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Information Technology - Microsoft Outlook Tips

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Working with the Address Book
Working with Attachments
Requesting Receipts
Working with Folders (including Personal Folders)
Flush Deleted Items automatically
Working with Calendars

 

Create a personal address book from the Global Address List

1. On the Tools menu, click Address Book to open your Address Book.
2. In the Show Names from the list, click Contacts.
3. On the File menu, click New Entry.
4. Under Select the entry type, click New Distribution List and click OK.
5. In the Name box, type the name of your new distribution list.
6. Click the Select Members button to add members from any of your Address Book entries or Contacts.
7. Click Save And Close to save the new distribution list.

Add New Names to a personal address book

1. On the Tools menu, click Address Book to open your Address Book.
2. Double-click on the name of the address book to which you’d like to add a contact.
3. Click the Select Members button to add members from any of your Address Book entries or Contacts.
4. Click Save And Close to save the new distribution list.

TIP: While inside a mail message, you can right-click on the person’s name after "From:"
     and click on "Add to the Contacts List". From there it opens a box where you can add
     additional information. Save and close and it will be added.

 

Attach a File to Your Mail Message

To send an attachment:

1. Click the New, Mail Message button.
2. Address the e-mail message and type subject and text if any.
3. Click Insert, File or click the paper clip on your toolbar. Find the file you want to attach then click the Insert button.
4. After you have attached the file(s), click the Send button.

Read an Attachment

You will know if a message has an attachment when you see a small paper clip symbol.

To view an attachment:

1. You need to click on the sender’s name of the mail message that has an attachment. A second window will open with the message loaded. You will see a small paper clip symbol in the right hand corner for the attachment.
2. Click on the small paper clip, then on the file name. The attachment may be shown in a new browser window or it may open in the application. If the browser is not configured for the appropriate application, you will see a Save as dialog box prompting you to enter a path/filename so that you can save the attachment. If it opens in the application, click File, Save As to save the attachment.
3. After the attachment is saved, you can open it with another application.

TIP:  You can also drag a file from the desktop or from Windows Explorer to the text box of an open item to insert it.

Save the Attachments in E-mail Messages

You can either save all of the attachments or save a single attachment

Save All Attachments

1. Open the message that contains the file attachments you want to save.
2. Hold down SHIFT, and then click each attachment so that they are all selected.
3. On the File menu, click Save Attachments.
4. Locate the folder in which you want to save the attachment, select it and click OK.

Save a single attachment

1. Open the message that contains the file attachment you want to save.
2. Right-click the attachment, and then click Save As.

 

Request Delivery and / or Read Receipts

1. From inside an open message, on the View menu, click Options.
2. Under Voting and Tracking options, click to select "Request a delivery receipt for this message" and/or "Request a read receipt for this message".
3. Click Close.

 

WORKING WITH FOLDERS

Your mailbox contains folders with specific functions: Deleted Items, Inbox, Outbox, and Sent Items are defined by default. You can create additional folders of your choice to organize your e-mail into whatever categories are useful (by topic, priority, project, etc.). You can nest folders into a hierarchy or make them all the same level.
The folder list for the currently selected feature appears on the left frame of the page. To display the contents of a folder, click on it. Contents will be displayed as a list, unless the folder is empty. Use the folder with the up-arrow icon to return to the full list.

Create, Delete, Move and Copy Folders

• To create a new folder in a hierarchy, click the folder into which the new folder will be placed, then click File, Folder, New folder. Type a name for the new folder, and then click OK. To cancel the operation, click Cancel. For creating a folder at the same level as others, open only the top-level folder before creating the new one.
• To delete a folder, click the name of the folder to open it. Click File, Folder, Delete <File Name>. You will be asked "Are you sure you want to delete the current folder and its subfolders?" To proceed, click OK. To cancel the deletion, click Cancel.
• To move a subfolder, (you cannot move a folder) right-click the name of the folder, then click Move <File Name>. In the list of names of all the current folders, click the name of the destination folder and click OK.
• To copy a folder, right-click the name of the folder, then click Copy <File Name>. In the list of names of all the current folders, click the name of the destination folder and click OK.

Working With Personal Folders

Personal Folders are folders that you create to store mail messages on another server. You add a main Personal Folders as a service to the User Profile and give it a file name. Personal Folders have a .pst extension.

The Personal Folders file contains folders, messages, forms, and files. You work with a Personal Folders file (.pst) as you would with any other file, and you can save, copy, and move a .pst file to another location on your hard disk, a floppy disk, or a server. You can also designate a Personal Folders file as the delivery location for your incoming messages (not recommended by the way).

Back Up Your Personal Folders File

Follow these steps to back up your Personal Folders file and all subfolders:

1. On the File menu, click Import And Export to open the Import And Export Wizard.
2. In the "Choose an action to perform" list, click to select "Export to a file" and click Next.
3. In the "Create a file of type" list, click to select "Personal Folder File (.pst), and click Next.
4. In the "Select the folder to export from" list, click "Personal Folders." Click to select the "Include subfolders" check box, and then click Next.
5. In the "Save exported file as" box, click Browse and select a destination .pst file.
6. Under Options, click to select how you want duplicate items treated, and click Finish.

 

Empty the Deleted Items Folder Automatically

• On the Tools menu, click Options, and click the Other tab.
• Select the Empty the Deleted Items folder upon exiting check box.

Now, whenever you quit Outlook, it will automatically empty the Deleted Items folder. If you don't want Outlook performing this operation without giving you the opportunity to change your mind, Outlook can first confirm with you that it's okay to delete the folder's contents.

Display a confirmation before deleting items
• On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Other tab.
• Click Advanced Options, and then select the Warn before permanently deleting items check box.

Now, whenever you quit Outlook, it will ask whether you want to delete all the items in the Deleted Items folder. You can either decline so you can review the items, or click OK and have Outlook do the work for you!

 

View Your Inbox and Calendar Simultaneously

• Quit all other programs.
• Click Inbox on the Folder List to open it. (If the Folder List is not displayed, click Folder List on the View menu.)
• Right-click Calendar on the Folder List, and click Open in New Window on the shortcut menu.
• Right-click an empty area of the Windows taskbar, and then click Tile Windows Vertically on the shortcut menu. Or resize the Calendar and Inbox so they can fit side by side on your screen.

Now you can view both easily. When you are done for the day, quit Outlook by clicking Exit on the File menu. This way, your settings are saved, and the next time you open Outlook, the windows will open side by side.

Schedule Email Responses in Your Calendar

If you receive an email message and don't have time to respond to it immediately, you can easily add it to your calendar and schedule a block of time when you will be able to reply.

• Drag the message from your Inbox onto the Calendar icon on the Outlook Bar or onto your Calendar folder. This will create a new appointment item.
• Enter the date and time you want to reply and specify any additional options you want. (The body of the email message is automatically added to the appointment.)
• Click Save and Close to add the appointment to your calendar.

Outlook will automatically notify you when it is time to respond to that email. Note: You can drag items between all Outlook folders: Inbox, Tasks, Calendar, Contacts, Notes, and so on. For more options, right-click before you drag.

Create a Meeting Request with a Contact

To quickly schedule a meeting with an Outlook contact or members of a distribution list:

• Open your Contacts folder
• Drag a contact or distribution list onto the Calendar icon on your Outlook Shortcuts bar. This will automatically create a new meeting request addressed to the person or group.
• Enter start and end times for your meeting, and select any other options you want.
• Click Send.

NOTE: You can also drag contacts into your Inbox to create new messages addressed to them or into your Tasks folder to assign them a task.

Print a Calendar Without Personal Appointment Details

To hide the details of personal appointments when printing calendar appointments follow these steps:

1. Open your Calendar folder.
2. On the File menu, click Print.
3. At the bottom left of the Print dialog box, click to select the Hide details of private appointments check box, and then click OK to print.


NOTE: Your calendar prints with the times of private appointments showing, but the appointment title is "Private Appointment" instead of the actual title in your calendar.