From AptivateOER

Replying to an email

Often, emails are like conversations, which go back and forth. Someone might email you with a series of questions or you might simply want to respond to what they have said. You could compose a new email, but it is faster and clearer to 'reply' to the email you are answering.

When you are reading an email message, you will notice that there is a link on the page like this:

By clicking on this link, a page will display which looks like the page for composing an email, but it will have the email you want to reply to already copied into the message body text box. It will usually be preceded on each line by a > sign so that you can tell what new text you have entered and what is the text from the email you received.

When you reply, you can type your new message above or below the original one. If the email you are replying to asks you more than one question, or there is more than one thing you want to respond to, you might want to type your responses directly below each question or point in the original email.

This will look something like this:

> I am looking forward to seeing you, it has been some time >since we were last able to visit. Will your sister be 
>coming to meet with you too? 

No, unfortunately my sister is unable to come, so it will just be me. I look forward to seeing you too. 

> Could you tell me what time your bus will be arriving? >Would you like me to come and meet you?

My bus gets in at 1pm. I would like you to meet me, thank you.

You will also notice that by using Reply, some parts of the header have automatically been filled in. The email address of the person you want to reply to will already be in the 'To' field. Also the subject line will begin with 'Re:' followed by the original subject line of the email you received. This is so that the person you are replying to knows that you are specifically replying to their email and are not starting a new topic about something else.

[edit] Instructions

Make sure you are logged into your email account.

1. Find the email you want to reply to in your inbox and open it by clicking on the subject line, if you have not already done so.

2. You will find a link on the page like this:

Click on this link with the left mouse button.

3. This will open a page that looks like the page on which you compose an email, but will already have the email you are replying to copied into the message body. Here's an example:

Each line of the original email will be preceded by >. You can type your reply anywhere in the text box by placing the cursor and clicking where you want to start typing. The email address of the person you are replying to will already be entered in the 'To' box, and the subject line will read the same except that it is preceded by 'Re:'.

4. When you are done click on:

Congratulations, you have replied to an email!