Yahoo! Mail Classic Tutorials

Receiving Email Messages

Reading a Message Replying to a Message Forwarding a Message Working With Shortcuts Deleting a Message What Do Those Icons Mean?

What Do Those Icons Mean?

You’ve probably noticed the little icons scattered around your Inbox and in open email messages. This is where you can find out what they mean.

In a mail folder, you could see the following icons:

Icons in a mail folder.

Rolodex icon The contact information for this person is in your Yahoo! Address Book. Click the rolodex icon to view the details.
Replied icon You replied to this email message.
Forwarded icon You forwarded this email message.
Flagged icon You flagged this email message for follow up. Follow up can be anything you want to do with the message. For example, you might flag a message to be sure you reply to it later.
Attachment icon This email message includes one or more attached files.

In an email message, you could see the following icons:

Icons in an email message

Call Computer icon The sender of this email has a Yahoo! ID and is available for PC-to-PC calling through Yahoo! Messenger. Click this icon to call the person’s computer.
Instant Message icon The sender of this email has a Yahoo! ID and is online. Click the icon to send the person an instant message using Yahoo! Messenger.
Flagged icon You flagged this email message for follow up. Follow up can be anything you feel you need to do with the message. For example, you might flag a message to be sure you reply to it later.
Smiley icon This person has a Yahoo! ID and is online. Click the icon to send the person an instant message using Yahoo! Messenger.
Smiley icon This person has a Yahoo! ID, and is offline.
Rolodex icon This person is in your Yahoo! Address Book. Click the icon to view the contact details.
Add Contact icon This person is not in your Yahoo! Address Book. Click the icon to add his or her information to the address book.
Mobile icon If you have a text-enabled mobile phone or other mobile device, click the icon to set up Yahoo! Mail to send you a text alert whenever you receive a message from this person.
Attachment icon This email message includes one or more attached files.

Most of these icons appear automatically when they’re appropriate. For example, the smiley icon always displays in an email message next to the sender if that person has a Yahoo! ID. The flag is the only icon that you specifically apply to a message when you mark it for follow up.

 

Here’s How

  1. In a mail folder, check one or more email messages.

    Check one or more messages.

  2. Click the Mark button, then select Flag for Follow Up from the menu.

    Click the Mark button, then select Flag for Follow Up from the menu.

    The Flag icon appears next to the message.

    A flagged message

 

What’s Next

You can also flag an open email message by clicking the Flag Message link at the top of the message.

Click the Flag Message link.

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Words to Know

  • Attachment: a separate file included as part of an email message; for example, a multimedia or document file.
  • Folder: a container that holds individual elements specific to the context; for example, email messages in Yahoo! Mail.
  • Inbox: a folder where you receive incoming email.
  • Instant messaging: the ability to exchange messages in real time with other people over the Internet.
  • PC-to-PC calling: the ability to call another person’s computer from your computer; similar to placing a phone call. Both you and the person you are calling must have a Yahoo! ID and be logged into Yahoo! Messenger.
  • Yahoo! ID: the name by which a person is known to all Yahoo! networks.
  • Yahoo! Messenger: an application that lets you communicate using your voice, text, or other means with one or more people over the Internet in real time (instantly).