Outlook basics for business
A beginner's guide to using Outlook for business email — reading, sending, replying, organizing, and using the calendar.
Outlook is Microsoft's email and calendar app. It comes with every Microsoft 365 business subscription and is one of the most widely used business email tools in the world. This guide covers the essentials so you can get up and running quickly.
Quick summary
You can use Outlook in your browser at outlook.office.com, or as a desktop app installed on your computer. Your inbox, calendar, and contacts all live in one place. This guide covers the web version, which looks the same on any computer.
Accessing Outlook
Go to outlook.office.com and sign in with your work email and password. This is the easiest way to access email from any computer — no installation needed.
If your Microsoft 365 plan includes desktop apps, open the Outlook application on your computer. It will ask you to add your work email address the first time. Sign in as you normally would.
Reading email
When you open Outlook, you will see your Inbox in the left panel. Click any email to read it in the main panel.
At the top of each email you will see the sender's name, the subject line, and the time it arrived. Below that is the email body.
Key actions on an email:
- Reply — respond to the sender only
- Reply all — respond to everyone in the To and CC fields
- Forward — send the email to someone new
- Delete — move it to the Deleted Items folder
- Flag — mark it for follow-up
Sending a new email
Click New mail (or the + New email button, depending on your view).
Type the recipient's email address in the To field. As you type, Outlook will suggest contacts. Press Enter or click a suggestion to add them.
Add a CC or BCC if needed. CC copies someone in visibly. BCC copies them invisibly.
Write a clear subject line. This helps the recipient know what the email is about before they open it.
Write your message in the body area below the subject line.
Click Send.
The calendar
Click Calendar in the left-hand navigation (usually a calendar icon). Here you can:
- See all your scheduled events and meetings
- Create new events by clicking a time slot
- Accept or decline meeting invitations (they appear in your inbox as invitations, and accepted ones show up automatically on your calendar)
Basic organization
You can keep your inbox tidy with a few simple tools:
- Folders — move emails into folders to keep them organized. Right-click a folder in the left panel to create a new one.
- Rules — automatically sort incoming email into folders. See Organizing Outlook with rules & folders for a full guide.
- Archive — moves an email out of your inbox into an archive folder without deleting it.
- Sweep — quickly delete or move all emails from a particular sender.
Deleted items aren't gone immediately
When you delete an email, it goes to the Deleted Items folder. It stays there until you empty that folder or it's automatically cleared (usually after 30 days). If you delete something by mistake, check there first.
Setting up your email signature
Every email you send should have your name, title, and contact details at the bottom. See Setting up your Outlook signature for step-by-step instructions.
Searching for emails
The search bar at the top of Outlook searches your email, contacts, and calendar. Type a name, subject, or keyword. Outlook will show matching results. You can filter results by date, sender, or folder.
Common questions
Related guides
- Organizing Outlook with rules & folders
- Setting up your Outlook signature
- Shared mailboxes in Microsoft 365
- Signing in to Microsoft 365
- Microsoft 365 on your phone
Need a hand?
Learn more
Resetting a user's password in Microsoft 365
How to reset a Microsoft 365 user's password from the admin center — whether they're locked out or just need a fresh start.
Organizing Outlook with rules & folders
How to create folders and set up automatic rules in Outlook to keep your inbox organized and reduce email overwhelm.