MICROSOFT OUTLOOK VERSION 2010 LEVEL 2

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MICROSOFT OUTLOOK

VERSION 2010

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LESSON 1 – ADVANCED MESSAGE TOOLS

In this lesson, you will learn how to:

• Request receipts

• View message delivery status

• Use Voting Buttons

• Set tracking options

• Set other message options

• Recall a message

• Resend a message

• Use Themes and stationery

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R

EQUESTING

R

ECEIPTS

Discussion

Outlook includes a tracking feature allowing you to track the delivery and read status of sent messages.

If these tracking options are selected, you automatically receive a “receipt” in your Inbox informing you that the message has been delivered and/or read. Receipts are identified by either a green arrow icon (delivered) or a green tick mark icon (read). Read receipts will have

the name of the recipient in the From field and delivery receipts will have System

Administrator in the From field.

Delivery Receipt message icon Read Receipt message icon

NB: Not all mail servers or email applications are able to process receipts, so you are not

guaranteed a response on every occasion for messages sent outside of your organisation. Furthermore, when a recipient receives an email containing a read receipt, they may be given

an information box warning them of the content and can click No to prevent a response being

sent.

Read receipt information message

See page 11 for information on how to manage and change your tracking options.

Procedure

1. Create a new email message.

2. Click the Options tab on the Ribbon.

3. Tick the Request a Delivery Receipt and/or Request a Read Receipt check

box(es).

4. Complete the message as necessary.

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V

IEWING THE

M

ESSAGE

D

ELIVERY

S

TATUS

Discussion

The Tracking page in messages sent with delivery or read receipts, displays a table containing the delivery information for each recipient.

When a receiving mail server (in the case of delivery receipts) or a recipient (in the case of a read receipt) respond to a receipt, the response is sent to the message owner’s Inbox in the form of an email. The email for the receipts can be identified by its icon: (delivery receipt) or (read receipt).

The message subject also confirms that it is a receipt with the words Delivered: <Subject of

sent message> or Read: <subject of sent message> in the message list -

or...

... in the Reading Pane.

The third confirmation that the message is a receipt, is given in the body of the email itself, visible in either the Reading Pane or the full message window.

A list of all the people to whom the message was sent appear in the Tracking page of the sent

email. The Tracking page will only appear in the sent message when the first response is received. You will know when this happens because the sent email’s icon will change to As votes are received from other people to whom the message was sent, responses are

automatically added to the tracking list. The InfoBar at the top of the Tracking page

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NB The Tracking page will not appear in the original message until the first response is received. Results will then be updated automatically as each response is received.

Procedures

1. Select the Sent Items folder.

2. Double-click to open a message sent with receipt requests; look for the icon

next to the message.

3. Select the Tracking command on the Ribbon in the Show group.

4. To return to the message text, click the Message command in the Show

group.

5. Close the message window when finished.

Tip

See page 13 for a useful option to automatically move receipts out of your Inbox. This is a useful setting to help keep your Inbox clear of

unnecessary messages.

C

REATING A

M

ESSAGE WITH

V

OTING

B

UTTONS

Discussion

When you use Outlook on a Microsoft Exchange Server, you can include voting buttons in your messages to poll recipients’ answers to a question. You can select one of the three

standard voting button sets: Approve;Reject, Yes;No, or Yes;No;Maybe; or you can

customise the buttons by entering your own text. When you create buttons with customised

text, you must enter each button name into the Use voting buttons: text box, separated by a

semicolon.

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Voting buttons will not be visible in a message until the message is sent. Once the voting

message is sent, the buttons appear when the recipient clicks the Vote command on the

message Ribbon. Voting buttons do not appear in the Reading Pane.

Procedures

1. Create a new mail message.

2. Select the Options tab on the Ribbon.

3. Click the Use Voting Buttons command .

4. Select the desired option.

5. If selecting Custom....

6. Delete Approve/Reject from the Use voting buttons: box.

7. Type your own choices separated by a semi-colon ( ; ), eg. Tom;Sally;Jim

8. Click Close.

9. Complete the message as necessary.

10. Click Send .

R

ESPONDING TO A

V

OTING

M

ESSAGE

Discussion

Messages that include voting buttons must be opened in a message window (ie. double click the message) in order to cast a vote. When you respond to a vote, a reply is sent to the message owner’s Inbox indicating your response, and your name and response are entered

into the message owner’s Tracking page on the sent message.

Tip

Once you respond to a vote, the envelope icon next to the message in the Inbox includes a reply arrow . You can see how and when you voted in the Reading Pane or open the message and look in the Info Bar.

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page.

Tip

You can include a message when casting a vote by selecting the Edit

response before sending option from the Microsoft Outlook

warning box.

Procedures

1. Double-click to open the message containing voting buttons.

2. On the Ribbon, click the Vote command .

3. Select the desired voting option.

4. Select a response option (ie. send with or without accompanying text).

5. Click OK.

6. Close the message window.

T

RACKING

V

OTES

Discussion

When a person responds to a vote, a reply is sent to the message owner’s Inbox indicating the

voter’s response. A reply message contains the selected response in the Subject field.

The vote can also be seen in the Reading Pane or by opening the message and looking in the

Info Bar.

A list of all the people to whom the voting message was sent appear in the Tracking page of

the sent email. The Tracking page will only appear in the sent message when the first

response is received. You will know when this happens because the sent email’s icon changes

to .

As votes are received from other people to whom the voting message was sent, responses are

automatically added to the tracking list. The InfoBar at the top of the Tracking page

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NB The Tracking page will not appear in the original voting message until the first vote is received. Voting results will then be updated automatically as each reply is received.

Procedures

1. Select the Sent Items folder.

2. Double-click to open a message sent with voting buttons; look for the icon

next to the message.

3. Select the Tracking command on the Ribbon in the Show group.

4. To return to the message text, click the Message command in the Show

group.

5. Close the message window when finished.

S

ETTING

M

ESSAGE

T

RACKING

O

PTIONS

Discussion

You can use the tracking options in the Mail pane of Outlook Options to set preferences for

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Outlook Options

> Mail pane > Tracking section

Settings are as follows:

Option Description

Select to add delivery and/or read receipts to ALL new messages that you send.

NB The success of this setting will

depend on the type of email server and application being used by the recipient. By default, Outlook warns you if a received email contains a read receipt. Use this option to specify a different action.

De-select if you do not want Outlook to automatically update upon receipt of responses, the Tracking page of appointments to which you have invited people, and/or the Tracking page of messages send with voting buttons.

To update the pages, you have to double-click the email and open it in its own window.

Deselect if you do not want Outlook to automatically update upon receipt of responses, the Tracking page of messages sent with delivery or read receipts.

To update the page, you have to

double-click the email and open it in its own window.

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Automatically updates the Tracking page(s) for responses received from messages sent with receipt requests or voting buttons, and moves them to the Deleted Items folder if they have no accompanying text.

After updating the Tracking page for responses received from messages sent with receipt requests, moves them to the selected folder.

Procedures

1. Select the File tab.

2. Click the Options command.

3. Select Mail at the left.

4. Scroll down the right-hand pane to the Tracking section.

5. Select the desired options.

6. Click OK.

S

ETTING

O

THER

M

ESSAGE

O

PTIONS

Discussion

You can use the Options tab in the message window to add additional functionality to and

change the styles of an email message.

On the Options tab, related commands are in groups as follows:

The Themes groupallows you to change the style set (fonts, colours and special effects) that Outlook is currently using for new messages that you create. Themes are common to all Office 2010 applications so a consistent, corporate style can be maintained across all the documents, emails, spreadsheets and presentations that you create on your computer. The ShowFields group gives you the option of adding additional lines to your message

header, viz. BCC and From. BCC (blind carbon (or courtesy) copy) allows you to send a

message to an addressee(s) but keep it hidden from addressee(s) in the To and CC boxes.

Although a message can be sent BCC using the address book, by adding the BC field, you can

type it directly into the message header. The From field is used in cases where another user

has given you delegate permissions to send an email on their behalf (see Setting Up Delegate Permissions on page 63).

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The Tracking group is used to notify you that the message has been delivered and read. In addition, you can choose an option to include voting buttons in the message (see page 8).

In the MoreOptions group you can save the message to a specific location after it has been

sent (Save Sent Item), specify a future date/time on which you want to send the message

(Delay Delivery), or havereplies to the message delivered to recipients other than yourself

(Direct Replies to).

Even more options are available from the Properties dialog box that can be opened by

clicking the dialog launcher button in the bottom right of either the Tracking or More

Options group.

Dialog launcher buttons

Message Properties dialog box

Tip

The Properties dialog box contains an option for adding message sensitivity.

These options all add additional text in the message Info Bar, eg. .

Each of these sensitivity settings is advisory only. Recipients can take any action on the message that they want, such as forwarding a confidential message to another person.

Procedures

1. Create a new message.

2. Click the Options tab on the Ribbon.

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4. Complete the message as normal.

5. Click Send .

R

ECALLING A

M

ESSAGE

Discussion

Outlook allows you to recall messages under certain circumstances. You can recall or replace a sent message only if the recipient is using Microsoft Exchange server, has not read the message or, moved it to a folder other than the Inbox.

If the Tell me if recall succeeds or fails for each recipient option is enabled in the Recall

This Message dialog box, you will receive notification informing you whether the message recall succeeds or fails. The notification will appear in your Inbox as a message with the

subject Message Recall Success or Message Recall Failure.

Message recall is useful after you click Send and then realise that you forgot to attach a file,

include information in the message, or want to revise what was originally sent.

To replace a message, you must select the Delete unread copies and replace with a new

message option in the Recall This Message dialog box and then select OK. Outlook then opens a new Message window so that you can compose a new message. If you do not send a replacement message, the original message is still recalled.

NB: You can’t recall messages sent to email addresses outside your organisation.

The success or failure of a recall depends on the settings the recipient has in Outlook. If you requested an e-mail to tell you if the recall succeeds or fails, there is no way to know how long it might take for this e-mail message to arrive as there are many variables in this process. There also settings on the Exchange server itself that affects how recall works. For

further information, see Appendix B on page 159.

Procedures

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6. Click OK.

7. Close the message.

R

ESENDING A

M

ESSAGE

Discussion

Sometimes a recipient’s mail server may be unobtainable and your message will never be received by the recipient(s). On other occasions you may wish to send the message same message again but with alterations. Rather than retyping the message, forwarding back on to the person or copying and pasting the old one into a new one, you can resend the original.

Procedures

1. Open the Sent Items folder.

2. Double-click the message you want to resend.

3. Select the Actions ribbon.

4. In the Actions group, click Other Actions.

5. Click Resend This Message.

6. Edit the message, if necessary.

7. Click Send.

U

SING

T

HEMES

(S

TATIONERY

)

Discussion

Themes are available in Outlook so that you can easily personalise HTML-formatted

messages. These include backgrounds and patterns and offer a set of unified design elements such as fonts, bullets, colours, and effects. You can choose from a predefined list of Outlook Themes and stationery.

NB. This procedure works only if you use HTML as your message format. On the Tools

menu, click Options, and then click the Mail Format tab. In the Compose in this message

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Procedures

Apply a Theme to all new messages 1. Select the File tab.

2. Click Options.

4. Click the Stationery and Fonts button.

5. Click the Theme… button under: Theme or stationery for new HTML

e-mail message.

6. Under Choose a Theme: click a Theme to preview it.

7. When you have found one that you like, click OK.

8. Click OK.

9. Click OK. When you create new messages, they will automatically use the Theme

chosen.

Tip

As a shortcut, you can choose or change a Theme from an open message. Select the Message tab, click Signature in the Include group, click Signatures… select the Personal Stationery tab, and then click Theme….

Apply a Theme to a single message (as a one-off)

1. In the main Outlook window, click New Items ▼ in the New group.

2. Point to E-mail Using ►.

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4. Under Choose a Theme: select the theme or stationery that you want.

5. Click OK.

6. Compose and send your message as normal.

NB. Stationery or themes cannot be applied for replies.

Stop using a Theme for all new messages 1. Select the File tab.

5. Click the Theme… button under: Theme or stationery for new HTML

e-mail message.

6. Under Choose a Theme: select No Theme.

7. Click OK.

8. Click OK.

9. Click OK.

Tip

As a shortcut, you can stop using a Theme for all new messages from an open message. Select the Message tab, click Signature in the

Include group, click Signatures… select the Personal Stationery

tab, and then click Theme….

W

ORKING WITH

T

EMPLATES

Discussion

If you frequently send the same email message, schedule meetings with the same people or create the same task two or three times a month, you can save time by saving templates. So, if you send the same report to the same people every week, you can save that message as a template.

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The template can contain the names of the recipients, a subject, standard body text and even attachments, pictures and charts that you regularly send. You then open the template when you need it, update it and send it. That way you can save time, reduce repetitive work and lessen the chance of errors.

Templates can also save time when you enter frequently used information anywhere in Outlook. For example, you can create an invitation template for a meeting that is regularly held with the same set of colleagues. The meeting appointment can contain the names of the attendees, the subject of the meeting, a location and reminder and additional text, graphics and charts in the body of the message. Each time you open the template to use it, all you need do is change the date and time of the meeting and the message request is ready to be sent.

Choose Form command used to open a template

Templates work best for items that are similar but that you need to change slightly or customise when you use them.

You can share templates with co-workers by saving them to a shared location on your network. Colleagues can then open them by navigating them to via an Explorer window or from the Choose Form… command in Outlook.

Procedure

Create an email template

1. Start a new message.

2. Add the recipient(s), subject, body text and any other information or attachment

that Outlook allows you to insert.

3. Click the message File tab.

4. Click Save As.

5. Enter a different name (if required) for the template in the Name: box.

6. Select Outlook Template (*.oft) in the Save as Type: drop down list.

7. Click Save.

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2. Click the NewItem command .

3. Point at More Items ►.

4. Select Choose Form… in the side menu.

5. Click the Look in: drop down list.

6. Select User Templates in File System.

7. Select the required template in the list box.

8. Click Open.

9. Make any changes necessary to the template.

10. Click Send.

Delete an email template

1. Start a new message.

2. Click Save As.

3. Select Outlook Template (*.oft) in the Save as Type: drop down list. This will open

your default templates folder.

4. Right-click the template you want to delete.

5. Select Delete.

6. Click Cancel.

7. Close the message without saving it.

Tip

Templates for other Outlook items (eg. appointment, contacts and tasks) are created, opened and deleted in a similar way to the procedures above.

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LESSON 2 – MANAGING AND ORGANISING THE

MAILBOX

In this lesson, you will learn how to:

• Use Mailbox Clean Up

• View and clean up conversations

• Use conditional formatting

• Use different colours when replying to and forwarding

messages

• Archive messages

• Setting Auto Archive properties

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U

SING

M

AILBOX

C

LEAN

U

P

Discussion

There is no one single way of keeping your Outlook mailbox free of clutter and below your storage limit. Techniques include:

• deleting “junk” and old mail on a regular basis;

• emptying the Deleted Item folder regularly;

• moving items to Personal Folders (if used);

• saving messages outside of Outlook to your file system;

• saving attachments to your file system and removing them from the emails;

• effective use of archiving tools and add-ins (eg. Enterprise Vault).

It is not just the Inbox (as many people think) that takes up space in your mailbox but ALL your folders. Appointments, tasks and contacts take up little space and it is your emails that generally cause the problems, especially if there are many with large attachments.

In addition to keeping your storage levels low (and thus preventing the dreaded “Your mailbox is full...” email arriving), there are also technical benefits to having a tidy mailbox such as faster loading of Outlook and less clutter in your Search results.

Outlook comes with tools that can help you identify problem areas with mailbox size, and

narrow down the options to help resolve the issues. One of them is Mailbox Cleanup.

Mailbox Cleanup helps you identify items in your mailbox that are taking up large amounts of space or that may no longer needed. It is then left to you to take action, if necessary, to deal with the results.

Procedure

1. Select the File tab. 2. Click Info.

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4. Click Mailbox Cleanup....

5. Click the View Mailbox Size... button to see a list of your folders and how much

storage they are taking up.

6. Click Close when finished.

7. Select the Find items older than <x> days option and click Find... to identify items that could possibly be deleted.

8. Select the Find items lager than <x> kilobytes option and click Find... to identify large items that could possibly be deleted or have their attachments removed.

9. Click AutoArchive to execute a rule allowing Outlook to automatically move items

according to their AutoArchive settings (see page 34) into the Archive folder (if used).

10. Click Empty to discard all items in the Deleted Items folder.

11. Click Close when finished.

Tip

If your organisation is using Exchange Server, you may be able to recover items for a period of time after they have been emptied from your deleted items folder. Select the Deleted Items folder, select the

Folders tab and click the Recover Deleted Items command (if

available) in the Clean Up group.

V

IEWING AND

C

LEANING

U

P

C

ONVERSATIONS

Discussion

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reply and also forwards it to another person, starting a “branch” to the conversation. The recipients all reply back to the originator and thus, a Conversation about a common subject is created.

Conversations are common on internet bulletin boards, forums and newsgroups, where a person raises an issue or question and others reply to it. Traditionally, conversations are shown indented, with the original message at the top and subsequent responses (and branches) indented below.

In Outlook 2010, the Show as Conversation option shows your e-mail items grouped by message subject or "thread." The group can be expanded to show the sequence of emails sorted by date/time in a descending order. The message with the large orange circle at the left is the latest message in the thread and hence, the one containing the full thread. When you click this circle, a “tree” is displayed showing related messages.

You can change how Outlook displays the conversation using the Conversation Settings

command.

Conversation commands on the Ribbon

Viewing Conversations from Sent Items (default view)

Viewing Conversation from Sent Items (indented view)

You can reduce the size of a conversation with the Clean Up Folder command in the Folder

tab. Any redundant messages, which means messages that aren’t unread, flagged, All replies from recipients in

descending date order.

Replies from you back to the recipients in descending date order.

Your original message

Replies back from recipients (indented)

Original message

Replies to replies from recipients

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categorised or the newest message in a branch of the conversation, are moved to the Deleted Items folder.

Procedures

1. Select the mail folder for which you want to view conversations.

2. Select the View tab.

3. Click the Show as Conversations check box .

4. Select whether you want to show conversations for just the open folder or all mail

folders.

5. Click the Expand arrow to the left of the message subject that you want to see

the conservation for.

6. Click the arrow again to view the next level in the conversation (ie. replies to

replies).

7. Keep clicking the Expand arrow until it points down , meaning there are no

further levels to view.

8. To revert the view to NOT showing as conversations, untick the Show as

Conversations check box. To remove redundant messages: 1. Select the Folder tab.

2. Click the Clean Up Folder command in the Clean Up group.

3. Click Clean Up Folder in the warning message.

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Preferences for how Outlook deals with cleaning up conversations can be found by clicking the Settings button in the message or, selecting Outlook Options (File tab) and opening the Mail pane.

U

SING

C

ONDITIONAL

F

ORMATTING

Discussion

You can create conditional formatting rules that change the font formatting of items that meet specific criteria. For example, you can create a new conditional formatting rule for the Inbox that displays the headers of all items including the word Project in the subject or message body in a blue font. You can also modify built-in rules. For example, change the Unread messages rule so that unread messages are displayed in a bold, red font.

Conditional formatting is not unique to emails and the Inbox; it can be used in all Outlook folders. In the case of the Calendar, conditional formatting colours the entire appointment area; in the case of the Tasks folder, conditional formatting colours the font.

Conditional formatting rules apply only to the current view. If, for example, you have

created a conditional formatting rule in Calendar view that format all appointments

containing the word Team in blue and you then change the view to List, the conditional

formatting will not display.

You can modify an existing conditional format rule for a view or create a new rule.

Default Conditional Formatting Default Conditional Formatting

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Setting a conditional formatting condition Setting a conditional formatting font You can delete a rule in the conditional formatting dialog box by selecting the rule and then

clicking the Delete button. You can modify a rule in the conditional formatting dialog box by

selecting the rule and then clicking the Font... or Condition... button.

Conditional formatting rules are executed from top down in the Rules for this view: list. This

means that you may have to click the Move Up or Move Down

buttons to raise or lower their priority. You cannot give a custom rule higher priority that a built-in one.

Procedures

1. Select the folder for which you want to create conditional formatting.

2. Select the View tab.

3. If necessary, click the Change View command in the Views group to apply

the required view.

4. Click the View Settings command in the View group.

5. Click Conditional Formatting....

6. Click Add.

7. Type a name for the rule.

8. Click Font....

9. Select the desired font options.

10. Click OK.

11. Click Condition....

12. Select the desired options.

13. Click OK to close the Filter dialog box.

14. Click OK to close the Conditional Formatting dialog box.

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U

SING

D

IFFERENT

T

EXT

C

OLOURS WHEN

R

EPLYING AND

F

ORWARDING

M

ESSAGES

Discussion

Outlook can pick a new colour for your text each time you reply to or forward the same message. This can make it easier to distinguish what you wrote from other people’s text.

Procedure

5. Tick the Pick a new color when replying or forwarding check box in the Replying

and forwarding messages section.

6. Click OK.

7. Click OK.

A

RCHIVING

M

ESSAGES

Discussion

An efficient way to reduce the size of your mailbox is to regularly archive older items. This means moving them to separate location on your computer system where space is not at such a premium as it is for the mailbox, but at the same time, allowing the same ease of use and functionality as the messages had in their mailbox folders.

There are several ways of doing this:

• Saving messages in Outlook Message Format (.msg).

• Moving messages into Personal Folders also known as Outlook Data Files (.pst).

• Moving messages into folders on a Document Management System (eg. Livelink or

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• Making use of third-party "Add-Ins" such as Symantec Enterprise Vault to automatically archive messages.

• Using the latest Exchange Server 2010 “Personal Archive” feature.

If you work in a large organisation, you may have access to as many as four of the above-mentioned methods. In a small company, you will probably only have the options of saving in Outlook Message Format or moving to a Personal Folders.

It is these two latter methods that will be discussed in this topic. Seek information and support locally from your IT department with third-party Document Management and automatic archiving systems or, Exchange Server 2010 Personal Archive (if used).

Saving a message in an Outlook Message Format simply requires you to open the message

in its own window (double click it) and use the Save As command to store it in a folder on

one of your drives; in the same way as you would save a Word or Excel file. The original message in Outlook can then be deleted.

Saving in Outlook Message Format

By saving messages like this into a shared drive, you can ensure important messages are easily made available to other users. Opening a saved message, however, needs to be done

by launching an Explorer window, navigating to the message location and double clicking

the file.

Outlook Messages in a folder

Personal Folders (if you have any) appear at the bottom of your list of Mail folders or the Folder List in the Navigation Pane. Each set of personal folders are created from an Outlook

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In Outlook 2010 your personal folders will have a meaningful name such as Archive, Email store, Cabinets, etc. This is based on the name given to the Outlook Data File when it was created. Older versions of Outlook tended showed them as the vaguer and more anonymous “Personal Folders” (unless they had been renamed in their advanced properties).

A set of Personal Folders in the Folder List

By default, a new set of Personal Folders contain just a Deleted Items folder and Search Folders. You add additional folders to the Personal Folders in the same way as you do to your mailbox. You can then click and drag items from your mailbox (eg. Inbox, Sent Items, etc.) into the Personal Folders.

Think of your Personal Folders as a second mailbox with extra space for storing Outlook items.

Outlook will create automatically a special set of Personal Folders named Archive when you

first make use of its archiving tools. The Outlook Data File thus created is given the name Archive and like other sets of Personal Folders that you may have, appears at the bottom of your Mail folder list or the Folder List of the Navigation Pane.

Outlook’s archiving tools work by moving messages older than a certain age into the Archive personal folders.

You can manually archive items or, you can enable Outlook’s AutoArchive feature. Manual

archiving provides flexibility and allows you to specify exactly which folders are included in the archive. If AutoArchive is enabled, the following message will automatically appear every fourteen days, a minute or two after launching Outlook.

Auto-Archive message

By clicking yes to the above message, Outlook will automatically move items from certain folders (using their AutoArchive settings) into the Archive personal folders. To view and work with your archived items, open the Archive personal folders and use as normal. Default AutoArchive settings for folders are as follows:

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Folder Setting

Inbox, Drafts, Junk Mail, Outbox, RSS

Feeds, Notes and custom folders No Auto-archiving Sent Items, Deleted Items, Calendar,

Tasks, and Journal Items older than 6 months

Contacts Auto-Archiving not available

Archive Folders

If you cannot find the Archive and AutoArchive commands as mentioned above and you are working in a corporate environment, they could have been disabled by your administrator as a Group Policy. Not all IT departments like the use of Outlook Data Files because it

decentralises storage of data and can cause difficulties if the data file becomes corrupted or lost.

Another reason for the commands to go missing is when you have an Exchange 2010 account and Personal Archive has been enabled for you on the server. In this case, Outlook will automatically disable the standard Outlook archiving options and archive according to corporate policies set on the Exchange server.

NB. Because there are many alternatives, options and local policies for archiving Outlook

items, you are advised to consult your own IT department.

Procedure

Saving messages outside of Outlook

1. Open a message that you want to file outside of

Outlook (double click it); it can be in any folder (eg, Inbox, Sent Items, custom).

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5. Enter a name for the file or leave the default subject name.

6. Ensure Outlook Message Format shows in the Save as Type: box. If not select it

from the drop list. 7. Click Save.

Creating a new Outlook Data File (.pst) to make a set of Personal Folder

1. Select the Home tab.

2. Click the New Items command in the New group.

3. Point at More Items.

4. Click Outlook Data File….

5. Enter a name for the data file, eg. Old Email Store.

6. Click OK.

7. Add additional folders as required.

8. Move (click and drag) messages to the new folders.

Manually archiving messages 1. Select the File tab.

2. Select Info.

3. Click the Cleanup Tools button.

4. Click Archive… .

5. Select the required option at the top of the dialog box. For more information about

AutoArchive settings, see the next topic in this lesson on page 34.

6. Select the folder you wish to manually archive.

7. Select or type a date in the Archive items older than: drop down box.

8. Leave other setting as they are, but see the topic “Managing Outlook Data Files”

on page 36.

9. Click OK.

10. Archiving may take just a few seconds or minutes depending on the number of

items in the folder being archived. An indicator will appear in the Status Bar

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11. If you are archiving for the first time, Outlook will create an Outlook Data File

named Archive and once archiving is complete, you will find Archive as a set of

personal folders near the bottom of your Navigation Pane (you may have to

expand them). If, for example, you have archived your Inbox, Outlook will have created a personal folder named Inbox and moved into it the messages older than you defined in the Archive dialog box.

12. If, however, you have archived before, Outlook will add folders (if necessary) and

move old messages to the existing Archive folders.

AutoArchiving messages

1. Check that AutoArchive is enabled as follows:

4. Select Advanced at the left.

5. Click the AutoArchive settings… button at the right .

6. Tick the Run AutoArchive every <x> days check box.

7. Click OK.

8. Click OK.

9. After 14 days when the: Would you like to AutoArchive your old items now?

message appears, click Yes.

10. Archiving may take just a few seconds or minutes depending on the number of

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Archive as a set of personal folders near the bottom of your Navigation Pane (you may have to expand them).

12. In the Archive you will find matching names for

the folders that have had items archived. Inside them Outlook will have moved messages as defined in the AutoArchive settings (see next topic).

13. If, however, you have archived before, Outlook

will add new folders (if necessary) and move old messages to the existing Archive folders.

S

ETTING

G

LOBAL AND

F

OLDER

A

UTO

A

RCHIVE

P

ROPERTIES

Discussion

Once the AutoArchive feature has been enabled, Outlook will carry out the necessary moving of old messages every 14 days according to the settings in the AutoArchive dialog

box (see the AutoArchiving messages procedure on page 33 for how to enable this).

One of these “global” settings, however, is misleading because it implies that ALL folders will have items older than 6 months moved to the Archive.

In reality, there is another setting on each folder separately that over-rides this. You access

this setting by right-clicking a folder in the Folder List, selecting Properties and opening the

AutoArchive tab.

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The table on page 31 describes what the folder level time periods are. You will notice that the Inbox, which for the majority of people gathers the most messages, is not included in the process!

At the folder level, therefore, you can determine which items are to be archived, how they are to be archived (AutoArchive can delete old messages instead of moving them) and what length of time they must have been in the folder in order to be archived, either using the 6-month global setting or specifying another option. Contact folders cannot be AutoArchived.

Procedure

To change global AutoArchive settings 1. Select the File tab.

3. Select Advanced at the left.

4. Click the AutoArchive settings… button at the right .

5. If necessary, tick the Run AutoArchive every <x> days check box to enable

AutoArchive.

6. Select/deselect or change settings as desired.

7. Click OK.

8. Click OK.

To change an individual folder’s AutoArchive settings

1. Right click a folder that you want to check or modify the AutoArchive settings for.

2. Select Properties….

3. Select the AutoArchive tab.

4. If you wish the folder to be AutoArchived according to the global setting as

specified in the AutoArchive dialog box, select the Archive items in this folder

using the default settings option and then click OK.

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6. Select whether you want the old items moved to the default Archive Data File (recommended); a different data file (you would have to create it first.); or have them permanently deleted.

7. Click OK.

M

ANAGING

O

UTLOOK

D

ATA

F

ILES

Discussion

As discussed in previous topics, Outlook data files are used to create “Personal Folders” to store Outlook items off the system folders (eg. Inbox and Sent Items) and thus, free up space in the mailbox. An Outlook data files can be created manually or, automatically when you make use of Outlook’s archiving features for the first time.

An Outlook data file, therefore, may after a time store hundreds of emails in dozens of folders. Outlook Data Files are not files, therefore, items that you want to risk losing or accidentally deleting!

In Outlook 2010, the default location for Outlook Data Files - whether you create one

manually or automatically by archiving - is the OutlookFiles folder in your (My)

Documents (Windows XP and Vista) or your Document Library (Windows 7).

Outlook Files folder (Windows Vista)

Depending on how your computer system has been configured, this location may not be backed up and hence, your data files risks being unrecoverable if they corrupt or are accidentally deleted. There can are also be issues accessing files in this location if you are logging on at a different computer or working remotely.

You are advised therefore, to seek advice from you IT department on the best and safest location for storing your data files.

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Data files will grow in size over time. The author of this book has personal experience of an Outlook data file that was over 2Gb in size. Outlook can compress (Compact) data files and bring their size down to a less space-consuming size.

Compressing a data file

If you have to save your Outlook data files is a shared location, it becomes possible for other people with access to the same shared location to add your data file(s) to their own Outlook installation and hence, gain access to all your stored messages and other items. In cases like this, Outlook gives you the option of protecting the data file so that it can’t be added or opened without a password.

Password protecting a data file

Procedure

Making a backup copy of an Outlook Data File

1. Right-click the Windows Start button.

2. Select Explore.

3. Navigate to your (My_ Documents/Documents folder/Library.

4. Open the Outlook Files folder.

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8. Right click a blank area in the new location. 9. Select Paste.

10. Close the Explorer window.

Compacting an Outlook Data File

1. In Outlook, right click the name of the data file that you want to compress in the

Navigation Pane.

2. Select Data File Properties….

3. Click the Advanced button .

4. Click Compact Now .

5. Click Close.

Password protecting an Outlook Data File

1. In Outlook, right click the name of the data file that you want to compress in the

Navigation Pane.

2. Select Data File Properties….

3. Click the Advanced… button .

4. Click Change Password… .

5. If there is currently no password for the data file, leave the Old password: box

empty. If the data file currently has a password, type it in.

6. Click in the New password: box.

7. Type a password for the data file.

8. Click in the Verify password: box.

9. Re-type the password.

10. Tick the Save this password in your password list check box if you wish Outlook

to remember the password so that you don’t have to enter it each time you launch Outlook.

11. Click OK. 12. Click OK. 13. Click OK.

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Opening an existing Outlook Data File

2. Click the New Items command in the New group.

3. Point at More Items.

4. Click Outlook Data File….

5. Navigate to the location (drive/folder) where the data file is stored.

6. Select the data file in the list box.

7. Click OK. The data file is added at the bottom of the folder list in the Navigation

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LESSON 3 – USING CROSS-COMPONENT TOOLS

In this lesson, you will learn how to:

• Use categories

• Manage categories

• Use Instant Search

• Use advanced search tools

• Create search folders

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U

SING CATEGORIES

Discussion

Colour adds visibility and organisation to your Outlook items. Colour categories can be assigned to almost all items in Outlook, which enables you to quickly identify them and associate them with related items. For example, categorise with the same colour all the emails and appointments about a particular project that you are working on.

You can assign more than one colour category to messages, or use Quick Click to assign a preferred colour to messages. The Quick Click colour is assigned to an item when you click the Categories column for the item in your Inbox or other table view. By default this is red but you can set this colour to one of your choice.

Categorised emails in Compact View Categorised emails in tabular (list view

Categories tasks

Categorised appointments

Categorised items also show the category colour in the information bar when opened in their own window (double-click).

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Category colour in an appointment info bar

Double categorised email information bar (in Reading Pane)

A colour category must be in the colour category list before you can assign it. If a colour category is not listed, you can create a new colour category (see page 44) and assign it to an item for the first time. You can also choose from several default colour categories and rename them to be more meaningful to you. You can access the categories list by right clicking an

item and selecting Categorize ► from the shortcut menu.

Shortcut menu and default categories list

Procedure

To assign a colour category to a closed message

1. Right-click in the information viewer, the message you wish to categorise.

2. Point to Categorize....

3. Click a colour category.

To assign a colour category to an open message

1. Select the Message tab.

2. In the Tags group, click Categorize.

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To see more categories or to create a category

1. Select All Categories... in the colour categories list.

2. Click the check box next to the required colour category. The Color Categories

dialog box is also a quick way to assign multiple categories to an item.

The first time that you assign a default colour category to an item, you'll be prompted to rename the category. At this time, you can also change the colour of the category and choose a keyboard shortcut.

Assign a Quick Click category to an email

Click the category box (or category column if in tabular view) in the row of the message that you want to categorise.

Set a Quick Click category

2. In the Tags group, click Categorize, and then click Set Quick Click....

3. In the Set Quick Click dialog box, in the drop-down list, select a colour category.

Tip

From an open message, you can click Set Quick Click on the

Categorize menu to set the default colour category for all future

messages, not just the message that is selected.

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M

ANAGING

C

ATEGORIES

Discussion

As described above, colour categories enable you to easily identify and group associated items in Microsoft Outlook. By default, six colours are provided for you to use but you can increase that number to 25.

You can also rename categories to something more meaningful to you or, delete those that you no longer need and re-use them for another purpose. This flexibility enables you to design a colour category system that fits your personal work style.

Procedures

To create a new colour category

1. In any view, select he Home tab.

2. In the Tags group, click Categorize... and then click All Categories....

NB: For calendar items, the Tags group appears on the Appointment or Meeting

tab. For an open contact or task, the Tags group appears on the Contact or Task

tab.

3. Click New.

4. In the Name box, type a name for the new colour category.

5. Click the arrow next to Color, click the colour that you want.

6. If you want to assign a keyboard shortcut, in the Shortcut Key list, click a shortcut.

7. Click OK.

8. Click OK.

To rename a colour category

tab.

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4. Type the new name for the colour category, and then press [Enter]. To delete a colour category

tab.

3. Click a category, and then click Delete.

4. Click Yes.

5. Click OK.

U

SING

I

NSTANT

S

EARCH

Discussion

Instant Search helps you quickly find items in Microsoft Outlook. The Instant Search box is

always available at the top of all of your Outlook folders, eg. Mail, Calendar, Tasks, and Contacts.

You search the current folder by typing keywords into the InstantSearch box. Instant Search

searches for the keywords in the commonly-used fields for the items in that folder and immediately shows you the results in the information viewer below, highlighting in yellow where the word(s) is/are found.

As soon as you click in the Instant Search box, you will also see a new tab appear at the right of the Ribbon – Search Tools > Search.

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Instant Search box below is searching for emails containing the word team AND that have attachments.

Tip

In Instant Search box you can change the keyword that follows has attachment. If you change true to pptx, it will find messages containing the word “team” AND containing PowerPoint presentations only. Eg. Use docx for Word and xlsx for Excel.

If you want to do an Instant search for messages from a specific person, click From at

the left of the Refine group and enter the name of the recipient in the Instant Search box.

Result will show messages from the specified person.

Click More in the Refine group to unleash additional search criteria options. These

appear as boxes below the Instant Search box and named the “Query Builder.”

Instant Search box with Query Builder below

The search query syntax, available when the Instant Search is enabled, follows this basic

form: keyword:your search criteria value. For example, from:bobby. You can also use logical

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the table. Logical operators must be typed in uppercase letters. See Appendix B on page xx for a table of examples for searches you might find useful.

In the Options group of the Search Tools tab, click Recent Searchesto view previously used

search keywords and criteria. Your 10 most recent searches are saved and can be reused.

Procedure

Carry out a basic search

1. Select the folder that you want to search.

2. In the Instant Search box, type your search text.

3. Items that contain the text that you typed appear with the search text highlighted.

4. To narrow your search, type more characters.

5. To widen your search to include all folders, at the end of the search results, click

.

6. When you are finished with the search, you can clear the search by clicking Close

Search next to the Instant Search box or, Close Search at the right of the Search Tools tab on the Ribbon.

Tip

To return the insertion point to the Instant Search box, press _CTRL+E.

Tip

Attachments are searched, but search results from attachments are not highlighted. Add more search criteria

1. Conduct a basic search as described above; note the addition of the Search Tools

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NB. Search fields that you add are specific to where you are within Outlook, such as Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, Notes, Folder List, or Journal. The search fields are also specific to the Outlook profile that you are currently using.

Tip

You can set preferences for how Outlook conducts an Instant Search in Outlook Options (File > Options > Search pane)

.

U

SING

A

DVANCED

F

IND

Discussion

Although Instant Search is easy and quick to use, your search may be so specific and

focussed on elaborate criteria that the Advanced Find dialog box may offer a more

user-friendly solution for finding the required items.

When using the Advanced Find, results are displayed in a pane below the dialog box.

The Advanced Find dialog box

Criteria for the search is entered into one, two or all of the tabs, viz. Messages, More

Choices, Advanced.

• The Messages tab contains criteria on the message content or properties, such as sender, keywords, or recipients.

• The More Choices tab contains criteria on other message conditions, such as importance, flags, attachments, or categorisation.

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• The Advanced tab enables you to make detailed criteria. Under Define more criteria, click Field, click the type of criterion that you want, and then click the specific

criterion from the list. Then in the Condition box and the Value box, click the options

that you want, and then click Add to List. Repeat for each criterion that you want to

add to this search folder, and then click OK.

NB the three tabs have a ”cumulative” effect. If, for example, you enter team in the Search

for the word(s): box of the Messages tab and Red in the Categories: box of the More Choices tab, messages found will have to match BOTH those criteria.

Tip

Always click New Search _{to ensure any existing criteria is cleared from ALL tabs.} when conducting a new search

Procedure

1. In any view, click in the Instant Search box to activate the Search Tools contextual

tab.

2. Select the SearchTools command.

3. Select Advanced Find....

4. Click the Look for: drop list and select the type of Outlook item to search for.

5. Click the Browse... button to specify a folder to search.

6. Enter criteria for the search in any of the three tabs (Messages: More Choices:

Advanced).

7. Click Find Now . Search results are displayed below the dialog box.

8. Close the Advanced Find dialog box when finished.

C

REATING

S

EARCH

F

OLDERS

Discussion

A Search Folder is a special storage area that does not actually hold items, but provides a view of all email items that match specific search criteria.

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When you open a Search Folder, a list of items appears in the Information Viewer. The list is grouped by folder name and sorted by date in descending order. You can then read, move, reply to, forward, delete, etc. the item as you would normally.

Outlook comes with various pre-defined search folders that can be added to the list. For example, the Unread Mail Search Folder enables you to view all unread messages in one place, even though the messages might actually be stored in different folders.

NB Search Folders can’t contain search results from multiple Outlook Data Files (.pst).

Search Folders support prefix matching in the text strings that you specify. For example, if you want to include all messages that contain the word "rain" in a Search Folder, the Search Folder also includes messages that contain words such as "raining" or "rainy." Words such as "brain," however, are excluded.

Search Folders remain active for 8 days, and then stop searching until you use the folder again.

There is a limit to the number of Search folder available with Exchange accounts

Procedures

Add a predefined Search Folder

1. Select Mail in the Navigation Pane.

2. Right-click Search Folders at the bottom of the folder list.

3. Click New Search Folder… .

4. From the Select a Search Folder list, click the Search Folder you want to add.

5. If prompted, under Customize Search Folder, specify the search criteria to use, eg.

if selecting the Mail from specific people Search Folder, you will need to enter

who the people are.

6. To select a different mailbox to search, under Customize Search Folder, click the

arrow at the Search mail in box, and then select the mailbox from the list (usually

unnecessary in a corporate environment).

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Tip

The keyboard shortcut to create a Search Folder is CTRL+SHIFT+P.

Tip

To change the criteria for a Search Folder, right-click the folder in the Navigation Pane, click Customize this Search Folder, click

Criteria, and then change the criteria. The criteria of Search Folders in

the Reading Mail group can’t be changed. Create a custom Search Folder

1. Select Mail in the Navigation Pane.

2. Right-click Search Folders at the bottom of the folder list.

3. Click New Search Folder… .

4. Scroll to the bottom of the Select a Search Folder list.

5. Select Create a custom Search Folder.

6. Under Customize Search Folder, click Choose.

7. Type a name for your custom Search Folder.

8. Click Criteria, and then select the options that you want. See Advanced Find on

page 48 for details on how to use this dialog box.

9. Click Browse.

10. Select the folder(s) that you want to be searched.

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I

MPORTING

D

ATA INTO AN

O

UTLOOK

F

OLDER

Discussion

Outlook allows you to import information from other files. In this way, you can update your Outlook folders with data from other data sources such as Excel, Access and text files. You can also import vCard and vCalendar files, RSS Feeds, as well as Internet mail account settings.

The Import and Export Wizard

Outlook examines the file you are importing and compares the fields in it to the field names used in the destination folder. Although Outlook does a pretty good job at matching the field

names, it doesn’t always get it right! It is important, therefore, to “Map” the fields in the final

step of the Import a File dialog box. This ensures that Outlook will understand clearly how

to import the desired data into its equivalent field.

For example, Outlook uses the names Business Street, Business Town, Business Post Code

to store addresses in the Contacts folder. If the data you are importing uses, for example,

Street, City, and Pcode for the same fields, you will need to map them to ensure a successful import.

Mapping address fields for importing contacts

MICROSOFT OUTLOOK VERSION 2010 LEVEL 2