Outlook Tips, Tricks and Gotchas

Quick Parts are a quick way to insert commonly used text into an e-mail message. As opposed to trying to use Signatures for this purpose (where only one signature could be inserted), you can insert multiple Quick Parts of information. This also ensures consistency of verbiage.

Create the Quick Part:

1. From the body of a new message, select the text you would like to quickly retrieve in future e-mail messages. (Keep in mind if you select a typo, you'll later retrieve that same typo.)
2. Click the Insert Ribbon.
3. Choose Quick Parts>>Save Selection to Quick Part Gallery.
4. Give the text an intuitive name you will remember.
5. Click OK.

Retrieve the Quick Part:

1. In the body of the message, click where the text should be inserted.
2. Click the Insert Ribbon.
3. Click Quick Parts.
4. Click the appropriate 'Quick Part' data.

Keyboard Shortcuts

These are for those of you who like to keep your hands on the keyboard as much as possible.

• CTRL + N = Create new message.
• ALT + S = Send message.
• CTRL + A = Select all messages in a folder.
• CTRL + Q = Mark the selected messages as Unread.
• CTRL + U = Mark the selected messages as Read.
• CTRL + R = Reply to message.
• CTRL + F = Forward message.
• CTRL + D = Delete selected item.
• CTRK + K = Check names against Address Book.
• F7 = Spellcheck.
• F9 = Send and Receive.

Calendar Tips

Overlay Multiple Calendars

Outlook 2003 gave you the ability to view calendars side-by-side. Now, in Outlook 2007, you can also overlay multiple calendars for a better view of who is available at any given time. Of course, all of this depends upon people actually updating their calendar on a regular basis.

1. Open each calendar to be viewed.
2. Click the View Menu.
3. Choose View in Overlay Mode (toggles back to View in Side-By-Side Mode).

Send a Calendar Via e-Mail

If someone needs to know your schedule, but you haven't shared your calendar with them and don't plan to, it is easy enough to send a specific time frame of your calendar.

1. Switch to your calendar view.
2. From within the left Calendar pane, choose “Send a Calendar via E-mail.”
3. Choose the date range and Detail level.
4. Address the e-mail and Send.

Calendar Keyboard Shortcuts

• Ctrl + N = New appointment.
• CTRL + G = Go to specific date.
• Alt + O = Go to today (2003 and 2007 only).

Gotchas!

Don't Edit an Attachment Before First Saving It to a Specific Location

This is probably one of the biggest frustrations associated with working with attached files. When you open an attached file, Outlook saves it to a very difficult to find temporary directory. By spending time editing and simply clicking “Save,” you are saving the file to that temporary directory, thus not really saving the changes to the attachment at all. Always choose “Save As” whenever you open an attachment with the goal of working with that file. Choose the specific location to which you want the file saved. If you believe your changes have been saved to this temporary location, contact your Help Desk for assistance.

Clicking 'Reply to All'

Ouch! This one can really come back to bite you. If you haven't done this yourself, you may have been the unintended recipient of a “reply all” gaffe, or heard a horror story about one. This happens to individuals, firms, corporations and government agencies, and is often well-publicized, much to the chagrin of the sender. Once you send an e-mail outside of your domain, there is no getting it back. Notice that I did not give you the keyboard shortcut for Reply to All. Always review your recipient list prior to sending. Enough said.

Keep Recipient List Private When Necessary

Using the BCC (blind carbon copy) field in your message will ensure the privacy of those recipients in that mail. Where is the “Gotcha”? Some Exchange servers are set up to have a limit to the number of recipients, BCC field included. If you are planning a mass mailing, consult your Exchange administrator. Spammers love to use the BCC field. Because of this, some Exchange servers are set to block e-mails that have more than a certain number of recipients.

Carelessly Dragging Files or Folders

While sub-folders are an excellent method of organizing e-mails, it's easy to carelessly drag a file or folder to the wrong location. Remember; don't let go of your mouse button until you see that the file is being dropped into the intended folder.

Minimize Add-ins

If you have an IT Department, they may have “firm approved” or “mission critical” applications, meaning those applications have been tested in your PC environment and don't conflict with any of the other applications. Downloading programs from the Web, or via disk someone provided you, may do more than just install the program you want. Some install add-ins without your knowledge into your main Office applications, including Outlook. This can wreak havoc with the approved applications in use if the add-in wasn't tested first. It will also make a noticeable difference in the startup time when launching Outlook.