Opera Mail Tutorial
The Opera Mail layout
This topic introduces you to the Opera Mail layout and explains how to navigate it and how to use Mail views.
Opera Mail layout
When you open Opera Mail, you'll see a layout something like this:
- Mail panel and views
- Message list
- Selected message display
- Mail panel selector
- Main menu with options for Opera Mail
- Search mail field
- Show Message Thread icon
- Settings for This View icon
- Mail toolbar
- Default Mail Settings icon
- Closed Tabs icon
1. Mail panel and views
The Mail panel is the key to using Opera Mail. It gives you easy access to all your mail and news, and allows you to quickly read and send messages. The panel displays automatically when you are using Opera Mail and closes when you go to a different tab not related to email. At the bottom of the panel, a notifcation flashes when Opera Mail is checking for messages.
The Mail panel displays a set of default “views” to help you access your messages more efficiently. It's important to understand how Opera Mail uses views, as opposed to the more traditional folders you may have seen in other mail clients. Opera Mail stores all your emails in one central location but automatically organizes how they are displayed using a range of views. These are like tags, filters, or search results based on certain search criteria. Opera Mail's default views automatically display emails of a similar type, such as those:
- that have not been read yet (unread)
- with attachments
- from mailing lists
Often this means that one email is displayed in a number of views without being copied or moved, if it matches different criteria. For example, a message that has not been read yet that also has a document attached to it appears under the Unread, Received, and Attachments views.
Default views
Default views are organized into groups under view headers and are listed in the table below with descriptions.
- If a view has unread messages, the header appears in bold with the number of unread messages shown in brackets next to it.
- Some headers or views may not display, depending on the types of messages you have sent or received. For more details, see Default views that display when needed below.
- You can re-order headers and decide what headers to show or hide. See more: Customize the Mail panel
| Category | View | Description |
|---|---|---|
| All messages | Category header for available views | |
| Unread | Shows new, unread messages until they are marked as read, except newsgroup messages, which are under a separate category | |
| Received | Shows all received messages and is the central location for storing all received messages | |
| Pinned | Shows messages that you have pinned (flagged) for action or as a reminder | |
| Outbox | Shows queued messages waiting to be sent, temporarily, until they are sent | |
| Sent | Shows sent messages; you can resend messages and cancel newsgroup postings from here too | |
| Drafts | Stores drafts automatically while your write and moves it to Sent once you send it | |
| Spam | Shows messages identified as junk mail according to the spam filter, which learns from the messages you add and remove from here | |
| Trash (Deleted) | Shows messages you deleted from views or labels | |
| Labels | Individual label views | Shows messages marked by labels, including default labels, custom labels, or a saved search query |
Default categories that display when needed
These only display when there are active messages of the corresponding type:
| Category | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mailing lists | Messages from mailing lists, under individual views | Mailing lists you are subscribed to are automatically recognized by Opera Mail, as long as the subject header contains an one of the following: X-Mailing-List, List-ID, List-Post, or Mailing-list in combination with Delivered-to. See IETF RFC 2919 for specifications. |
| Attachments | Messages with attachments | Attachment categories are:
|
| Followed contacts | Contacts you are following | Displays only if you have chosen to follow a particular contact. Click on a contact to display messages from them. These messages can be displayed in threaded view. For more details, see Follow or ignore messages from contacts. |
| Followed threads | Message discussion threads you are following | Displays only if you have chosen to follow a particular thread. Select a thread to display all messages in that thread. For more details, see the Viewing and managing threads topic. |
| Newsfeeds | RSS or Atom newsfeeds you have subscribed to, under individual views | See Newsfeeds |
| Newsgroups | Messages from newsgroups, displayed under separate categories for each subscribed news server, for example, opera newsgroups display under news.opera.com | Mailing lists you are subscribed to are automatically recognized by Opera Mail, as long as the subject header contains an one of the following: X-Mailing-List, List-ID, List-Post, or Mailing-list in combination with Delivered-to. See IETF RFC 2919 for specifications. |
IMAP folders
Opera does not automatically honor folder subscriptions. To display IMAP folders:
- Choose to open the IMAP folders dialog. Your IMAP folders automatically appear in the Mail panel under the IMAP header.
- To locate a specific folder in the subscription dialog quickly, use the search field.
- To change the account for viewing folders, use the account drop-down.
- Click New account to create a new account.
- To toggle the subscription status, click the folder name.
The folders are added to views under the IMAP account header in the Mail panel, and messages are retrieved during the next check for new messages. Opera Mail displays a separate header at the bottom of the Mail panel for your IMAP account. Your IMAP inbox folder is displayed under this header, and all incoming message headers from your account will be downloaded to this. As with all accounts, your messages also display in default views, such as Unread, Received, Sent and Spam.
2. Message list
The message list shows the message summaries for the selected view, such as Unread. To change views, go to the Mail panel and choose another header.
3. Selected message display
This window displays the contents of a selected message from the message list.
4. Mail panel selector
The Mail panel selector toggles the Mail panel. Alternatively, you can press F4.
5. Main menu options for Opera Mail
From the main menu in Opera, options for Opera Mail include:
- Mail — This provides a menu of common actions, such as reading or composing mail, viewing labels, or toggling low bandwidth mode.
- Mail and Chat Accounts — This is used to change settings for your Opera Mail accounts, and create new types of accounts.
6. Search mail field
Search all messages, or just those in a particular view from this field. See more: Search for messages
7. Show Message Thread icon
This icon gives you options to manage threads, such as go to, follow, or ignore. See more: View and manage threads
8. Settings for This View icon
This icon allows you to manage the message list of each view by changing the display from flat to threaded, changing how they are sorted, or showing specific types of messages. See more: Change individual view lists
9. Mail toolbar
The Mail toolbar contains buttons for common messaging actions, such as composing a message, replying, and so on. See more: Respond to a message
10. Default Mail Settings icon
Click this icon to set global mail preferences, such as changing the arrangement of the message list and view. See more: Default mail settings
11. Closed Tabs
Sometimes you might accidentally close a tab displaying a message you were reading or writing. If you want to retrieve it, click the Closed Tabs icon 
to the far right of the Tab bar and select the message from the list.
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