Outlook Tips & Optimizationd335hnnegk3szv.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/... · • The Journal feature in Outlook can track your time for things you do throughout the day. –

Confidential – © CMIT Solutions, Inc.

Outlook Tips & Optimization

Confidential – © CMIT Solutions, Inc. Confidential – © CMIT Solutions, Inc.

Outlook 2007 & 2010 Parts •  Navigation Pane •  Ribbon •  Quick Access Toolbar


Navigation Pane •  Outlook is made up of several panes, each with its own

set of tools & folders –  Mail: Compose, manage, organize, send & receive messages.

•  Inbox •  Sent Items •  Deleted Items

–  Calendar: Enables you to view & schedule appointments, events & meetings.

–  Contacts: Stores addresses, numbers, email addresses, & other information about people you contact.

–  Tasks: Allows you to organize & manage to-do items. –  Notes: Works like electronic sticky notes


Navigation Pane Shortcuts


The Ribbon •  The tabs on the Ribbon replace the menus

& toolbars found in previous versions of Outlook.


Quick Access Toolbar •  The Quick Access Toolbar

appears above the File tab & provides easy access to the commands you use the most frequently.

•  To customize your toolbar: –  Click on the Customize

Quick Access Toolbar dropdown

–  Select the commands you want to add or remove


Navigation Pane Parts •  Mail •  Calendar •  Contacts •  Tasks •  Journal


Change the Settings for Messages you Create & Receive

•  In the “Mail” tab of your Outlook Options, you can easily personalize many of your email settings.

•  To get to your Options in 2010: – Click on the “File” tab – Select “Options” – Click on “Mail” in the left column


•  This is where you would go to: – Setup Outlook to automatically check your

spelling before sending – Create or edit your Signature – Change the default font & color of the

messages you compose. – Change how you are alerted when you

receive messages – Change your Reply/Forward settings


Quick Parts •  If you use blocks of text, links, or images repeatedly in

your emails, Quick Parts can save you a lot of typing. –  Open a new email window –  Type or insert the commonly used content –  Select the content & click on the Insert tab –  Select Quick Part from the Text tab of the Insert Ribbon –  The content will be saved as a new building block and you can

give it a new descriptive name and put it in a category. –  Use the block of content in any new email by clicking on Insert

Quick Parts (a small preview window will open for you to choose between the saved quick parts)


Give Your Old Emails a New Name •  Changing the subject line to reflect the content

of emails is a helpful practice – especially if you have hundreds of emails archived in Outlook. –  Open the email with the subject line in need of

change in a new window. –  Place the cursor on the subject line and type in your

new subject. –  Confirm & Close


Deleting Messages •  Undelete a Message

–  Move it from the Deleted Items into any other folder to restore it.

•  Permanently Delete Messages –  Avoid the multiple step process of deleting message

& then emptying the Deleted Items folder by holding down the Shift key when you hit Delete for any message. This works when you delete multiple selected message as well.


Creating Rules •  Rules are tools that can help you manage

your email messages by performing specific actions automatically. –  Examples:

•  Move all incoming messages with a particular word in the subject line to a specific folder

•  Have Outlook play a sound when you receive an email from your boss


•  Creating a Rule by Example: – Click the Mail button in the Navigation Pane – Click the Home tab on the Ribbon – Click the Rules button in the Move group &

select Create Rule


•  To view even more options, click the Advanced Options box, and follow the prompts.


Searching – Instant Search •  Instant Search – starts matching the searched item with

the search term as you begin typing. Within each item, the search term gets highlighted in yellow. (Ctrl + E)


Searching – Advanced Find •  Advanced Find brings up more options for searching

using three tabs of criteria •  Bring up Advanced Find by pressing Ctrl+Shift+F


Search - Quickly Peruse Related Messages

•  For a quick look at all messages related to one that you are currently reading: – Open a message – Select the Actions menu – Choose Find All – Select Related Messages – A dialog will pop up and pertinent messages,

both, sent & received, will be listed


Other Search Tips •  Quickly search for text within an open item

by hitting the F4 key.


Create Additional Calendars •  You can create separate calendars for

separate types of appointments: – When in the Calendar section of the

Navigation Pane, click the Folder tab on the ribbon

– Click the New Calendar button, type the name of the new calendar, and click OK.


Add Holidays to Calendar •  In Outlook 2010, go to the File menu & select Options •  On the left sidebar, select Calendar •  Under Calendar Options, select Add Holidays


•  When the Add Holiday to Calendar dialog box pops up, select the locations whose holidays you would like copied to your Outlook calendar & click OK:

•  Once this is done, you can edit or add details to any holiday by clicking on the event in your calendar.


Make an Email an Appointment •  Click on the email message & drag it to the

Calendar on your Navigation Pane –  A new appointment window will pop up for today’s

date. –  The subject of the email message will automatically

appear in the subject line of the appointment, & the email text will be in the window

–  Adjust any subject/location/time/date/reminder details and Save & Close the Appointment


Contacts •  Adding a contact from an Email

– To add an email sender’s name & email address to your contacts, simply drag the email to the Contacts button in the Navigation Pane.

– From here – the Contact window will open and you can add additional details, and Save & Close the contact.


Customize Your Contact Info •  You can easily add custom fields to your

contacts –  In a contact, click the All Fields tab – Select from options such as Frequently-used

fields or Personal Fields (ex: Birthday) – Click New, and Specify a field name, type,

and format


Distribution Lists •  Using a distribution list, you can send an email to a

group of people easily. –  Select File – New – Distribution List or Ctrl-Shift-L –  Type the name of the list –  Add new members by using the Add New & Select Members

buttons –  Click Save & Close


Tasks & To-Dos •  Tasks are easy to add in to Outlook & view as

you open Outlook, or throughout your day. –  Tasks can be put in with many options similar to

appointments •  Recurring, With a reminder, Color coded, Etc.

•  To input a task, simply click on Tasks in the Navigation Pane, type your task in, and hit enter –  Once your task is entered, you can click on the task

and edit any details (or delete) as needed.


Journal •  The Journal feature in Outlook can track your

time for things you do throughout the day. –  Tracks not only Outlook activities, but also Access,

Excel PowerPoint, & Word –  The time line shows the activities Outlook records, &

you can easily add new ones manually –  There is a Time options to track the length of time you

spend on an activity (such as a phone call)


•  To Enable the Journal: – Add the button to your Folders List:

– When prompted, select Yes to turn the

Journal on – Select the options you wish to track


Optimization Tips Outlook is a database driven Windows product. As you add more information to it, it needs more time to respond to commands. The following are tips to make Outlook load and run faster.


•  Make sure that the default folder that is displayed when Outlook starts is not too crowded with emails. – Move emails away from this folder to archive

or other sub-folders. – Define a rule to automatically move emails

from certain people that you receive many emails from into a specific folder.


•  When you need to switch to another application, minimize Outlook before going to the other program. – This keeps Outlook from using so much

memory, and reduces the chances that it will stop responding.


•  If you keep Outlook up and running all the time, try to close and restart it at least daily. – Outlook can require more and more memory

resources if you keep it open for longer periods of time.


Do – Not - Disturb •  Disable New Message alerts

–  Go to Tools – Email Options – Advanced Email Options

–  Uncheck the options as shown below –  Click OK


Keyboard Shortcuts •  Helpful Emailing Shortcuts

–  Create a new email: Ctrl + Shift + M –  Send an email: Alt + S –  Reply to a message:

•  Reply: Ctrl + R •  Reply All: Ctrl + Shift + R

–  Forward: Ctrl + Shift + F –  Flag for Follow Up: Ctrl + Shift + G –  Mark as Unread: Ctrl + U

•  To quickly Send/Receive all: F9


•  Other helpful shortcuts: –  Create a new note: Ctrl + Shift + N –  Create a new task: Ctrl + Shift + K –  Create a new Folder: Ctrl + Shift + E –  Create a meeting request: Ctrl + Shift + Q –  Create a Microsoft Office document: Ctrl + Shift + H

•  Additional Shortcuts: –  http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook-help/

keyboard-shortcuts-for-microsoft-outlook-2010-HP010354403.aspx


Resources Microsoft Office Outlook Support: •  http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook-help

Interactive How-To Guide: Microsoft Outlook 2007 -2010: •  http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook-help/learn-where-menu-and-toolbar-

commands-are-in-office-2010-and-related-products-HA101794130.aspx

Custom Guide References for Outlook 2007 & 2010: •  http://www.customguide.com/demo?

type=IA&lesson=xls_10_05_03&mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRous6nfLqzsmxzEJ8r57eUkWqSg38431UFwdcjKPmjr1YcCRdQhcOuuEwcWGog8wxlLDu%2BYe5VJ%2FvA%3D


CMIT Solutions, Inc.

500 North Capital of Texas Highway Building 6, Suite 200 Austin, Texas 78746

www.cmitsolutions.com 1.800.399.2648

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Outlook Tips & Optimizationd335hnnegk3szv.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/... · • The Journal feature in Outlook can track your time for things you do throughout the day. –