Getting started

This page takes you from the first launch to a working inbox. Get Nixt Mail from the Download page if you have not already.

Before you start

Have these ready:

• Your email address. Nixt Mail works out who hosts most addresses from the address alone.
• For Gmail and Outlook, nothing else: you sign in on Google’s or Microsoft’s own page in your browser.
• For iCloud and Yahoo, an app password from your provider. Your normal password will not work. The setup form links to the right page. See App passwords.
• For any other provider, your password, and your IMAP and SMTP server names if your provider does not publish them. See Other IMAP and SMTP accounts.

The first-run setup

The first time Nixt Mail opens, a setup card covers the window. It has three steps, shown by three dots at its foot.

Step 1: Welcome

The card reads Welcome to Nixt Mail, with a short description and three lines about what the app offers.

• Choose Get started to connect an account.
• Choose Skip setup to go straight to the app. You can add an account at any time; see If you skipped setup.

Step 2: Connect your email

The card reads Connect your email and asks for your address.

1. Type your address in Email address.
   • As soon as the domain is one Nixt Mail recognises, a line under the field names the provider, for example Signing in with Gmail.
2. Press Return, or choose Continue.
   • Continue stays greyed out until you have typed a full address. Its tooltip says Enter a full email address first.
   • If the domain does not say who hosts it — a company or personal domain, for example — the card says That domain doesn’t say who hosts it — pick the provider below. and shows the list of providers.
3. Follow the sign-in for your provider. The steps are on the Accounts page:
   • Gmail and Outlook open a Continue with Gmail or Continue with Outlook button that signs you in through your browser.
   • iCloud, Yahoo, Exchange and IMAP / SMTP open a form for your address and password or app password.

If you would rather choose the provider yourself, select Or pick your provider under Continue. The list shows:

To leave this step without connecting anything, choose I’ll do this later.

Every sign-in form has a back arrow at its top left that returns you to this step.

Step 3: You’re all set

After an account connects — or after you choose I’ll do this later — the card reads You’re all set, with a line saying which provider connected and how many accounts are ready.

Choose Enter Nixt Mail to open the app.

Setup does not appear again once you have finished or skipped it. It comes back only if you use Erase everything on this device in Settings (see Privacy and security).

If you skipped setup

With no account connected, the Mail view shows Connect an account to begin, with the line Nixt Mail works with Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, Yahoo and any IMAP server. Your mail stays on your device.

To add an account from there, choose Add account. You can also use:

• File › Add Account… in the menu bar.
• Settings › Accounts › Add an account.

Each opens the same address step described above.

Your first five minutes

1. Watch your inbox arrive

After you connect, the message list says Connecting to followed by your address, then Loading your inbox…, and then shows your mail. The sidebar shows Loading folders… until your folders arrive, then lists them under MAILBOXES.

If the list shows Connection issue instead, see Troubleshooting.

2. Open a message

Click a message in the list. It opens in the reading pane on the right. You can also click any message and then press ↓ and ↑, or J and K, to move through the list.

• Opening a message marks it read. You can change when that happens in Settings › Reading › Mark as read.
• If the message has pictures hosted on the web, they are not loaded. A bar above the message says how many were held back and offers Load images. See Remote images.

3. Reply

Type in the box under the message and choose Send reply, or press R to open a full compose window. See Writing mail.

After you send, a bar at the bottom of the window says Sending to and the recipient, with Undo and Send now. The message waits 5 seconds before it goes, so you can take it back.

4. Put a message away

Press E to archive the open message, or Backspace to move it to the trash. A snack bar at the bottom of the window confirms it and offers Undo. The next message opens automatically. See Organising mail.

5. Make it yours

Open Settings with ⌘, (Ctrl+, on Windows and Linux), or with the gear button at the foot of the sidebar. A few settings worth a look on day one:

Every setting is described on the Settings page.

6. Learn three keys

The full list is on Keyboard shortcuts, and in the app under Help › Keyboard Shortcuts.

If you used Versealx

Nixt Mail was called Versealx. It installs as a new app beside the old one.

• On a Mac and on Windows, the first time Nixt Mail opens it brings across your settings, your signed-in accounts and your offline mail. You do not see the setup card.
• On Linux, your settings and offline mail come across. Sign in to each account once more from Settings › Accounts.
• On a phone or tablet, sign in again: the new app starts empty.

Three things belong to the app rather than to your settings, so set them again in Nixt Mail if you used them:

• Default email app. See Email links.
• Open at login. See Starting up.
• Notifications. Allow them when your system asks.

Your Versealx data is left where it was. Once Nixt Mail has everything, you can delete the Versealx app.

Adding more accounts

Click your account at the foot of the sidebar, then choose Add account. Once two accounts are connected, All inboxes appears at the top of the sidebar and shows every inbox in one list. See Several accounts.

Next steps

• The window — what every part of the screen does.
• Rules — file newsletters and notifications automatically.
• AI overview — set up the optional AI features.
• Calendar — your events and invitations.