Write, reply, forward and pick up your drafts

Goal

Write and send mail from any account, and never lose a half-written one.

Before you start

• PowerMail installed, with at least one mail account connected.
• For AI help while you write: AI set up in PowerMail (see the AI setup guide).

Steps

1. Start a new mail Select Write a new message, the button beside the search box in the title bar, or press Ctrl+N anywhere except the planner. The New message composer opens. To write in its own window, select Pop out into its own window.
2. Choose the account and recipients Pick the sending account under From. Type names or addresses in To; each becomes a chip. Select Cc or Bcc to add those lines. Right-click a chip to Move to To, Move to Cc, Move to Bcc or Remove it. Then add a subject.
3. Write the message Type in the body. Message format switches between Rich text, written with the formatting toolbar, and Markdown, where the toolbar writes the syntax for you. The toolbar also has Emoji and Signature. Ctrl+K adds a link, and Ctrl+Shift+V pastes as plain text.
4. Add attachments and pictures Select Attach files, or drag files onto the composer. A folder you drop is offered as a ZIP. For large images, PowerMail offers Compress, which makes the copy in the mail smaller and leaves your files on disk unchanged, or Keep originals. Insert picture puts a picture inside the text instead.
5. Send now or later Select Send or press Ctrl+Enter. A 'Message sending…' message appears with Undo: select it within the Undo Send window (8 seconds unless you change it in Settings > Mail > Sending & attachments) and nothing is sent. To send later, open the arrow on Send and pick Later today, Tomorrow morning, Monday morning or Pick a date and time…, then press Send to schedule it. Clear send time takes the time off again.
6. Reply or forward Open a mail and select Reply, or press Ctrl+R. The arrow on Reply holds Reply all (Ctrl+Shift+R) and Forward (Ctrl+Shift+F). The reply opens with the mail in the reading pane, and Pop out into its own window moves it to a window of its own. It works like a new mail: chips, attachments, Send and Undo.
7. Save, close or discard Save draft saves the mail to the sending account's Drafts folder and closes the composer. Close, or Esc, closes it and keeps your draft on this PC. The trash button, Discard draft, asks first; select Keep editing to stay.
8. Pick up a draft Once you have a draft, Drafts appears near the bottom of the left pane. Its Your drafts tab lists two groups: Only on this PC (not saved to an account, kept 14 days after the last change) and Saved (in your accounts' Drafts folders, on every device). Click a draft to keep writing. Discard removes one from this PC, Delete moves a saved one to Deleted Items, and both offer Undo. A saved draft you find in an account's Drafts folder opens with Edit draft.
9. Get AI help (after AI setup) The AI button at the bottom left of the composer offers New AI proposal, Polish with AI (fixes grammar and clarity, keeping your wording and meaning) and Discuss with AI…. It needs AI set up first: see the AI setup guide. After a change, select Keep, select Discard (Undo after a polish) to go back to your text, or select Refine… and tell the AI what to change.

Tips

• Ctrl+Enter sends from anywhere in the composer, and Esc closes it without losing anything.
• Pop out a reply or a new mail into its own window to keep reading other mail while you write.
• A draft saved with Save draft is in your account's Drafts folder, so you can finish it on another device.

Result

Your mail is sent, scheduled or safely parked as a draft you can pick up later, on this PC or from any device.

If something goes wrong

• Send says 'Pick an account to send from.' Choose an account under From, then select Send again.
• I sent a mail too soon. Select Undo in the 'Message sending…' message while it shows. The mail goes back to Your drafts. To get more time, raise the Undo Send window in Settings > Mail > Sending & attachments.
• A scheduled mail didn't go out on time. PowerMail sends scheduled mail itself, so it leaves the next time PowerMail runs at or after the chosen time. Keep PowerMail running, even in the tray, when a send is due.
• Reply shows warnings instead of opening. PowerMail thinks this mail looks like a scam. Read the reasons; Reply anyway is below them. The mark can be wrong: to clear it, select Message security in the reading pane's toolbar and choose Not a scam.
• The AI button does nothing useful, or says something is off. AI help needs AI set up first. Follow the AI setup guide, then try again.
• I can't find Drafts in the left pane. It only shows while you have a draft. Close a composer, or save a draft, and it appears.

Related guides

• INBOX & TRIAGE
  Work through every inbox in one list Read all your accounts in one list, then archive, delete, move, pin, flag and tag mail with a click or a key. Turn on AI Priority and the beta triage page when you want more help.
  →
• INBOX & TRIAGE
  Find any mail with search, and catch up with the daily digest Search mail, events, todos and settings from one box with Ctrl+F, narrow the results and act on them. Show the daily digest when you want one view of what needs doing and what can go.
  →
• AI ASSISTANT & BRAIN
  Set up AI with LM Studio, Foundry Local or a cloud service Connect PowerMail's assistant to an AI runtime you run on your PC, such as LM Studio or Microsoft Foundry Local, or to a cloud service, and choose what AI helps with.
  →