MacWorks360 Email Terms Guide
Email Terms Explained Like in Plain English (MacWorks 360 Edition)
At MacWorks 360, we believe even email should feel simple. Here’s a friendly guide to the most important IT email terms you might hear from us.
| Term | Explanation (Like You’re 5) |
|---|---|
| Like sending a letter through your computer to someone else. | |
| Inbox | A box on your computer where all your letters (emails) come in. |
| Spam | Junk mail or silly letters you didn’t ask for. |
| Phishing | A sneaky email pretending to be someone else to trick you. |
| Attachment | Like stapling a photo or file to your email letter. |
| CC | Sending a copy of your email to someone else so they can see it too. |
| BCC | Sending a secret copy to someone — the others don’t know. |
| Outbox | A box where emails wait to be sent — like putting mail in the mailbox. |
| Draft | A half-written letter you haven’t sent yet. |
| Server | A big smart computer that helps deliver your email letters. |
| IMAP | A way to read your email on many devices. |
| POP3 | Like taking a letter from your mailbox into your house — it’s only there now. |
| SMTP | The mail truck that sends your email letter to someone else. |
| Email Client | The app or program you use to write and read email. |
| Webmail | Using email in a web browser like Safari or Chrome. |
| Alias | A pretend name for your email address. |
| Domain | The second half of your email address — like “@yourhouse.com”. |
| Mailbox | The space where all your emails live. |
| Quota | The limit on how many emails you can keep. |
| Email Signature | A fancy ending to your email. |
| Auto-Reply | A robot message saying “I’m not here right now.” |
| Email Forwarding | Sending your email to another place — like grandma’s house. |
| Email Encryption | A way to lock your message so only the right person can read it. |
| Whitelist | A list of good guys who are allowed to send you email. |
| Blacklist | A list of bad guys who are not allowed to send you email. |
| MX Record | A map that shows where your email should go. |
| SPF | A list saying “Only these people are allowed to send my mail.” |
| DKIM | A signature proving the email really came from you. |
| DMARC | Rules for how to handle fake or suspicious emails. |
| Quarantine | A timeout corner for weird-looking emails. |
| Email Archive | A treasure chest where old emails are stored. |
| Retention Policy | A rule about how long you keep your email. |
| Email Sync | Making sure your emails look the same on your phone, tablet, and computer. |
| Mailing List | One message that goes to a whole group of people. |
| Bounce Back | When your email can’t be delivered — like it came back with “Wrong address!” written on it. |