Page 1 | Email and calendar on the go with Outlook 2016

Managing your email and calendar onthego with Outlook 2016

Use Microsoft Outlook 2016 to keep your world in sync and stay more connected. Microsoft Outlook helps you manage everything you do, no matter where you are. Get your emails, calendars, contacts, tasks, and to-do lists all in one place, in a clear, unified view. Because Outlook is built into Microsoft Office 365, you can sign in from any browser, tablet, or phone—and of course, you can always use the full version on your desktop.

NOTE: This guide covers the desktop client version of Outlook 2016 for Windows. Some of the features below are not yet available in Outlook 2016 for Mac. To learn what’s new in Office 2016 for Mac, please visit support.office.com.

What’s new

Outlook 2016 for the desktop contains some improvements and new features to help you stay on task, find information easily, plan your calendar, and keep in touch with your contacts.To learn more about new features that are offered across the suite of Office applications including Tell Me, Smart Lookup, simplified sharing, the latest Office themes and many more, check out the What’s new in Microsoft Office 2016 IT Showcase productivity guide at

Weather forecasts

Check the Weather Bar in Calendar view, and let the forecast inform how you plan your daily schedule or your nexttrip.

Figure 1. The Weather Bar

Group your contacts

Sort multiple contacts into a single view that includes all of their contact information and even social network updates. You will see social context quickly and remove needless duplication.

Get someone’s attention

Make sure that recipients know they're being asked for input or action by including the @ symbol followed by the person's name to the body of an email or calendar item. This will also automatically add them to the To line.

Outlook 2016 Groups

Groups enable you to easily collaborate and communicate with others by storing all of your project or team information, such as emails, discussions, and events, in one shared location. You can now browse, join, and even create groups right from Outlook as well as add the ones to follow most actively to your Favorites for easy access.

Create a group in Outlook 2016

  1. On the Home tab, choose New Group.
  1. In the Create Group window, enter the required information, including Name, Group ID, and Privacy level, (Public or Private). You won't be able to change the group ID after you create the group.
  2. Check the subscription box to let members receive the group's emails in their regular inbox or keep it un-checked if you prefer that they access the group's mail only from the group's inbox, and then click OK.

  1. Add the members, description, and a photo for the group, and then click OK. You can add members after the group is created as well.

  1. Click OK. You'll see your newly created group in the left navigation pane and a Welcome email in your group's inbox.

Getting started

Your first step is to set up your account. After that, you will be ready to start receiving and sending email, working with your calendar, creating contacts, and working with tasks.

Set up your email account

Setting up the Outlook desktop program is a snap—it is taken care of automatically if you have used an earlier version of Outlook on the same computer. If you have not, Auto Account setup runs the first time you start Outlook and guides you through the process. Setup will ask for your name, email address, and password. That is usually enough, but if automatic setup fails, Outlook will ask for a bit more information, such as your mail server name.

With Outlook in a browser, setup is taken care of automatically—just sign in to your Office 365 account, and your existing email messages, appointments, contacts, and tasks are available right away.

Start using Outlook on the web

  1. In a browser, go to and sign in with your Microsoft account.
  1. Select the app launcher , and you will see all the Office apps you can use in the browser. The Outlook apps you will be using are Mail, Calendar, People, and Tasks—which are highlighted in the following screenshot.
  1. Select the tile for the app you want to use, to start mailing, scheduling, and connecting!

Working with your email

So much of modern life revolves around email. When you open Outlook, the first thing you will see is your Inbox. This is where your emails arrive, and where you can view and respond to them.

Create a new email

  1. Do one of the following:
  • In Outlook for the desktop, select New Email.
  • In Outlook in a browser, select + New.
  1. Fill in the To and Subject lines, and then write your message. You can also enter names on the Cc line to copy the message to additional people.
  2. When you are done, select Send.

Forward or reply to an email

  1. In the Reading pane, select Reply, Reply All, or Forward.
  1. To remove a name from the To and Cc lines, select the name and then select Delete (desktop), or select the X next to the name (browser).
  2. To add more recipients, select the To, Cc, or Bcc box or line, and enter the recipient’s name.

If you cannot find the Bcc box or line, do one of the following:

  • In Outlook for the desktop, on the Options tab on the ribbon, select Bcc.

NOTE: In Outlook for the desktop, the Cc box is always shown.

  • In Outlook in a browser, select the Cc or Bccoption in the upper right corner of the message window.

Add an attachment to an email

To share a file with others, you can attach it to your message.

  1. Create a message; or, for an existing message, select Reply, Reply All, or Forward.
  1. In the message window, select Message> Attach File (desktop) or Attach (browser). In addition to files, you can attach other Outlook items:
  • Other email messages—a good way to provide information for an “FYI” instead of copying text or forwarding a message.
  • Contacts—easily send information about a contact to another person.
  • Tasks—delegate or otherwise share your workload.

Work with email or meeting attachments

Without leaving Outlook, you can open an attachment either in the Reading pane or from an open message. After opening and viewing an attachment, you can decide if you want to save it. If a message has more than one attachment, you can either save them all at once to a single location, or save one at a time to different locations.

Open (view) an attachment

  • In your message, double-click the attachment. If you are using Outlook for the desktop, the attachment opens in the desktop program associated with the file type, such as Excel or PowerPoint. If you are using Outlook in a browser, the attachment opens in the Office 365 online version of the program, such as Microsoft Word Online or PowerPoint Online.

Save an attachment

  1. Select the attachment in the Reading pane or in the open message.
  1. Do one of the following:
  • In Outlook for the desktop, on the Attachments tab, select Save As. You can also right-click the attachment, and then select Save As.
  • In Outlook in a browser, select the arrow next to the attachment, select Download, and save the attachment as you would normally save a download from the web. And in Outlook in a browser, you can save an attachment directly to your Microsoft OneDrive for Business document library—select the arrow next to the attachment, and then select Save to OneDrive.

Personalizing your email and calendar

Out of town or taking the day off? Or just swamped with work? Use automatic replies whenever you want to notify people who send you email that you will not respond to messages right away. You can also give Outlook a personal touch by changing the Office theme.

Set up automatic replies

Automatic replies in Outlook are very versatile. You can set up separate automatic replies for people inside and outside your organization. And, if you have multiple Microsoft Exchange email accounts set up in Outlook, you can set up automatic replies for each of those accounts. After automatic replies are turned on for an account, an Out of Office message is sent to each person who sends you email.

  1. Do one of the following:
  • In Outlook for Windows, select FileInfoAutomatic Replies.
  • In Outlook for Mac, select ToolsOut of Office.
  • In Outlook in a browser, select Settings,and then, under Mail settings, select Automatic replies.
  1. Select Send automatic replies, type your message, and then choose the options you want (such as whether to automatically reply only to internal senders or also to external senders).
  2. When you are done, select OK.

Create and add an email signature

A personalized signature lets you add key information (such as your email alias, title, or company name) or some flourish to the end of your messages. You can create a personalized signature that is automatically added to all outgoing messages, or you can add it only to specific messages.

In Outlook for the desktop:

  1. In a new message, select SignatureSignatures on the ribbon.
  1. On the E-mail Signature tab, choose an email account to use, then select New to create a new signature.
  2. Type a name for the signature.
  3. Choose whether to use the signature for New messages only, for Replies/forwards, or for all messages.

If you do not set this option, you can manually add your signature to a message while you are composing it.

  1. Type your signature in the text box. You can apply text formatting, and insert a business card, pictures, or links.
  2. When you are done, select OK.

In Outlook in a browser:

  1. Select Settings Options.
  1. In the left pane, under MailLayout, select Email signature.
  2. Type your signature in the text box. You can use the formatting bar to format the font as you want it to appear.
  3. Determine the type of emails you want your signature to appear at the bottom, by selecting the check box for Automatically include my signature on new messages I compose and/or Automatically include my signature on messages I forward or reply to.

If you do not select this option, you can manually add your signature to a message while you are composing it.

  1. When you are done, select Save.

Working with your calendar and tasks

In Outlook, you organize your time through meetings and appointments. Meetings are activities that involve other people or resources, such as a conference room, but appointments usually involve only you. You can view your calendar by Day, Work Week, Week, or Month.

Many people keep to-do lists—on paper, in a spreadsheet, or through a combination of paper and electronic methods. In Outlook, you can combine various lists into one, get reminders, and track the progress of tasks.

View your calendar

  1. Do one of the following:
  • In Outlook for the desktop, select the Calendar button in the lower-left corner.
  • In Outlook in a browser, select the app launcher , and then select Calendar.
  1. Select Day, Work Week, Week, or Month to change your calendar view.

Any meeting that you have been invited to shows the organizer’s name and includes links to respond to theinvitation.

Schedule a meeting with others

  1. Do one of the following:
  • In Outlook for the desktop, on the Home tab, select New Meeting.
  • In Outlook in a browser, select + New.
  1. Type a meeting subject in the Subject box (desktop) or on the Event line (browser).
  2. Add a location, such as a conference room or an office. Select Rooms (desktop) or Add Room (browser) to choose one.
  3. If some attendees might not be able to meet with you in person, you can add a Skype for Business link to your meeting invitation. Do the following:
  • In Outlook for the desktop, on the Meeting tab, select Skype Meeting.
  • In Outlook in the browser, select Skype Meeting> AddSkype Meeting on the ribbon.

Outlook inserts a Join Skype Meeting link in the body of the message.

  1. To add attendees, do one of the following:
  • In Outlook for the desktop, select the To button.
  • In Outlook in a browser, select + in the People box to open your list of contacts. Select contact names to add them to the list of attendees. If someone is not in your list of contacts, you can start typing their name and select Search Directory.
  1. Specify a start time and an end time.
  2. Select Scheduling Assistant to view the attendees' calendars and free/busy time, and then adjust the time as appropriate. When you are done, select OK.
  3. In the Reminder list, choose how long before the meeting you want people to get a reminder. (The default time is 15 minutes.)
  4. Select Send.

Schedule an appointment for yourself

Need a quick reminder? Or want to make sure you do not miss next week’s visit to the dentist? You can create an appointment for yourself the same way you create a meeting, except you do not add attendees or a conference room.

To mark an appointment as private, so others see you are busy but no details are shown about your appointment, do one of the following:

  • In Outlook for the desktop, on the ribbon (Home tab, in the Tags group), select Private.
  • In Outlook in a browser, select the Private box.

Change the calendar color (desktop only)

  1. Select the calendar you want to customize.
  1. On the View tab, select Color.
  2. Select the color you want.

NOTE: Changing the color in the calendar does not affect how your schedule is displayed in the To-Do bar.

Change the calendar font (desktop only)

  1. Select the calendar you want to customize.
  1. On the View tab, in the Current View group, select View Settings.
  2. Select Other Settings, and then, in the Format Calendar dialog box, choose the font you want.

Change the default background color for all calendars

  1. Select FileOptionsCalendar.
  1. Under Display Options, select Default calendar color, select the color that you want, and then select the Use this color on all calendars check box.

Work with tasks in Outlook desktop

  1. Select ...Tasks in the lower-left corner.
  1. On the ribbon, select New Task.
  2. Fill out the details—the subject, start and due dates, status, priority, and reminder information.

As work progresses on your task, you can change status and dates, and eventually mark the task as complete.

Work with tasks in Outlook in a browser

  1. Select the app launcher , and then select Tasks.
  1. Select + New task to create a task.
  2. Fill out the Subject box, assign a due date, and enter any relevant information in the text box.
  3. Select Show more details to see additional boxes for more detailed information, such as the status, priority, percentage complete, and work hours.

As work progresses on your task, you can change the status and dates, and eventually mark the task as complete.

Working with your contacts

These days, most of us work and communicate with more people than we can easily keep track of. Stay connected by finding people in your organization or adding new contacts that you can access across all your devices.

Find or add contacts by using Outlook for the desktop

  1. Select the People button in thelower left corner.
  1. To find existing contacts that you have already added, start typing in the Search Contacts box.
  2. To find new contacts that you would like to add, do one of the following:
  • Under My Contacts, select Skype for Business Contacts or Suggested Contacts to find people that Outlook recognizes from previous messages or meetings.
  • On the ribbon, select Home > Address Book to search for someone else in your organization. After you select a person, you can then add him or her as a contact.

Find or add contacts by using Outlook in a browser

  1. Select the app launcher , and then select People.
  1. To find new contacts that you would like to add, do one of the following:
  • To find someone in your organization, select Directory > All Users in the left pane. You can also search for someone by typing his or her name in the Search all users box and pressing Enter. Add the person by selecting Add to Contacts on the ribbon.
  • To add someone from outside your organization, select + New, and then fill in the person’s information. When you are done, select Save.

Sharing your documents with others

Sometimes, the best way to keep your coworkers in the loop is to attach a file when you send them a new message or appointment. With the new modern attachments feature in the desktop version of Outlook, this is now easier than ever—Office remembers your most recently used documents, so they are always at your fingertips in Outlook.

Or, to keep your documents under control and in one place, you can instead send a link to a file from within a Microsoft SharePoint Online or OneDrive for Business document library.

Recipients receive a link to the document, but cloud-based attachments behave like traditional attachments so that the experience is natural to users – they still have a paper clip and can be filtered as attachments, integrategracefully with other email clients, make collaboration seamless by automatically grantingpermissions to recipients. Files attached from OneDrive or SharePoint are automatically configuredwith permissions for the recipients.