Wino Mail

The built-in mail client that comes with Windows 10 and 11 is decent. I’ve personally used it for a while and can say that, if all you do is check your inbox and reply to a few emails every now and then, it should work well.

A problem arises when you simply want more from your client. For instance, a problem I encountered with the built-in one was that it would not retrieve older mails, so if you look for shortcomings, you’ll find them. Wino Mail seeks to be an alternative to Microsoft’s Mail app by providing a more lightweight and dependable package.

If one’s goal in finding alternative software solutions is to come across something that looks and feels familiar, but is improved in some areas, then Wino Mail really makes a lot of sense. A lot will feel familiar if you’ve used the built-in app in the past: the interface uses Windows 11-style design elements that place an emphasis on speed and ease of use.

To begin, you’ll have to start adding your accounts, with Outlook, Gmail, Office 365, and Yahoo being the supported providers. The setup is simple to go through and secure, and the client will then retrieve your emails.

Users can customize the look of the interface by changing the main accent color, applying a different theme, as well as modifying message spacing. That’s about it in terms of customizability, however, as other options under Settings, such as Automatic Replies, Focus Inbox, and so on, are all greyed out. This is perhaps due to the app still being in early development, so those features are to come at a later time. Moving emails from one folder to another is also not possible in version 1.6.0.0.

Using the app sometimes just felt off. The Dark Mode theme is anything but — it's actually a grey color that harms UI readability, and I would wager it's a bug rather than a feature. Changing the accent color, too, would crash the app. Thankfully, the color was changed when booting it up again.

Either way, I would say that Wino Mail is off to a promising start, despite the hiccups. I was able to add my email accounts and start corresponding, even in the absence of some features.