Free Email Services Review

Email is a staple of the web. It's one of the main things we use the internet for. Having free email accounts at our disposal allows us to instantly communicate with friends, relatives and business associates. Even if you tend not to correspond with others through email, you still need a personal address in order to log in to other services such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

The best free email services use social media in their respective dashboards. These sites intend to keep you on their pages without the need to browse elsewhere by integrating breaking news, instant messengers and calendars.

In our free email reviews, we looked for the highest amount of features combined with great ease of use. The services that came out on top are Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo Mail. If you're looking to do some more research on this topic, take a look at our informative articles on free email services.

Free Email Services: What to Look For

Email is more than just sending and receiving messages. We have broken down the following categories to determine the most important features to help you find the best email account for personal use.

Features
Of course, all free email accounts give you the ability to send and receive emails. The best email services also provide features such as a calendar, instant messaging and mobile apps for your smartphone.

Another thing to consider is the amount of storage a free email service provides. If you use your email a lot and archive everything you send and receive, you'd be well advised to get as much storage as possible. Also consider the attachment size limit. If you send emails with large attachments, make sure you pick a free email provider that can handle your files.

If you're a heavy email user, you know that business and personal emails, newsletters and offers pile up, and it can be difficult to decide what email you need to read right now, what can wait and what you can just delete. The best email hosting services allow you to set up filters and folders to better handle the stream of incoming mail, and some even automatically sort emails based on your past habits.

Composition Tools
The main purpose of having an email address is to stay in contact with people in your address book. While it seems like a basic feature, the composition tools should not be taken for granted. It's important to look for a text editor complete with spell check. You should also be able to change your signature, font and indentation. The best email services allow you to open an external window for composition so you can refer to a previous email message while you write.

Security
There can be a good deal of sensitive information stored in a free email address inbox, such as bank account numbers, social security data and tax return records. Therefore, keeping cyber criminals out of your inbox is crucial. The best free email accounts have several layers of security surrounding your information. Phishing filters, secure login procedures, image blocking and automatic download restrictions all provide a virtual fortress around your email.

Keep in mind that security is more than just protecting your personal information. It's also about protecting your computer. Secure email providers offer additional features such as virus scanners for attachments and spam filters to keep potential viruses and other malware off your computer.

Help & Support
Because our lives are so intertwined with our online services, not being able to access your email is a problem that needs to be solved immediately. The best free email services have help and support resources available, including password recovery services and customer service via email or phone.

Free email services are a great way to enhance your online experience or augment an email address from your employer or other service. Because our email accounts are so heavily intertwined with all our online activity, the criteria we've determined are important parts of any free email service.