll know how to find an email you received, even one hidden in junk mail.
A received message can get lost in an inbox holding hundreds of others: a bill that arrived yesterday pushes down the recipe you got last month, and almost nothing is left on screen to help you find it. Yet every mailbox keeps everything, and offers tools to search: a search bar (a magnifying glass, at the top of the screen), sorting by sender, folders, and a separate folder, junk mail, where a real message sometimes lands by mistake. We're going to search for a message together, on a screen we designed. Nothing here is real: no real inbox is connected to this exercise, and nothing you touch goes anywhere.
Simulated screen
I practice
This screen was drawn by us. Nothing is sent, nothing is installed, and no real brand is shown.
The situationYour niece Emily sent you her apple pie recipe three weeks ago, and you can't find her message anymore.
The interactive exercise needs JavaScript. The written step by step, just below, says exactly the same thing.
The written step by step
The same steps, in words, to read or print. This sheet works even without the exercise.
Tap search
Your turn You're looking for one specific message, not new ones. Tap where you type what you're looking for.
The magnifying glass, at the top of the screen, opens the search. You type a word from the message you're looking for.
Type a word that matters
Your turn Tap the word most likely to find this specific message.
You type a precise word, like "recipe", or the person's name, like "Emily": either one is enough to bring this message to the top of the results.
When search isn't enough
Your turn Emily's message doesn't show up among these results. Tap what lets you keep searching.
"Also search in other folders" widens the search, including junk mail, where a real message sometimes lands by mistake.
Choose the right message
Your turn This time, three messages show up. Tap the one that's really from Emily.
Emily's message, recognizable by her name and the subject "the promised recipe", is the right one, even if it's misfiled in junk mail.
Stop it from happening again
Your turn You've opened Emily's message. Tap what helps prevent her next message from ending up here again.
"This is not junk mail" takes the message out of the folder and helps the mailbox recognize Emily next time.
The sheet to keep
- The search magnifying glass, at the top of the screen, finds a message by a word or a name.
- A rare word or the person's first name works better than a very common word.
- A search only looks at the inbox first; you have to widen it to also see junk mail.
- A real message can land in junk mail by mistake: you recognize it by its sender and its content.
- "This is not junk mail" takes the message out of the folder and helps for next time.
The reflexes in this skill
I look at WHO is speaking
A displayed name is just text, so it can be copied. What matters is the exact address of the sender, or their phone number. A delivery announced from an unknown mobile number is not a delivery.
I make a copy of what matters
Photos, documents, contacts: anything that exists in only one place can disappear along with the device. A copy somewhere else turns a breakdown into a minor inconvenience.
Two questions to check
Nothing is graded, and nothing is saved anywhere except in your own browser.
You search for a word, but the message you hoped for doesn't appear. What do you do?
See the answer
I widen the search to all folders, including junk mail
A regular search often only looks at the inbox. Widening it to other folders reveals misfiled messages, notably in junk mail.
Two messages contain the word "recipe": one from someone you know, and one from an unknown sender announcing a prize. Which one do you open?
See the answer
The one from the person I know, recognizable by their name
The sender's name remains the most reliable clue. A prize announced by a stranger, never entered, stays suspicious whatever folder it's in.
I've done it
Check this box once you can do this skill on your own.
Your progress stays in your own browser.