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Settings

Press Ctrl+, to open Settings.

General

Reading Mode — Reading Pane, Tab, or Window
Mark messages read — automatically on open, or manually only
Default compose mode — Plain Text, Markdown, or HTML
Auto-save drafts — on/off and interval
Read messages as plain text — when on, display all messages as plain text instead of HTML
Notifications — two checkboxes:
- Show a notification when new mail arrives — enable Windows notifications for new mail in inboxes (requires Windows 10 1809 or later)
- Keep running in the notification area when I close the window — closing the main window hides QuickMail to the tray instead of exiting

Accounts

Accounts are not part of Settings — they have a window of their own. Open File → Manage Accounts… to add, edit, test, or remove one. See Accounts.

Advanced

Account Sign-In

Sign in with Google for Gmail accounts — off by default. Google no longer authorizes QuickMail for new accounts, so Gmail normally uses an app password. Turn this on only if your Google authorization predates that change; it adds a Gmail (sign in with Google) provider and a Google choice under Authentication in the account dialogs. Takes effect the next time QuickMail starts. Gmail accounts already using Google sign-in keep working whether this is on or off. See Gmail (Google Account).

Account Types

Offer POP3 when adding an account — off by default. Adds POP3/SMTP to the Connection method list under Advanced settings in the account dialogs, for mail services that offer no IMAP. Takes effect the next time QuickMail starts. POP3 downloads each message to this computer and keeps it there, in QuickMail’s own Inbox, Sent, Drafts and Trash, so the local copy is the only copy once a message leaves the server — read POP3 accounts before turning it on. Accounts already using POP3 keep working whether this is on or off.

QuickMail Logging

Enable logging — when checked, QuickMail writes activity to quickmail.log in your profile directory (usually %APPDATA%\QuickMail). Uncheck to stop writing the log file. Changes take effect when you select Save.
Delete QuickMail logs — deletes QuickMail’s diagnostic files immediately after confirmation: the application log (quickmail.log), the connection diagnostics log (connection.log), and any screenshots saved by the debug capture option below. If logging or connection diagnostics are still on, new files are created the next time something is recorded.

Note: If QuickMail was launched with the /debug flag, logging always runs regardless of the Enable logging setting. The /debug flag is intended for diagnosing problems and overrides this preference so that nothing is missed.

Log Format

Controls the order of timestamp and message text in each log line. Action first (default) places the message before the timestamp, which is easier to scan since the log is already in chronological order. Time first uses the original format with the timestamp at the start of each line.

Connection Diagnostics

Record connection diagnostics — off by default. Records how QuickMail connects to your mail servers and adds Connection Diagnostics to the Help menu. Takes effect as soon as you select Save, with no restart. See Connection Diagnostics.

Diagnostics (debug)

Capture screenshots of new windows — off by default, and a developer aid rather than an everyday setting. It saves a picture of each window as you open it, so someone reviewing how QuickMail looks has something to look at. It lasts for the current session only — QuickMail turns it back off when it closes — and every window’s title bar says so while it is on. The images stay on your computer and are removed by Delete QuickMail logs.

Keyboard

Reassign shortcuts for any registered command.

Appearance

Choose how QuickMail looks and adjust it to your vision needs.

Theme — the color scheme for the whole app:

System (default) — follows the Windows light or dark setting automatically.
Parchment — the standard light look: warm off-whites with a muted steel-blue accent.
Parchment Dark — the dark counterpart.
Ember, Fjord, Heather — warm, cool, and muted variations on the light look.
Any theme you created or imported in the Theme Manager also appears here.

Theme changes apply immediately — no restart. Open messages re-render in the new colors.

Font — override the app font. (Theme default) uses the theme’s own font.

Text size — a dropdown with fixed stops at 100%, 110%, 125%, 150%, 175%, and 200%, independent of Windows display scaling.

Message List Density — Comfortable (the default) or Compact, changing how much space each message row takes. The same choice is on the View menu under Density; see Message List Density. It changes spacing only, never what a row says.

Vision settings:

Always underline links — underlines every link in message content, even when the sender removed the underline.
Thicker keyboard focus indicators — doubles the width of the keyboard focus ring.
Apply theme colors to message content — overrides the colors and fonts chosen by a message’s sender with your theme’s colors. Turn on when messages arrive with hard-to-read colors; turn off to see messages as their senders designed them.

Windows High Contrast: when High Contrast is on, QuickMail steps aside entirely — every color comes from your Windows High Contrast palette, and QuickMail’s own styling is withdrawn. Your theme choice is remembered and returns when High Contrast is turned off. Font and text-size settings continue to apply.

See Themes for the Theme Manager and a description of each built-in theme.

Control which categories of announcements QuickMail makes:

Setting	What it controls
Custom Announcements	Master on/off for all programmatic announcements
Announce hints	Instructional tips (“Press Escape to return”)
Announce status	Background progress (sync, loading, connection state)
Announce results	Action outcomes (messages moved, addresses saved, flag changes)
Announce delete and archive actions	Delete and archive outcomes (“1 message archived”). Turn off to stop these from interrupting the screen reader as it reads the next message; failures are still announced
Announce formatting while navigating	Block type announced when caret enters a new paragraph type in HTML compose
Announce spelling errors when typing	Misspellings called out as you type them
Announce spelling errors while navigating	Misspellings called out as you move the cursor through the message
Announce spelling suggestions	Suggestions included when a misspelling is announced
Spelling Suggestions Verbosity	Numbers with suggestions (default) or just suggestions
Show field labels in the contact list	When on, address-book rows speak field names (“Name … email … account …”); when off, they speak concise field data only
Show field labels in the calendar event list	When on, calendar rows speak field names (“Subject … when … location …”)
Show field labels in the rules list	When on, rules-list rows speak field names (“Name … account …”)

All settings default to on except the three Show field labels switches and Announce spelling errors when typing, which are off. Spelling Suggestions Verbosity defaults to Numbers with suggestions. Turn off Custom Announcements to silence everything at once; turn it back on to restore your individual preferences.

Message list rows are set elsewhere. What each row in a message list says, in what order, and whether those pieces are labelled, is set in View → Message List Fields… rather than here. See Message List Fields.