Productivity Tips

 

Convert Outlook Items into Other Items

To convert one type of Outlook item into another, drag the item from one folder to another. For example, drag an e-mail message to the Calendar to create an appointment, drag a contact to Mail to create an e-mail message addressed to the contact, or drag a calendar item to a task to create a task from an appointment.

 

Add Folders to Favorites

To add a mail folder to Favorite Folders in the Navigation pane, right-click the folder and choose Add to Favorite Folders.

 

Create Search Folders

Search folders help you find an e-mail regardless of the folder in which it resides. Outlook has three default Search folders (For Follow-up, Large Mail, and Unread Mail), which are visible in Favorite Folders and in the Search Folders list in Mailbox. Click the Search folder you want; Outlook will display all messages that meet the criteria. To see folder location and other fields, turn off the Reading pane (View ► Reading Pane ► Off).

• To create a custom Search folder, right-click Search Folders in the folder list and select New Search Folder. Select one of the listed Search folders, or scroll to the bottom and select Create a Custom Search Folder.

• If you choose a predefined Search Folder that requires criteria to be set, click Choose and enter the desired criteria.

• If you create a Custom Search folder, enter a name for the Search folder and click the Criteria button to specify criteria.

 

Assign and Customize Categories

Categories help you organize Outlook items that have things in common: for example, all the Outlook items (e-mails, contacts, meetings, etc.) related to a specific project, or all the items related to vendors or suppliers. Categories cross over folders, so you can assign the same category to a contact as to an e-mail or task. Outlook comes with a predefined Categories list, but you can customize the list to meet your needs.

• To customize the Categories list, open an Outlook item, click the Categories button, then the Master Category List button. Add/remove categories from the list by clicking Add or Delete. When you’re done customizing the list, click OK.

• To add items to categories, click the Categories button on the open item. Click the desired categories on the Available Categories list. To assign an e-mail to categories, click View ► Options on the open e-mail and click the Categories button.

• To add multiple appointments, tasks, contacts, or journal entries to categories, click Tools ► Organize to open the Ways to Organize pane. Select the items you want to add to a category, select the category from the Add Entries Selected Below To drop-down list, and click Add. You can also create new categories from this pane.

• To display items by category, click View ► Arrange By ► Categories. Select Show in Groups (if available).

 

Enable Instant Messaging

Enable instant messaging in Outlook to see when any of your e-mail contacts are online and available to receive an instant message via MSN Messenger or Microsoft Exchange Messenger.

• To enable instant messaging in Outlook, click Tools ►Options. On the Other tab, click the Enable Person Names Smart Tag and Display Messenger Status in the From Field check boxes. Click OK.

• To see whether an e-mail contact is available to receive an instant message, click the Person Names smart tag in the From field on an open e-mail message. If the person isn’t already in your Messenger contacts list, you can add him or her by clicking Add to Messenger Contacts.