Ultimate Outlook resource
Surfing the Internet with
Microsoft Outlook (2000/2002)
(posted
12/26/01)
If you use Microsoft Outlook to manage your email and scheduling, you'll be glad
to know that you can also use it to view a Web page. The Favorites menu
provides quick access to Web pages you've stored in Internet Explorer's
Favorites list. If the Web page you'd like to access isn't available in the
Favorites menu, display the Web toolbar by choosing View | Toolbars | Web from
the menu bar. In Outlook 2002, you don't need to to display the Web toolbar
since you'll find Web navigation tools integrated into the program's interface,
right above the Outlook window. Type the Web page's URL in the Address text box,
and then press [Enter] to display it within the Outlook window. You may wish to
close the Folder List to increase the Web page's viewing area. You can easily
add the current Web page to your Favorites by choosing Favorites | Add To
Favorites from the menu bar. Make sure the Save In location is the Favorites
folder, and then click OK. Web pages you save to Microsoft Outlook's Favorites
menu will also be available in Internet Explorer.
Copyright (c) 2001 Element K Content LLC Inc. All rights reserved. For additional EK Journals online information, access EK Journals on the Internet (http://www.elementkjournals.com)
Use commas to separate email addresses in Outlook (98)
(posted 11/13/01)
If you can't seem to remember if you should use a semicolon or a comma to
separate email addresses, why not use both? There's an option in Outlook that
enables commas to be used in addition to semicolons between email addresses. To
turn on this feature, choose Tools | Options and on the Preferences property
sheet, click E-mail Options. On the E-mail Options property sheet, click
Advanced E-mail Options. In the When Sending A Message panel, select the Allow
Comma As Address Separator check box and click OK until you return to Outlook.
The next time you create a message you can type either a semicolon or a comma
between email addresses in the To:, Cc: or Bcc: fields. When Outlook checks the
names, all commas are automatically changed to semicolons.
Copyright (c) 2001 Element K Content LLC Inc. All rights reserved. For additional EK Journals online information, access EK Journals on the Internet (http://www.elementkjournals.com)
Show week numbers in the Outlook Date Navigator
Do you need to see the week number in your calendar? If so, turn on the week
numbers in the Date Navigator. To do this, choose Tools | Options. On the
Preferences property sheet, click the Calendar Options button. In the Calendar
Options panel, select the Show Week Numbers In The Date Navigator checkbox then
click OK twice. Now the Date Navigator shows the week numbers to the left of the
first day in the week.
Copyright (c) 2001 Element K Content LLC Inc. All rights reserved. For additional EK Journals online information, access EK Journals on the Internet (http://www.elementkjournals.com)
Permanently deleting Outlook items
Outlook protects you from deleting items that you don't want to lose permanently
by using a two-step deletion process. When you delete an item, Outlook moves it
to the Deleted Items folder where you can retrieve it if need be. To delete the
item permanently, you must delete it from the Deleted Items folder. However, if
you want to delete an item permanently, you can bypass the Deleted Items folder
by selecting the item and pressing [Shift][Delete]. When prompted, click OK to
delete the item permanently.
If you'd prefer not to have to confirm permanent deletions, you can prevent the warning dialog box from appearing when you press [Shift][Delete]. To do so, select Tools | Options from the menu bar, click on the Other tab, and click the Advanced Options button. On the General Settings tab, clear the Warn Before Permanently Deleting Items check box and then click OK twice to return to Outlook.
This tip was contributed by Jerry Oosterling [joosterl@semantica.com].
Copyright (c) 2001 Element K Content LLC Inc. All rights reserved. For additional EK Journals online information, access EK Journals on the Internet (http://www.elementkjournals.com)
Easily retrieve archived
Outlook data
If you're smart, you've set up the AutoArchive feature to run and save your
valuable Outlook data on a regular basis. Once the PST file has been created and
you've archived data, you'll need to know how to retrieve that data. To retrieve
archived data, you can either open the archive file in Outlook, import the data
into a new folder, or import the data into the original folders. Once you
retrieve the data, you can manually move or copy the archived items to other
folders as needed. Opening the archive folder in Outlook is the easiest way to
access the data. It's also a good way to see what was archived especially after
you set up the AutoArchive for the first time. Using this method, every archived
folder that's been archived is retrieved. To open the archive file, choose File
| Open | Personal Folders File (.pst). Select the Archive.pst file in the
resulting dialog box and click OK. The Archive Folders folder is added to the
top of the folder list. Click on the plus sign (+) next to the Archive Folders
folder to expand the list of folders. When you've finished, right-click on the
Archive Folders folder in the Folder List and choose Close "Archive Folders"
from the shortcut menu.
Copyright (c) 2001 Element K Content LLC Inc. All rights reserved. For additional EK Journals online information, access EK Journals on the Internet (http://www.elementkjournals.com)
Create an Outlook task from
Word text
Have you ever wanted to create a task based on text you read in a Word document?
You could switch to Outlook, open a task form, switch back to Word and copy the
text, then copy it into the task form. However, there is an easier way to create
a task based on text in a Word document. Before you start, have Word and Outlook
running. In Outlook, select any folder except Outlook Today and the Outlook Bar
must be visible. Now you need to display Outlook and Word side by side. One way
to do this is to minimize all open applications. Then click on the Outlook
taskbar button and the Word taskbar button. Right-click on the taskbar and
choose Tile Vertically. Both windows will be tiled on the screen. Now in Word,
select the text that you want to include in the task item. While pressing the
[Ctrl] key, drag the text to the Tasks shortcut in the Outlook bar. Release the
mouse button first then the [Ctrl] key. Outlook automatically opens a task form
with the selected text inserted in the form.
Copyright (c) 2001 Element K Content LLC Inc. All rights reserved. For additional EK Journals online information, access EK Journals on the Internet (http://www.elementkjournals.com)
Add the company name of a
contact when using Letter Wizard in Outlook
When you select a contact and use the New Letter To Contact command, the Letter
Wizard puts the name and address of the contact in a blank Word document. But it
doesn't include the company name, job title or the country. To add this
information without typing it, start the Letter Wizard by selecting a contact
and choosing Actions | New Letter To Contact from the menu bar. In the Letter
Wizard dialog box, click on the Recipient Info tab and then click on the Address
Book button. In the Select Name dialog box, select Contacts from the Show Names
From The dropdown list. Select the contact's name and click OK. The full address
including the company name, job title and country are automatically placed in
the Delivery Address text box. Delete any text you don't need and then click
Finish. The full name and address are placed in the blank document.
Copyright (c) 2001 Element K Content LLC Inc. All rights reserved. For additional EK Journals online information, access EK Journals on the Internet (http://www.elementkjournals.com)
Create a desktop
shortcut to create a new Outlook message
Desktop shortcuts can save time when you need to create documents that
you use often. You can create a shortcut to create an Outlook message as well.
To do this, right-click on the desktop and select New | Shortcut from the pop-up
menu. In the resulting dialog box, use the Browse button to select Outlook.exe,
the executable file that starts Outlook. It's usually located in the C:\Program
Files\Microsoft Office\Office folder. Select the filename and click Open. This
inserts the following into the text box: "C:\Program Files\Microsoft
Office\Office\Outlook.exe" (As an alternative, you can type the full path
including the executable file name.) Press the [End] key and the [Spacebar] then
type /c ipm.note. Click Next. In the Select A Name For The Shortcut text box,
type New Mail Message or another name that reminds you of what this shortcut
does. Then click Finish. Double-click on the shortcut to open a new message
form. If Outlook isn't running, you'll have to log on first before you'll see
the message form. Then just create and send the message as usual.
You can also create other similar shortcuts for a new appointment, note,
contact, etc., by substituting /c ipm.note with one of the following:
Create an
appointment: /c ipm.appointment
Create a task: /c ipm.task
Create a contact: /c ipm.contact
Create a note: /c ipm.stickynote
Check Outlook's online help topic Control What Happens When You Start Outlook
for more information on these command line options.
This tip was contributed by John Warde.
BCC: Be Cautious &
Careful
We conceal email addressees by adding their addresses to the bcc field. Be
aware that certain email programs, like Outlook and Lotus Notes, include bcc
addressees in the public addressee list when you use the Reply To All feature.
So before you use the bcc feature, do your research and find out to what degree
your email program respects bcc privacy.
See a list of birthdays
from your Outlook calendar (98)
If you're the one who keeps track of everyone's birthdays in your Outlook
calendar, you can make a list of when the birthdays occur by filtering the
Annual Events view of your calendar. First, you need to insert the birthday
items as yearly recurring events. To do this, switch to one of the
Day/Week/Month views, right-click on the day, and choose New Recurring Event
from the shortcut menu. In the Appointment Recurrence dialog box, select Yearly
in the Recurrence Pattern panel. Then click OK. In the Subject text box, type
text that reminds you of who has the birthday that day. For example, type
"Lisa's birthday." Make sure you include the word "birthday" in the text because
we'll use that in our filter later on. Click Save And Close to finish. Set up
the rest of the birthday items for the year.
To see a list of birthdays, change to the Annual Events view in your Calendar.
Choose View | Current View | Customize Current View. Click the Filter button. On
the Appointments And Meeting property sheet, type the word "birthday" in the
Search For The Word(s) text box. Click on the Advanced tab. In the Define More
Criteria panel, click on the Field button and select All Appointment
Fields/Recurrence. From the Value dropdown list, select Yearly then click Add To
List. Click OK twice to return to Outlook and you'll see a list of birthdays for
the year.
Synchronize folders
automatically when you quit Outlook
If you work with Outlook offline, you know how important it is to synchronize
your folders before you log off of the server. If you sometimes forget to
synchronize your folders, have Outlook do it automatically when you exit. All
you need to do is set a couple of options. To do this, choose Tools/Options from
the menu bar. Click on the Mail Services tab and select the Enable Offline
Access check box. Just below that check box, select the When Online, Synchronize
All Folders Upon Exiting check box. Then click OK. The next time you exit
Outlook, the folders are automatically synchronized.
Edit the subject line
of received messages in Outlook (98)
(posted
4/1/00)
Have you noticed that the subject lines of messages sent to you don't always
express what's in the message? Maybe the text isn't descriptive enough or you
want to add something to jog your memory later. Even though the subject line
seems to be untouchable in the gray area above the message, you can edit it.
Just place your insertion point in the subject text and add or change what you
need. Then close the message and click Yes to save the changes.
This tip was contributed by Erick Watson.
Add a new contact and
address book entry from an Outlook message
(posted
2/28/00)
Here's a neat way to add a person to your contact list from an email message.
Instead of closing the message and opening a contact form, in the open email
message, right-click on the person's name. From the shortcut menu, select Add To
Contacts. A new contact form opens and the person's name is already entered into
the form. You can also add the person to your personal address book. In the open
email message, right-click on the person's name and choose Add To Personal
Address Book.
This tip was contributed by Roddy Hutcheson.
Add a Custom Category to the Outlook Add Holiday List (97/98/2000) (posted 2/1/00)
Does your company have special or unusual holidays such as company founder's day or winter break days? Would you like others in your organization to be able to add these holidays to their calendars easily? Here's how you can add a custom category in the Microsoft OutlookŪ Add Holidays to Calendar dialog box. (On the Tools menu, click Options, click Calendar Options, and then click Add Holidays.)
Add a category containing personalized holidays to the Add Holiday list:
1. On the Windows taskbar, click Start, point to Find, and then click Files or Folders.
2. In the Named box, type Outlook.txt and then click Find Now.
3. Right-click the file, and then click Open.
4. At the end of the file, start a new section by typing a custom category name inside square brackets and then typing the number of personalized holidays you plan to add to this section. It's important that this number is accurate.
5. Enter each holiday's name and date, separated by a comma, with the date in the format yyyy/mm/dd. When you're finished, the new section should look like the example below.
[1999 My Company Holidays] 7
Founder's Day, 1999/07/20
Company Picnic, 1999/09/07
Winter Break (1st day), 1999/12/27
Winter Break (2nd day), 1999/12/28
Winter Break (3rd day), 1999/12/29
Winter Break (4th day), 1999/12/30
Winter Break (5th day), 1999/12/31
6. Save and close Outlook.txt, making sure that you save the file in Text Only format.
Now, when you display the Add Holidays to Calendar dialog box, you'll see your custom category in the alphabetical list. Select this category to automatically add these personalized holidays to your calendar. To make this updated list of holidays available to others, give them a copy of your Outlook.txt file and have them replace the default copy on their computer with the new one. Then, they'll see the added holidays when they click the Add Holidays button in the Calendar Options dialog box.
Use words in your
Outlook date and time fields
(posted 1/15/00)
Here's a shortcut we bet you'll use. When you type the word "tomorrow" in a date
field, Outlook interprets the word and automatically inserts the correct date.
You can type words like "yesterday", "today", "next Friday", or "Christmas", and
Outlook will insert the correct date. But this only works with the name of those
holidays that fall on the same date every year, such as Boxing Day, Cinco de
Mayo, or New Year's Day.
If you type in the name of a holiday that's already passed, Outlook puts in the
date for the current year, not the date for that holiday for the next year. To
work around that, enter the date for the next year, including the year numbers,
and press [Tab], then select the date and type in the holiday name. The correct
date for the next year will be in the date box.
You can also type in a block of time, such as 30 days, and Outlook determines
what day is 30 days from today.
See the whole view name
by widening the Current View box in Outlook
(posted
12/15/99)
Maybe you've noticed that the box that displays the name of the current view in
the toolbar isn't always wide enough to display the whole name of some views.
You can widen the box by using these steps:
1. Right-click on a blank space in a toolbar and select Customize. This displays the Customize Toolbars dialog box.
2. Click on the Current View combo box to select it. When it's selected you'll see a black outline on the box.
3. Point to the left or right border of the black box. The mouse changes to a vertical bar with horizontal arrows when you can resize the box.
4. Drag the box border to the width that you want the box to be.
5. Close the Customize dialog box.
Quickly record a
Journal entry in Outlook (98)
(posted 11/15/99)
To quickly open a Journal entry window for a contact, drag the contact name to
the Journal icon in the Outlook bar. The Journal entry will open with the
contact's name already inserted. Now you can add notes, or time a phone call.
This entry will automatically be placed in the Journal.
Display the Calendar
when you start Outlook (98)
(posted 11/1/99)
Are you the kind of person who likes to check their daily calendar before
reading email? If so, you'd probably prefer Outlook to open the Calendar instead
of the Inbox when you start Outlook.
To change the default, choose
Tools/Options. Click on the Other tab and click Advanced Options. Under General
Settings area, click on the Start Up In This Folder dropdown list and select
Calendar. Click OK twice. The next time you restart Outlook, the Calendar will
open by default instead of the Inbox.
Using these same steps, you can also change the default so Outlook opens the
Contacts, Tasks, Journal, or Notes folders.
Display the Calendar
when you start Outlook 98
(posted 9/16/99)
Are you the kind of person who likes to check their daily calendar before
reading email? If so, you'd probably prefer Outlook to open the Calendar instead
of the Inbox when you start Outlook.
To change the default, choose Tools/Options. Click on the Other tab and click
Advanced Options. Under General Settings area, click on the Start Up In This
Folder dropdown list and select Calendar. Click OK twice. The next time you
restart Outlook, the Calendar will open by default instead of the Inbox.
Using these same steps, you can also change the default so Outlook opens the
Contacts, Tasks, Journal, or Notes folders.
Increase your WordMail
workspace (97/2000) (posted 8/15/99)
When creating email messages with Word and Outlook's WordMail feature, you can
change the size of your workspace by toggling the display of the message header
(CC: and Subject: fields), the Bcc: field, and the From: field. To do so, open
the View menu and select the field you'd like to turn on or off. If you're using
Outlook 98, you can quickly toggle the message header on or off simply by
clicking the Message Header button on the Outlook Send Mail toolbar. (If you're
using version 2000, this technique is available only when you use the Microsoft
Outlook Rich Text message format.)
Eliminate hang time by
turning off the automatic journal entry feature (97/2000)
(posted 8/1/99)
If you frequently experience problems when you open or close a Word document,
then Outlook's automatic journal entries may be to blame. By default, Outlook 97
is configured to automatically record all Office files as journal entries. This
behind-the-scenes process can cause delays when you open or close a Word
document. Microsoft has corrected the issue with the Microsoft Office Service
Release 1 (SR-1) patch for Office 97. This issue is also corrected in Outlook 98
and Microsoft Office 2000. To learn more about the SR-1 patch, point your
browser to:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q172/4/75.asp
To turn off Outlook's automatic journal entry feature for Word documents, open
Outlook and select Tools/Options from the menu bar. Click the Journal Options
button on the Preferences property sheet, then clear the Microsoft Word check
box in the Also Record Files From list box. When you've finished, click OK
twice. This prevents Outlook from taking the time to create a journal entry
every time you open or close a Word document.
Quick appointment (posted 5/12/99)
To quickly copy an appointment, press and hold down CTRL and drag the item to a new date or time in Calendar or in the Date Navigator.
Outlook: Turn off card
view and table view editing
(posted
3/15/99)
Outlook's card views and table views enable you to edit Outlook item information
without opening the item. For example, when displaying your contacts in Address
Cards view, you can click on a contact's address information and replace it with
new information. Then, when you click outside the contact, Outlook automatically
saves the changes to the contact form.
Although easy editing features like this add a degree of efficiency, they also
create room for error that you might prefer to avoid. To disable this editing
feature, switch to the view you'd like to modify, then select View/Current
View/Customize Current View from the menu bar. In the View Summary dialog box,
click Other Settings. Next, clear the Allow In-Cell Editing check box and click
OK. Click OK to close any open dialog boxes.
vCards (posted 2/15/99)
A vCard is a virtual business card you can attached to Internet e-mail messages.
To create a vCard, display the Contacts folder, right-click the contact for whom you want to create a vCard, then choose the shortcut menu's Export to vCard File command.
To send a vCard to someone in e-mail:
1. Click Contacts.
2. Click the contact you want to send as a vCard, click Actions, and
then click Forward as vCard.
If the Forward as vCard command is not available, click Forward.
When you receive a vCard, you can save it as a contact.
Copies to delegate (posted 2/1/99)
If you want your delegate to be sent copies of meeting requests and responses sent to you, give the delegate editor permission to your Calendar, and then select the Delegate receives copies of meeting-related messages sent to me check box.
Add a shortcut to the
Outlook Bar to open someone else's Calendar
(posted
1/15/99)
You both need to be using Microsoft Exchange Server to store your mailboxes, and
you need permission to see the other person's Calendar and main mailbox. For
information about how to set permissions on a folder, click .
1. Click Inbox.
2. On the Tools menu, click Services.
3. Click Microsoft Exchange Server, and then click Properties.
4. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Add.
5. Type the other person's name in the Add mailbox box.
6. Click OK until all dialog boxes are closed.
7. If the folder list is not visible, click the View menu, and then click Folder List.
8. Expand the other person's mailbox so that the Calendar folder appears.
9. Drag the Calendar folder to the ??
Using Outlook to track
the amount of time you spend with clients
(posted
12/10/98)
You can use Outlook to keep track of the amount time you spend performing work
for each client in your contact list. To do this, select the contact and press [Ctrl]J
to display a new Journal Entry form. Click the Start Timer button and begin your
work. The Duration text box will then display the amount of elapsed time. Click
the Pause button to stop the timer; click the Start Timer button again when
you're ready to resume.
If you work with multiple
clients throughout the day, you can open a journal entry form for each one. This
way, you can switch among the forms, pausing the timer for one client while
starting the timer for another.
Note that you can record the type of work you perform for a client by choosing
the appropriate category from the Entry Type dropdown list. Click the Save and
Close button when you've finished. You can view the journal entry by clicking
the Journal button in the Outlook bar.
Remind yourself to keep in touch (posted 11/20/98)
Now you can flag contacts for follow-up in Outlook, just like you flag messages. You don't even have to open the item to flag it:
1. Select the contact.
2. From the new Actions menu, click Flag for follow up.
3. Follow the dialog box to set the type of follow-up and date and time for Outlook to remind you.
When you've completed follow-up, follow steps 1 and 2 above, then click Clear Flag or check the box showing that the task is completed.