How to Use Outlook Email Safely

You can use Outlook in a browser or in the mobile app. Whichever you choose, protect your sign-in details and check recipients before sending.

Sign in and secure the account

Open Outlook from its official address, sign in with your Microsoft account, and avoid saving the password on a shared device. Complete recovery details, enable two-step verification in Microsoft account security, and keep recovery contacts current.

Read, send, and organize mail

• Use Search to find messages by sender, subject, or date range.
• Create folders and simple rules for work, invoices, or notifications.
• Check recipients, attachments, and whether Reply or Reply all is appropriate.
• Do not send passwords, one-time codes, or sensitive data by email without suitable protection.
• Flag important mail, archive handled messages, and clear junk mail regularly.

Spot suspicious email

Be careful with messages that create urgency or ask you to sign in, transfer money, share a code, or open an unexpected file. Hover over links to inspect the destination, but do not enter credentials unless the domain is one you expect. When in doubt, type the official website address yourself and verify through another channel.

Common problems

If sign-in fails, check your keyboard, time zone, and recovery method, then use Microsoft's official recovery flow. If a message is missing, check Junk, filters, and mailbox storage. If sending fails because a file is too large, compress it or use a sharing link with appropriate permissions instead of repeatedly resending.

If the mailbox is used for Facebook account recovery, enable 2FA and store recovery details separately; see the 2FA secret-key guide. Do not give account details to a third party merely to “verify” or unlock your mailbox.