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Mark Outlook Task as Complete the Easy Way

Posted by: standss | Comments (0)

Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012

Last week we showed how easy it was to snooze multiple reminders at once.

Today’s post is just a follow-up to that as we realised you could do much more then just snoozing from the reminder pop-up screen.

Do you get annoyed when the reminder pop-up appears with Tasks that you might have completed already?

You are so busy that you just didnt find the time to go to the task folder to Mark it as complete.

Here is the easier way to mark Tasks as complete (without browsing all the way to the task folder).

The next time the reminder pop-up appears with completed tasks:

Right-click on the task
Click Mark Complete
Done!!!

Apart from marking task complete, you can also open it incase you need to edit or you could Delete it, all from the same pop-up window.Easy right?

I hope you find this tip useful.

Do you know of other ways to do things easily in Outlook? Share it with our readers and us by leaving a comment below.

source: lawyerist.com

Categories : Outlook as a Business Tool

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Outlook Reminder Tip: Snooze Multiple Reminders at Once

Posted by: standss | Comments (0)

Thursday, April 26th, 2012

Setting up reminders on Task is simple and quite handy because with so much to do, we are likely to miss or forget about other important tasks that might be due.

BUT the overwhelming part is when you are in the middle of something very important and the Reminder Pop-up comes with several tasks. There is two things you might do at this point:

Click on the red X button to close the Pop-up screen or
Select each individual task and set a snooze time for it to reappear later

The second option is time-consuming and frustrating when you’re in a middle of something important and have no time to waste.

Get frustrated no more, here is a simple tip that will let you “Select All” Tasks and snooze them all at once:

When the Reminder Pop-up appears:

Select the First item in the list
Press Shift on your keyword
Select the Last item. This should now select all the items in the list as shown below:

Reminder Pop-up screen

Set the Snooze time from the drop-down
Click Snooze

This should now snooze all the items in the list to the time specified by you so you can continue with your important task on hand.

For more Reminder Tips, you can refer to an interesting article by Deborah Savadra on Managing Microsoft Outlook Reminders.

Did you find this tip useful? let us know by leaving a comment below.

Categories : Outlook as a Business Tool

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Outlook Tip: Add Attachment to Email using Drag and Drop

Posted by: standss | Comments (2)

Thursday, February 23rd, 2012

Adding attachments to email is no big deal, even beginners would know how to do this (Click on the Attachment button and browsing the file).

But the problem with this method is that there is a possibility you might forget to add the attachment to the email. Why?

Because we send hundreds of emails in a day (not all require an attachment), the most obvious sequences of steps are, open a blank email > enter the email address > subject > content > and then click Send.

If an email needs an attachment, it would likely be the last thing you will add and so there is chances you will miss it. Which means you will again have to send another email with the attachment wasting your time and maybe annoying your clients/customers.

Here is how you can use Drag and Drop to add an attachment to the email first and then enter the other details

Open Outlook
Click on the Inbox
Go to the location where you have saved the file you wish to attach
Drag and Drop the file in the Inbox.

This will now open a blank email with the attachment added. You can now enter the email address, subject (this will be the same as the name of the attachment but you can always change it), enter the content and click Send. Simple and Safe!

For those who still prefer the traditional method of adding attachment, you can try SendGuard for Outlook. This simple Outlook addin automatically prompts you if it feels that an email is missing an attachment. You can focus on the more important stuff like the email content while this outlook add on runs in the background and protects you when needed.

Did you find this tip useful? Let us know by leaving a comment below

Categories : Outlook Email Tips, Outlook as a Business Tool, SendGuard for Outlook, Sending emails

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Outlook Calendar Tip: Archive old Calendar Appointments

Posted by: standss | Comments (1)

Thursday, February 9th, 2012

If you are using Outlook Calendar to schedule your appointments/meeting, this tip will be very handy for you.

I’m sure there are others like me who use the calendar to schedule several appointments in a day, and while we are so busy with our work, who would have the time to delete all the older appointment information to keep the size of our Outlook datafile smaller.

Solution?

Setup the AutoArchive option in Outlook so that all your older appointment information which you no longer need moves to a different datafile.

How?

Here’s how you can setup the AutoArchive options:

From your folder list, right-click on the Calender folder for which you want to set AutoArchive > Properties
Click on the AutoArchive tab
auto_archive_options
Click on the Default Archive Settings button. On the screen that opens, set the AutoArchive options to your preference and click OK.
Alternatively, you can select “Archive this folder using these settings” to enter the settings you want to use.
Click Apply and then OK

Now based on your settings above, Outlook will archive your calendar items which in turn will keep your Outlook datafile smaller thus less chances of it slowing down or crashing.

Did you find this tip useful? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

How to maintain Outlook data (PST) Files

Categories : Outlook Calendar Tip, Outlook as a Business Tool

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Work Faster in Outlook using Keyboard Shortcuts

Posted by: standss | Comments (0)

Friday, October 14th, 2011

Several readers recently asked about keyboard shortcuts in Outlook. Truth is I don’t use very many keyboard shortcuts myself… you save a second or two each time but they really don’t add up to much in the grand scheme of things. Here’s a big list of Outlook shortcuts… with the ones I think are useful highlighted in red.

E-mail Shortcuts
Ctrl-Shift-I	Go to Inbox
Ctrl-Shift-O	Go to Outbox
Alt-S or Ctrl-Enter	Send
Ctrl-P	Print
Ctrl-R	Reply to a message
Ctrl-Shift-R	Reply all to a message
Ctrl-F	Forward a message
Ctrl-Alt-F	Forward as attachment
Ctrl-Alt-J	Mark a message as not junk
Ctrl-Shift-I	Display blocked external content (in a message)
Ctrl-Shift-S	Post to a folder
Ctrl-Shift-N	Apply normal style
Ctrl-M or F9	Check for new messages
Ctrl-N	Create a new message (when in Mail)
Ctrl-Shift-M	Create a new message (from any Outlook view)
Ctrl-O	Open a message
Ctrl-Shift-G	Display the Flag for Follow-up dialog box
Ctrl-Q	Mark a message as read
Ctrl-U	Mark a message as unread
F4	Find or replace in a open message
Shift-F4	Find next in an open message
Alt-Enter	Show the properties for the selected item
Ctrl-B	Display Send/Receive progress
Creating Items
Ctrl-Shift-A	Create a Appointment
Ctrl-Shift-C	Create a Contact
Ctrl-Shift-L	Create a distribution list
Ctrl-Shift-X	Create a fax
Ctrl-Shift-F	Create a folder
Ctrl-Shift-J	Create a Journal entry
Ctrl-Shift-Q	Create a meeting request
Ctrl-Shift-M	Create an e-mail message
Ctrl-Shift-N	Create a note
Ctrl-Shift-H	Create a new Microsoft office document
Ctrl-Shift-S	Post to this folder
Ctrl-T	Post a reply in this folder
Ctrl-Shift-P	Create a search folder
Ctrl-Shift-K	Create a Task
General shortcuts
Ctrl-1	Go to mail
Ctrl-2	Go to Calendar
Ctrl-3	Go to Contacts
Ctrl-4	Go to Task
Ctrl-5	Go to notes
Ctrl-6	Go to the folder list in the Navigation Pane
Ctrl-7	Go to shortcuts
Ctrl-.(period)	Go to the next message (when you have a message open
Ctrl-,(comma)	Go to the previous message (when you have a message open
F6 or Ctrl-Shift-Tab	Move between the Navigation Pane, the main Outlook window, the Reading Pane and the To-Do Bar
Tab	Move between the main Outlook window, the smaller panes in the Navigation Pane, the Reading Pane and the sections in the To-Do Bar
Arrow Keys	Move around within the Navigation Pane
Ctrl-Y	Go to a different folder
F3 or Ctrl-E	Go to the Search box
Alt-Up arrow or Ctrl-,(comma) or Alt-Page Up	In the Reading Pane, Go to the previous message
Alt-Down arrow or Ctrl-.(period) or Alt-Page Down	In the Reading Pane, Go to the next message
Left arrow or Right arrow	Collapse or expand a folder in the Navigation Pane
Alt-B, Alt-Left arrow	Go back to the previous view in main Outlook window
Alt-Right arrow	Go forward to the next view in main Outlook window
Ctrl-Shift-W	Select the infobar and, if available, show the menu of commands.

Don’t forget to let me know your favourite shortcut by leaving a comment.

Categories : Outlook Email Tips

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Keep Outlook Emails as Unread until after you actually read them

Posted by: standss | Comments (2)

Wednesday, October 12th, 2011

For big parts of my day my Outlook Inbox is where I work. I read many of my emails in the Outlook reading pane (the preview of the email while I am still in my Inbox). I also use the fact that unread emails still need some action from me. The problem is that as I step through emails, they get marked as having been read, even though I may not have actually read them.

Here’s a setting that one of my team member (Thank you Anand) pointed out to me that you can quickly change… now Outlook will only mark an email as read if you’ve spent a minimum time on it.

I’ve set mine to 5 seconds. That way if I am on an email for less than 5 seconds it stays unread. Anything longer than 5 seconds and Outlook assumes that I have read the email. You can use any time setting that fits the way you work.

For Outlook 2010:

Click on File > Options
Click on Mail from the left side column
Click on the Reading Pane button on the right
On the Reading Pane dailog box, tick the checkbox for “Mark items as read when viewed in the Reading Pane“
Enter a time in the box beside “Wait XX seconds before making item as read”
Click OK and than OK again

For Outlook 2007/2003:

Click Tools on the menu > Options…
Click the Other tab
Click on the Reading Pane… button
On the Reading Pane dailog box, tick the checkbox for “Mark items as read when viewed in the Reading Pane“
Enter a time in the box beside “Wait XX seconds before making item as read”
Click OK and than OK again

I hope that this little tip makes your life in Outlook a little bit easier.

Categories : Outlook Email Tips

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Is your Email killing your Productivity?

Posted by: standss | Comments (2)

Monday, October 10th, 2011

Emails are a very dominant means of communication nowadays and it can take up hours of our time just checking, reading or answering emails. So let me ask you again, is your Email killing your Productivity?

If your answer to the above is YES, then below are just some simple email tips that can help you stay focused and more productive.

1. Turn-off any forms of Distractions (Email Alerts)

I have always preferred to turn off e-mail notifications in Outlook, particularly the blue notification rectangle that shows up everytime you receive a new email in Outlook versions 2003 and later.

Imagine this pop-ups appearing every 5 or 10 minutes, or even more often and the end result – your productivity is getting affected (even if you do not open and read the email immediately).

You can refer to an earlier post on how to Turn-off the Email alert in Outlook.

2. Automatically highlight important emails

You might receive hundreds of emails a day but this does not necessarily mean that all have to be dealt with immediately.

You can setup Outlook to automatically highlight or color-code important emails that require your immediate attention. This ensures that you are focusing your attention on the right emails.

3. Try to automate as many processes as possible (rather then doing it manually)

If you are using an email program such as Outlook, you can setup rules to perform some of the obvious tasks such as moving SPAM/JUNK emails out of the Inbox automatically. This saves you time which can be used for other important matters rather deleting individual SPAM emails.

4. Process your emails in batches

It’s not necessary to check emails throughout the day or work on them all day long. As noted above, more often you will find that not all emails require an immediate response. So try to process your emails in batches, you can answer the first lot of emails first thing in the morning and the others sometime in the afternoon.

This reduces frustration (that more often happens due to email overload) with emails and at the same time allows you to focus on other productive tasks through the day.

These are if you like some simple tips to help you stay focus and productive.

Do you have other methods of your own to stay productive?

Please share it with us and our readers by leaving a comment below.

Categories : Outlook Email Filing & Management Tip, Outlook Email Tips, Outlook as a Business Tool

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Download the Rugby World Cup 2011 Game Timetable into Outlook

Posted by: standss | Comments (13)

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

The Rugby World Cup 2011 is going to start in less than two weeks (9th September). Here’s what you need to do in Outlook to ensure that you don’t miss a single game of your favourite team.

Follow these steps to download the times for all the games into your Outlook Calendar.

1. Make sure that your computer is setup to the correct time zone. This step is important to ensure that the game time gets shown at the correct time depending on where in the world you are. Go to the Windows Control Panel and open Date and Time.

(Your screen may be slightly different depending on the version of Windows… it may have a separate tab for Time Zone).

Make sure that the correct Time Zone is displayed i.e. the time zone of where YOU are. (I am in Fiji so the screen shot above says Fiji). Click on Change time zone if you need to.

2. Click on the link below and save the .ics file to your desktop
Download Rugby World Cup 2011 Schedule
(Fixtures are from the Rugby World Cup 2011 Official website)

3. Import the downloaded file into your Outlook by using the following steps. If you are using Microsoft Outlook 2010, click File – Open – Import. For all other versions of Outlook, click File – Import & Export.

4. Select Import an iCalendar (ics) or vCalendar file (vcs) from the list and click Next.

5. Use the screen that comes up to select the ics file that was downloaded in Step 2.

(You may get the following extra steps depending on the version of Outlook you are using)

6. Click either Open as New or Import. (I simply imported it to my main Outlook Calendar as it then synched with my Iphone too)

The times for all the games will now be in your Outlook.

Enjoy the games and may the best team win.

Personally I am predicting an All Blacks win… it’s about time that the trophy went back to New Zealand… I was a student there in 1987 and still remember them winning the very first world cup final. It has been a long wait for the kiwis… but this is their year.

Categories : Outlook Calendar Tip

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Keep good emails out of the Outlook Junk Mail Folder

Posted by: standss | Comments (0)

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011

Here’s a quick tip on how to stop good emails from getting into Outlook’s Junk Mail folder (normally you’re trying to get bad emails in there).

We all get spam emails. Luckily for us Outlook’s Junk Mail folder does a good job of catching most of them. But there are occasional false-positives… when a good email ends up in there.

Here’s how you can tell Outlook to always trust emails from certain people.

Outlook has a Safe Sender’s list. Anyone on your Safe Sender’s list is authorised to send you email i.e. Outlook will not treat emails from them as junk email.

Everyone I send emails to is SAFE!

It makes sense (most of the time) that anyone you actually write to should automatically be put on your safe sender’s list.

The ability to do this is built into Outlook but is turned off by default. To turn it on:

Go to your Inbox.
If you are using Outlook 2010, (on the ribbon) click File > Junk > Junk E-mail Options
For other versions of Outlook, (on the menu) click Actions – Junk Email – Junk Email Options
Click the Safe Senders tab.
Tick the checkbox “Automatically add people I e-mail to the Safe Senders List”.
Click OK.

This little tip should hopefully help your get more of your real emails in your Inbox.

If you have your own tips for using the Junk Mail Folder, please share it with others by leaving a comment below.

Categories : Outlook Email Tips, SPAM Filtering in Outlook

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Solutions to Outlook Search Problems

Posted by: standss | Comments (0)

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

Since we posted Better Search with Microsoft Outlook earlier this week, several readers have indicated that Outlook’s Search does not return expected results for them. Here are a few tips that may help you solve Search related problems in Outlook.

1. Rebuild the Search Indexes

The Search functionality in Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010 is great… unless it is not working. Most of the time rebuilding the search index clears up the problems. Unfortunately it isn’t obvious, at least not from inside Outlook.

Search in Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010 uses Windows Search Indexes (i.e. it’s a Windows feature and not an Outlook only feature). If Windows Search Indexes are not built properly or corrupt you may find that Outlook Search does not work properly.

You can refer to our earlier post Fixing Search Problems in Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010 to learn how to rebuild the search indexes.

2. Search all folders instead of just the current folder

Outlook (by default) searches emails in the current folder you are in. The Search results also come up with a link at the bottom to “Try Searching all Mail Items”. I find myself ALWAYS clicking on the Search All link as I rarely bother to move to the relevant folder first.

You can refer to our earlier post Make Outlook 2007/2010 search ALL folders instead of just the current folder to learn how to force Outlook to search all mail items by default.

I hope this post makes it easier for you to search and find your emails.

Categories : Outlook Search Tips

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