The built-in Mail app on Windows 10 allows you to link all your email accounts into a consolidated hub for easy access. The Mail app supports any account that supports POP or IMAP including Outlook, Exchange, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, and iCloud.

Here is how to add an email account to the Mail app and link multiple accounts. We also cover how to customize your accounts and change individual sync settings.

How to add an email account

Click the Mail tile under the start menu (if you do not have Mail pinned to your Start menu, you will find it under ‘m’ under All apps) > click Get Started (your outlook.com email address will be shown if you are already logged into your Microsoft account) > click the Settings icon in the bottom left-hand corner > Accounts > Add Account.

Tip: If you are on a touch device, you can also access Settings, by swiping in from the right edge of the screen > tap Settings.

Once you click Add Account, the Choose an account window will display. The list will be preloaded with the most popular accounts. Select the relevant account that you want to add and follow the instructions.

Once your settings are correct you can jump straight to your email’s inbox. To switch between multiple accounts, select Accounts in the top left-hand corner.

How to link multiple accounts and create a unified inbox

Click Settings in the lower right-hand corner of the Mail screen > Manage Accounts > Link inboxes > select the relevant accounts you want to link from the pop-up > name the linked inbox > click Save.

How to customize your Mail experience for all accounts

Changing any of the settings in this section will change the personalization of all your accounts that you have added.

Change background colors and images

Click Settings in the lower right-hand corner of the Mail screen > Personalization > select from the range of 10 colors or use the Windows accent color. In Personalization, you can also choose between a light or dark theme.

In Personalization, click Browse at the bottom of the screen to add a background image. Choose an image loaded on your PC. In this section, you can also select to have the background image appear in the entire window. Alternatively, it will only appear in the right pane where you write or read new mails.

Change your reading experience

Click Settings in the lower right-hand corner of the Mail screen > Reading.

Under this section, you can select whether you want to Auto-open next item. If you have this selected, your next email will automatically open once you delete your current email.

You can also select when a new message should be marked as read. The options include When selection changes (i.e. you move onto another message), Don’t automatically mark item as read (i.e. you will have to do it manually) or When viewed in the reading pane (i.e. it will be marked as read once the message has been open for a number of seconds).

The last section under Reading is Caret Browsing. If toggled on, you will be able to use your keyboard cursor to navigate the reading pane in Mail. You can also use Page Up/Down or the arrow keys to scroll. If you press the Home button, you can jump to the start of a message or press the End button to take you to the end of the message.

How to customize your Mail experience on a per-account basis

If you have more than one account loaded, you can customize certain settings on a per-account basis.

Click Settings in the lower right-hand corner of the Mail screen > Options > select the specific account from the drop-down menu.

Some of the settings you can change per account include:

• Signature: add a specific email signature per account.
• Automatic Replies: available on Outlook and Exchange accounts only.
• Conversation: by default, messages are group by conversation.
• Notifications: select whether you want notifications to appear for new messages.

Tip: For easy access, you can also pin a specific account’s inbox or other mail folder to the Start menu. Right click the specific folder > click Pin to Start.

How to change your mailbox’s sync settings

Click Settings in the lower right-hand corner of the Mail screen > Manage Accounts > select the account > Change mailbox sync settings.

Under Download new content, select how often the Mail app checks for new messages. Choices include As items arrive, Based on my usage, a specific time period, or Manual that will require you to click the Sync button to check for new messages.

If you unselect the Always download full message and Internet Images, then you will only preview a small part of a new message.

Under Download email from, you can select how far back i.e. the last month, you want messages downloaded to your device.

Under Sync Options, you can toggle whether you want to sync email, calendar or contacts with your account.

Image credit: William Mewes; Flickr