Not completely satisfied with your Windows 10 Mail experience? don’t worry, you’re not the only one.
While windows mail is a huge improvement over windows live mail, it has a few issues that keep it from being really great at managing email.
here is a list of email clients to help you find an alternative:
- mailbird
- thunderbird
- em client
- zimbra
- claws mail
Out of all these, mailbird may be the best alternative to windows live mail that easily makes up for the drawbacks of windows 10 mail. In this article, we compare Mailbird and Windows Mail to help you decide, so let’s get started.
unified inbox with color codes
There are two main benefits of using a desktop email client:
- You can sync all your accounts in one place.
- You don’t have to log in to a web browser to access your emails.
As a result, you don’t have to switch between multiple accounts in a web browser to see your mail: they’re all synced up for you in one space on your desktop app!
Fortunately, both windows mail and mailbird support a pop and imap incoming and outgoing server, so you won’t have any trouble synchronizing your accounts.
windows 10 mail limitation
While the app didn’t initially include this feature, it now allows you to sync all your accounts into one common inbox.
While this is one of its best new features, it is not without its problems; The main one is that it is difficult to distinguish between multiple emails in the windows mail inbox.
Because there is no real way to demarcate which emails belong to which email account, you will have a hard time categorizing your emails into folders and trying to manage the accounts.
mail advantage
with mailbird’s unified inbox you don’t have this problem, thanks to the color codes.
That’s because one of the sync options lets you assign colors to accounts so it’s easy to identify which account name a new message belongs to.
then not only can you see all incoming mail from all your accounts in one place, but you can also distinguish where your messages are coming from.
Now you can manage accounts and sort emails into folders with ease!
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- how to set up an email client on your desktop
user interface
both windows 10 mail and mailbird are built on the same metropolitan style theme.
but while windows mail is mostly text based, mailbird uses intuitive ux elements to make it more elegant.
also provides users with benefits beyond mere appearances!
The use of ux elements makes it easy to integrate Mailbird with any communication and productivity applications you use.
another difference between windows 10 mail and mailbird is the screen layout.
windows 10 mail limitation
windows mail gives you the standard three-pane screen layout, with a start menu/control panel, an inbox, and a compose window.
While three panels may be fine, Windows Mail does not allow for an additional fourth panel dedicated to integrations you have added.
so you need to switch between your inbox and your integration each time you need to access the app.
mail bird advantage
As an alternative to Windows 10 Mail, Mailbird’s mailbox settings can be changed so that the three pane layout expands to four panes.
how does that help?
Users can have a home menu, an inbox column, a compose window, and an additional column dedicated to a third-party application, such as whatsapp or meeting rooms.
This makes managing multiple tasks and goals a breeze, as you no longer have to switch between apps.
everything is there for you in one unified space!
integrations with applications
For most people, email is not their only channel of communication. social networks have now become an important form of interaction.
This is why it’s important for your windows email program to be able to connect with your social media channels and other windows applications.
While your average windows email account manager doesn’t have built-in apps, it will integrate with third-party apps.
This way, your email program can become a unified communications center for all your interactions, even without integrated applications.
windows 10 limitation
The problem is that there aren’t many useful windows apps in the windows store that native clients can integrate with.
for example, you can’t integrate facebook or twitter with windows mail, which means you have to operate them separately.
not a deal breaker, but still a problem. why limit yourself to that short list of apps in your windows store?
mail advantage
If you rely on apps like Asana, WhatsApp, or G Suite, Mailbird may be the best Gmail app for Windows 10. It offers a wide variety of popular software like integrations; you can use them without switching to another application.
mailbird can integrate with facebook and twitter to give you full access to your social media accounts.
just add your account and password, and voila! (You may need to disable two-factor authentication here.)
then you can manage all your communications within mailbird!
another important application integration you must have is a calendar. Integration with a calendar app like Google or Kin Calendar can be very helpful as it allows you to schedule your day within your own desktop app.
here is a list of integrations that the mailbird desktop app can handle:
- calendar
- social media
- messaging
- project management
- to-do list
- video calls
- file storage
For a full list of our integrations, click here.
productivity features
at the end of the day, windows 10 mail is still a free email program, just like windows live mail.
There is no paid pro version.
This app does not generate revenue for Microsoft like Office 365 does. (Think of Windows Mail as Microsoft’s equivalent of Apple Mail on Mac).
So it makes sense for Microsoft to focus on reserving its features for paid offerings like Microsoft Outlook/Outlook Mail.
windows 10 mail limitation
When it comes to extra features, you don’t get much with windows mail, even if it’s part of the windows insider program.
mail advantage
However, with mailbird, you don’t get another windows compatible email client.
you get an email client that tries to make each and every aspect of your email process as simple as possible.
here are some mailbird-exclusive features you won’t find in windows mail:
a. postpone emails
Most of the emails you receive aren’t very important, but they do clog up your inbox and make it harder to find and address the few emails that do matter.
mailbird offers you a repeat option, which helps to tidy up your inbox.
with it, mailbird grabs these unimportant emails and saves them from your inbox momentarily.
you can select how long each new email should be postponed: a few hours, a day, a week, or even a month!
Your inbox is now free of these low priority emails and you can tackle important incoming messages with ease.
Don’t worry about forgetting emails that have been saved: once the time period you specified has passed, you’ll receive notifications about them and they’ll reappear in your inbox.
the replay folder
Are you done addressing your new important messages?
Would you like to access these unimportant emails now before the snooze period ends?
Don’t worry!
You can easily access snooze emails at any time by going to the snooze folder in mailbird, where they are stored.
b. attachment reminders
Has it ever happened to you that you remember to attach files to an email after you hit enter and it’s gone?
mailbird will immediately generate pop-up notifications as a reminder to add files if you mentioned an attachment in your email but clicked “send” without attaching anything.
Now, you don’t have the problem of forgetting to add files, be it a folder or an image, to an email before it’s uploaded, ever again!
c. tagged
Wish adding email addresses to your email was as easy as tagging someone on Facebook? with mailbird, it is!
When writing an email in mailbird, just type “@” followed by the person’s name. mailbird will automatically search your contact list and mail folders to get the email address of the person in question.
then you can add it to the recipient list as a primary or “cc” recipient.
now sending an email to all your contacts is as easy as tagging them in a video you watched on instagram!
d. fast reader
On average, people spend about two and a half hours a day reading email. that’s two and a half hours that could be spent on more productive tasks. or you could spend less time reading.
mailbird offers a speed reader feature to quickly navigate through your mail. will show you an email message word by word so your brain can process it faster.
you can choose from 100 words per minute (words per minute) up to 1000 words per minute.
then you can triple your reading speed and have more time for other tasks!
You can learn more about this feature in this techcrunch article.
keyboard shortcuts
Would you like to spend less time on emails? use a keyboard shortcut!
windows 10 mail limitation
one of the drawbacks of windows mail is the lack of many useful shortcuts.
mail advantage
on the contrary, when it comes to shortcuts in mailbird, no stone is left unturned!
just go to the shortcuts section of the control panel and you will see a window showing you all available keyboard shortcuts.
You can even search for a specific keyboard shortcut with the search bar at the top.
Finding a shortcut for all your needs is now just a click away!
customization options
Would you like to personalize your user experience?
windows 10 mail limitation
another problem with windows mail is its lack of customization options. Sure, you can change the color scheme, but that’s it.
mail advantage
with mailbird, nothing is off limits. you can use a light or dark mode for your entire mailbird experience!
If you’re not satisfied with just a dark mode, you have the option to add a custom theme or image as a background to further personalize Mailbird.
The same goes for the layout of the screen. you can choose from three columns, small screen or preview pane to meet your needs.
You can even personalize your email address with a signature that will be sent with every new email.
mailbird adapts to you, not the other way around.
quick and easy setup
are you trying to set up windows mail or some other desktop email client? Many users find that setting up and syncing account settings in a desktop email client for the first time can be a painful task. That’s because many email clients have setup that can be complicated, buggy, and quite confusing.
If there’s one thing to agree on in this review, it’s that both mailbird and the default windows 10 email client are pretty easy to set up. you may even find installing mailbird easier. The whole process, from clicking the settings icon to customizing the background, can take just a couple of minutes!
Because mailbird can handle both pop and imap accounts, it will adjust your sync settings automatically to save you the hassle of spending hours in the server settings menu. This way, you’ll spend as much time setting up Mailbird as you would with a web browser email service like Gmail or Yahoo Mail.
this is how you do it.
step 1 – download mailbird
download the mailbird application from our website. (it’s not available in any app store, so this is the only way to get it).
step 2: enter your details
After you install the app and open it, you will need to adjust your account settings.
you will be shown an add account window where you need to enter your account address and password or import them from another email client.
step 3: automatic detection
mailbird will now automatically detect the incoming mail server smtp and outgoing mail server settings for the account you are using.
so you don’t have to worry about figuring out your account type and manually adjusting your email server settings.
luckily for you, mailbird supports pop and imap email accounts and automatically determines your account type so you don’t have to worry about compatibility.
Note: Automatic account type detection will not work if you are using a custom domain email account. then you will have to add account settings in settings menu in mailbird manually.
Step 4 – Add additional email accounts (optional)
If you want to add a new email account, click the menu button at the top left of your screen. once you do, you will see a dropdown menu.
navigate to the accounts icon in the start menu/control panel, where you can right-click the add account button to add as many new email accounts as you like.
follow the same steps as above, and mailbird will detect if your email server is pop or imap and adjust the sync settings for you.
You can also select which email account name is the default.
(You may need to disable two-factor authentication here or adjust your firewall settings in windows defender).
step 5: customization (optional)
You can now proceed to make mailbird uniquely yours:
- connect to facebook to add your profile picture to your username.
- customize your theme, like using dark mode or a custom background.
- add custom folders for your email accounts.
- add any default apps you want, be it a calendar app, social media app, etc.
If you are not completely satisfied with the results of the customization, you can safely remove all these steps and actions!
From the default apps you add to the default email account you choose and the mail settings you select – it’s all undoable after clicking the settings icon and browsing through the options.
that’s it! You have now set up your mailbird email client in the same time it would take to set up windows mail!
and if you ever need help configuring mailbird, just ask the friendly support team at [email protected].
conclusion
Although upgrading to windows 10 mail was a good idea, as it certainly is an upgrade to windows live mail, it’s still not perfect.
mailbird is a great alternative to windows 10 mail as it offers you much more in almost every aspect when you compare the two. If you don’t know anything about mailbird yet, check out our comparisons with other email clients like em client, mozilla thunderbird, and outlook here.
In the meantime, why not sign up for our free trial and experience the power of mailbird for yourself?