First, you’ll see a Plain Text link to the right of the Subject box in your Compose window. That’s how to get back to plain text if you want to compose without all the rich-text features.

Working from left to right on the Rich Text toolbar, the first item is the Font pull-down menu. The current font choice is displayed in the box, and to the right is a down-arrow you can click to view other font choices. Browse this menu to select another font.

Next is the Font size pull-down menu. Choose the size of font you want by clicking the down-arrow and browsing this menu.

Next are some familiar buttons. To use them, first highlight the text you wish to change by clicking and dragging the cursor over it. You can also double-click one word, or use the arrow keys while pressing Shift.

"B" (Bold): Highlight the text you wish to make bold and click the "B" button.

"I" (Italics): Highlight the text you wish to italicize and click the "I" button.

"U" (Underline): Highlight the text you wish to underline and click the "U" button.

Text Color: Highlight the text you want like to be in color. Then, click this button to see a palette of many colors. Select the text color you want. You can select the font color first, then start typing, and the color will be applied to what you type.

Highlighter (background):Highlight the text to which you'd like to add a background, then press this button to choose the highlighting color.

Smiley Face: Add emotional icon to what you say by selecting from the list of graphical emoticons.

Globe with Links (Web): Insert a web site link.

Line: Insert a horizontal line.

Align Text: Choose from flush-left, centered, or flush-right text alignment.

Bullets and Numbering: Create bulleted or numbered lists.

Decrease Indent: Place the cursor where you would like to move the text to the left and click the "Decrease Indent" button.

Increase Indent: Place the cursor where you would like to move the text to the right and click the "Increase Indent" button.

Stationery: Personalize your email using a wide variety of backgrounds.