All About OWU WebMail

OWU WebMail is provided as a means for the Ohio Wesleyan University community to freely access their email.

Logging In and Out

Ohio Wesleyan WebMail is accessible from any computer with an active internet connection.  Simply point your web browser to mail.owu.edu.  Or you can also access the WebMail login page from the OWU home page by hovering over either the Students or Faculty/Staff navigation links at the top of the page and clicking WebMail at the top of the menu.  Once you’re on the login page you will be prompted for your username and password.  There are other links also on this page for alumni, departments, campus organizations, and guests to manage their accounts.  OWU WebMail passwords are Case Sensitive.

Be sure you log out of WebMail (via the link in the top right corner) before leaving your workstation, especially if you are at a lab or public computer.  If you do not log out, the next person who uses the computer can access your email simply by using the Back button on the browser or going to the WebMail address.

The Main Page

Once you are logged in you will see the main OWU WebMail page with navigation links at top right and announcements in the middle of the screen by default.  You may change what appears on this main page by selecting different features in your preferences.  Remember: do not use your browser’s Back button to return to previously displayed WebMail pages.

Help! I Can't Go Any Further!

If you try the navigation links at top right and instead of getting the page you’re requesting it puts you back on the login page without an error, your time, date and/or time zone are probably out of synch with our email server.  You will need to correct your date and time, and set the time zone to (GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada).  In Windows, simply double-click the clock in the bottom right corner of your screen to access the Date and Time Properties dialogue. Also make sure your web browser is accepting cookies. Finding this setting depends on which browser you're using. Contact the Help Desk for assistance.

The Inbox (Mail Folder View)

When WebMail lets you into your Inbox you will see a list of all recent messages, with corresponding status, date, sender, subject, and size entries.  There will also be check boxes to the right of every message, allowing you to select messages for deleting, copying, or moving.  There may be tabs at the top right of this list if you have more messages than will display on one screen.  At the bottom are buttons for selecting and deleting, along with a feature for moving or copying messages to another folder.  Notice above the list there is a drop-down for viewing other folders on the left and several mail links on the right.  This is where you can refresh the display (remember to use this link rather than the refresh button on your browser,) compose a new message, empty the trash, go to folder management or edit preferences.

Help! My Deleted Items Won't Go Away!

When you select messages and click the Delete Selected button, the checkmark will disappear from the box and a trash can (with a green arrow) icon will appear in the status column, (unless you have enabled the Delete and Expunge Simultaneously preference—then messages will be immediately removed when you click Delete Selected.)  Once the messages you’ve selected for deletion have the trash can icon you still need to click the Empty Trash link.  This will expunge or completely remove your deleted items.  If, instead, the trash can icon goes away but the messages stay this means that your account is locked and you will have to contact the Help Desk to get it unlocked.  You’ve probably already received several warning messages that your account is over quota. You may have also heard from someone trying to send a message to you that was returned undeliverable.

Managing Your Account Size

OWU WebMail is the best way to manage the size of your email account because it gives you direct access to your account on the email server, bypassing any client software on your own computer.  To see how much space you’re using click on the Folder Management link on the Mail screen, then click on the Folder Overview link in the same place on the next screen.  This will display a list of every folder you have along with how many new messages, the total number of messages, and the total folder size for each.  The folder names are hyperlinks to the mail listing for each folder, so you can go right from this Folder Overview screen into any folder.  This overview list also shows the total file size of your account.  Students and staff are given a quota of 20 MB storage space, faculty get 100 MB.  (To see your own quota and how much of it you are using—including other non-email files—you must log into your J/CX Web Access account.)  You are allowed to be over quota for no more than seven days, and you will receive a warning email every day until your account is brought back under quota or your account is locked.

Sorting Mail Lists by Size

After reviewing the folder sizes, you may want to go into a folder and find the largest messages there, but the default sort order is by the date and time each message was received.  To change the sort order you must change your preferences.  Click on the Prefs link on the Mail screen--not the bold Preferences link at the top of the page--to get to Preference settings.  You may need to scroll down to find the setting you’re looking for.  The Default sort order for mail list can be set to date, from, subject, or size.  When changing it to size, you’ll also want to put a check mark in Invert sort order so that the larger messages appear at the top of the list.  You might also want to increase the Number of Messages to index on one screen to 50 or 100 to see more of your email at once.  After changing your preferences, click the Update Preferences button at the bottom of the list.  If you don’t see your changes right away, just log out and close your browser window, then open it back up again, log in to WebMail and your changes will be applied.

Other Features

OWU WebMail has the ability to keep track of contacts and calendar along with email.  You can even import contacts from Outlook or Netscape.  Just remember that any contacts and calendar items also contribute to your space usage.  Plus, you can change the interface style and language in the Global Preferences tab.  If you haven’t done so already, you should set your own contact information under the My Contact Tab in Preferences.  This will identify messages you send as coming from your name rather than your email address.

For More Information or Help

Contact the Help Desk.