Xa uthumela okanye ufumana i- email ngokwendlela eqhelekileyo, kufuneka ubene-device (izinto ezinje nge-computer, nge-fowuni, njalo njalo.) eyakuthi ixhunyaniswe kwi-Internet nakwi-program ye-email (nebizwa ngokulula nje kuthiwe yi-mailer). Ziliqela ke iindlela ekhoyo zeedilesi ze-email. Eyona ixhaphake kakhulu ibizwa ngokuba yi-RFC 2822, ibonakala ngolu hlobo user@domain.com. Ubukhulu becala imiyalezo ye-email ithunyelwa ngamagama abhaliweyo, kanti ke ngamanye amaxesha ithunyelwa ngohlobo lwe-HTML.