More OWA Topics

Questions & Answers about Outlook Web Access

Outlook Web Access and Pop-Up Blockers

Some pop-up blockers (not all) block UMUC's OWA from opening a new window, such as 
a new message composition, a reply.
This is why you would need to turn off pop-up blockers for UMUC web sites 
(all of the umuc.edu domain) for OWA to work correctly.

Look for the pop-up allowed icon  on the bottom status bar of the browser while logged in.
This checked icon signifies that OWA functions won't be disrupted by the pop-up blocker.


In Internet Explorer, you may see a "pop-up blocked" alert banner, as shown.
Simply right-click on the banner and choose "Always Allow Pop-up from this Site..."

WebTycho Emailing to Students & Outlook Web Access

Currently, the way to send distribution to students' email address in WebTycho 
is to create a distribution list in OWA for each WebTycho list.
Please click here to view instructions on creating a distribution list.

How do I open another person's account via OWA? 
I am the delegate to that account.

To open another user's mailbox in Outlook Web Access, 
First login as you would normally. 
After logging into OWA, append the person's AD account username to the end of the URL, and hit enter. 
For example, to open the mailbox for a user account jsmith, 
type the following into the URL address, after logging into Outlook Web Access: 

webmail.umuc.edu/exchange/jsmith

To re-open your own mailbox, simply clear the other person's user name from the URL and hit enter again.

I see only new / unread messages in my Inbox. Where are the other messages?

This may be a function of your Viewing options.

Click on the View drop-down menu as shown above. 
Verify that your view is not "Unread Messages," and that the Messages option is selected.

 

OWA won't open the email attachments I received.

To open an attachment that can not be readily opened in OWA/Internet Explorer, simply save it to your computer, and then open it.
Open the email message, right click on the attachment, click “Save As”, choose a location on your computer & open it once done with saving.

There are only 25 messages in Outlook Web Access .
Where are the rest of my messages?

OWA displays 25 messages at a time by default.
You can "turn the pages" to view more, using the page forward/back arrows, as shown:


Furthermore, you can change the default display number from 25 up to 100 messages.
Click on Options  > Messaging Options section.
Change the number of items to display per page, then click the Save and Close.

 

OWA keeps logging off -- Auto Log Off in OWA

OWA has a built-in auto log-off function to prevent others from unauthorized access to your account.
It is helpful to understand how this function in order to lessen inconvenience and delay auto-log off time.

Prior to logging in to you account, on the log in screen, you have two security options pertaining to this auto log off function, namely "Public or shared computer" and "Private Computer."



Public or shared computer option is selected by default, and it assumes that you are using a "publicly accessible" computer. This would be a computer that others may also use, such as one at an Internet Café, a Library, or hotel kiosk.
The Public or shared computer option gives you 15 minutes of idle time before auto log off.

Private Computer option is upon you to select prior to logging on.
This assumes that you are using a private computer that an outsider won't get to it to gain access to your account.
The Private computer option gives you 60 minutes of idle time before auto log off.

The different idle time amount refer to the time that the server does not "see" your interaction.
For example, if you are typing a very long email message in OWA, your action is mainly between you and the computer in front of you. Your typing is being stored on the computer memory. There is no interaction between you and the server.
In order for the server to recognize "interaction," you can click on the check mail button , or the save button
(if you are typing that long message).
These actions that you initiate will check against the server and also signal to the server that you have not been "idle."
You will thus gain an additional period of time before auto-log off is triggered again. 

Outlook Web Access "Basic" and " Premium" Differences                                                                                         

Outlook Web Access "Basic" features: 
E-mail, Calendar, and Task lists 
Manual entry of Contacts 
Forms-based authentication (including session time-out and secure log-off) 
Forwarding of meeting requests 
Address book searches 
Setting maximum number of messages displayed in views 
Message sensitivity settings on Information Bar 
Meeting attendee reminder option 
Automatic Signatures 
Attachment blocking 
Spam blocking 

Outlook Web Access "Premium" level features (includes all "Basic"):
New MS Outlook 2003 look-and-feel, including right-click context menus
Mark e-mail as unread 
Server-side spelling checker for six languages 
S/MIME support 
Two-line view 
Improved keyboard shortcuts 
New Message/Calendar Notifications on Navigation pane 
Add to Contacts directly from messages 
Bidirectional layout support for Arabic and Hebrew 
Preview Pane displays messages marked as read 
Public folders displayed in separate browser window 
Name searches displayed in separate browser window 
Calendar displays in separate browser window 
Support for common server-side rules 
Support for Notes 
Access to Outlook Search Folder

Glossary of OWA Icons & Descriptions

Main OWA Window Icons

Icon	Description
	Message View Options Let you switch view to show/hide and sort messages. Messages - default setting, shows all messages Unread Messages - shows only unread ones Two-Line View - shows sender on top line and subject below it. By Sender |Subject | Conversation Topic | Unread By Conversation |Sent To sort & show messages by these respective header methods.
	Item Number Display & Navigation Shows which message number is being displayed on page, and enable you to enter a specific number to "jump" to that message; e.g. message 250 of 500 total (jump to the mid-point of your total messages).
	Page Forward / Back Navigation Jump per page forward or back, or to either end point of your current folder.
	Minimize the OWA Switch Icons Below To gain display space for your folder list above.
	OWA Main Area Switch Enable you to quickly switch between different OWA areas (Inbox / Calendar / Contacts / Tasks / Public Folders / Rules / Options...)
	Update All Folders Refresh/update all folders.
	Show/Hide Folder List To gain more display space for the navigation pane below.
	New Create a new message The down arrow will open more options as the main action menu of OWA, you will get: new message, appointment, contact, distribution list, task, post in this folder, new folder
	Move/Copy Move or copy a selected message to another folder.
	Delete Delete the selected message. Hold the Shift key down to select a series.
	Reply | Reply to all | Forward  (left to right) Reply to the unique sender, reply to all recipients, or forward the selected message to someone else.
	Reading Pane Options The options of this (arrow down) menu pertains to the message preview. You can preview your message on the right, on the bottom, or just turn preview off and only see the message list.
	Check for New Messages Check the server for new messages. This action also lets the server "know" that you are still actively using the account, and delay the auto-log off time.
	Search Search in the currently open mail folder and subfolders for a word/phrase in the subject or body of a message, or sender, or recipient.
	Address Book To search for names in the UMUC Global Address List or your own Contacts list.
	Help Microsoft's own detailed help on OWA's features & functions.
	Log Off Be sure to log off when you are done to prevent unauthorized access to your account. This is especially important if you are using a publicly accessible computer such as from an internet café, a library...
Header Column Sort                                  Sort by Level of Importance,  Message Type, Attachment, From, Subject,                                  Time Received, Message Size, and Follow-up Flag.

Message Composition Icons

Icon	Description
	Send Send the message at once.
	Save Save the message in your draft folder.
	Print Print the message
	Insert Signature Insert your signature in the body of the message. Click here for instruction on creating a new signature.
	Spell Check Run the Spell Checker on your message.
	Add Attachment Attachment files to your message
	Check Names Verify the recipient names & email address information against the UMUC Global Address List and your own Contacts list
	Importance Level High or Low Mark the message as high or low importance
	Encryption & Digital Signature Use encryptions & & a digital signature in your message.
	Options Set the importance and sensitivity level labeling, and the delivery and read receipt options
	Help Microsoft's own detailed information & instructions.
	To Direct recipients of your message. Use a semi-colon ;  to separate the addresses. Click on the button itself search for names from the UMUC Global Address List or from your own Contacts list
	Cc - Carbon Copy Indirect recipients of your message. Use a semi-colon ;  to separate the addresses. Click on the button itself search for names from the UMUC Global Address List or from your own Contacts list
	Bcc - Blind Carbon Copy Hidden recipients of your message, names entered in this are will remain invisible to other recipients. Use a semi-colon ;  to separate the addresses. Click on the button itself search for names from the UMUC Global Address List or from your own Contacts list
	Attachments Once you have included an attachment, this button appears & gives you quick access to manage & add/remove attachments.

Calendar & Appointment/Meeting Windows Icons

Icon	Description
	New Create a new appointment/meeting.
	Print Print the current view
	Delete Delete the selected appointment or meeting
	Switch to Today & Daily | Weekly | Monthly View Today resets your view back to today (when you have moved away from the present day. The [1] [7] [31] icons switch to the Daily, Weekly, Monthly calendar page view.
	Check for New Messages Check the server for new messages. This action also lets the server "know" that you are still actively using the account, and delay the auto-log off time.
	Search Search for a word or phrase in the subject or body of the appointment/meeting.
	View Reminders Show current reminders.
	Address Book Search for names in the UMUC Global Address List or your own Contacts list
	Save and Close Be sure to Save & Close upon any editing/new entry.
	Add Attachment Add an attachment to the appointment/meeting.
	Recurrence Select different recurrent options for your appointment/meeting.
	Invite Attendees Invite others to this appointment, thereby turning it into a meeting.
	Importance Level High or Low Mark the message as high or low importance.
	Attendance & Resource Options Fields whereby you place your attendees as either Required or Optional. Resources are for room & equipments.
	Attachments Once you have included an attachment, this button appears & gives you quick access to manage & add/remove attachments.
	Help Microsoft's own detailed help on OWA's features & functions.

Contacts Windows Icons

Icon	Description
	New Create a new contact (New | arrow down > contact )
	Move/Copy Move or copy a selected contact to another folder.
	Delete Delete the selected contact
	Check for New Messages Check for new email messages (not sure why it stays in Contacts, but it is by design!)
	Search Search in the currently open contacts folder for a name, word, or phrase.
	Address Book Search for names in the UMUC Global Address List or your own Contacts list
	Save and Close Save and close the contact - be sure to click this button upon done with any editing/entry.
	Print Print the contact
	Add Attachment Add an attachment to the contact.
	Display map for this address Connect to Microsoft's Mappoint to view of the contact location based on its address.
	Send mail to contact A context sensitive button to create an email message with the To field pre-filled with the contact's e-mail address
	Help Microsoft's own detailed help on OWA's features & functions.

 

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