1. MAPILab’s Attachments Processor for Outlook

This is a attachment management 3-in-1 solution pack. With its powerful features, the solution pack can save attachments from emails, pack and unpack attachments, manage blocked attachments. The Blocked Attachments Manager in this solution pack is the tool you need. With this tool, you can change the file type that Outlook is blocking. When you need to open a blocked attachment, disable the file type that Outlook is blocking, close and re-open Outlook. You can open and save that attachment files.

This Outlook add-in is my top recommendation for opening blocked attachments. Because it is a powerful enough add-in for Outlook attachments management. It can solve almost all problems about Outlook attachments and improve our productivity. I do not need any other attachments management add-in after using it. Please click here for a more detailed review about MAPILab’s Attachments Processor for Outlook.

2. Outlook Permissions Add-in

Outlook Permissions Add-in is a free Outlook add-in created by MRH Technology Group. It lets you control exactly which file attachments are accessible within Microsoft Outlook. It is suitable for users who have only a few attachments to manage.

To use the add-in, simply download and run the setup. Start Outlook and select Options from the Tools menu. You will see a new tab labeled File Restrictions. Use this interface to add or remove file types from the Level 2 group.
This free add-in allows you to move file types from a level 1 setting to a level 2 setting so that you can interact with blocked files within Microsoft Outlook.

3. Registry Hack

This is a geeky way and it’s cool. But you must be careful about what you are doing. Actually I don’t want to recommend it.

A. From "Start" of Windows, click "Run…", enter Regedit. An Regedit application appear and help you to edit the registry.

B. Find the following registry key
For Outlook 2007
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook\Security
For Outlook 2003
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\Security
For Outlook 2002
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Outlook\Security
For Outlook 2000
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Outlook\Security

C. Under that key, add a new string value named Level1Remove. For the value for Level1Remove, enter a semicolon-delimited list of file extensions. For example, ".exe;.zip" means all .exe files and .zip files can not be opened directly in the mail, but they can be saved to disk.

 Related Links

• MAPILab’s Attachments Processor for Outlook
• Outlook Permissions Add-in
• Outlook Add-in Review

How do it work

This Microsoft Outlook add-in saves attached files in a selected folder on a local or network drive. After the file is saved, the attachment can be removed from the message, replaced by a shortcut to the saved file or by a text file with a description of the saved attachment. It reattaches the files back to the messages when forwarding. Also it is able to compress the message base.

Main features

• save attachments on local or network drive
• fully restore a message in order to forward it using the "Forward" button
• select exactly what folders of Microsoft Outlook must be processed
• specify what attachment types must be processed
• use attachment filtration in order to process files
• group attachments into folders
• rename attachments when saving
• simple mode and advanced mode
• pack attachments in outgoing emails and unpack attachments in incoming emails
• block specified type of file in email attachments

Pros.

"Fully restore a message in order to forward it using the Forward button" is the most time-saving feature. I don’t need to locate the original attachment files while forwarding an email. Even I don’t need to realize that the attachments have been saved. All operations are automatic and fast.
Attachments grouping and renaming are very features, which help me manage all attachment files. Grouping can be based on these criteria: Outlook folder structure, sender’s name, sender’s email address, email subject, and customized criteria. Renaming has familiar criteria with grouping. With the help of grouping and renaming, locating and managing attachment files becomes easy.
Packing and unpacking attachment files are fabulous. It saves the time of sending and receiving emails. Furthermore, it saves the space to store all these attachments. I can’t realize this automatic operation if I have not read the feature list.

Cons.

For a objective review, negative points are more important than positive ones. Unfortunately, I can’t find out an obvious negative point from MAPILab’s Attachments Processor for Microsoft Outlook. At the very beginning, I thought it has a higher price than competitors. However, when I know that it is the price of the whole solution pack, including packing add-in and blocking add-in which are useful and necessary, I am convinced that this solution has a better price than others.

Useful Links

• More detail about this product
• Save and Remove Outlook Attachments, Speed Up Outlook

Don’t forget to visit www.Outlook-How-To.com and comments are appreciated!

• Microsoft Exchange Server
• POP3 mail servers
• IMAP mail servers
• HTML mail servers (e.g. Hotmail and MSN)
• Microsoft LDAP Directory
• Microsoft Mail

Recovery ToolBox for Outlook Password can be used to recover passwords to mail accounts and also to display the mail and service settings of all versions of the Microsoft Outlook mail client: (starting from Microsoft Outlook 97 to Microsoft Outlook 2007).

Source: http://www.recoverytoolbox.com/outlook_password.html

The standard software product InLoox is integrated into Microsoft Outlook by means of Add-In Technology and incorporates Microsoft methodologies and SQL standards into its project management and planning functionality.

Microsoft Outlook and Exchange Server gain from InLoox new functions which greatly simplify the task of project mangement. Solo users, project teams and task forces, whether localized or distributed, are able to react with speed and efficiency to new requirements arising at any time.

InLoox uses the framework of Microsoft Outlook for project management and associated tasks:

• Project information
• Project scheduling and monitoring
• Activity, cost and time recording
• Team coordination and resource management
• File and document archiving management
• Project controlling and cost monitoring
• Project documentation and report generation
• Project budgeting and costing
• Project accounting and billing

Source: http://www.inloox.com/

The huge .pst file that Outlook uses to store data is the main reason for its slow speed. I believe most people regularly send and receive attachments, Word and Excel files, Photo files and so on. Your Outlook .pst file can quickly increase to 200MB. After months, a single .pst file beyond 1GB is very common. So we should slim the .pst file. The most effective method is to save and remove attachments from emails.

First, find out the largest emails. Outlook 2007 has a very useful feature, "Larger Than 100KB". You can find it under Search Folders in your list of Outlook folders. All emails larger than 100KB will be listed in that folder. By default, the larger email will be listed first. Second, Check the emails and its attachments, save or remove the attachments. If you need the attachment but not the email message, save the attachment and delete the email. If you need the email message but not the attachment, open the email and right-click the attachment and choose Remove. The email will remain its message text only.

What a trouble and time-consuming procedure! There are tools to make it easy. Many third party solutions are created in the form of Outlook add-ins. They check all your emails, save attachments to disk, replace the attachments with shortcuts to stored attachment files. With the shortcuts, you can open the attachments as you do normally. The difference is that Outlook open the file from disk, rather than from its .pst file. The advantage is your .pst file increases in a very slow speed. This change dramatically speed up your Outlook.

A powerful Outlook attachment management add-in should have more features than the basic functions mentioned above. Attachment fils can be saved in either local disks or network disks. Email messages can be fully restored with attachments when it is forwarded to other recipients. Attachment fils can be renamed based on sender’s name, sender’s address, email subject and so on. Saving and removing attachment should have more flexibilities. For example, folders can be specified for add-ins to manage attachment. Attachment file types and size, sender and recipient, can be filterd by combinations of criteria.

Though free add-ins for Outlook attachment management are available. Commercial add-ins are recommended for the reasons of reliability and compatibility. Technical support is another factor for choosing add-in vendors.

MAPILab’s Attachments Processor for Outlook is my choice and recommendation. MAPILab is a professional Microsoft Office related add-ins vendor. With its Outlook add-ins, Outlook becomes more powerful and easier to use.

Don’t forget to visit www.outlook-how-to.com and comment on this post!

In the left portion of the ‘Organize’ pane, click ‘Using Colors’.

In the first bulleted item, you should see the word ‘from’ and the name of the person who sent you the email.

Then you should see the word ‘in’ and a drop-down list box. Click the arrow to select a colour. Click ‘Apply Color’.

All of the emails in your Inbox from this person should now be colour coded with the colour you selected.

One method would be to use Advanced Find to search all your folders. HINT: The More Choices tab has an option for finding unread messages. If you use Advanced Find in this manner often, you might want to use File | Save Search to store your search criteria for easy reuse.

Otherwise, a few third-party tools provide some assistance in locating unread items.

Outlook does not provide enough help in finding unread mails. In Outlook 2000, after you receive new mails, the Folder List opens to show folders which have new or unread mails. And that is all Outlook can help you. When using other email client softwares, usually it is a one-click action to do so.

Here is some add-on tools which provide assistance in finding unread mails.

Neo Pro Email Organizer (http://www.caelo.com/index.php)
Implement time-management compliant workflow principles.Automatically organized email - by correspondent, date, attachment and status. See ALL your messages organized together no matter what message store (data file) they are in. Categories view, Filter toolbar, Search for Conversation, undockable tabs and more.

If you are combining two contacts and some entries are identical, it takes much effort to merge the data on duplicate contacts. Fortunetely, there are some tools that can help us out.

1-Click Duplicate Delete
As the name implies, it is a 1-click solution. All duplicate mails, contacts, calendar items, notes will be deleted. And it will merge contacts automatically. Undo feature makes everything safe. The trial version is free.
 

I am a HR person and schedule several meetings. I want to invite a group of people to attend the meetings. But they can choose to attend some of the meetings. Is there a method in Outlook to invite people and update the calendars?

Outlook can almost resolve the question above. You can create meetings in the calendar, save as ICS files, send the ICS files as attatchment. People receive and choose the meetings they want to attend.
 
To create the meeting request:

1. Create the invitations and invite required attendees, resources or yourself.
2. Click Send. This step is important since you need a meeting request that was sent, so the responses can be tracked.
3. Open each item on your calendar select File, Save as.
4. Save each item as an ICS on the hard drive.
5. Create the email message and attach the ICS files.
6. When the recipients accept the meeting request, they’ll send a response and the meeting is added to their calendar.
7. The sender’s copy will update with the recipient’s name as an optional attendee.
8. To avoid confusion, use the meeting date in the subject so the recipient only has to open the meeting they plan to attend.