Email @odesk.com
All oDesk providers receive an oDesk email address. All interview notifications and other official correspondence from oDesk will be sent to your username@odesk.com address.
There is no Webmail, IMAP, or POP access to the @odesk.com email address. All email sent to your @odesk.com address will be automatically forwarded to the personal email on file in your account. You may change your email on file at any time by going to My oDesk -> Profile & Settings -> User Info.
Since there is no SMTP server for @odesk.com, you may choose to reply to interview invitations and other oDesk correspondence using your personal email account. If you wish, you may put your @odesk.com email address in the reply-to field.
If you want outgoing mail to appear "from" your @odesk.com email address, you will need to use an email service with a "send as" feature. You may take advantage of this option if you feel it would look more professional or wish to keep your personal address private.
The method for setting up your email to "send as" varies depending on your email client and provider. We recommend using Gmail to send @odesk.com email because anyone can use their service. If you use a Mac, it is even simpler to use Apple Mail.app to send @odesk.com email using any email account you already have set up. If you know of other options for setting up "send as" @odesk.com email, please post them in the forum.
Gmail allows users to send email using another email address. If you prefer to communicate with other oDesk users using your @odesk.com email address as your "send mail as" and "reply-to" address, you can set this up easily with Gmail.
First, create a Gmail account. You can do this by going to the Gmail web page and clicking on the "Sign up for Gmail" link.
Once you have set up your Gmail account, follow these steps to set up your @odesk.com address as your send-from and reply-to email:
1. When you are in Gmail, click on "Settings" on the top right section of your screen:
2. In the "Settings" box, click on the "Accounts" tab and select "Add another email address" as shown in the picture below:
3. Enter your name and @odesk.com email address and click "Next Step"
4. Click "Send Verification" at the prompt. You will receive an email in your Gmail account in a few minutes (you must have your Gmail account on file in My oDesk -> Profile & Settings -> User Info for this step to work).
5. Your verification email will appear in your Gmail inbox and will look like this:
6. Click on the link to verify your email address: <<br>
7. If you have successfully added your @odesk.com address, you will see a screen similar to this one confirming that your @odesk.com address has been added.
8. To set up your @odesk.com email address as your default "Send mail as" or "reply to" address, click back on the "Settings" again.
Here, Gmail allows you to select whether your @odesk.com address is your default "Send mail as" address. You may also choose whether your @odesk.com address is your default "reply to" address here.
You are now set up to send mail as your @odesk.com account through Gmail!
Apple Mail.app allows users to send email using another email address. If you prefer to communicate with other oDesk users using your @odesk.com email address as your "send mail as" and "reply-to" address, you can set this up easily in Apple Mail.
First, you'll need to set up your personal email account. You can do this by going to File -> Add Account.
Once you have set up your personal email account, follow these steps to set up your @odesk.com address as your send-from and reply-to email:
1. Select Mail -> Preferences. Click on the Accounts tab in the Preferences window.
2. Select the account you want to use to send @odesk.com email. We recommend you choose the same email account you have on file in My oDesk -> Profile & Settings -> User Info.
3. Select the Email Address field on the Account Information tab. Insert a comma and your @desk.com email address after the email address already in that field The field will now read: yourpersonalemail@something.com, yourusername@odesk.com.
4. Close the Preferences window. Press Save when it asks "Do you want to save the changes?"
5. Whenever you want to send from you @odesk.com email address, select it from the Account drop down list in the New Message window. If you don't see the Account list, press the customize button next to the Subject line in the New Message window to make it visible.
