MS Outlook Overview - Workbook Outlook Overview... · 4 Workbook | Microsoft Outlook Overview | onlineacademy.co.za MODULE 01 EXERCISE 01 Working in the Outlook user interface 1

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2 Workbook | Microsoft Outlook Overview | onlineacademy.co.za

MODULE 01

GETTING STARTED WITH OUTLOOK

Introduction

Outlook is part of the Microsoft Office suite of apps, which also include Microsoft Access, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word. Electronic messaging keeps many of us in contact with colleagues, clients, friends, and family members. For people who are dependent on electronic communications and even more so for those who work in enterprises that use Microsoft Exchange Server, SharePoint, and Skype for Business to manage collaboration, Outlook offers an ideal solution. From one place, you can quickly create, store, organise, manage, and retrieve messages, address books, calendars, task lists, and more. More importantly, Outlook makes this information available to you when and where you need it.

The way that you start Outlook is dependent on the operating system you’re running on your computer.

For example:

• In Windows 10, you can start Outlook from the Start menu, the All Apps menu, the Start screen, or the taskbar search box.

• In Windows 8, you can start Outlook from the Apps screen or Start screen search results.

• In Windows 7, you can start Outlook from the Start menu, All Programs menu, or Start menu search results.

• You might also have a shortcut to Outlook on your desktop or on the Windows taskbar.

Workbook | Microsoft Outlook Overview | onlineacademy.co.za 3

The user interface

The Outlook user interface provides intuitive access to all the tools you need to manage your e-mail, calendar, contacts, and tasks.

You can use Outlook to do the following:

• Send, receive, read, respond to, organise, and archive e-mail messages.

• Create attractive business graphics and incorporate in your communications.

• Send documents, files and media to and from people.

• Schedule events, appointments, and meetings.

• View upcoming appointments and tasks, and receive reminders for them.

• Share schedule information with other people.

• Store contact information in an easily accessible format.

• Keep track of tasks you need to complete.

• Organise and easily locate information in messages.

• Filter out unwanted junk messages.

MODULE 01

GETTING STARTED WITH OUTLOOK


MODULE 01

EXERCISE 01

Working in the Outlook user interface

1. On each tab of the ribbon, do the following:

• Review the available groups and commands.

• Display the ScreenTip of any command you’re not familiar with. Notice the different levels of detail in the ScreenTips.

• If a group has a dialog box launcher in its lower-right corner, click the dialog box launcher to display the associated dialog box or pane.

2. To change the app window color scheme for all Office apps

• Display the Office Account page of the Backstage View.

• In the Office Theme list, click Colorful, Dark Gray, or White.


MODULE 01

REFLECT 01

1. Discuss the importance of using e-mail in today’s working environment.

2. Why do you believe Outlook is preferred in the professional environment?


MODULE 02

WORKING WITH OUTLOOK MODULES

Introduction

Outlook has multiple modules, namely, Mail, Calendar, People, Tasks, Notes, and Folders in which you display and manage specific types of information. All of the modules are displayed within an app window that contains all the tools you need to add and format content.

The Mail module is displayed by default when you start Outlook. Content that is specific to the Mail module includes the Favorites list at the top of the Folder Pane, and the message list in the content area. The Home tab displays commands specific to working with messages.

When you connect to any type of e-mail account, these six folders are available in each mailbox:

• Drafts

Outlook stores temporary copies of in-progress messages in this folder, which is created the first time you save a message without sending it.

• Sent Items

When you send a message, Outlook stores a copy of it in this folder.

• Deleted

Items Outlook items that you delete from other folders are held in this folder. They are not deleted permanently until you empty the folder.

• Junk E-mail

Outlook delivers messages blocked by the spam filter to this folder.

• RSS Feeds

Website information feeds that you subscribe to are available from this folder. When you first start Outlook, you might find information feeds recommended by Microsoft here.

• Search Folders

These folders contain up-to-date results of searches you’ve conducted for messages that match specific search criteria.


Message Windows & Calendar Items

• When you create a new message or open an existing message, it opens in a separate message window.

• The message window has its own ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar, separate from those in the Outlook app window.

• The commands on the ribbon in a message composition window differ from those in a message reading window.

Collectively, the following are Calendar Item Windows:

• Appointment - A window in which you create an appointment is an appointment window.

• Meeting – A window in which you create or respond to a meeting request is a meeting window.

• Event – A window in which you create an event is an event window.

MODULE 02

WORKING WITH OUTLOOK MODULES


MODULE 02

EXERCISE 01

Working with Outlook modules

On the Navigation Bar, click the module button, or click the Options button (...) and then click the module name.

Or

Use any of the following keyboard shortcuts:

• Ctrl+1 for Mail

• Ctrl+2 for Calendar

• Ctrl+3 for People

• Ctrl+4 for Tasks

• Ctrl+5 for Notes


MODULE 02

REFLECT 01

1. In your current environment, which situation would you require the use of the Outlook calendar?

2. Define a common task you would identify in your work environment.


MODULE 03

MANAGE EMAIL MESSAGES

Creating Messages

Although Microsoft Outlook is an excellent tool for managing your schedule, contact records, and task lists, the primary reason most people use Outlook is to send and receive e-mail messages. Over the past decade, e-mail has become an important method of communication for both business and personal purposes. Outlook provides all the tools you need to send, respond to, organise, find, filter, sort, and otherwise manage e-mail messages for one or more e-mail accounts. If you have an Internet connection, you can send e-mail messages to people within your organization and around the world by using Outlook, regardless of the type of e-mail account you have.

Outlook can send and receive e-mail messages in three message formats

• HTML

Supports paragraph styles, character styles and backgrounds. Most e-mail programs support the HTML format.

• Rich text

Supports more paragraph formatting options than HTML, including borders and shading, but is compatible only with Outlook and Exchange Server.

• Plain text

Does not support the formatting features available in HTML and Rich text messages, but is supported by all e-mail programs.


Message content

You can create almost any type of content in an e-mail message that you can in a Microsoft Word document. Because Outlook and Word share similar commands, you might already be familiar with many processes for formatting content.

You can personalize your messages by using an individual font style or color and add a professional touch by inserting your contact information in the form of an e-mail signature. You can apply other formatting, such as themes and page backgrounds, but they can make your communications appear less professional.

You can format the text of your message to make it more readable by including headings, lists, or tables, and you can represent information graphically by including charts, pictures, and other types of graphics.

MODULE 03

MANAGE EMAIL MESSAGES


MODULE 03

EXERCISE 01

Creating and sending messages

1. Open an email message composition window.

• In the Mail module, on the Home tab, in the New group, click the New Email button.

• In the message composition window, click in the To box.

• Enter an address.

2. Enter a subject for an email message.

• In the message composition window, in the Subject box, enter the subject of the email message.

3. Enter content for an email message.

• In the message composition window, in the message body field, enter the content of the email message.

4. Format the content of an email message.

• In the message composition window, in the message body field, select the content you want to format.

• Apply basic font and paragraph formatting from the Mini Toolbar that appears when you select the content, or from the Basic Text group on the Message tab.

5. Send an email message

• Evaluate your address field, subject line and content

• In the message header, click the Send button.

• The message window closes and the message is sent. If the message was saved in the Drafts folder, sending it removes it from the Drafts folder.

6. Verify that the email was sent

• In the Folder Pane of the Mail module, click the Sent Items folder to verify that the message is in the folder.


MODULE 03

REFLECT 01

1. Discuss the difference between the To, CC and BCC fields.

2. Why would it be a risk to ignore outdated addresses/names on the Autocorrect list?


MODULE 03

EXERCISE 02

Displaying a message participant’s contact information and responding to messages

1. To display a message participant’s contact information:

• Point to the person’s name to display a simple contact card.

• In the contact card, click the Open Contact Card button to display a more extensive range of information and interaction options.

2. To reply to an e-mail message:

At the top of the Reading Pane or in the Respond group on the Message tab, do either of the following:

• Click the Reply button to create a response already addressed to the original sender. If the message had been sent to any other people, the reply would not include them.

• Click the Reply All button to create a response already addressed to the original sender. If the message had been sent to any other people, the reply also includes them.

3. The RE: prefix appears at the beginning of the message subject to indicate that this is a response to an earlier message. The original message, including its header information, appears in the content pane, separated from the new content by a horizontal line.

• At the top of the content pane, enter the text of your reply.

• In the response header, click the Send button to send the reply. The original message remains open on your screen.


MODULE 03

REFLECT 02

1. What kind of files would you need to attach to e-mail messages in your current position?

2. In what instance would you use Reply to All instead of Reply?


MODULE 04

ORGANISE YOUR INBOX

Organise your Messages

Outlook provides many simple yet useful features that you can use to organise messages and other Outlook items. By default, the message list displays the email messages you receive in order by time and date of receipt, from newest to oldest. You can arrange, group, and sort messages in Outlook to keep conversation threads together and to help you determine which are the most important, decide which can be deleted, and locate any that need an immediate response.

Managing Conversations

When?

When a recipient replies to an email message, the exchange of multiple messages creates a conversation.

What?

Conversation view is an alternative arrangement of messages grouped by subject. All the messages with the same subject appear together in your Inbox under one conversation header.

Where?

In the View tab, in the Messages group, the Conversation options can be explored.


Arranging messages by specific attributes

What? By default, Outlook displays messages arranged by date, from newest to oldest. This is also the most commonly used attribute.

Alternatively, you can arrange items by many different attributes such as From, Importance and even Size.

Where? In the View tab in the Arrangement Group, observe the several attributes a user can select from.

Let’s take a closer look at these attributes.

Account - Messages are grouped by the email account to which they were sent. This is useful if you receive messages for more than one email account in your Inbox.

Attachments - Messages are grouped by whether they have attachments and secondarily by date received.

Categories - Messages are arranged by the category you assign to them. Messages without a category appear first.

Flag: Start Date or Due Date - Unflagged messages and messages without specific schedules appear first. Messages that you’ve added to your task list with specific start or due dates are grouped by date.

From - Messages appear in alphabetical order by the message sender’s display name.

Importance - Messages are grouped by priority: High (indicated by a red exclamation point), Normal (the default), or Low (indicated by a blue downward-pointing arrow).

To - Messages are grouped alphabetically by the primary recipients.

Size - Messages are grouped by size of the message, including any attachments. Groups include Huge (1–5 MB), Very Large (500 KB–1 MB), Large (100–500 KB), Medium (25–100 KB), Small (10–25 KB), and Tiny (less than 10 KB).

Subject - Messages are arranged alphabetically by their subjects and then by date.

Type - Items in your Inbox (or other folder) are grouped by the type of item, for example, messages, encrypted messages, message receipts, meeting requests etc.

MODULE 04

ORGANISE YOUR INBOX


MODULE 04

EXERCISE 01

Managing conversations

1. Turn Conversation view on or off for one or all folders.

• On the View tab, in the Messages group, select or clear the Show as Conversations check box.

• In the Microsoft Outlook message box, indicate the scope of the change by clicking All mailboxes or This folder.

2. Arrange messages by a specific attribute.

Do any of the following:

• In any view: On the View tab, in the Arrangement gallery, click the message attribute.

• In Compact view: In the message list header, click the current arrangement, and then click the message attribute.

• In Single view or Preview view: Right-click any column header, click Arrange By, and then click the message attribute.


MODULE 04

REFLECT 01

1. From the arrangement attributes available, which one would you apply to your Outlook view?

2. Identify a few categories that can be useful to your organisation pattern within Outlook.


MODULE 05

MANAGE CONTACT INFORMATION

Introduction

Having immediate access to current, accurate contact information for the people you need to interact with is important for timely and effective communication. You can easily build and maintain a detailed contact list - also called an address book in the Outlook People module. From your address book, you can look up information, create messages, and share contact information with other people.

You save contact information for a person or company by creating a contact record in an address book. Contact records have four content pages: General, Details, Certificates, and All Fields. The General page stores the most common contact information, and is usually the only page you use.

The General Page contact information includes:

• Name, company name, and job title

• Business, home, and alternate addresses

• Business, home, mobile, pager, and other phone numbers

• Business, home, and alternate fax numbers

• Webpage address (URL), instant messaging (IM) address, and e-mail addresses

• Photo, company logo, or other identifying image

• General notes, which can include text and illustrations such as photos, SmartArt diagrams, charts, and shapes


Creating Contact Records

You can create a new contact record from scratch or from an e-mail message that contains the contact’s information. You can create a contact record that contains only one piece of information. For example, a name, or as much information as you want to include. You can add to or change the information stored in a contact record at any time. If you need to change only basic information, you can edit the entries in the contact’s People card.

Outlook stores contact information from different sources in separate address books.

Address books can include the following:

• Contacts address book for each account you connect to. The Contacts address book of your default e-mail account is your main address book.

• Custom address books that aren’t associated with e-mail accounts.

• Address books that can synchronize with your contact list on the social network.

MODULE 05

MANAGE CONTACT INFORMATION


MODULE 05

EXERCISE 01

Saving contact information and creating contact records

1. Open a new contact record window.

• In any module, on the Home tab, click the Address Book button. Then, in the Address Book dialog box, click New Entry, and in the New Entry dialog box, click New Contact.

• Enter the name and basic business information for a contact.

2. In the contact record window, do either of the following:

• Enter a name directly in the Full Name box.

• Press the Tab key to move to the next box and continue adding the information you want.

• When you finish, click the Save & Close button in the Actions group on the Contact tab.

3. Enter notes for a contact.

In the Notes section of the contact record window, click in the Notes pane, and then do any of the following:

• Enter or paste content.

• Use the commands on the Insert tab to insert an object.

4. Enter personal and professional details for a contact.

• In the contact record window, on the Contact tab, in the Show group, click the Detail button.

• On the Details page, enter the information you want to save with the contact record.


MODULE 05

REFLECT 01

1. Identify the common fields you would complete for a contact record.

2. How can the notes section be beneficial to a user?


MODULE 06

MANAGE YOUR CALENDAR

Introduction

For most of us, a calendar is a basic tool for organizing our lives, both at work and at home. With the calendar in Microsoft Outlook, you can schedule regular appointments, all-day and multiday events, and meetings. You can view your schedule almost any way you want.

The Outlook Calendar folder provides a central location for storing vast amounts of information about your schedule. You see this view when you click the Calendar icon in the Navigation Pane to open the folder and then click Day on the Home tab of the ribbon.

The Outlook calendar can contain three types of items:

An appointment which is the default calendar item, involves only your schedule and time and does not require other attendees or resources. The calendar shows appointments in the time slots corresponding to their start and end times.

An event is not marked on the calendar in a time slot, but rather in a banner at the top of the day on which it occurs. When an appointment lasts longer than 24 hours, it becomes an event.

Meetings can be in-person meetings established through Outlook meeting requests. An appointment becomes a meeting when you invite other people, which require coordinating their schedules.


Printing calendar items

You can print calendar items in two ways.

• The simplest method is to right-click the item and then choose Quick Print from the shortcut menu. This method prints the item using the default settings.

• The other way to print an item is to first open it by double-clicking it. You can then click File, Print to display the Print dialog box. You can make selections in the Print dialog box to change the target printer, the number of copies, and the print style, if necessary. The print style defines how the printed item will look.

Click Print Options, Page Setup to change the options for the selected style.

In the Page Setup dialog box, use the Format tab to set fonts and shading; the Paper tab to change the paper size, orientation, and margin settings; and the Header/Footer tab to add information to be printed at the top and bottom of the page.

MODULE 06

MANAGE YOUR CALENDAR


MODULE 06

EXERCISE 01

Managing Your Calendar

1. Schedule an appointment.

• Open a new appointment window.

• In the Subject box, enter an identifying name for the appointment.

• In the Location box, enter the appointment location, if it’s pertinent or any other information that you want to have available in the appointment header.

• In the Start time row, enter or select a date and time. Outlook automatically sets the End Time to a half hour after the start time.

• In the End time row, enter or select a date and time. An appointment can span overnight or across multiple days.

• On the Appointment tab, in the Actions group, click the Save & Close button.

2. Change the default reminder for an appointment, event or meeting.

• Open the item window, or select the item on the calendar.

• On the item-specific tab or tool tab, in the Options group, click the Reminder list, and then click the time (or click None to have no reminder).


MODULE 06

REFLECT 01

1. Discuss the type of tasks you can start implementing in your Outlook calendar.

2. Identify how meetings can improve an organisations structure.


MODULE 06

EXERCISE 02

You are still in the process of formatting the sales analysis report. You want to highlight the title and heading of the data in the worksheet.

1. Add a background color a range

• Continue on the previous worksheet

• Select the first row in your data range

• On the Home tab, in the Font group, click the Fill Color drop-down arrow, and from the displayed gallery, in the Theme Colors section, select Blue, Accent 1, Darker 25%

2. Add a border to a range

• Select the first row in your data range again

• On the Home tab, in the Font group, click the Border drop-down arrow, and from the displayed list, select All Borders

• Click any cell to deselect the highlighted region

• Save the worksheet


MODULE 06

REFLECT 02

1. For which data elements would a background color be more appropriate

2. How would a border provide visual order?


MODULE 07

MANAGE EMAIL SECURITY

Introduction

To more easily manage the information, you receive through e-mail; you can specify how Outlook alerts you to and processes incoming messages.

This module focuses on dealing with unwanted messages, such as spam messages and phishing e-mail. You can also take advantage of the many security features built into Outlook to keep your outgoing communications secure and to protect your computer system from spam, viruses, web beacons, and other modern electronic threats.

Blocking Unwanted Messages

E-mail has become a vital part of our business and personal communication systems, but there are certain types of messages you don’t want to have to deal with. Unsolicited advertisements and messages, sometimes contain dangerous attachments, links, or offers, that can swamp your Inbox if your e-mail address finds its way into the hands of unscrupulous mailing list vendors.

Most junk e-mail messages, also called junk mail, fall into three general categories

Spam

Unsolicited advertisements that are sent out to large groups of people, usually from a mailing list purchased from one of the many entrepreneurs who offer them

Phishing

E-mails that contain requests for sensitive information such as your bank account or credit card number, have attachments that install malicious software on your computer, or contain links to webpages that pose as trusted, known entities and collect your user name, password, or other personal information that can be sold or otherwise used by scam artists for their own financial gain.

Financial Scams

These e-mails frequently take the form of advance-fee arrangements in which the message recipient is promised something of great value in exchange for a small fee. They can also take a more negative form of requests for help with medical bills or ransom payments. The messages might come from an e-mail address that you recognize. If a request seems unusual, confirm it before you take action.


Junk email management

Most e-mail providers include some form of filtering for malicious messages, but some of it can make it through your mail server’s to your computer.

Three ways of managing junk e-mail:

• Managing messages that Outlook delivers to the Junk E-mail folder.

• Configuring junk e-mail settings based on messages that Outlook delivers to your Inbox.

• Independently configuring junk e-mail filtering levels, safe and unsafe senders, and safe recipients.

When managing messages in the Junk E-mail folder, Inbox, or other folder, you use commands on the Junk menu, which is available from the Home tab of the Mail module.

The Junk menu includes the following commands:

Block Sender - Adds the sender’s e-mail address to your Blocked Senders list and moves the message to the Junk E-mail folder.

Never Block Sender - Adds the sender’s e-mail address to your Safe Senders list. Future messages from the sender will not be routed to the Junk E-mail folder.

Never Block Sender’s Domain (@example.com) - Adds the sender’s e-mail domain to your Safe Senders list. Future messages from any account on that domain will not be routed to your Junk E-mail folder.

Never Block this Group or Mailing List - Adds the group or mailing list that the message was sent to, and that you are a member of, to your Safe Recipients list.

Not Junk - Moves the message from the Junk E-mail folder to your Inbox and gives you the option of adding the sender or recipient to the corresponding Safe list.

Junk E-mail Options - Opens the Junk E-mail Options dialog box, in which you can configure the filtering level and manage your Safe Sender and Safe Recipient lists.

MODULE 07

MANAGE EMAIL SECURITY


MODULE 07

EXERCISE 01

Managing e-mail security

1. Open the Junk E-mail Options dialog box.

• In a mail module or received message window, display the Junk menu, and then click Junk E-mail Options.

2. Set the junk e-mail protection level.

In the Junk E-mail Options dialog box, on the Options tab, do any of the following:

• To have Outlook block only e-mail from senders on your Blocked Senders list, click No Automatic Filtering.

• To have Outlook block the most obvious junk e-mail, click Low.

• To have Outlook apply stricter criteria to evaluate messages, click High.

• To have Outlook block messages from any sender who isn’t on your Safe lists, click Safe Lists Only.

• If you want Outlook to bypass the Junk E-mail folder, select the Permanently delete suspected junk e-mail check box.


MODULE 07

REFLECT 01

1. Discuss the type of risks we face with using e-mail on a daily basis.

2. Have you received junk mail before? Describe the message/email.


MODULE 08

CUSTOMISE OUTLOOK

Introduction

You can configure Outlook functionality to make it the most efficient platform for the way you work.

You can modify many aspects of the way Outlook handles messages, calendar items, contact records, and general operations. You make these changes from the Outlook Options dialog box.

Outlook Options

Each Office app has its own Options dialog box. Because so many options are available for each app and for Office, they are divided among pages.

The pages are represented by page tabs in the left pane of the Outlook Options dialog box.

The left pane of the Outlook Options dialog box is divided into three sections:

• The first section contains the General, Mail, Calendar, Groups, People, Tasks, Search, Language, and Advanced page tabs. These are the pages of options that Outlook users will most commonly make changes to when customizing the app functionality.

• The second section contains the Customise Ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar page tabs. These are the pages on which you customise the presentation of commands in the user interface.

• The third section contains the Add-ins and Trust Center page tabs. These pages are access points for higher-level customizations that can affect the security of your computer, and are not often necessary to modify.


General Options

Options that affect the user interface and start-up behavior of Outlook are available from the General page of the Outlook Options dialog box.

• You can turn off the Mini Toolbar, which hosts common formatting commands and appears by default when you select content.

• You can turn off the Live Preview feature if you find it distracting to have content formatting change when the pointer passes over a formatting command.

• You can minimize or turn off the display of ScreenTips when you point to buttons.

• You can specify the user name and initials you want to accompany your comments and tracked changes.

• You can choose the background graphics and color scheme that you want to use for all the Office apps.

Mail Options

Many of the settings that users commonly modify are available on the Mail page of the Outlook Options dialog box. To avoid losing your work, you can choose to have Outlook save messages you have created but not yet sent. When new messages arrive, you can choose to have Outlook alert you by playing a sound, or a combination of similar effects. The options on the Mail page are divided into further sections. Let’s take a closer look at these.

MODULE 08

CUSTOMISE OUTLOOK


MODULE 08

EXERCISE 01

Configuring message options

1. Change how frequently Outlook saves message drafts.

• Display the Mail page of the Outlook Options dialog box.

• In the Save messages section, do either of the following:

• To save drafts more or less often, in the Automatically save items that have not been sent box, enter or select the number of minutes.

• To turn off the automatic saving of message drafts, clear the Automatically save items that have not been sent check box.

2. Change the folder in which Outlook saves message drafts.

• Display the Mail page of the Outlook Options dialog box.

3. In the Save messages section, expand the Save to this folder list, and then click any of the following:

• Drafts

• Inbox

• Sent Mail

• Outbox


MODULE 08

REFLECT 01

1. Discuss the General Options that would appeal to you. Would you prefer to switch of Live Preview or change your background color?

2. Discuss the Mail Options that would appeal to you. Would you adjust the message format or change the location of saved messages?


MODULE 08

EXERCISE 02

Configuring calendar options

1. Modify the default display of reminders.

• Display the Calendar page of the Outlook Options dialog box.

• In the Calendar options section, do either of the following:

• To change the default reminder time, expand the Default reminders list, and then click an option from 0 minutes to 2 weeks.

• To have reminders off by default, clear the Default reminders check box.

2. Automatically empty your Deleted Items folders.

• Display the Advanced page of the Outlook Options dialog box.

• In the Outlook start and exit section, select the Empty Deleted Items folders when exiting Outlook check box.


MODULE 08

REFLECT 02

1. Evaluate any standard or default Outlook settings you would like to change.

2. Discuss the purpose of customizing Outlook to your preferred needs.

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MS Outlook Overview - Workbook Outlook Overview... · 4 Workbook | Microsoft Outlook Overview | onlineacademy.co.za MODULE 01 EXERCISE 01 Working in the Outlook user interface 1