Where to find your inbox and what you're looking at
Your mailbox is the folder where incoming messages land. On most email services, it's called "Inbox" and sits in the left sidebar or menu. When you open your email account — whether on a computer, phone, or tablet — the inbox is usually the first place the service shows you.
What you see in your inbox depends on which email service you use. Gmail shows a list of conversations (grouped messages from the same person). Outlook shows individual messages. Yahoo Mail and others display messages in a similar way to Outlook. The layout changes, but the purpose stays the same: this is where you read what people sent you.
The inbox also tells you which messages are new. Most services mark unread messages with a small dot, a bold line, or a highlight. Once you click a message to read it, that mark disappears. This helps you track what you haven't looked at yet.
Key Takeaways
- Your inbox is the default folder where new messages arrive, and it's usually visible as soon as you open your email account.
- Unread messages are marked with a dot, bold text, or highlight so you can see at a glance what you haven't read yet.
- On a computer, click the message to open it; on a phone, tap the message to read the full text.
- If your inbox looks empty but you expect messages, check your spam or junk folder, or search for the sender's name.
- Organizing your inbox into folders or labels keeps messages from piling up and makes scams easier to spot.
Checking your inbox on a computer
Open your web browser and go to your email service's website. For Gmail, go to gmail.com. For Outlook, go to outlook.com. For Yahoo Mail, go to mail.yahoo.com. Sign in with your email address and password if you're not already logged in.
Once you're signed in, look at the left side of the screen. You'll see a list of folders. "Inbox" is usually at the top. Click on "Inbox" to see all your incoming messages. The messages appear in the center of the screen, listed with the sender's name, the subject line, and the date the message arrived.
To read a message, click on it. The full message opens, and you can see the sender's email address, the complete subject line, and the body of the message. If someone sent you an attachment (a file like a document or image), it appears at the bottom of the message.
Checking your inbox on a phone or tablet
On an iPhone or Android phone, you can check your inbox two ways: through the email service's app or through your phone's built-in mail app.
If you use the Gmail app, Outlook app, or Yahoo Mail app, open the app and tap the menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the top left corner. Tap "Inbox" to see your messages. If you use your phone's built-in Mail app (on iPhone) or Gmail app (on Android), your inbox usually opens automatically when you launch the app.
To read a message, tap it. The full message appears on your screen. You can scroll down to read the entire message and see any attachments. To go back to your inbox list, tap the back arrow or swipe from the left edge of the screen.
Understanding unread and read messages
When a new message arrives, your email service marks it as unread. On a computer, unread messages usually appear in bold text or with a small blue dot next to the sender's name. On a phone, unread messages may have a blue dot or appear highlighted.
Once you click or tap a message to open it, the service marks it as read. The bold text disappears, and the dot goes away. This helps you remember which messages you've already looked at. If you want to mark a message as unread again (to remind yourself to deal with it later), most services let you right-click the message on a computer or long-press it on a phone, then select "Mark as unread."
Some people use this feature to keep important messages marked as unread until they've taken action on them. Others leave everything marked as read and use folders or labels to organize instead.
What to do if your inbox looks empty
If you expect messages but your inbox appears empty, check three places first. Open your Spam or Junk folder — legitimate messages sometimes get filtered there by mistake. Look for the sender's name or subject line you're expecting.
If you find the message in Spam, open it and look for a button that says "Not spam" or "This isn't spam." Click that button. The email service learns from your choice and is less likely to filter that sender's future messages.
If the message isn't in Spam, use the search box at the top of your inbox. Type the sender's name or a word from the subject line. The search results show messages matching what you typed, even if they're in other folders. This is useful when you remember part of a message but can't find it in your inbox.
Spotting suspicious messages in your inbox
Your inbox is where scams and phishing messages often land. Before you click a link or read an attachment, check the sender's email address carefully. Scammers often use addresses that look similar to real companies but aren't quite right — for example, "paypa1.com" instead of "paypal.com" (with the number 1 instead of the letter l).
Look at the subject line and message content. Legitimate companies don't ask you to confirm passwords, credit card numbers, or Social Security numbers by email. If a message claims to be from your bank or a service you use but asks for sensitive information, it's almost certainly a scam. Move it to Spam or delete it.
Be cautious with attachments. If you weren't expecting a file from the sender, don't read it. Attachments can contain viruses or malware. If you're unsure whether a message is real, contact the company directly using a phone number or website you know is legitimate — don't use contact information from the suspicious message itself.
Managing your inbox so it doesn't get overwhelming
As messages pile up, your inbox becomes harder to search and easier to miss important mail. Most email services let you create folders or labels to sort messages by topic. In Gmail, these are called "Labels." In Outlook, they're called "Folders." In Yahoo Mail, they're called "Folders" as well.
Create a folder for messages you need to keep but don't need to act on — for example, "Receipts" or "Confirmations." Create another for messages you're still working on — "To Do" or "Waiting for Reply." Move messages into these folders so your inbox stays focused on what's new and urgent.
You can also set up rules or filters to move certain messages automatically. For example, you can tell Gmail to label all messages from your bank with a "Banking" label, or tell Outlook to move all messages from a mailing list into a specific folder. This keeps your inbox clean without you having to sort manually every time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do some messages show up in my inbox but others don't?
Messages you don't see may be in your Spam or Junk folder, archived (hidden but not deleted), or in a folder you created yourself. Check those locations first. If you still can't find a message, search for the sender's name or a word from the subject line using the search box.
Can I recover a message I deleted from my inbox?
Yes, usually. Deleted messages go to a "Trash" or "Deleted Items" folder, where they stay for 30 days (the exact time varies by service) before being permanently removed. Open your Trash folder, find the message, and move it back to your inbox.
What's the difference between archiving and deleting?
Deleting removes a message to your Trash folder. Archiving hides a message from your inbox but keeps it in your account so you can search for it later. Archived messages don't clutter your inbox but aren't gone. Most people archive messages they want to keep but don't need to see every day.
How do I know if an email is really from the company it claims to be from?
Check the sender's email address — it should end with the company's official domain name. For example, a real Amazon message comes from an address ending in "amazon.com." Hover over the sender's name on a computer to see the full email address. Be suspicious of addresses that look similar but aren't exact matches.
Can I check my inbox on multiple devices at the same time?
Yes. Your email account syncs across devices, so messages you read on your phone also appear as read on your computer. However, if you're offline on one device, it may take a few minutes to catch up once you reconnect to the internet.