I’ll tell you what you can do with Microsoft Outlook …
GCRC Research Skills Workshop – 03/15/02
Note: Most of these tips/tricks were lifted verbatim from the websites listed at the end of this document.
Setup Options
Tools à Options
Spell Check your Mail:
Instruct Outlook to automatically spell check outgoing mail before you send it. From the Tools menu, choose Options. Click the Spelling tab and choose "Always Check Spelling before Sending."
Adding a Signature
You can have Outlook automatically add a signature to all new e-mails as well as replies or forwards.
Go to Tools / Options
Select Mail Format
Click on the Signature Picker button
Click on the New button
Enter a name for the new signature
Click on the Next button
Enter in the text you want to appear in your signature.
Click on the Finish button when you are done
If you want to have your signature used when you reply or forward e-mail, uncheck the box Don't use when replying or forwarding.
Append a signature
In Outlook Express, I can create multiple signatures easily, and I can choose for each message which signature I want append to it. But I'm notoriously lazy and end up with no signature at all in most cases. Fortunately, Outlook Express allows me to set up a signature that will automatically be added to every email I create.
To set up a default signature in Outlook Express, choose Tools | Options from the menu and go to the Signatures tab. Make sure Add signatures to all outgoing messages is selected and probably deselect Don't add signatures to Replies and Forwards.
Now select the signature you want to become the automatically inserted one and click Set as Default. Eventually close the dialog with OK.
WINDOW BE GONE
Ever notice that when you delete or move an open message, Outlook displays the previous message, (from your message list), in that same window?
Unless you wanted to do something to the previous message, you'll need to close that window manually to get back to your Inbox.
To cut out this extra step, ask Outlook to close the message window for you.
Select Tools, Options and click the E-mail Options button. Next to"After moving or deleting an open item",click the down arrow and select"return to theInbox".
Notice you can also opt to display the NEXTmessage from your message list in the open window, a handy option if you frequently view one message after another in an open window.
Click OK twice to keep the change.
Double-Click to Create a New Message in Outlook
From Gabriel Botello, San Antonio, Texas
Here's a fast way to create a new e-mail message in Outlook: Double-click a blank area of the Inbox and a new message will automatically open up.
Editor's Note: This tip also works in the blank areas of the Contacts, Tasks, and Notes folders.
Insert files into emaiL:
Method 1: While editing an e-mail posting, Insert à File
Method 2: Your Outlook shortcut bar is only one of 3 default shortcut bars. A really useful one is "Other Shortcuts." (Usually it's hiding at the bottom of the Outlook Shortcut bar.) "Other Shortcuts" gives you an Explorer-type view of your computer (& network drives.) from within Outlook. You can use that view to find and select file(s) and switch your view back to Outlook shortcuts, drag the files to Inbox, and an email message is created w/those files attached.
If you need to do this often, go to the "Other Shortcuts" and drag any directory straight to your Outlook shortcuts bar to add a shortcut to that directory. Then you won't need to keep switching shortcut bars.
Schedule E-mail Responses in Your Outlook Calendar
From Michael Swain, Bermuda
If you receive an e-mail message in Outlook and you 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.
To turn an e-mail message into an item on your calendar:
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 e-mail 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 e-mail.
Editor's 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 New Contact from an E-Mail Message
From Brian K. Bell, Elizabethtown, Kentucky
If you're always adding new contacts to your Outlook Contacts list, you'll appreciate this timesaving drag-and-drop tip.
Drag an e-mail message from the person you want to add to your contact list from your Inbox onto the Contacts icon in the Outlook Shortcuts bar (or in the Folder List).
Edit or add to the contact information as necessary, and then click Save and Close.
Automatically Emptying Deleted Mail
By default, Outlook does not remove files from the Deleted folder when you exit the application. To do this:
Go to Tools / Options
Click on the Other tab
Check Empty the Deleted Items folder upon exiting
When you exit Outlook, you will now be prompted if you want to empty the Deleted Folder items.
If you do not even want to be prompted and just have them automatically deleted:
Click on the Advanced Options button
Uncheck Warn before permanently deleting items
Using Boilerplate Text
If you need to frequently use the same replies for e-mail, you can insert prepared text into your e-mails.
This involves two steps. First is to create the text. Second is to insert it into your e-mail
Creating the Text
By default, Outlook will look at the My Documents folder for the text so this is where you will create your text files.
Open up the Explorer
Go to the My Documents folder
Right click on the right side
Select New / Text Document
Give it a name that will reflect the type of text you will use. Make sure you leave the .txt extension
Double click on the file which will open up Notepad to a blank screen
Enter in the text you want to use
Select File / Save and exit Notepad
Inserting the Text
This is where you will insert the boilerplate text into your e-mail
Click on wherever you want your text to go into your e-mail
Select Insert / File
Scroll to the file you want to insert and just highlight it. If you double click it will insert as an attachment.
Depending on the version of Outlook you have either select Insert as Text or click on the down arrow by the Insert button and select Insert as Text
SET YOUR FLAGS FLYING, PART 1
You can easily flag a message to remind you to follow up on an item: Right-click the message, select Flag for Follow Up, choose an action, and click OK.
For those follow-up actions you absolutely MUST get done by a certain date, you may want to carry this flagging feature one step further.
Ask Outlook to display a reminder when you don't complete the action on time. Inside the message's Flag to Follow Up dialog box, clickthe down arrow next to Reminder and select a due date. Click OK.
If the flag isn't removed or marked completed by that time and date, a reminder will appear.
SET YOUR FLAGS FLYING,PART 2
Sometimes one reminder isn't enough. If you're worried you might forget an overdue item after dismissing its reminder message, rest easy: Outlook displays the message in red. If red's not your color, you can change the color,font, and point size of any overdue message.
To do this, select View, Current View, then Customize Current View. In the resulting dialog box, click the Automatic Formatting button.
Select Overdue E-mail (but don't deselect the check box next to it).
Click the Font button and take your pick of formatting options.
For example, you might change the size to 12 points and the color to fuchsia. Click OK twice for your changes take effect.
Using Out of Office email feature:
Click on the Inbox folder. From the menu bar select “Tools”, “Out of Office Assistant”. Follow the dialog box. The next time you open Outlook and your email, you will be asked if you want to turn off the Out of Office message.
Voting Buttons on email messages:
If you wish to include voter buttons in an email message, while in that message click on the View button at the top of the screen and click on Options. Select the wording for the buttons, or create your own. Specify any additional parameters. NOTE: the buttons will not appear on your screen so you may want to send a copy of the message to yourself to verify they are there before sending the message to everyone.
RECEIPTS
Request a receipt
Uncertainty is horrible, and so is the uncertainty whether an important email message has been received and read by the recipient. Return receipts can answer this question.
To request a read receipt for an individual message in Outlook Express, select Tools from the message menu and then Request Read Receipt so that it is checked. When the recipient of the message opens it, she is asked to notify you that she has opened and read the mail.
Who sent that?
You can easily apply a special color to email from that certain someone, making it easier to spot. In Outlook98, open your Inbox. Click on a message from that sender, and then on Organize. Now click on "Using Colors." All you need to do now is pick a color for that person's messages, and then "Apply Color."
Did You Get the E-Mail Message I Sent? I Can Find Out
From Bret Hanson, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
With the Read Receipt feature in Outlook, you can track if and when someone has read an e-mail message you've sent. So, instead of wondering, "Has he read my e-mail yet?", you can know for sure. Here's how:
Before you send your message, on the View menu, click Options.
Select the Request a read receipt for this message check box and click Close.
To automatically track all e-mail that you send:
On the Tools menu, click Options.
On the Preferences tab, click E-mail Options, and then click Tracking Options.
Select the Request a read receipt for all messages I send check box and click OK.
Now as soon as the recipient opens an e-mail message you've sent, Outlook automatically sends a message back notifying you that it's been read. Or if the recipient deleted the message without reading it, you'll know that too.
Editor's Note: If your recipient's e-mail server does not support this feature, you will not be able to track if the message was read. Microsoft Exchange Server is one server that does provide full message tracking capabilities.
Are You Spying on Me?
From Carleton Tanner, New Orleans, Louisiana
I like to know if people have requested read receipts on e-mail messages they've sent me. Here's how you can customize your Outlook Inbox so you can see at a glance which messages have read receipts attached:
Open your Outlook Inbox, and on the View menu, point to Toolbars and click Advanced to show the Advanced toolbar.
On the Advanced toolbar, click Field Chooser.
In the Field Chooser drop-down box, select All Mail Fields.
Scroll down until you see Receipt Requested.
Click Receipt Requested and drag it onto the column heading in your Inbox. The double red arrows indicate where the column will be placed when you release the mouse.
Close the Field Chooser box.
Now you'll see a new column in your Inbox with the label Receipt Requested that will have a Yes in it when the message has a read receipt request attached or a No if it does not.
RULES
Too Much Love? Outlook Can Automatically Delete Unwanted E-mail
Dave Kaiser, Crystal River, Florida
The Outlook Rules Wizard paid off for me during the recent influx of unwanted ILOVEYOU messages. With the Rules Wizard, I have been automatically deleting any e-mail messages I receive with the following keywords in the Subject box: "ILOVEYOU," "I LOVE YOU," and "FWD: JOKE." Now they don't clog up my Inbox, and I can't open them up accidentally.
To use the Rules Wizard to automatically delete any e-mail with the subject "ILOVEYOU":
Click Inbox. Then, on the Tools menu, click Rules Wizard.
Click New.
Click check messages when they arrive, and then click Next.
Select the check box next to with specific word in the subject.
In the text area below, click the blue, underlined phrase specific words.
Here you can specify which words Outlook should look out for. For example, in the Add New text box, enter ILOVEYOU and then click Add. Repeat for any additional terms you want to check for. When you're done, click OK and then click Next.
Select delete it.
Click Finish.
To apply the rule to e-mail already in your Inbox, click Run Now. In the Select rules to run list, select the check box next to the rule you just created, and click Run Now. This will delete all e-mail in your inbox with the subject "ILOVEYOU." When the process is complete, click OK.
Now, anytime you get e-mail with the subject "ILOVEYOU," Outlook will automatically move it to your Deleted Items folder. The e-mail will still be available in your Deleted Items until you empty the folder.