The everyday basics
What is email? What is Gmail?
Understand the words before deciding whether to set anything up.
Email is a way to send and receive messages over the internet. Your email address tells someone where to send a message. It usually looks something like name@example.com.
You may already have what you need
If you receive messages in Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo Mail or another email service, you already have an email address. You do not need a new one simply because you want to explore technology.
Three words that often get mixed together
- The kind of communication: messages sent over the internet.
- Gmail
- Google’s email service. It is one choice among several.
- Google Account
- A sign-in for Google services, which can include Gmail, Drive and Calendar. Google lets you create an account using an existing non-Gmail email address too.
One small next step
If you already use email, find the address you normally receive messages at. You do not need to share it here. If you do not use email, it is fine to explore the examples on this site first.
When you choose a service you want to use, follow that service’s own instructions. Google’s guide below explains the choices for a Google Account.
Read further
These links open other organisations’ websites.