Reading Mail
If you are not already viewing mail, switch to the mail tool by clicking the Mail shortcut button, or press Ctrl+F1. To read a message, select it in the message list; if you'd like to see it in its own window, either double-click it, press Enter, or press Ctrl+O.
HINT: To read mail with the keyboard, you can click the Spacebar to page down while you're reading an e-mail, and press Backspace to page up in an e-mail.
Navigate the message list by using the arrow keys on the keyboard. To go to the next and previous unread messages, press the period (.) or comma (,) keys. On most keyboards, these keys are also marked with the > and < symbols, which is a convenient way to remember that they move you forward and backward in your message list. You can also use the right square bracket (]) for the next unread message, and the left square bracket ([) for the previous unread message.
Sorting the Message List
Evolution helps you work by letting you sort your e-mail. To sort by sender, subject, or date, click the bars with those labels at the top of the message list. The direction of the arrow next to the label indicates the direction of the sort. Click again, to sort them in reverse order. For example, click Date to sort messages by date from oldest to newest. Click again, and Evolution sorts the list from newest to oldest. You can also right-click the message header bars to get a set of sorting options, and to add or remove columns from the message list. You can find detailed instructions on how to customize your message display columns in Sorting Mail with Column Headers.
To look at the complete headers for a message, click View > Message Display > Show Full Headers. To see all message data, click View > Message Display > Show E-Mail Source.
You can also choose a threaded message view. Click View > Threaded Message List to turn the threaded view on or off. When you select this option, Evolution groups the replies to a message with the original, so you can follow the thread of a conversation from one message to the next.
Deleting Mail
After you read your mail, you might want to delete it. To delete a message, select it and press the Delete key, click the Trash button, press Ctrl+D, or right-click the message, then click Delete.
When you press Delete or click the Trash button, your mail isn't actually deleted, but is marked for deletion. Your e-mail is recoverable until you have expunged your mail. When you expunge a folder, you remove all the mail that you have marked for deletion. To show deleted messages, click View > Hide Deleted Messages. You can also find deleted messages in the your Trash folder.
To permanently erase all the deleted messages in a folder, click Folder > Expunge or press Ctrl+E.
Both local and IMAP Trash folders are actually search folders that display all messages you have marked for later deletion. For more information about search folders, see Using Search Folders. Because emptying your trash expunges the messages in your Trash folder, emptying Trash is the same as expunging deleted mail from all your folders.
However, this is not true for the Trash folder on Exchange servers, which behaves just the same as it does in Outlook. It is a normal folder with actual messages in it.
Undeleting Messages
You can undelete a message that has been deleted but not expunged. To undelete a message, select the message, then press Ctrl+U, or click Edit > Undelete.
If you have marked a message for deletion, undeleting it unmarks it, and the message is removed from the Trash folder. You cannot undelete messages that have been expunged.