Links

• Training tutorials from Microsoft are available at: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/CR061832721033.aspx
  
• General assistance can also be obtained from this Microsoft site: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/CH790018071033.aspx

^Top^

Questions about Outlook 2003

QUESTION:   How do you prevent Microsoft Word documents attached to an Outlook e-mail message from opening in the "reading layout" view in Word?

Answer: You need to first open a document in MS Word as that is where the setting is making it do this. This is NOT something that Outlook is doing. Once you have a document open (any document will do), then in Microsoft Word on the Tools menu, click Options, click the General tab, and then clear the Allow starting in Reading Layout check box (the one item by itself on the upper right side of the General dialog box). Then click OK.

^Top^

^Top^

^Top^

QUESTION:   How do you create a Personal Folder that stores e-mails and other folders on your local computer?

First off, remember that Personal Folders are not available when you access your Outlook e-mail from the web.  Along with this remember that Personal Folders are stored on your computer in your office and so if something happens to that computer's hard drive, you may have problems obtaining what you have stored in your Personal Folder.  Here are the steps to creating a Personal Folder. 

1. In Outlook click on File, then New, then Outlook data file...

2. Next you should select Office Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst) and click OK. 

3. In the Create or Open Outlook Data File dialog box, you may either accept the default name or give your file a name.  If you think you will be creating several Personal folders, you may want to give it your own name.  Then click OK. 

4. Next gave your Personal Folder a name.  Again you can accept the default "Personal Folders" or give it a name your prefer.  This name is what will appear in the navigation pane in the folder list. Click OK.

That's it!  You can create mailboxes, calendars, task lists, etc. in this Personal Folder just like other folders but, again, all information will be stored on the hard drive of your local computer.

^Top^

Navigation Pane

Add buttons

• At the bottom of the Navigation Pane, click Configure Buttons , click Add or Remove Buttons, and then click the button you want to add.

Remove buttons

• At the bottom of the Navigation Pane, click Configure Buttons , click Add or Remove Buttons, and then click the button you want to remove.

Change the display order of the buttons

• At the bottom of the Navigation Pane, click Configure Buttons , and then click Navigation Pane Options.
• To rearrange the button order, in the Display buttons in this order list, click the button you want to change, and then click Move Up or Move Down.

Change the number of large and small buttons that appear in the Navigation Pane

• At the bottom of the Navigation Pane, click Configure Buttons , and then click Show More Buttons or Show Fewer Buttons to see more big buttons or to see more little buttons.

Remove folders in the Favorite Folders pane

1. Right-click the folder you want to remove.
2. On the shortcut menu, click Remove from Favorite Folders.
3. Repeat this for each folder that you want to remove. Folders must be removed individually from the Favorite Folders pane.

Tip: If you remove all of the folders and want to add a folder at a later time, just click a folder, and then drag it to the Favorite Folders pane.

^Top^

Reading Pane

Change when messages are marked as read

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Other tab.
2. Click Reading Pane.
3. Select the options you want.

Tip:  To quickly display the shortcut menu for the Reading Pane, right-click the border of the Reading Pane next to the list of messages.

Hide the message header

1. On the View menu, point to Arrange By, and then click Custom.
2. Click Other Settings.
3. Under Reading Pane, select the Hide header information check box.

Change the location of the Reading Pane

• On the View menu, point to Reading Pane, and then click Right or Bottom.

Resize the Reading Pane

• Point to the left border of the Reading Pane, and when the pointer becomes a double-headed arrow , drag the border to the left or right.

^Top^

Folders

 
A Search Folder is a virtual folder that lets you see a particular group of messages, without having to physically move or copy them anywhere. Outlook creates three Search Folders by default:

• For Follow Up
• Large Mail
• Unread Mail

Tip:  Remember the flags we talked about in the last lesson? This folder allows you to quickly see all of the messages you have flagged for follow up. When you use flags, this folder becomes your virtual “To Do” list.

1. To create a folder in your Inbox, right-click Inbox and click New Folder on the shortcut menu.
2. In the Name box, type Practice Folder 1, and then verify that:
   • Mail and Post Items is selected in the Folder contains box.
   • Inbox is selected in the Select where to place the folder box.
3. Click OK.

1. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Folder.
2. In the Name box, type Practice Folder 2, and then verify that:
   • Mail and Post Items is selected in the Folder contains box.
   • Inbox is selected in the Select where to place the folder box.
3. Click OK.

1. Click the New button to create a new e-mail message.
2. In the To box, type your own e-mail name.
3. In the Subject line, type EICC 1, and click Send to send the message to yourself.
4. Create and send a second e-mail message just like the first one, only this time in the Subject line, type EICC 2.
5. When the messages (from yourself) appear in your Inbox, drag the message with the subject EICC 1 to Practice Folder 1 and drag EICC 2 to Practice Folder 2.

^Top^

Search Folders

1. Under All Mail Folders, locate the folder named Search Folders.
2. To see the flagged messages, click the plus sign next to Search Folders, and click the For Follow Up folder to see its contents.

That’s all there is to it! Using the built-in Search Folders is as simple as clicking them to reveal their contents.

Now that you’ve completed the exercise, you can remove the flags from the messages if you like by right-clicking the Flag Status column and clicking Clear Flag.

Create your own Search Folder

In the previous exercise, did you think that the use of EICC in the subject line of the messages was a bit strange? There was method in our madness.

In this next exercise, you are going to show both of those EICC messages in a Search Folder.

1. In the File menu, point to New, and click Search Folder.
2. In the New Search Folder dialog box, scroll to the Organizing Mail section and select Mail with specific words.
3. Click the Choose button.
4. In the Search Text dialog box, type EICC and click Add.
5. Click OK twice to create the Search Folder.
6. To see the results of your labor, look toward the bottom of the list of e-mail folders in the Navigation Pane (you may need to scroll to see the end of the list).
7. Click the plus sign next to Search Folders.
8. You should see the Containing EICC Search Folder. Click this folder to see its contents. (The first time you click the folder, it may take a few seconds before messages are displayed.)

The two EICC messages that you filed in the last exercise are displayed here—but don’t worry, they’re also still back where you put them, in the Practice 1 and Practice 2 folders.

^Top^

Flags

1. In the Inbox, find a message that you want to flag.
2. Right-click the Flag Status column for the message and click Yellow Flag.

Option 2: Add a flag to an open message

When you open a message to read it, you may want to attach a flag to it right then and there. Here’s how you would do that.

1. If you’re not already looking at e-mail, click Mail on the Go menu.
2. Double-click a message in the Inbox to open it.
3. On the Standard toolbar, click the Follow Up button .
4. Click the Flag color drop-down arrow, select Yellow Flag, and click OK.
5. Click the Close button to close the message.

Add a reminder

1. Right-click the Flag Status column for a message and click Add Reminder.
2. The Flag for Follow Up dialog box is displayed.
3. If you wanted to receive a reminder to follow up on this message, you would click the Due By drop-down arrow and select a date. You could specify a time in the next box to the right.
4. Click the Cancel button to close the dialog box without saving any changes to the message.

Want to see all of the yellow flags together? That’s easy.

1. Point to Arrange By on the View menu. Write down the menu command that is currently selected so that you can re-select it when you’re done viewing messages by flag.
2. On the Arrange By submenu, click Flag. Your messages should now be sorted according to the flags that you’ve assigned them.
3. Restore your arrangement by pointing to Arrange By on the View menu and clicking the arrangement you noted in step 1.

To quickly get organized, a great trick is to use flags with Search Folders. If you were to use these two features together, you could create an automatic “To Do” list. That is, as soon as you flagged a message, it would automatically appear in the For Follow Up Search Folder. (We’ll tell you more about Search Folders and how you would use them to create your “To Do” list in the next lesson, “Use Folders.”)

^Top^

Quick Flags
 

1. In Outlook, right-click any toolbar, and then click Customize.

2. On the Toolbars tab, click New, and then, after you name the toolbar, drag that toolbar to where you want it to be.

Next you need to create the actual Quick Flag.

3. In the Customize dialog box, on the Commands tab, under Categories, click Actions, and then drag a flag, such as the red flag, to the new toolbar.

4. Right-click the flag in the new toolbar, and then on the shortcut menu, click Image and Text.

5. Right-click the flag again, and in the Name box, type the name for the flag, for example, Urgent. If you want to use a keyboard shortcut for the quick flag, type &Urgent, which allows you to activate the flag by pressing ALT+U.

Note:  Make sure you put the ampersand (&) before a letter that is not being used as a keyboard shortcut by another button on any toolbar in Outlook. For example, Call Bac&k allows you to activate the flag by pressing ALT+K as long as no other buttons use ALT+K as a keyboard shortcut.

6. After you have added all of the flags you want on the toolbar, click Close in the Customize dialog box.

7. To mark your messages with a flag, click the message in the message list, and then click the flag button on the toolbar you created.

Note:  When you switch to Calendar, Contacts, or Tasks, the Quick Flag toolbar is empty because flagging does not apply to these areas.

^Top^

Tracking

1. Click on Tools, then Options, and then make sure the Preference tab is selected. 
2. Next click on the E-mail Options... button and then the Tracking Options... button.
3. Select the options you want for tracking. 
4. Click OK, then OK again and then a third OK. 

Your tracking options are set.

^Top^

Color Code messages

To change or undo color coding, you would click Automatic Formatting in the Organize pane and delete or modify the rule.

^Top^

Changing viewing options for your e-mail

Right click the column heading line (or click on View on the menu bar), and then select Arrange by and select which alternative you want.   You can also arrange your mail based upon one of the column headings.  To do this click on the column heading you want to use, for example, Subject.  Clicking on Subject again, reverses the order.  To see the first lines of the e-mail, click on View  and select AutoPreview.

In the exercises that follow, you will change how your e-mail messages are arranged. Follow these steps to make sure you can get back to your current arrangement when you’re done.

1. On the View menu, point to Arrange By.
2. Make a note of the command that is selected in the submenu. (By default, this would be Date, but you may have selected something else— we want you to be able to restore that arrangement when you’re done). Note also whether Show in Groups is selected.

1. If you’re not already looking at e-mail, click Mail on the Go menu. Then in the Navigation Pane, click Inbox.
2. Make sure the Reading Pane is displayed on the right by pointing to Reading Pane on the View menu, and then clicking Right.
3. On the View menu, point to Arrange By, and click From. Make sure Show in Groups is also selected on the Arrange By submenu.

Note: To change the message order so that senders are ordered from Z to A  click, the A on top heading.

Arrange by conversation

1. Use the Arrange By submenu (on the View menu) to select Conversation.
2. To see the whole conversation, click the arrow at the top of a conversation.
3. Click the arrow again to see only those messages that you haven’t yet read.

Use the shortcut menu

You can quickly switch to a different arrangement by clicking the Arranged By heading at the top of the list of messages.

1. Click Arranged By.
2. Select Size.

^Top^
 

Setting options for when new e-mail arrives

To play a sound, briefly change the mouse cursor, show an envelope icon in the notification area, or display a “New Mail Desktop Alert” box whenever you receive a new e-mail, do the following:

1. Click on Tools, then Options.
2. Preferences tab and then click on E-mail Options…
3. In E-mail Options  window, click on Advanced E-mail Options.
4. In the box entitled When new items arrive in my Inbox select the choices that you wish.  You may select other options at this time as well. 
5. Click OK.   Click OK.  Click OK for the third time. This gives you your notification of new mail options. 

If you wish to change the sound, go to Control Panel  (not in Outlook)  then click on Sounds and Audio Devices.  Select the Sounds tab and scroll down to New Mail Notification and select that.  In the Sounds drop down menu below the list of Program Events, select the sound you want from the list or browse and select your own sound file.  Once you have it selected, click OK and close the Control Panel.

^Top^

To add a signature with pictures or logos

Adding pictures or graphics to an e-mail greatly increase the space needed to store the message.  Remember this when using this feature for those recipients of your e-mails who may not have a lot of space to save e-mail messages.   An e-mail signature consists of text or pictures, or both. If you choose to create and use a signature, Microsoft Outlook automatically adds it to your outgoing e-mail messages.

To add pictures or logos to a signature you need to set Microsoft Word 2003 as your e-mail editor.  To do this follow these steps:

1. Click on Tools then Options... and then click on Mail Format.

2. Check the box in front of Use Microsoft Office Word 2003 to edit e-mail messages.  You only have to set this once.

3. Click on Signatures....  and then New....  Give your signature a name that will help you to remember which one it is.   Select Start with a blank signature and click Next. 

4. Click on Advanced Edit....   This will launch Microsoft Word 2003

5. Prepare your message as you would any Microsoft Word document.  Insert pictures and logos as needed.  Format the text as you wish it to appear in the signature. When you are finished, save the document -- don't change the file name, and close Word.

6. Click OK in the Create Signature dialog box.

7. Use the drop down menu Signature for new messages and select the name of the signature you just created.

8. Use the drop down menu Signature for replies and forwards and select None or another signature.

9. Click OK. 

Note:  Any new message you create will now have the signature that you created and selected as Signature for new messages.

^Top^

To use stationary in your e-mails

Adding pictures or graphics to an e-mail greatly increase the space needed to store the message.  Remember this when using this feature for those recipients of your e-mails who may not have a lot of space to save e-mail messages.   E-mail stationery consists of fonts or pictures, or both. If you choose to create and use stationery, Microsoft Outlook automatically adds it to your outgoing e-mail messages.

To add stationery to your e-mail you need to set HTML as the message format for your e-mail messages.   To do this follow these steps:

1. Click on Tools then Options... and then click on Mail Format.

2. In the drop down menu for Compose in this message format, select HTML.  You only have to set this once.

3. In the drop down menu for Use this stationery by default, select the stationery that you want to use.   If you click on Stationery Picker... you will get the same list but will also be able to preview the stationery.  You may also create your own stationery.  Here is how you do that:

   1. Click on New... and give your stationery a name.

   2. Select Start with a blank stationary  and click Next>.

   3. Select your font by clicking on Change Font...

   4. Select a picture by selecting Picture  and then clicking Browse.  Find the picture you wish to use and then click Select.

   5. Click OK and OK again.

4. Make sure the stationery you just named or selected is in fact selected in the Use this stationery by default  box and then click OK.

Note:  Any new message you create will now have the stationery that you created or selected in the drop down box Use this stationery by default.

^Top^

Remove a name or two from a distribution list

Suppose you have a large group set up in Microsoft Outlook and you want to send an email to that group but you want to omit one or two or a few people from that large group. Here is how you do that.

1. Address your email to the group as usual.

2. Once the address has been verified (an underline shows up under the address), click on the + icon to expand the list.

3. Now just remove the name or names that you do not want to receive the email. Once you are done the message is ready to send.

^Top^

To give someone permission to share your calendar

It is possible to give one or more other people who are a part of  EICC intranet, access to your calendar in varying degrees.  To give someone else permission to view, change, delete, etc. items on your calendar do the following:

1. On the Go menu, click Folder List.
2. In the Folder List right click the Calendar Folder.
3. Select Properties at the bottom of the list.  This will open the Calendar Properties window.
4. Select the Permissions tab
5. Click the Add…  button.
6. Select the person or persons that you want from the list in the Add Users window.
7. Click the Add  button.
8. Click the OK  button.
9. You should be back in the Calendar Properties window.  Now in the Permissions area select the permissions you wish to give to the person or persons you have selected in the Name area above.  You may use the drop-down box Permission Level to set levels but those just automatically select the various check boxes and radio buttons in the area below.
   
   *Don’t give permissions to “Default” or “anonymous” unless you wish to make this a public calendar.
    
10. Hang on!  You are almost done.  Now the person who you have given permission to look at your calendar needs to add you.  This is done on THEIR COMPUTER not yours.  Here’s the steps to actually viewing someone else’s calendar:
     
    1. In their Outlook, click on File and then go to Open  and then to Other Users Folder…
    2. Click on Name… which opens Select Name.
    3. Select the name of the person whose calendar you want to use and the click OK.
    4. Make sure that in the drop-down menu labeled Folder Type:   that Calendar is selected
    5. Click OK.

To access the other person’s calendar click on File and then go to Open and then to select the calendar of the other person. 

To stop sharing, go the Permissions tab and remove their name or select “none” for the privileges making sure that none of the check boxes have checks in them and that “none” is selected for the radio buttons.

^Top^

Create another calendar

It is possible to create additional calendars in Outlook 2003.  For instance you could create a personal calendar, or a project calendar.  To create another calendar follow these steps.

1. On the Go menu, click Folder List.
2. In the Folder List right click the Calendar Folder.
3. Click New Folder.
4. In the Name box, type a descriptive name.

Please note that you cannot share additional calendars with others.  You can only share the default Calendar.

Thanks to Rae Marie Jurmu for this info.

^Top^

Create, view, or delete a group schedule

In Calendar, on the Actions menu, click View Group Schedules.

Create a group schedule

1. Click New.
2. Type a name for the new group schedule, and then click OK.
3. Click Add Others, and then click either Add from Address Book or Add Public Folder.
4. Select the names or the public folder, and then click OK.

View a group schedule

Delete a group schedule

Note  To refresh the free/busy data on the calendar, click Options, and then click Refresh Free/Busy.

^Top^

Color appointments or meetings

To color an appointment or meeting:

1. In Calendar, right-click an appointment or meeting, point to Label on the shortcut menu, and then click a color in the list.
2. To remove a color from the appointment or meeting, in the Label list, click None.

To color a recurring appointment or meeting:

1. In Calendar, open an appointment or meeting.
2. Click Open the series, and then click OK.
3. In the Label list, click a color.
4. To remove a color from the appointment or meeting, in the Label list, click None.

To change the appointment or meeting color labels:

1. In Calendar, click Calendar Coloring , and then click Edit Labels.
2. Type the text you want to associate with each color.

To color appointments and meetings automatically:

1. In Calendar, right-click the calendar grid, and then click Automatic Formatting on the shortcut menu.
2. Click Add, and then type a name for the rule.
3. In the Label list, click a color.
4. Click Condition to specify the conditions under which the color will be applied.

Note: If you manually assign a color to an item, automatic coloring cannot be used on that item.

^Top^

Schedule time in Calendar to complete a task

This assumes that you already have a task created and wanted to schedule time to work on it.

1. Drag the task you want to schedule time for from Tasks to the Calendar button in the Navigation Pane
2. On the Appointment tab, select the options you want.
3. You can change any type of item into another type of item by dragging it to the folder button in the.

 ^Top^

Sharing a distribution list

To share a distribution list YOU MUST have MS Word as your email editor.  To do this, click on Tools, then Options, then the Mail Format tab and select Use Microsoft Office Word 2003 to edit email messages. Click Apply.  Click OK.

To send a distribution list (if using MS Word to edit emails):

1. Open a new email message and address the message as usual.
2. Click on the drop-down arrow next to the Attachment button and choose Item.
3. In the Insert Item dialog box, select the Contacts folder in the Look in list.  (You WILL NOT see this if MS Word is not your email message editor!)
4. Next, select the Distribution List that you wish to send in the list at the bottom of the box. Click OK.
5. Complete the email message as desired and Send.

You can also just click and drag a distribution list and drop it on your email message.

To send a distribution list (if using Outlook to edit emails):

1. On the Insert menu, click Item.
2. In the Look in list, click the folder that contains the distribution list that you want to send. Distribution lists are saved in the Contacts folder by default.
3. In the Items list, click the distribution list that you want to send, and then click OK.

To save a distribution list sent to you:

1. If a Distribution List (or other Contact) is emailed to you, you must first save it to your Contacts folder before you can use it for sending email.
2. Open the message with the attached Distribution List.
3. Double-click on the attachment.
4. The Distribution List will open.
5. Go to the File menu and select Copy to Folder….
6. Select the desired Contacts folder and click OK.

In some situations you maybe able to just click and drag the distribution list and drop it on your Contacts folder. 

You can now use the Distribution List to send email.

^Top^

Hiding Recipients (BCC)

1. Open a new email message as you normally would.
2. Click on View and then select BCC Field.
3. Add email addresses in the BCC area just as you normally would.  You need to have at least one address in the To: field as well.  You may want to just send it to yourself here.  You may also use distribution lists in the BCC field. If you do so only the name of the distribution list will show.

Note: You can display the Bcc box in all new messages that you compose. If Microsoft Word is your e-mail editor, in a new message, click the arrow to the right of the Options button, and then click Bcc. If you are using the Microsoft Outlook e-mail editor, in a new message, on the View menu, click Bcc Field.

^Top^

Creating a Distribution List from an Email

1. In the e-mail message you want to copy the names from, select the names in the To or Cc box.
2. On the Edit menu, click Copy.
3. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Distribution List.
4. In the Name box, type a name for the distribution list.
5. Click Select Members.
6. In the Add to distribution list list, right-click, and then click Paste on the shortcut menu.

^Top^

Outlook Email Templates

Here's how to do it without using MS Word as your email editor:

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Mail Format tab.
2. Clear the Use Microsoft Office Word 2003 to edit e-mail messages check box.
3. Click Apply, and then click OK.
4. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Mail Message.
   
   Note: You can also start a new e-mail message by clicking the New Mail Message button on the Standard toolbar.
    
5. When the new message opens, give it an appropriate subject and compose your content. Leave space for variable information that will be added when you send the message.
6. On the File menu, click Save As.
7. In the Save as type list, click Outlook Template, and then click Save.
8. To restore Word as the message editor, click Options on the Tools menu, click the Mail Format tab, and then select the Use Microsoft Office Word 2003 to edit e-mail messages check box.
9. Click Apply, and then click OK.

^Top^

Editing Signatures

This is if you have Microsoft Outlook as your email editor:

1. From the main Microsoft Outlook window, on the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Mail Format tab.
2. In the Compose in this message format list, click the message format that the signature is used with.
3. Under Signature, click Signatures.
4. Click the signature you want to change, and then click Edit.
5. In the Signature text box, type the text you want to include in the signature. You can also paste text to this box from another document.
6. To change the paragraph or font format, select the text, click Font or Paragraph, and then select the options you want. These options are not available if you use plain text as your message format.

Note: To change a signature for a single message only, make your changes directly to the signature in the message.

^Top^

Deleting a Sent Email

This feature requires you to be using a Microsoft Exchange Server e-mail account.

You can recall or replace a message only if its recipient is logged on and using Microsoft Outlook and has not read the message or moved it from their Inbox.

1. In Mail, in the Navigation Pane click Sent Items.
2. Open the message you want to recall or replace.
3. In the message window, on the Actions menu, click Recall This Message.
   Note: This command does not appear unless you are using an Exchange e-mail account.

Do one of the following:

• Recall the message

  1. Click Delete unread copies of this message.

  2. To be notified about the success of the recall or replacement for each recipient, select the Tell me if recall succeeds or fails for each recipient check box.
   

• Replace the message

  1. Click Delete unread copies and replace with a new message.

  2. To be notified about the success of the recall or replacement for each recipient, select the Tell me if recall succeeds or fails for each recipient check box.

  3. Click OK, and then type a new message.

^Top^

Using Search Folders to locate large messages

By default, Outlook includes a pre-defined Search Folder named Large Mail. To use this Search Folder, expand the Search Folders entry in the Navigation Pane for the mailbox you want to check, and then click the Large Mail Search Folder. If the Large Mail Search Folder is not available, you can create it.

1. In Mail, on the File menu, point to New, and then click Search Folder.
2. Under Select a Search Folder, in the Organizing Mail section, click Large mail.
3. By default, messages larger than 100 kilobytes (KB) will be included in this Search Folder. To change the limit, click Choose to specify a new number, and then click OK.

Note The size of messages includes attachments and the message text itself. A message with no attachments might be included in the Large Mail Search Folder because it contains embedded graphics or a large amount of text.

To change the size of messages that a large mail search folder finds, you simply create a new search folder and specify a different size.  Then delete the old large mail search folder if you wish.  Remember what is stored in a search folder is not the actual message but a reference to the message so when you delete a search folder you are not deleting the messages in it.

Gary's address: Kahl Education Center - EICC 326 West 3rd Street Davenport, Iowa 52801-1219 Phone:  563-336-5263 Help Desk: 563-336-3456 Email:  golson@eicc.edu

Send mail to Gary Olson with questions about this web site. Copyright © 2009 Eastern Iowa Community College District EICCD | EICCD Intranet | Faculty Pages | CCC | MCC | SCC