How does email actually work (simplified)?

When you hit send, your message leaves your email client, passes through your provider's SMTP server, looks up the recipient's domain via DNS, and lands in their server's inbox queue.

From there, the recipient's client retrieves it.

Behind the scenes, it's all server to server communication using standardized protocols. SMTP moves the mail; IMAP or POP3 fetch it. These rules let Gmail, Outlook, and any other provider communicate like ships following the same navigation charts.