(Part 2) More than just Outlook stuff in Outlook

Of course we all know that Outlook is a great place to store emails, calendar appointments and contact information. But not everyone realises that Outlook can function like a pretty efficient file store for just about anything you can throw at it. So, for example, if you have an email folder in Outlook containing emails relating to a specific project, there's nothing to stop you storing other files relating to that project (like a Word document containing the minutes of the last project meeting) in the same Outlook folder.

Try it. Grab a Word document (.doc file type) or Excel spreadsheet (.xls file type) and drag and drop it into any email folder in Outlook. Windows automatically creates a duplicate of the file, leaving the original intact. Handy! And this works for any file type.

There are some useful exceptions to this rule. Drag a file onto your Inbox and Outlook will automatically create a new email containing a duplicate of the file you dragged in. Or drag a file onto your Calendar/Contacts/Tasks and Outlook will create a new appointment/contact/task containing a shortcut to the file you dragged in.

What possible uses could there be for this? Have you got a file on your desktop that you need to review? Well, just drag it onto your Tasks button and you'll instantly create a reminder in your Task 'to do' list containing all the information you need to do the job. As easy as dribbling in your sleep!

Comments

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  Allister called me from his event yesterday with a query from one of the attendeed who asked if it’s...