# Getting Started with Balsa

If you're starting Balsa for the first time, the first thing you'll see is an assistant that will set up Balsa's basic settings. Balsa can guess most of what it needs to know about you. It will also create five standard local mailboxes: the Inbox, Outbox, Sentbox, Draftbox, and Trash. (These can be changed to be IMAP mailboxes later.)

# Balsa Start Assistant

Don't worry. Balsa cooperates with other MUA's very well. They share the same locking semantics for mailboxes. If Balsa shares the same mail directory as pine or Mutt, it will detect new folders as they are created. So if you have to telnet in to your mail machine, you won't be stuck.

There are many more settings in Balsa's preferences window, but most of them do not need to be changed.

Once Balsa is configured, you will proceed on to the main window.