Unofficial Outlook Stuff

Share Outlook

2018-05-05T03:12:00.000-07:00

Share it nicely

"Many home users and small businesses don't use Exchange. Fortunately, there are a variety of ways to share your e-mail, appointments, contacts, tasks, and notes with other Outlook users."

Here is one of the clearest expositions of multiple users' cooperative use of Outlook, even in a very small environment.

Sharing your Outlook information
By Crabby Office Lady

For up to date information on Outlook, SharePoint, and very little about waffles, see
Eric Legault My Eggo - Making Office Rock blog.

Also see:

Slipstick.com:
Sharing Microsoft Outlook Calendar and Contacts

Sharing Microsoft Outlook on One PC

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Guide to Outlook

2018-04-30T03:43:00.000-07:00

Tutorials and hints

Avidain Guide to Outlook
Things you might not have known before:

"To minimize the Ribbon and use it while minimized, follow these steps: Click “Ribbon Display Options” in the top right corner. Select “Show Tabs” from the dropdown. This removes most of the icons from the Ribbon view, leaving only the tabs above it. To perform a function with the Ribbon minimized, click the tab that houses the function, and then select the appropriate command. You’ll only see the parts of the Ribbon relevant to the command. Tip: To minimize the Ribbon for a short period, just double-click the active tab. It’ll disappear. You can double-click any tab to restore the Ribbon. Minimizing the Ribbon is a great way to remove clutter and provide a bigger work area for emails and calendars etc."

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List Your Addresses

2018-04-24T03:33:00.000-07:00

When I find the time

Here's a simple suggestion that sounds silly to begin with, but may come in handy in the future.
Write down your email addresses!
How many do you have?

Created by an ISP when setting up an Internet connection.
Work email accounts
Club or hobby related
From any domain you’ve purchased
Email aliases created on your behalf.
Web based email addresses with Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail or many others.

Remember your old AOL/CompuServe addresses?

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Reminder-task Outlook

2018-04-15T03:20:00.000-07:00

Sent from Access

"If you have a table that contains a date field, and you want to make sure that something happens on that date, one way is to create an Outlook task with a reminder that will pop up on the specified date; you can even use the Outlook reminder to create an email message that will be sent on the specified date.

This article will show how to create an Outlook task from Access VBA code, and send an email message when the task's reminder fires."

The file is located on Helen Feddema's site.
Access Archon
Scroll down to #126

The zip file contains the WAW article, in Word format, plus the supporting file.

Helen Feddema has been working with Word since v. 1.1, Access since the beta of v. 1.0, and Outlook since the beta of v. 8.0 (that's where Outlook started its version numbering).

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Default Save

2018-04-14T03:47:00.000-07:00

Choose your own location

When you choose to save most Office files, the Save dialog box defaults to the Documents or My Documents folder.

(The following directions work in 2007+, but you need to click on the Office button in the upper left corner of the Window)

Word: you can change the default location by going to Tools>Options. On the "File Locations" tab you can modify the storage location.
Excel: Tools>Options. On the "General" tab change the default location.
PowerPoint: uses Tools>Options and the "Save" tab.
Access: Tools>Options and the "General" tab for Databases and Projects
Publisher: Tools>Options "General".
Outlook: will make you take an underground tour into the Registry to change the location to save e-mail attachments.
FrontPage/Expression Web: appears to require the same sort of spelunking.

Change the folder where e-mail messages and attachments are saved

If you don't want to change the default, but would like to be able to quickly go to an alternate site, open the Save or Save Attachment dialog box. On the left side of the box is the Places Navigation bar. If you click the Desktop icon, that location will be used to save the file.

You can add spots to the bar. Browse to the specific folder. Highlight the folder and click the down arrow beside the Tools option. Select "Add to My Places."

The file or e-mail attachment can then be saved where you want.

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Crime on the Web

2018-04-07T03:40:00.000-07:00

What does it look like?

PC World has an article on e-mail cyber crime, with examples of the notes.

Cyber Crime

FBI and Cyber Crime

Wells Fargo Example

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Live.Com Addresses

2018-03-30T03:04:00.000-07:00

Choose your own

Tired of Hotmail, MSN, AOL, Gmail.com domain names for email addresses?

You can pick up a new address; such as MyName@Live.com.

First come etc.

Live.com email

Outlook Settings for Live.com

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New Windows in Outlook

2018-03-24T03:04:00.000-07:00

How to open Multiple Windows

If you want more than one window open in Outlook (for example the InBox and Calendar), Right-click on an item on the Outlook bar and select "Open in New Window" from the context menu.

Choose Tasks and Calendar or any other combination.

You can now easily cut and paste between Outlook applications
Right click an empty area on the taskbar and select how the windows should be arranged.

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Address Map

2018-03-18T03:19:00.000-07:00

Display a map to an Outlook contact's address

If a contact item has an address in the United States, you can use your Internet connection and Outlook to create a map to the address. You must be connected to the Internet for this feature to work.
Open the contact item.
Next to the Address text box, click on the down arrow and select the address you want to map (Business, Home, or Other).
Then choose Actions/Display Map Of Address from the menu bar or click the Display Map Of Address button.
Your default browser opens and the map is created using Microsoft Expedia Maps.

In Outlook 2007, the Map button is on the Contact tab on the right side of the Communicate group.

2007 uses Maps.Live.com.

Outlook tips:
Slipstick.com
Customize Outlook's Map link
You can edit the registry to enable another web-based mapping service.

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Calendar Blanc

2018-03-12T03:09:00.000-07:00

Empty days

Outlook allows you to print out your calendars.
If you just want to print a blank calendar over a specified period, here are the directions:

Blank calendar

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Email Access Form

2018-03-03T03:42:00.000-08:00

Question and collection

Access 2007-10 has a wizard that will walk you through the process of sending an information gathering form through Outlook. The wizard is on the External Data tab in the Collect Data group.

"You begin with the Collect Data Through E-mail Messages Wizard, which guides you through the steps of creating a form.

The form is sent through Microsoft Office Outlook 2007-10 to your recipients, with your request for new or updated information.

When the recipients reply to your message, Access automatically enters their data into your database.

Collect data by using e-mail

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Mail Your Calendar

2018-02-24T03:35:00.000-08:00

Save a calendar as an iCalendar file

In Calendar, select a calendar to make it the active calendar in the view.
On the File menu, click Save As.
Type a name for the iCalendar file in the File name text box.
A summary of the calendar name, date range, and detail level appears next to More Options.
From the Date Range list, choose the amount of calendar data to include in the iCalendar file, or click Specify dates to enter a custom date range.
From the Detail list, choose the amount of detail to show the recipients.
Optionally, click Show to see Advanced options.
Click OK, and then click Save.

E-Mail Calendar

Share a calendar

Share Outlook

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Is Phishing Phat?

2018-02-16T03:15:00.000-08:00

Hand over the keys

The scofflaws of the world are littering e-mail boxes with fake messages that look like the real thing. They're fishing for your bank account keys.

A company named Sophos.com has an anti-spam/anti-phishing product. They also have a collection of Phish mail with instructions about how to respond.

Email Threat Info Center

Take a phishing IQ test at SonicWALL Phishing IQ Test

(These are BabyPhat socks. As far as I know they're both real and pfat)

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Meeting Methods

2018-02-04T03:57:00.000-08:00

More than name tags

Outlook has tools to facilitate:
Appointments, Meetings, and Events

Here are a few of the suggestions:

Turn a message into a meeting request
Update a meeting request
Automatically process requests and responses
Counter-proposals for Meeting Times
Cancel meeting if you are an attendee
Troubleshoot meetings

One of the subjects is: Outlook meeting requests: Essential do's and don'ts
Here are a few of the items:

If you change it, update it:: After modifying one of your own meeting requests, remember to click Send Update to send the updated request to all recipients.
Don't move meeting requests:: Don't move a meeting request from your Inbox to a different folder before you accept or decline the request or before the meeting appears in your calendar. Soon after a meeting request arrives in your Inbox, a piece of Outlook code -- nicknamed the "sniffer" -- automatically adds the meeting to your calendar and marks it as tentative. This is a fail-safe to keep you from missing the meeting in case you don't see the request in your Inbox. However, the sniffer doesn't reply to the meeting organizer. You still need to do that by accepting, accepting as tentative, or declining the request. If you or a rule that you create moves an incoming meeting request from your Inbox before the sniffer can process the request, the meeting never appears in your calendar, and you might miss the meeting.
Get a fresh start:: If a meeting series requires several changes -- a new organizer, a different frequency or time slot, the addition or removal of attendees -- just cancel the series and create a new one. Don't try to modify the original meeting request.

Also:
Slipstick.com:
Scheduling Resources

And:
Meeting Name tags

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Free Contact Tempates

2018-01-15T03:35:00.000-08:00

Free electronic business cards

Microsoft has business card templates that can be used in Outlook.

Just download the file and edit the information.

Contact Cards

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Outlook Shortcuts

2018-01-06T03:48:00.000-08:00

Good Strokes

Check names--------------------------------------Ctrl + K or Alt + K
Check spelling-----------------------------------F7
Choose the account from which to send
a message(with focus on the To line)
and then TAB to the Accounts button------------Ctrl + TAB
Convert an HTML or RTF message to plain text-----Ctrl + Shift +O
Delete a mail message----------------------------Delete or Ctrl + D
Display the Address Book-------------------------Ctrl + Shift + B
Find a message ----------------------------------Ctrl + Shift + F
Find text----------------------------------------F3
Forward a message--------------------------------Ctrl + F
Go to folder-------------------------------------Ctrl + Y
Go to next mail message--------------------------Down or Up arrow
Insert signature---------------------------------Ctrl + Shift + S
Mark a message as read---------------------------Ctrl + Enter or Ctrl + Q
Move between the Folders list and message list---Tab
Open or post a new message-----------------------Ctrl + N
Open the Address Book----------------------------Ctrl + Shift + B
Open the Inbox-----------------------------------Ctrl + I
Open the Outbox----------------------------------Ctrl + O
Open the selected message------------------------Ctrl + O or Enter
Post to a folder---------------------------------Ctrl + Shift + S
Print the selected message-----------------------Ctrl + P
Reply to a message-------------------------------Ctrl + R
Reply to all-------------------------------------Ctrl + Shift + R
Send (post) a message----------------------------Ctrl + Enter or Alt + S
Send and receive mail----------------------------Ctrl + M or F5
Switch among Edit, Source, and Preview tabs------Ctrl + Tab
Switch to Inbox----------------------------------Ctrl + Shift + I
Switch to Outbox---------------------------------Ctrl + Shift + O

Royal National Institute of the Blind:
Outlook Keyboard Shortcuts

Outlook 2013 shortcuts

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Mailbox Diet

2018-01-02T03:18:00.000-08:00

Prune the fat

Microsoft provides a tutorial on the mechanics of Outlook 2007 mailboxes.

Learning how to manage your Microsoft Outlook 2007 Mailbox and keep it within a specific size limitation.

After completing this course you will be able to:

View the size of your mailbox and its folders.

Understand what makes an e-mail message big and find the size of any message.

Set up some simple processes and use tools built into Outlook to prevent e-mail pileup from happening in the first place.

Battle mailbox size

Performance problems with a large .pst file

Manage with Mailbox Cleanup

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Last Name First

2017-12-28T03:39:00.000-08:00

Phonebook style

Sort the Contacts list by the File as field.

To do this, use one of the following methods depending on the version of Outlook that you are using.

In Outlook 2007+, follow these steps:

1. Start Outlook 2007+.

a. On the Tools menu, click Account Settings.

b. Click the Address Books tab, and click Change.

c. Under Microsoft Office Outlook Address Books, click the address book that you want to change the contact display format for.

For example, Contacts: Mailbox - Personal Folders, and then click File As (Smith, John).

In Outlook 2003, follow these steps:

1 Start Outlook 2003.

a. On the Tools menu, click E-mail accounts.

b. Click View or change directories or address books, and then click Next.

c. Click Outlook Address Book, and then click Change.

d. Under Outlook Address Books, click the address book that you want to change the contact display format for. For example, Contacts: Personal Folders, and then click File As (Smith, John).

e Click Close, and then click Finish.

2. Quit and restart Outlook.

3. Verify that the newly created contacts are sorted in the LastName, FirstName format. To do this:

a. On the Tools menu, click Options.

b. Click the Preferences tab, and then click Contact Options.

c. In the Contacts Options box, click Last, First in the Default File As order list.

d. Click OK two times.

4. Edit the properties of any contacts that have the File as option configured individually. This setting overrides the setting that you made in step 1.

a. Double-click any contact that does not appear in the LastName, FirstName format in your Contacts list.

b. Click the General tab, click the down arrow next to File as, and then click Lastname, Firstname, where Lastname, Firstname is the name of the contact.

Lastname first

Outlook 2010

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Edit Subject Line

2017-12-15T03:27:00.000-08:00

Organization trick

By editing the subject lines of messages you receive, you can organize your mail. If you get faxes or voicemail sent to you automatically via email, you can change the subject to something that makes sense to you.

Open the message, edit the subject line, close the message and, when prompted, save the changes. The trick with this is the subject line does not look editable because it is on a grey background, but it works nevertheless.

Turn on in-cell editing and you can change the subject line without having to open the email and re-save it at all. This works best if you have the Preview Pane turned on:

Outlook 2000/2002:

From the View Menu select
Current View > Customize Current View
View Summary > Other Settings
Rows, enable the Allow In-cell Editing option.

Outlook 2003-13:

From the View Menu select
Current View
Customize Current View > Other Settings
and enable Allow In-cell Editing.

Slipstick.com:
To change the subject of an incoming message or fax

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Make Your Calendar Your Own

2017-12-04T03:26:00.000-08:00

Match your own schedule

". . . did you know that the views in your calendar are fully customizable? For example, you can view your days and weeks in increments of 5 minutes, 60 minutes, and a variety of periods in between.

You can adjust the view of your calendar according to your work week and work day; for instance, you can display Sunday through Thursday and show a normal day as being 11 in the morning to 7 in the evening if you like.

Use different color schemes, and show more or less detail in your calendar. Watch the demo to see how to do all this and more."

Customize your O'07-10 calendar

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Nickname List

2017-12-02T03:53:00.000-08:00

Call me Ishmael

How to Reset the Nickname and Automatic Completion Cache

Microsoft Outlook maintains a nickname list that is used by both the automatic name checking and the automatic completion features. The nickname list is automatically generated as you use Outlook.
If the nickname cache is corrupted, Outlook may not be able to identify recipients, may offer incorrect recipients when automatically completing the e-mail address, or may send the message to the wrong person. You may also, just want to reset the whole list.

Quit Outlook.
Start Windows Explorer.
On the Tools menu, click Folder Options, and then click the View tab.
Under Advanced Settings, click to select the Show hidden files and folders check box.
Click OK.
Click Start, point to Search, and then click For Files or Folders.
In the Search for Files or Folders box, type *.NK2 in the File Name box.
In the Look In box, click to select your local hard disk.
Click Search Now.
Right-click the .NK2 file with the name of the profile that you want to reset, and then click Rename.
Rename the file to yourname.bak, and then press ENTER.
Quit Windows Explorer.
Restart Outlook.

Outlook will generate a new nickname cache:
Knowlegebase Article 287623

Slipstick.com:
Name Resolution

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Instant Search

2017-11-12T03:54:00.000-08:00

Search all your mail

"If you're buried in e-mail (and who isn't?), Instant Search in Outlook 2007+ can save the day for you - every day.

The new Instant Search helps you quickly find e-mail messages, appointments, contacts, or any Outlook item. You don't even need to know which folder the item is in.

Watch the demo to see how to use this fast search feature, and start finding what you want instantly."

Instant Search Demo

More Instant Search

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Print Calendars

2017-10-24T03:37:00.000-07:00

Good looking printouts

The standard calendar print out is dull:

The new free Calendar Assistant makes it more fun.

The Calendar Printing Assistant for Office Outlook 2007-13

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Piggyback on Gmail

2017-10-11T03:21:00.000-07:00

An added tool

Google's Gmail is free and offers some features you can use in conjunction with your email program.

Send email to Gmail
Forwarding
Gmail spam control
Centralized Email
Additional email storage

"As well as a backup, it means you can easily access your messages via Internet terminal or mobile phone. Gmail is easily searched online or indexed offline using Google Desktop Search."

Here's a YouTube:
Gmail as your spam filter

Here's GMail's Fetch gadget:
How to set up Mail Fetcher

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Where'da go?

2017-09-14T03:09:00.000-07:00

Sent mail vanishes

Trying to find out why an email message does not arrive at its intended location can be difficult.

This tip is from Office-Watch.com. Look into their weekly newsletter.

Here are some suggestions:

Where could that message be?

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