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A few Outlook tips

  • Artigo

 

Since I was on Outlook for so many years, I have been asked many, many questions on it.  I want to share my top tips, and offer one warning about a feature in Outlook as well.  Let's jump right in.

 

  1. Create a rule to delay sending all items by two minutes. We jokingly call this a "career saver" or "cooling off period." It keeps me from sending an unwanted/unneeded/extraneous/foolish email about once per year. My most frequent mistake: typing "JOhn" instead of "John" when closing an email.
    1. TO (see, I did it again :) )do this, click Tools | Rules and Alerts.
    2. Click New Rule
    3. Select "Check messages after sending." On my computer, this is the bottom item.
    4. Click Next, and then Next again
    5. You will get an alert that says "This rule will fire for all outgoing mail." That's what we want, so click Yes and then Next.
    6. Set to defer delivery by 2 minutes. Again, on my computer, this is the bottom option.
    7. Then Finish.

 

  1. SHIFT+DELETE to permanently delete email. Be careful with this one since the items do not get exposed in tools \ recover deleted items.

 

  1. This is probably just my preference, but I change Outlook to open the item "above" the item I'm reading in my inbox. In other words, when I close an email, if there is a newer one waiting, I want it to open. You can change this in tools | options | email options. Change the topmost setting for "After moving or deleting an open item:" to "open the previous item."

 

  1. Last tip: I have a search folder created which shows me unread items in my deleted items folder. This way, I can quickly identify items that are able to be deleted and I empty this folder every day. I keep deleted items around for 30 days. To create the search folder:
    1. Right click Search Folders and select New
    2. Create a Custom search folder
    3. Give it a name and click Criteria
    4. On the first tab, select the deleted items folder
    5. On the More Choices tab, select "Only items that are unread"
    6. Save it.

 

My warning concerns message recall.  In Outlook, you can go to your sent items folder, open an email and see a command under "Other Actions" to Recall this Message…  This will send out a "torpedo" to delete unread copies of the email from other people using Outlook.  It sounds great, but the human element of seeing a "Message Recall Notice" takes over when these things arrive and everyone looking at Outlook at that time opens the original mail to see what salacious information you did not want them to see.   I did this once, and it was a minor embarrassment.  That's when I came up with the idea of delaying all outgoing mail.  I think this rule is about to hit its ten year mark on my email account: I've had it active that long.

 

I hope some of this helps!

 

Questions, concerns, comments and criticism always welcome,

John

Comments

  • Anonymous
    March 27, 2008
    great tip about the time delay !!

  • Anonymous
    April 02, 2008
    good stuff JOhn :) thank you for sharing the tips. I already benefited from a couple of them.

  • Anonymous
    June 19, 2008
    thanks for sharing - re the time delay, I do the same thing, always have, but should point out that it is not a delay on each send, but a gap between send instances. In other words, if i send a message right after Send has happened, there will be a delay, but if I send my message just before the next scheduled Send, it will basically go right out. So don't rely on this! What I wonder, has anyone developed a plug-in to really do this? Like, route all sends to drafts folder for X minutes, then move them to Outbox as they age? I haven't found such a thing yet, but I would pay for it! Maybe I'll get around to writing it myself one day. cheers, ian

  • Anonymous
    June 19, 2008
    Good point - would you rather wait to hold the mail until the next sync (which, if travelling, could be days later) or take advantage of the connection when you have it?   Sounds like the two features have to decide on a winner.  The rule says "wait 3 minutes before sending this mail," and the Send/Receive group has been told to send and receive all mail from the folder every 20 minutes.  The two features are in conflict and someone has to make a decision. You could also play with the "Do Not deliver before" <<<time>>> setting in mail options.  That may trump the send/receive settings. If you write the tool, let me know.  Sounds interesting. John

  • Anonymous
    August 05, 2008
    I'm learning outlook for the first time, and these tips really help. Thanks.

  • Anonymous
    August 22, 2008
    I like the delay thing, that could definitely be useful.  I also came up with a trick that might make a good addition to the list.  This trick for <a href="http://blog.kaeding.name/articles/2008/08/21/outlook-trick-for-picking-a-conference-room-for-a-meeting">picking a conference room for a meeting</a> makes it much easier to see all conference rooms (or any type of resource) so you can pick a time & place that works.