When composing a message, there are various customization options available. You can edit these customization options to fit your sending preferences.
The composer
The composer is where you can write your messages. Your message can be sent to recipients in different ways, and various actions can be taken on the message.
Compose in a new window
You can compose messages or replies in a new window by clicking the pop-out arrow icon in the upper-right hand corner of the composer:
You can also open the composer in a new window by holding the Shift key and clicking Compose or Reply.
For more information on using the pop-out composer, please see our Open messages in a new window help page.
Sending replies
Reply options
By default, the reply options you see on a message will depend on the recipients:
- If you are the only recipient of a message, the reply button will be displayed as Reply, and the reply will go to the sender.
- If you are a recipient on a message that was sent to a mailing list/listserve, the reply button will be displayed as Reply to list by default.
- If you are a recipient on a message that has multiple recipients, the reply button will be displayed as Reply to all by default, and the reply will go to all other recipients listed on the message.
If you are viewing a conversation and you only want to respond to an individual sender, click the Actions button in the message and select Reply to sender.
If you have already started drafting a message, you can click Reply to ___ in the composer and select the desired reply option.
If you prefer to have your replies go to the sender by default, this can be changed under Settings → Mail preferences (see "Replying in a conversation" on the Conversations help page for more).
Inline replies
When replying to a message in the web interface or desktop app, the compose window will appear inline within the conversation thread, allowing you to scroll up and reference the conversation if needed. Composer buttons (Send, Attach, Discard, etc.) will be shown along the bottom of the composer.
The subject line is hidden when replying inline to provide more space for writing your message. If you need to edit the subject line, you can do so by clicking the More button on the bottom toolbar, then clicking Edit subject. (Note: We generally do not advise changing a subject line on a reply, as this breaks conversation threading.)
Focused view
If you prefer to compose replies in a focused view (similar to the normal compose window), you can switch to the focused view by clicking the icon that looks like two arrows:
When replying in focused view, the composer buttons will be located at the top of the composer, and the subject line will always be shown.
If you switch to focused view, this preference will be saved locally.
Adding recipients
A message can be sent to one recipient or multiple recipients.
Recipients can be added to the To field, Cc field, and/or the Bcc field. Clicking Cc and Bcc will display the Cc and Bcc fields. Recipients added to the Cc field will be carbon copied, and recipients added to the Bcc field will be blind carbon copied.
After adding a recipient, you can drag and drop them between To, Cc, and Bcc as needed. If you want to select more than one recipient at a time, you can use Ctrl + Click to select individual recipients, or Shift + Click to select a range of recipients. You can also right-click the recipient to show a menu where you can quickly add them as a contact, or view their contact information if they have already been added to your addressbook.
Composer toolbar actions
There are different actions that can be taken on a message. These are found on the composer toolbar, and include the Send, Save draft, and Discard actions.
Click Send to send your message to the intended recipients. There is also the Scheduled Send option, which can be accessed by clicking on the down arrow that is on the right side of Send. This is used for scheduling a later time in which your message will be sent out. For more details, see the Scheduled Send help page.
Click Save draft to save the message you're currently composing as a draft. For more details, see the Drafts help page.
Click Discard to delete the message you're currently composing.
"More" options
The More button in the composer toolbar shows extra options that you can enable for your message:
- Show/Hide Cc: This option will toggle the Cc line on or off.
- Show/Hide Bcc: This option will toggle the Bcc line on or off.
- Edit subject: This option will only be shown if you are replying to a message in the web interface or desktop app (see Inline replies above).
- Make plain text: This option will remove all formatting from your message and convert it to plain text. If you have plain text enabled, this option will show as Make rich text.
- Mark high priority: This option will tell the recipient that you believe your message should be considered as urgent.
- Request read receipt: This option will request that the recipient notify you when they've read your message.
More details on the high priority and read receipt options can be found in the Read receipts help page.
Formatting toolbar
There are various options available for formatting your messages in the composer. For a more detailed explanation of the formatting options, please see the Add formatting to emails help page.
If you prefer a distraction-free composing area, you can toggle the formatting toolbar on or off by clicking the A icon in the composer. The formatting toolbar can be toggled on/off in the web interface and desktop app only.
Compose settings
These settings can be found in Settings → Mail preferences.
Compose
This section includes settings you can apply when you are writing a message.
- Default address: Set the address you want as the default when writing your messages.
- Undo send: Enable or disable the period of time where you can undo the sending of a message.
- Auto-save contacts: Enable or disable automatically saving addresses you communicate with to your contacts.
- Compose format: Set the format of when you're writing a message to rich text or plain text. There is also an option to use the same format as the original message when you are replying.
- Default style: Use the formatting section to set default styling for when you're writing your messages. The formatting added here will automatically apply when composing a new message or replying to a message.
- Default email app: Choose to make Fastmail your default email app.
When replying
This section includes settings you can apply when replying to messages.
- Reply from: Choose which address you want to reply from.
- Default reply to: Choose the default behavior for when replying in an email thread.
- Signature position: Choose where to place your signature when replying. For more information on signatures, please see the How to create a signature help page.
- Include the original message: Choose how you want the original message to be shown in your reply.
- Reply attribution: This is where you can modify your reply attribution line. For more details on this, see the Reply attribution help page.
When forwarding
This section includes settings you can apply when you're forwarding a message.
- Signature position: Choose where to place your signature when forwarding. For more information on signatures, please see the How to create a signature help page.
- Include the original message: Choose how you want the original message you're forwarding to be shown in your message.