10 tips for setting up an email account

Setting up a new email account can be a daunting proposition. Follow these tips for a painless migration and setup process.

Email inbox with tips for setting up a new email account.

Looking for a new email provider? Every day, tens of millions of internet users set up new email address for personal and professional use. However, to get the most value out of your email address, you’ll need to take the right interventions early in order to prevent it from becoming a sea of frustrating spam, annoying notifications, and tens of thousands of unread emails. It’s time to start fresh.Below, we walk through critical tips when selecting, setting up, and maintaining a new email account. Whether for your personal life or business email address, we’ll walk through how to transfer contacts, set up custom domain names, and manage email conveniences, like aliases and filters.

Choose a provider

To start, you’ll want to choose an email provider that best suits your needs. There are many different providers available, each with its own set of features. In this blog, we outline differences in email providers and how you can migrate to a new email account. This includes setting up email forwarding, migrating your custom domain and DNS settings, setting up desktop access with IMAP, and adding an auto-reply to remind old contacts that you’llIf you’re looking for an end-to-end encrypted provider, we highly encourage using Skiff Mail, which provides privacy-first, end-to-end encrypted communications. Skiff Mail also integrates with Skiff Pages and Drive, which provide real time collaboration, file storage, sharing, templates, and more.

Review privacy policies and encryption

When you read a privacy policy, it's important to understand what information is being collected about you and how it will be used. Look for information about what personal data is being collected, how it will be used, and whether it will be shared with third parties. For example, social media sites are notorious for selling customer data to third parties.As you read, pay attention to the language used in the privacy policy. Some companies use vague or confusing language to hide the fact that they are collecting personal data. If you can't understand what a company is saying in its privacy policy, be suspicious. Finally, remember that a privacy policy is a legal document. If you don't agree with the terms, you may not be able to use the company's services. If you have any questions, contact the company directly to get clarification.

Set up your account securely

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is an additional layer of security that should also be used to protect your new email account. When 2FA is enabled, a user is required to provide two pieces of evidence (or "factors") to verify their identity before they can access their account. The most common type of 2FA uses a combination of a password (something the user knows) and a code that is generated by an authentication app, from an SMS code, or using a hardware token (something the user has).2FA can help to prevent unauthorized access to online accounts, even if an attacker knows the user's password. In This is because the attacker would also need to have access to the user's mobile device in order to generate the code required for 2FA. In certain cases, even if you choose a strong password, your email provider may have security breaches, insecure authentication methods, or experience other hacks that make 2FA a critical security measure. 2FA is not a perfect solution, but it can be a helpful security measure, particularly for high-value accounts such as email or financial accounts.

Add a recovery email

Adding a recovery email will allow you to reset your password if you forget it. If you create a new email address, forgetting your password or losing access to a device you previously used could permanently lock you out of your new account. Regardless of the provider you choose, including Gmail and Skiff, email accounts all allow for adding a backup email address. Some email providers may also allow you to add a phone number for backup or two-factor authentication.Adding a backup email can have additional security benefits as well. Some email providers will deliver security alerts, such as suspicious sign in attempts, to your backup email address warning that you may need to change your password. Pay attention to these alerts as they may be a last line of defense if your password or sign in methods are compromised.

Consider an email backup solution

For many cloud based providers, email backup may not come as an initial top priority. However, email is one of the most important forms of communication, so it's critical to back up your emails in case of data loss.There are a few different ways to back up your emails, and the best method depends on your needs and constraints. One way to back up your emails is to export them to a file, such as a .pst file, .mbox file, or .eml files. This file can be imported into another email program, such as MicrosoftOutlook, or help you transition to a new email provider, like Skiff. This method is ideal if you need to switch email programs or if you want to keep a local copy of your emails. You may also consider storing exported files on a cloud backup service. This way, you'll have a local copy as well as a cloud-based copy. For more information on choosing an encrypted cloud storage provider, visit our blog on the subject here.

Set up email filters

Email filters can automatically organize your inbox by sorting incoming mail using folders, labels, and other rules.There are a few ways to set up email filters, depending on the email service you use. Here are instructions for setting up filters in Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo Mail.Gmail1. Log in to your Gmail account and click the gear icon in the top right corner.2. Select "Settings" from the drop-down menu.3. Click the "Filters and Blocked Addresses" tab.4. Click the "Create a new filter" link.5. Enter the criteria for your filter in the appropriate fields. For example, you could enter a specific email address in the "From" field to filter all messages from that address.6. Click the "Create filter with this search" link.7. Select the actions you want to take for messages that match your filter criteria. For example, you could choose to delete all messages from a certain sender.8. Click the "Create filter" buttonOutlook1. Log in to your Outlook account and click the gear icon in the top right corner.2. Select "View all Outlook settings" from the drop-down menu.3. Click the "Mail" tab.4. Click the "Rules" link.5. Click the "Add new rule" link.6. Enter the criteria for your filter in the appropriate fields. For example, you could enter a specific email address in the "From" field to filter all messages from that address.7. Click the "OK" button.8. Select the actions you want to take for messages that match your filter criteria. For example, you could choose to delete all messages from a certain sender.9. Click the "Save" button.Yahoo Mail1. Log in to your Yahoo Mail account and click the gear icon in the top right corner.2. Select "Settings" from the drop-down menu.3. Click the "Filters" tab.4. Click the "Add" button.5. Enter the criteria for your filter in the appropriate fields. For example, you could enter a specific email address in the "From" field to filter all messages from that address.6. Click the "Save" button.7. Select the actions you want to take for messages

Consider using folders, adding labels, or archiving

On a new email account, you’ll want to keep your inbox organized to prevent a mess of unread emails, spam, and sponsored promotions. We encourage spending time early in your setup process to figure out a workflow that works best for your use case. For example, some email users choose to set up labels, folders, or filters to separate incoming email. Others choose to stick with one organization method - such as folders - for maximum tidiness.When you receive an email, you can either file it away in a designated folder or label it so you can easily find it later. Filing emails away in folders can help to keep your inbox organized and tidy, while labeling emails allows you to quickly find and reference specific emails. Generally, email folders also remove mail from your inbox, while multiple labels can be applied to a single email stored inside your inbox.If you find yourself constantly searching for certain types of emails, it might be helpful to create a folder for them. For example, if you frequently need to reference order confirmation emails, you could create a folder called "Orders" and file all of your order confirmation emails away in that folder. On the other hand, if you only occasionally need to reference an email, labeling it might be a better solution. For example, if you receive an email from your bank that you need to refer to later, you could label it "Banking" so you can easily find it when you need it without excluding it from your inbox. In general, using both labels and folders can help to keep your inbox organized and make it easier to find specific emails when you need them. Experiment with both methods to see what works best for you and your email habits.

Test out email search

If you’re experimenting with new inbox organization techniques, we highly recommend learning the ins-and-outs of your provider’s search functionality. On Gmail, knowing certain operators can let you sort through folders, subject lines, senders, labels, and more. Other providers implement different search offerings as well; for example, Apple’s native mail app supports basic text search, while Skiff’s web client supports sender, attachment, label, and folder search via a graphical interface inside the app.

Set up mobile and desktop apps

To properly set up a new email account, you’ll want to get acquainted with your new provider’s mobile, desktop, tablet, and web apps. All major email providers offer sophisticated cross platform capabilities and sync to ensure your inbox is always accessible. However, mobile email products vary in speed, capabilities, and more, so you may want to review your email organization system (labels, folders, search, and more) via your provider’s mobile applications.

Set up advanced features

With four billion email users worldwide, providers have started to offer advanced inbox features for email power users. These include email signatures (a relatively basic feature), auto replies (which will respond to all incoming mail), undo send (which will delay sending your email for 5-30 seconds in case you choose to undo), and multiple email aliases. On privacy-focused email providers, multiple aliases are a critical feature for maintaining privacy on your email address while funneling all email to a single inbox.For business users, email providers frequently integrate with contact information, collaborative documents, or workspace features (custom domains, custom signatures, and centralized management for business email accounts).

Conclusion

A new email account is only as powerful as the time spent in setup. We recommend following the tips above to organize your inbox, set up desktop and mobile apps, and maintain privacy and security of your new email address. For more tips on transitioning from an old email address to a new one, check out our blog on email migration here.