microsoft outlook tips and tricks

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Microsoft® Outlook 2007: tips and tricks In this class, you'll tour Outlook® 2007 features and the Ribbon, and review how to send and receive email safely. You'll learn tips for managing your Inbox using file folders and email file archiving solutions. From there, you'll learn how to customize email using font styles and themes, how to email pictures and more. Finally, you'll use antivirus software to protect your Inbox. Lessons Getting to know Microsoft Outlook 2007 1. Outlook 2007 is a feature-rich email client. This lesson introduces you to the Outlook 2007 interface and features, shows you how to change views to focus on groups of emails and steps through the process of sending and receiving email. Managing your Inbox, email addresses, Calendar and more 2. Knowing how to keep your Inbox clean and quickly prioritizing incoming mail can be a considerable time saver. This lesson covers those topics in addition to search techniques and practical business uses of the Calendar. Email tips for adding professionalism and efficiency 3. In this lesson, you'll learn to use font styles, themes, signature lines, tables and more to draw attention to important information in your emails. You'll also learn to use Quick Parts for often-used text. Email safety tips for protecting your Inbox, contacts and data 4. Even with strong controls in place, some spam still passes through email servers to your Inbox. This lesson covers antivirus software and spam filters to keep most of it at bay. You'll also learn how to back up files and repair a corrupted Inbox. Getting to know Microsoft Outlook 2007 Outlook 2007 is a feature-rich email client. This lesson introduces you to the Outlook 2007 interface and features, shows you how to change views to focus on groups of emails and steps through the process of sending and receiving email. Welcome to the class Microsoft Outlook 2007 is an email program that offers a wide variety of features. It's considered to be the premier email client because it can work as a standalone program or as a client to Microsoft Exchange Server, and because it offers numerous features beyond simple email management. Besides sending and receiving emails, you can manage contacts, track tasks and appointments, keep notes and journals and easily store emails for fast retrieval. In this Microsoft Outlook tutorial, you'll tour Outlook 2007 features and the Ribbon, and review how to send email and receive email -- safely. You'll learn tips for managing your Inbox using file folders and email archiving solutions. From there you'll learn how to customize email using font styles and themes. Finally, you'll pick up techniques for reducing spam and protecting your Inbox. This free online course is designed for employees in small to medium-size businesses (SMBs) who want to use Outlook 2007 more efficiently. To get the most out of this class, you should be familiar with the basics of Outlook 2007 and how to set up an email account. Get the latest version of Outlook Outlook provides an integrated solution for managing and organizing email messages, schedules, tasks, notes, contacts, and other information. » Microsoft Outlook

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Page 1: Microsoft Outlook Tips and Tricks

Microsoft® Outlook 2007: tips and tricksIn this class, you'll tour Outlook® 2007 features and the Ribbon, and review how to send and receiveemail safely. You'll learn tips for managing your Inbox using file folders and email file archivingsolutions. From there, you'll learn how to customize email using font styles and themes, how to emailpictures and more. Finally, you'll use antivirus software to protect your Inbox.

LessonsGetting to know Microsoft Outlook 20071.Outlook 2007 is a feature-rich email client. This lesson introduces you to theOutlook 2007 interface and features, shows you how to change views to focuson groups of emails and steps through the process of sending and receivingemail.Managing your Inbox, email addresses, Calendar and more2.Knowing how to keep your Inbox clean and quickly prioritizing incoming mailcan be a considerable time saver. This lesson covers those topics in addition tosearch techniques and practical business uses of the Calendar.Email tips for adding professionalism and efficiency3.In this lesson, you'll learn to use font styles, themes, signature lines, tables andmore to draw attention to important information in your emails. You'll also learnto use Quick Parts for often-used text.Email safety tips for protecting your Inbox, contacts and data4.Even with strong controls in place, some spam still passes through emailservers to your Inbox. This lesson covers antivirus software and spam filters tokeep most of it at bay. You'll also learn how to back up files and repair acorrupted Inbox.

Getting to know Microsoft Outlook 2007Outlook 2007 is a feature-rich email client. This lesson introduces you to the Outlook 2007 interface andfeatures, shows you how to change views to focus on groups of emails and steps through the process ofsending and receiving email.

 

Welcome to the class

Microsoft Outlook 2007 is an email program that offers a wide variety offeatures. It's considered to be the premier email client because it can work as astandalone program or as a client to Microsoft Exchange Server, and becauseit offers numerous features beyond simple email management.

Besides sending and receiving emails, you can manage contacts, track tasksand appointments, keep notes and journals and easily store emails for fastretrieval. In this Microsoft Outlook tutorial, you'll tour Outlook 2007 features andthe Ribbon, and review how to send email and receive email -- safely. You'lllearn tips for managing your Inbox using file folders and email archivingsolutions. From there you'll learn how to customize email using font styles andthemes. Finally, you'll pick up techniques for reducing spam and protecting yourInbox.

This free online course is designed for employees in small to medium-sizebusinesses (SMBs) who want to use Outlook 2007 more efficiently. To getthe most out of this class, you should be familiar with the basics of Outlook2007 and how to set up an email account.

 

Get the latest version ofOutlook

Outlook provides anintegrated solution formanaging and organizingemail messages, schedules,tasks, notes, contacts, andother information.

»  Microsoft Outlook

 

Page 2: Microsoft Outlook Tips and Tricks

What to expect in the class

This class has four lessons, described as follows:

Lesson 1 introduces you to the Outlook 2007 interface and features, showsyou how to change views to focus on groups of emails and steps through theprocess of sending and receiving email.Lesson 2 shows you how to manage your Inbox and email accounts by usingfile folders, file storage and email archiving solutions. You'll also learn searchtechniques and practical business uses of the Calendar.Lesson 3 explains how to improve your professional appeal by customizingyour emails, creating signature lines with logos and sending electronicbusiness cards. You'll also discover the efficiency of Quick Parts.Lesson 4 focuses on how to use antivirus software and spam filters to keepmost of it out of your Inbox. You'll also learn how to back up files and repair acorrupted Inbox.

Throughout this class, we provide Flash examples. To view theseexamples, you need the Adobe Flash Player. Keep an eye out for noteswith links that say "See how to ____" or something similar. Some of thesefiles are very large (10 MB or so) and may take a while to appear ordownload if you have a slow connection.

Beyond the lessons, complete the assignments and quizzes. They're designedto reinforce important topics within the lessons and give you hands-onexperience with Outlook to sharpen your skills.

Let's get started with the topics in Lesson 1.

 

Getting to know the Outlook 2007 window components

Outlook 2007 is Microsoft's most current version of its popular email product.Multiple changes have been made to the interface to make it more intuitive andsimpler to use, just like all the other programs in the Microsoft Office 2007suite. There's a significant difference, however: Outlook 2007 uses acombination of old and new interface components to achieve the updated,easier-to-use interface.

You won't notice much difference from previous versions of Outlook when youfirst open the program. The familiar toolbars and menus are still there, such asFile, Edit, View, Tools and so on. However, when you open a new email orforward or reply to one, the updates quickly become visible in the form of atabbed command system across the top of the window. This system, called theRibbon, holds the commands you need to create emails and use Outlook.

Enlarge image

 

Page 3: Microsoft Outlook Tips and Tricks

See how to use the Office 2007 Ribbon. (0.5 MB)

The basic Outlook 2007 window remains much the same as previous versionsof Outlook, but there are some key differences. The Navigation Pane stillexists, although it can now be collapsed into a vertical, narrow toolbar to giveyou more room to read and compose emails or perform other tasks while stillkeeping navigation features easily accessible.

The Navigation Pane displays features directly related to the Outlook 2007function you've selected. For example, in Figure 1-1, the Mail function has beenselected at the bottom of the pane, so Favorite Folders and Mail Folders arethe items shown in the Navigation Pane. If you were to select another function,such as Tasks, the Navigation Pane would display only features related toTasks.

Figure 1-1: The Navigation Pane.

Let's take a look at some other Outlook 2007 window components.

To-Do Bar

A new feature in Outlook 2007 is the To-Do Bar, which pulls information fromvarious Outlook 2007 sources into a single, easily accessible pane. The To-DoBar is located on the right side of the Outlook window. If you don't see it, selectView > To-Do Bar > Normal from the menu bar at the top of the window.

The To-Do Bar combines:

Date Navigator (calendar)AppointmentsTask List

You can collapse the To-Do Bar using the horizontal double arrows, or close itcompletely. To open a calendar item, just click the date and then select thecalendar item from the Calendar. To open an appointment or task, just double-click the item you want to open.

Favorite Folders

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In the Navigation Pane, the first item you'll notice when the Mail function isselected is called Favorites Folder. This section offers you a simple method forkeeping your most-used mail folders easily visible. For example, if you receiveReally Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds and like to read them regularly, you candrag your RSS Subscriptions folder to the Favorite Folders section for fastaccess to them.

Use Favorite Folders whenever you want to find specific folders and unreademail items quickly. If the Navigation Pane is minimized, you can still accessthe Favorite Folders—just pull down the horizontal splitter bar, shown in Figure1-2, and you'll see the folders that are in Favorite Folders. Click the folder youwant to open.

Figure 1-2: Horizontal splitter bar on the collapsed Navigation Pane.

Mail/Mail Folders

The Mail Folders section of the Navigation Pane lists all your mail folders, suchas Inbox, Junk E-mail, Deleted Items and Drafts. You can also create your ownfolders for this section to help you better manage your email. Here's how to dothat:

Right-click any folder under Mail Folders, such as Personal Folders.1.Select New Folder from the shortcut menu. The Create New Folder2.dialog box appears.Type a name for the new folder.3.Open the Folder contains drop-down list, and then select an option that4.describes what the folder will contain. Mail and Post Items is selected bydefault.In the Select where to place the folder section, select a location such as5.Personal Folders, as shown in Figure 1-3.

Page 5: Microsoft Outlook Tips and Tricks

Figure 1-3: Creating a new folder.

Click OK.1.

Inbox

Also under the Mail Folders section is the Inbox, which holds your inboundemails. Click Inbox to display its contents in the center pane of the Outlook2007 window. By default, emails are displayed by date, but you can changethat view to any one of several other options. Just right-click the column headerbar, select Arrange by on the shortcut menu and then select the option youwant.

If your Outlook 2007 window isn't maximized, you won't see the Arrange byitem on the shortcut menu. Outlook will instead just display a list of optionsafter you right-click the column header bar. This concept applies to theRibbon also. The Ribbon displays differently depending on whether theOutlook window is maximized or sized down.

Calendar

The next item in the Navigation Pane is Calendar. When you select it, thecenter pane of the Outlook window switches from an email view to a calendarview, and the Navigation Pane changes to show two months of dates. At thetop of the calendar are several view options: Day, Week and Month. Just selectthe view you want, and the window changes to reflect your request.

The To-Do Bar doesn't appear when you select the Calendar option.

Contacts

When you click Contacts in the Navigation Pane, the To-Do Bar returns on theright side of the window, all your contacts are displayed in the center pane andthe left pane changes to reflect a variety of Contact and View options. Forexample, you can select Clients > Phone List and the view would be similar tothe one shown in Figure 1-4.

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If your contacts are too numerous to display completely in the center pane, youcan use the alphabetical or numerical buttons next to the To-Do Bar to narrowdown the selections.

Figure 1-4: Viewing contacts in the Phone List view.

Enlarge image

Tasks

If you're forever trying to remember what you're supposed to get done in agiven time frame, you'll appreciate the Tasks feature. When you create atask—an item Outlook helps you track until it's completed—an automaticreminder is created in the To-Do Bar for you.

Creating tasks is very easy—click Tasks in the Navigation Pane to open theTasks pane, and then click New on the toolbar or click the Click here to add anew task text box in the Tasks window. You can also drag an email item intothe To-Do Bar Tasks section (the lower part of the To-Do Bar) to create aninstant task. (The To-Do Bar must be arranged by Start Date or Due Date tosuccessfully create a task from email.)

In addition, you can flag items in different ways, such as by color for differentpriorities or clients, and you can set up tasks to be completed once or on arecurring basis. You can also track your tasks in several different ways; justselect the view you want in the Navigation Pane as shown in Figure 1-5.

Figure 1-5: Selecting a view from the Tasks pane.

Don't see an item in the Navigation Pane that's referred to in this lesson? Clickthe small down arrow at the bottom of the pane and click Show More Buttonsuntil the option is no longer available.

Notes

Page 7: Microsoft Outlook Tips and Tricks

Outlook 2007 provides a Notes feature, which is similar to electronic smallyellow "stickies" you set up and then click and drag to your desktop. To createa Note, click Notes in the Navigation Pane to open the Notes pane, and thenclick New on the toolbar to open a new note. Type whatever you want into it, asshown in Figure 1-6. When you close it, it's automatically added to your Notespane.

Figure 1-6: Notes function.

Journal

Click Journal in the Navigation Pane, and you'll discover another feature that'squite useful. The Journal is a method for automatically tracking Officedocuments and email messages associated with a specific contact. The itemsare then placed into a Timeline view. The Journal is a good way to help youtrack, for instance, how many hours you have worked on a particular account orthe types of activities performed for a certain client.

In the next section, we'll take a look at how to change views in Outlook 2007.

 

Changing views

One thing that makes Outlook 2007 so simple to work with is the ability tochange the way information is displayed. No matter where you're working inOutlook, you can switch to a different view. In Notes, for example, you canchange the default view from Icons to Notes List. In Contacts, you can displaynames and addresses in a business card format, by location or in a number ofdifferent views. And in Calendar, you can see what's happening on a certainday or by event.

You can expand or collapse groups wherever you see double arrows. Thedouble arrows point in the direction the group expands or collapses.

You can change the view for several categories in the Navigation Pane byselecting View > Arrange By. In addition, these views can help you more easilyfind and manage email, contacts, tasks and so on. The Arrange By options forthe Mail category are shown in Figure 1-7.

 

Page 8: Microsoft Outlook Tips and Tricks

Figure 1-7: Arrange By settings.

If you're searching for an email, for instance, and can't seem to find it usingOutlook's default date setting, changing the Arrange By settings might make abig difference. Let's say you know the subject of the email included "BlueWater" but you can't recall who it came from, or when. Just select View >Arrange By > Subject. The center Inbox pane in Outlook switches prioritiesfrom date to subject, and you can type Blue Water anywhere in that pane.Outlook instantly searches for any emails with "blue water" in the subject line,substantially reducing the time you might spend trying to determine when thatemail arrived and from whom.

Did you know you can toggle the Reading Pane on and off? Select View >Reading Pane and then select Right, Bottom or Off.

The more time you spend filing, and flagging your emails and tasks, the easierit'll be to use each Arrange by setting. But using even the simplest Arrange bysettings, such as From and To, can significantly make a difference in findinginformation in Outlook. You'll learn about flagging in Lesson 2.

See how to change views in Outlook 2007. (1.1 MB)

Next, let's take a look at how to send and receive emails.

 

The basics: sending and receiving emails

Whenever you send and receive emails, it's important to follow some basicsafety steps. For example, don't open emails from people you don't know orclick links in emails unless you're certain the link is from a safe source. Andwhen you send confidential emails, for instance, consider using Outlook'sencryption process to protect your information. These simple steps will help youkeep malicious intruders off your computer system and out of your confidentialinformation.

If you trust someone to be a safe source of emails, add them to your SafeSenders list. From within an email from that sender, go to the Message tab andclick Safe Lists in the Junk E-mail group. Click Add Sender to Safe SendersList. You'll learn more about protecting your Inbox in Lesson 4.

Setting delivery options

There might be times whenyou don't want an email to besent out until a specific dayor time. For example, maybeyou've created a newsletteremail that you want to go outto customers the day beforea big sale. You can setdelivery options for specificemails using the Options tabwithin the email. Click Delay

Page 9: Microsoft Outlook Tips and Tricks

When you work with attachments, Outlook 2007 automatically blocks potentiallyunsafe attachments and asks whether you really want to open certain items ornot. To stay safe, don't just blindly accept attachments from senders—take agood look and determine whether or not you really need to open theattachment. Attachments can easily hold viruses that, once the attachment isopen, can spread through your computer and your network.

When you place attachments in your own emails, be sure you know exactlywhere they come from. If you created a document in Microsoft Word, forexample, it's probably safe to send on.

Sending emails with attachments

It's quite easy to send emails with attachments; just follow these steps:

Be sure you're in the Mail section of the Navigation Pane.1.Click New on the toolbar.2.In the Untitled - Message window, enter a recipient for the message in3.the To field, enter recipients who should be cc'ed (if any) in the CC fieldand give the message a Subject title. Enter a message to the recipient inthe large blank box at the bottom of the window.Click Insert on the Ribbon.4.Click Attach File in the Include group.5.In the Insert File dialog box, select a document to attach and then click6.Insert.

That's it. Your document is now attached to your email message; when youclick Send the document will be on its way to the recipient. You can send mosttypes of files, such as word processing, spreadsheet, photo and other files,using this simple process.

Receiving emails with attachments

Email attachments are indicated by a paperclip next to the message in theInbox. To save the attachment, do one of the following:

Highlight the message in the Inbox pane, and then select File > SaveAttachments.Double-click the message to open it, right-click the attachment and selectSave As from the shortcut menu.

If the attachment is a VCARD (.vcf format), which contains a person's contactinformation, you can add it directly to your Outlook contacts. To add theVCARD information to Contacts in Outlook 2007, just right-click the attachmentand select Add to Contacts, as shown in Figure 1-8.

Figure 1-8: Adding VCARD information to your Contacts.

Delivery, ensure the Do notdeliver before option ischecked and then select theday and time when you wantthe email to be sent. ClickClose. To help you verify thatthe email is deliveredproperly, select Request aDelivery Receipt in theTracking Group of theOptions tab.

To add a level of importanceto the email, go to theMessage tab and click HighImportance or LowImportance in the Optionsgroups.

Page 10: Microsoft Outlook Tips and Tricks

The information from the VCARD flows instantly into a new contact, as shownin Figure 1-9.

Figure 1-9: VCARD information added to Contacts.

Enlarge image

Click Save & Close to keep the information and close the window.

Moving on

You learned several Outlook 2007 tips and tricks in this lesson, from howvarious mail folders work to changing views and sending or receiving emailswith attachments. In Lesson 2, you'll discover how to effectively manage yourInbox. Before you move on, however, don't forget to take the quiz and completethe assignment for this lesson.

Assignment #1

For this assignment, you'll practice using several of Outlook 2007's window components.Open Outlook 2007, and then follow these steps:

Select View > To-Do Bar > Minimized from the menu bar.1.At the top of the collapsed To-Do Bar along the right side of the Outlook 20072.window, click the double arrows to expand the To-Do Bar pane.Go to the Navigation Pane and click Tasks.3.Click New on the toolbar to open the Untitled - Task window.4.Type Sample Task in the Subject line.5.Select a Start date of today's date.6.Select a Due date of one week from today.7.Select a priority of High.8.Check the Reminder checkbox, and then select a date of three days from now.9.Click Save & Close.10.In the Navigation Pane, select the Task Timeline view. Now select the Detailed List11.view.In the Navigation Pane, click Notes. (If you don't see this option, hover your mouse12.pointer over the small icons at the bottom of the pane, and then click the Notes icon.)Click New on the toolbar to open a new Notes window.13.Type My sample note and then close the note window.14.Confirm that the note appears in the center pane.15.Click and drag the note to your desktop.16.In the Navigation Pane, click Contacts.17.Select Business Cards under Current View.18.Select Phone List under Current View.19.Close Outlook 2007.20.

Page 11: Microsoft Outlook Tips and Tricks

 

Quiz #1Question 1:True or False: You can manage contacts, track tasks and appointments, keep notes and journals and file emailsin folders using Outlook 2007.

A) TrueB) False Question 2:True or False: The Navigation Pane is exactly the same in Outlook 2007 as it was in previous versions ofOutlook.

A) TrueB) False Question 3:Which of the following are Outlook 2007 window components? (Check all that apply.)

A) To-Do BarB) InboxC) EmailsD) Notes Question 4:True or False: The Arrange By settings on the View menu can help you manage emails and tasks.

A) TrueB) False Question 5:Which Ribbon group do you use to request a delivery receipt for an outgoing email?

A) NamesB) IncludeC) OptionsD) Proofing 

Managing your Inbox, email addresses, Calendar and moreKnowing how to keep your Inbox clean and quickly prioritizing incoming mail can be a considerable time saver.This lesson covers those topics in addition to search techniques and practical business uses of the Calendar.

 

Tips for emptying your Inbox regularly

Welcome back. In Lesson 1, you toured the Microsoft Outlook 2007 interfaceand picked up tips for sending and receiving emails with attachments. In thislesson, you'll dive into Inbox management and learn how to use the Calendarto stay on top of your schedule. Let's get started.

Are you the sort of person who likes to hang onto your emails for a long time?You're not alone. Many people prefer to keep emails for months or even years"just in case" they need to reference information down the road. However, thinkof it this way: Your Inbox is an extension of your desk. You wouldn't want tokeep most snail mail for months or years. It clutters your desk and keeps youfrom getting things done quickly because you can't find the information youneed among the piles of information you should've thrown away.

This section offers a few tips to help you control the chaos.

Taking immediate action

Choosing a PC

Run Outlook on a PCcapable of multitaskingbetween applications withoutskipping a beat. HP PCscome in a choice ofserviceable form factors to fitin any business environment,allowing you to easily deploy,manage, and transition PCson your network.

Page 12: Microsoft Outlook Tips and Tricks

As soon as you read an email, do something with it. If it requires a quickresponse, respond and then delete the message or file it in the appropriate Mailfolder for archive purposes. If it doesn't require a response, perform the actionit does require (store contact information, create a task, set up a meeting andso on) and then delete it if Outlook doesn't automatically delete it for you.

Many people find that using just three folders, such as Action, Pending andArchive, enables them to quickly organize incoming emails and empty theirinbox. Just create the three folders in your Inbox, or in a separate folder calledMail, for example. File emails as follows:

Action: File emails in this folder that require action on your part and will takemore than 1 to 2 minutes to respond to.

After quickly processing all emails in your Inbox, return to the Action folderand continue working on these emails.

Pending: File emails in this folder that contain information about somethingsomeone else is doing, and that you need to track.Archive: File emails in this folder that contain information you might need toreference at a later date, such as documentation, meeting notes andconfirmation of sent deliverables.

Using the Organize command

You can automatically move emails into mail folders by using the Organizecommand in Outlook. To do this, select Tools > Organize. The Ways toOrganize Inbox window appears at the top of the center pane, as shown inFigure 2-1.

Figure 2-1: Ways to Organize Inbox window.

At the left of the pane are three organization options: Using Folders, UsingColors and Using Views. When you select Using Folders, the drop-down boxdisplays all the available mail folders. The highlighted message in the Inbox isautomatically moved to the folder you select when you click Move.

This simple process clears the email message from your Inbox while leaving iteasily accessible from the Navigation Pane mail folder. Use it regularly, andyour Inbox will stay clear of gunk.

Using the Search Folders feature

A useful method of categorizing emails is to use the Search Folders feature.These folders are virtual, so you don't actually save files in them. Instead,they're sets of search criteria that let you view messages based on attributes orcriteria you specify. For example, you can search for all files that contain thename of a project, such as Blue Water, anywhere in the message. You cansave that search as a Search folder, which will appear in the Search Folders

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Page 13: Microsoft Outlook Tips and Tricks

list near the bottom of the Mail Folders pane.

Here's how to create a Search folder:

With the Mail window visible, select File > New > Search Folder. The1.New Search Folder dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 2-2.

Figure 2-2: Search Folder dialog box.

Select one of the options for the type of email you want to find. For1.example, to find emails related to a specific project name, scroll downthe list and select Mail with specific words. Click the Choose button nearthe bottom of the dialog box, enter the name of your project as itappears in your emails and click Add, click OK, and then click OK againto run the search. Outlook displays all emails that contain your searchcriteria, and saves the criteria in the Search Folders list as shown inFigure 2-3.

Figure 2-3: Search criteria saved in the Search Folders list.

Whenever you want to view emails associated with the Blue Water project, justclick the appropriate Search folder.

See how to create a Search folder. (0.8 MB)

Next, we'll take a more in-depth look at prioritizing your emails.

 

Page 14: Microsoft Outlook Tips and Tricks

Prioritizing emails in order of importance

Another way to manage your inbox is to prioritize your emails effectively. Manyof us have a tendency to just let the emails pile up, which can feeloverwhelming when you finally find the time to go through them and takeaction. Instead of electronic piles, try a few different prioritization methods tosee which one works best for you.

Using Views

The Organize command discussed in the last section is a really simple way toprioritize email quickly. Click Using Views in the Ways to Organize Inboxwindow, and then select one of the options in the Change your view list, asshown in Figure 2-4.

Figure 2-4: Prioritizing emails by using views.

When you select Last Seven Days, for example, your Inbox displays only thoseemails that arrived in the last week. This lets you quickly scan emails for thelast week to see what's been read, replied to or left unread. The UnreadMessages in This Folder option, appropriately, shows only unread messages inyour Inbox. And the Sent To option gives you an instant look at emails sent toyou today, yesterday, last week, two weeks ago and so on.

Using Colors

You can also use colors to help you prioritize emails in order of importance. Inthe Ways to Organize Inbox pane, click Using Colors. This option lets youprioritize messages by colorizing them. So, for example, if you want to prioritizeall your email messages from a specific person, you can type the person'sname in the text box shown in Figure 2-5, and then select a color using thedrop-down list. Click Apply Color. All messages from the specified sender willappear in that color.

Figure 2-5: Prioritizing emails by using colors.

Part of using colors is the option to show messages sent only to you in aspecific color, too. When you're part of a group of recipients, you often don'tneed to take immediate action on an item. However, when an email is sentspecifically to you, you can see it instantly if you apply a color, such as blue, toit. Just select the color you want from the drop-down box and click Turn on.

See how to use color-coding to prioritize emails. (0.5 MB)

Categorizing and grouping emails

When you categorize and group emails, you can quickly identify and associatethem with tasks, appointments and other Outlook 2007 functions. The first step

 

Page 15: Microsoft Outlook Tips and Tricks

to categorizing is to determine the groups you need to categorize. For example,if you receive emails from several people in your research and developmentdepartment and want to quickly identify them as a group, you could place thoseemails in a group named "R&D".

Outlook 2007 has added a Categorized Mail search folder under SearchFolders in the Navigation Pane. When you categorize messages, they'reautomatically added to this folder to make searching and sorting easier.

The next step is to apply a color to the group. You first need to create R&D asa group, and then assign a color. Follow these steps:

Right-click a message from your boss.1.Select Categorize > All Categories from the shortcut menu. The Color2.Categories dialog box appears.Click New. The Add New Category dialog box appears.3.Type R&D in the Name field.4.Open the Color drop-down list to select a color for the R&D category, as5.shown in Figure 2-6.

Figure 2-6: Creating a color category.

Click OK twice to close the dialog boxes.1.

Now when you receive a message from anyone in the research anddevelopment department, you can quickly categorize it by right-clicking theemail message, selecting Categorize and clicking R&D.

In the next section, you'll learn how to manage your Inbox and email accountsusing file folders, file storage and email archiving solutions.

 

Managing your Inbox and email accounts

The more items you receive, the larger your mailbox grows. One way to keepyour Outlook mailbox manageable is to store received emails in another place.Although you don't want to store every single email you receive, there willundoubtedly be emails that are important but not necessarily referred to veryoften, such as the emails you save in the Archive folder you created earlier inthe lesson.

For emails like these, use the AutoArchive process. This is a function Outlookruns by default at scheduled intervals to help you clear out old items from youremail folders. For example, six-month old meeting notices probably don't needto be hanging around in your Inbox or other folders, although you might want torefer to them later to verify a date or meeting attendees.

Searching for emails

Outlook 2007 has an InstantSearch box in the upper-rightportion of the Inbox window.You can quickly findmessages by clicking theMail folder you want tosearch, then typing yoursearch criteria in the InstantSearch box. There's a drop-down arrow in the Instant

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In Windows Vista, Outlook creates an archive in C:\Users\your username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\Archive.pst.

For Inbox items, Outlook automatically archives items that are six months old,based on the received date or the last modification date or time. If AutoArchivehas been turned off on your system for some reason, you can turn it on byfollowing these steps:

Select Tools > Options.1.Click the Other tab.2.Click AutoArchive.3.Ensure the Run AutoArchive every x days checkbox is checked, as4.shown in Figure 2-7.

Figure 2-7: AutoArchive is enabled.

Use the up and down arrows to select how often the AutoArchive should1.run.Click OK twice to close the dialog boxes.2.

You can also manually archive items. Some people prefer that option instead ofautomatic archiving. To manually archive your email, follow these steps:

Select File > Archive.1.Select Archive this folder and all subfolders.2.Use the drop-down arrow to select a date next to Archive items older3.than.Click Browse to select the location for the archived items, if different4.than the default.Click OK twice to close the dialog boxes.5.

If you work for an organization and are using a system on a network, checkwith your network administrator about archive settings.

Different from your Inbox yet equally important are your email accounts. Everytime Outlook saves something to your computer, it uses a data file called anOutlook Personal Folders file (.pst). These files are used with POP3, IMAP andHTTP accounts; Exchange Server accounts usually save email files to a mail

Search box that lets you tellOutlook whether to searchyour mail items or go out toyour desktop for results. Youcan also select a variety ofother search options.

Just to the right of where youtype your search criteria is adouble set of arrows. Whenclicked, these arrows openthe Query Builder, a fast wayto narrow your search byusing drop-down menus ortyping in additional searchcriteria. To close the QueryBuilder, just click the doublearrows again.

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server instead.

Because .pst files can get very large (well over 1 gigabyte) and are saved toyour computer, they can take up a lot of needed hard disk space. You canreduce the size of your .pst files by following these steps:

Select File > Data File Management.1.Select the data file or mailbox you want to compact, and then click2.Settings.Click Compact Now.3.When Outlook is finished compacting the file, click OK and then Close.4.

Next, you'll learn how to use the Calendar to schedule appointments andmeetings.

 

Using the Calendar

The Calendar is a great way to stay organized using Outlook 2007. You can doa lot more than send or accept invitations, although you might not be aware ofit. Let's take a look at several features that you might find useful.

Sending notifications

Notifications are meetings, events or other actions you want the recipient torespond to. To send one, click Calendar in the Navigation Pane and then clickNew on the toolbar.

In the Untitled - Appointment window, click Scheduling in the Show group toopen a scheduling window in which you select recipients. Click Add Others,and then click Add from Address Book. Select appropriate recipients, and thenfill in the pertinent information, such as the subject, location, start and endtimes and so on. You can insert attachments or other items using thecommands in the Insert group.

Send the notice to the invitees.

Accepting or declining notifications

When a notice arrives in your Inbox, you can accept it, tentatively accept it,decline it or propose a new time. Click the Meeting tab, and then select one ofthe options in the Respond group, as shown in Figure 2-8.

Figure 2-8: Invitation response options in Outlook 2007.

Unless you propose a new time, Outlook will prompt you with one of threeoptions:

Edit the response before sending.Send the response now.Don't send a response.

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Page 18: Microsoft Outlook Tips and Tricks

Just select the option you want and click OK.

Reminding meeting attendees of upcoming meetings

Sometimes it's a good idea to remind attendees of upcoming meetings, or tosend them additional information related to an upcoming meeting. You canquickly do this by sending a message to all meeting attendees using theMeeting tab. Follow these steps:

Open the meeting in your Calendar.1.Click the Message tab.2.Click Message to Attendees in the Attendees group.3.Click New Message to Attendees.4.

In the email message that opens, enter the text for the attendees and/or usethe Insert tab to include attachments attendees might need.

Adding holidays to your Calendar

Outlook doesn't display national holidays in its Calendar by default. However,you can easily add them for many countries. Follow these steps:

Select Tools > Options.1.Under Calendar, click Calendar Options.2.Under Calendar Options, click Add Holidays.3.Select the country or countries whose holidays you want to add, as4.shown in Figure 2-9. Click OK. Outlook imports the holidays to yourCalendar.

Figure 2-9: Adding holidays to your Calendar.

Click OK twice to close the dialog boxes.1.

You can also create custom holidays, such as state holidays that weren'tincluded, or quarterly or bi-annual company events.

Moving on

Managing your Inbox and Calendar is a good way to save time in your day andstay organized, so try the methods outlined in this lesson to make the most ofyour time. In Lesson 3, you'll discover how to add professionalism andefficiency to your emails. Before you move on, take the quiz and complete theassignment for this lesson to test your new skills.

Assignment #2

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This assignment will help you archive your email regularly so you can clear out old items fromyour Inbox. Follow these steps to ensure that AutoArchive is turned on and configuredproperly:

Select Tools > Options.1.Click the Other tab.2.Click AutoArchive.3.Ensure the Run AutoArchive every x days checkbox is checked.4.Use the up and down arrows to select how often AutoArchive should run. The default is5.every 14 days, which is fine, but you can select any time frame that suits your needs.Click OK.6.Close any open windows or dialog boxes, and then close Outlook 2007.7.

 

Quiz #2Question 1:True or False: The Organize command lets you automatically color-code emails based on criteria you select.

A) TrueB) False Question 2:Which of the following are methods you can use to prioritize emails in order of importance? (Check all thatapply.)

A) Apply the Using Views option under the Organize command.B) Apply the Using Colors option under the Organize command.C) Use the Search Folders feature.D) Use the Categorize command. Question 3:True or False: AutoArchiving deletes your emails forever.

A) TrueB) False Question 4:True or False: You can add holidays from other countries besides the United States to your Calendar.

A) TrueB) False 

Email tips for adding professionalism and efficiencyIn this lesson, you'll learn to use font styles, themes, signature lines, tables and more to draw attention toimportant information in your emails. You'll also learn to use Quick Parts for often-used text.

 

Changing the appearance of your emails

Welcome back. In Lesson 2, you picked up many practical tips for emptyingyour inbox and prioritizing emails to deal with them as quickly as possible. Youalso learned how to use the Calendar to set up meetings and more. In thislesson, you'll focus on improving the appearance of your emails to addprofessionalism and increase readability. You'll also find out how to use QuickStyles for quick formatting, and Quick Parts for inserting text you usefrequently.

One of the fun things about Microsoft Outlook 2007 is the ability to quickly andeasily customize the appearance of your emails. You can apply a specialtheme to your emails, change fonts and font colors for emphasis, and addtables or other special items like bullets lists that make the information in yourmessage simple for the recipient to read and understand.

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Page 20: Microsoft Outlook Tips and Tricks

Let's take a look at how to use a few of these special features.

To use the formatting options in this section, you must be using the HTMLformat rather than plain text for emails. To set HTML for all new emails,select Tools > Options, click the Mail Format tab and select HTML from theCompose in this message format drop-down list. To set HTML as theformat for a single email, with the new email window open, select Options >HTML from the menu bar.

Customizing fonts and font colors

You can change the font or font color of a word or sentence in an emailmessage by highlighting the text and selecting options from the Basic Textgroup on the Message tab. To permanently change the font and font color inyour email messages, however, follow these steps:

Select Tools > Options.1.In the Options dialog box, click the Mail Format tab.2.Click Stationery and Fonts.3.On the Personal Stationery tab, under New mail messages, click Font.4.The Font dialog box appears.Under Font, select the new font you wish to use, as shown in Figure 3-5.1.

Figure 3-1: Changing a font.

Under Size, select a new size.1.Under Font color, use the drop-down menu and select a new color in the2.Standard Colors section.The Sample Text preview shows you how the changes will appear3.within your email. You can make additional changes until you're satisfiedwith your font and font attributes, and then click OK.

You're returned to the Signatures and Stationery dialog box. To change thefont for message replies and forwards, just click Font under that section andfollow the same process you used for new messages.

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Page 21: Microsoft Outlook Tips and Tricks

Applying a theme

You can apply a theme to your emails, which are ready-made formattingcombinations. You can apply themes in Outlook and any of the Microsoft Officeprograms, which helps you maintain a consistent look across documents.

To apply a theme:

Select Tools > Options.1.In the Options dialog box, click the Mail Format tab.2.Click Stationery and Fonts.3.On the Personal Stationery tab, under Theme or Stationery for new4.HTML e-mail message, click Theme.Select a theme using the scroll bar, as shown in Figure 3-2, and click5.OK.

Figure 3-2: Selecting a theme.

In the Signatures and Stationery dialog box, you can select whether to1.use the theme's fonts all the time, use your fonts when replying to orforwarding messages or use your fonts all the time. Make a selectionfrom the drop-down list shown in Figure 3-3 and click OK.

Figure 3-3: Selecting when to use theme fonts.

Enlarge image

Click OK to close the Options dialog box.1.

When you open a new mail message, your selected theme should appear asthe background for your mail message.

Page 22: Microsoft Outlook Tips and Tricks

Adding tables

Adding a table to your email message is fast and easy. Open a new mailmessage and follow these steps:

Click the Insert tab.1.Click Table.2.Pull your cursor across the rows and columns until you've selected the3.number you need for your table, as shown in Figure 3-4.

Figure 3-4: Adding a table to an email.

Click to release the row/column selection process and add the table to1.your email.

Once the table has been added to your email, you'll notice two new tabs on theRibbon: the Table Tools Design tab and the Table Tools Layout tab. When thetable is selected within your email, you can use the features on these tabs tocustomize your table in numerous ways. The tabs will disappear when the tableisn't selected.

Adding bulleted lists

The use of bulleted text in an email can help draw the reader's eye to importantpoints and make the email generally easier to read. To change some of yourtext to a bulleted list, follow these steps:

Highlight the text.1.On the Message tab, click Bullets in the Basic Text group.2.Click the down arrow next to Bullets if you want to change the look of3.the bullets; the arrow opens a menu of options.

Using Quick Styles

If you like to try different styles and format your emails in different ways, you'llbe happy to know that Outlook 2007 has a new feature to help you: QuickStyles. This feature enables you to view and select options from a gallery ofpredefined styles. For example, if you like to use headers in your emails toseparate sections, you can just click a heading style option from the gallery toinstantly apply it. Better yet, the gallery offers a Live Preview feature that showshow the style you're selecting will look even before you actually apply it.

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Let's try out a few Quick Styles. Open a new email message, ensure the emailwindow is maximized and then type The brown cow jumped over the whitemoon. in the body of the message. Highlight the entire sentence and followthese steps:

Click the Format Text tab.1.In the Styles group, click the Quick Styles button. In the Quick Styles2.gallery that appears, hover your cursor over Heading 1. See how thetext instantly changes?Hover your cursor over Title and watch the text change again, as shown3.in Figure 3-5. Click Title to apply the Title Quick Style to your highlightedtext.

Figure 3-5: Previewing a Quick Styles style.

It's that easy to use and apply Quick Styles. Just use Live Preview to ensureyour text appears correctly, and then click to apply the changes. To see moreQuick Styles, click the More arrow (the down arrow with a line above it) next tothe Styles gallery.

Now that you're familiar with formatting emails, let's look at a way to increaseyour productivity when composing emails: Quick Parts.

 

Using Quick Parts

You already know the basics of creating and responding to emails, and you usethose essential techniques almost every time you use Outlook. However,there's a handy method of inserting text in Outlook 2007 that's especiallyhelpful if you routinely repeat the same kinds of formatting tasks on differentdocuments.

The Quick Parts feature stores pieces of content you create and can then re-use in any emails. To use Quick Parts, highlight some text in an email you'recomposing and that you use often, such as "Cheers comrades," for a closingline. Click the Insert tab, click Quick Parts and then select Save Selection toQuick Parts Gallery. The Create New Building Block dialog box opens, asshown in Figure 3-6.

 

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Figure 3-6: Creating a new Building Block.

Add a description in the appropriate text box, if desired, and then click OK. ABuilding Block is the actual snippet of text you saved. Outlook 2007 stores thesnippets in a gallery for your convenience. When you want to use it again in thefuture, just select Insert > Quick Parts and select the text snippet from thegallery.

To edit a Quick Part, right-click it in the gallery list and select Organize andDelete.

Next, you'll learn how to customize your signature line with a logo.

 

Customizing your signature line with a logo

Have you ever received an email from someone you didn't know? One of thefirst things you probably looked for was identifying information. If it wasn't clearand easy to find, you might have ignored the email or even deleted it.

From a professional viewpoint, you should always include a signature line withyour contact information in your emails. At a minimum, this line (or group oflines, sometimes referred to as a signature block) should tell email recipientsexactly who you are and the company you're with. Many people include theirbusiness phone number(s), fax number, website addresses, email addressesand other contact information. To add extra pizzazz and appeal, manybusiness people also add a logo to the signature line.

Here's how to add a signature line with a logo to your emails:

Select Tools > Options.1.In the Options dialog box, click the Mail Format tab.2.Click Signatures.3.Click the E-mail Signature tab to make it active, if necessary.4.Click New.5.Type a name for the signature block, such as Sample Signature Line or 6.your initials-sigline. Click OK.In the Edit signature section, type your identifying information. For7.example, type your name on the first line. Press Enter to move to thenext line. Type your company name. You can change the font, font size,color and any other attributes you like. An example of the signature lineat this point is shown in Figure 3-7.

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Page 25: Microsoft Outlook Tips and Tricks

Figure 3-7: Creating a signature line.

Enlarge image

Press Enter to move your cursor to the next line.1.Click the Picture icon on the toolbar, which is located near the right side2.of the Edit signature box. Select your logo from your hard disk ornetwork.Click Insert. Your logo appears in your signature block.3.

You can't resize a logo image from within the signature box. If you need toadjust the size, delete the logo from the signature box, resize the logo file usinga graphics program such as Adobe Photoshop and then re-insert it.

To commit your signature with the logo as the default for all new1.messages, replies and forwards, select the name of your signatureblock from the Choose default signature drop-down list.Click OK to finalize the signature.2.Click OK to close the Options dialog box.3.

To verify that your new signature is working properly, open a new mailmessage. Your signature and logo should appear.

See how to create a customized signature line. (1.9 MB)

In the next section, you'll learn how to create an electronic business card.

 

Creating an electronic business card

A terrific way to ensure others can easily add you as a contact and have yourbusiness information at their fingertips is to use electronic business cards.These cards are created in a .vcf format, which means that when the recipientopens the business card, a contact form automatically opens that enables therecipient to quickly save the information.

There are a lot of electronic business card templates available from MicrosoftOffice Online. Download one and enter your own information to personalize it.

Electronic business cards are created from Outlook contacts, which meansyou'll need to create a contact for yourself to send a business card. You cancreate as many business cards as you want for yourself; just create a newcontact record for each one with some unique information, such as "Baseballcoach" and "Vice president."

 

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To create your own contact, follow these steps:

In the Outlook Navigation pane, click Contacts.1.Click New.2.Type your contact information, such as your first and last name in the3.Full Name field and your company name in the Company field, asshown in Figure 3-8. Include your email address and a business phonenumber. To add a picture, click the picture icon next to your name andlocate a photo from your computer.

Figure 3-8: Adding your contact information.

When you're done, click Save & Close.1.

Next, you'll create your business card. You can do that in one of two ways: bymanually inserting it into individual emails or by including it as part of yoursignature. In this lesson, we'll show you how to manually insert it.

You can easily edit and reformat your business card. Open your contactinformation, click the Contact tab and then click Business Card in the Optionsgroup. From there, select the options that make your card look exactly the wayyou want.

Follow these steps to add your business card to specific emails:

Open a new email message.1.Click the Insert tab.2.Click Business Card in the Include group.3.Click Other Business Cards.4.Select your card from the list and click OK.5.

Your card will appear within the body of the email message and as anattachment. If you don't want the business card to display within the message,just click it and press Delete. Otherwise, type the content for your message andclick Send when ready. The recipients can open and save your business card ifthey use a compatible email client program.

Moving on

Making your emails easier to read and appear more professional usingsignature lines, business cards and other simple features will go a long waytoward improving your professional appeal to others. In Lesson 4, you'll learn

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how to use antivirus software, spam filters and other features to protect yourInbox, contacts and data. Before you move on, take the quiz and complete theassignment for this lesson. The quiz helps you make sure you grasped someimportant details in the lesson, whereas the assignment gives you somehands-on experience creating an electronic business card.

Assignment #3

For this assignment, you'll create your own electronic business card in Microsoft Outlook 2007.

To create your own contact, follow these steps:

In the Navigation pane, click Contacts.1.Click New on the toolbar.2.Enter your contact information in the Untitled - Contact window that appears. Include your3.phone number, address, email and any other pertinent business information recipientsshould have. To add your picture, click the picture icon next to your name, locate a photofrom your computer and click Open.When you're finished, click Save & Close.4.

Send the business card to yourself so you can see how it'll look when someone else receives it.Follow these steps to add your business card to your email:

Open a new email message.1.Type your email address on the To line, and enter appropriate text in the Subject line and2.message body text box.Click the Insert tab.3.Click Business Card in the Include group.4.Select Other Business Cards from the menu.5.Scroll the list of contacts, select the entry you just created and click OK.6.

If you don't want your business card to appear within the body of the email, just click it and pressDelete.

Send the email.1.

 

Quiz #3Question 1:True or False: You can permanently customize fonts and font colors in your emails using the Mail Format tab inthe Options dialog box.

A) TrueB) False Question 2:True or False: You can apply themes to email messages.

A) TrueB) False Question 3:Which Outlook 2007 feature lets you store reusable snippets of text?

A) Quick StylesB) Quick WordsC) Quick PartsD) Insert Words Question 4:

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True or False: Customizing emails with a signature sends a professional image to others.

A) TrueB) False Question 5:True or False: When you email an electronic business card, the recipients can open it and instantly save yourcontact information.

A) TrueB) False 

Email safety tips for protecting your Inbox, contacts and dataEven with strong controls in place, some spam still passes through email servers to your Inbox. This lessoncovers antivirus software and spam filters to keep most of it at bay. You'll also learn how to back up files andrepair a corrupted Inbox.

 

Reducing spam in the Outlook Inbox

Welcome back. In Lesson 3, you got some pointers for creating moreprofessional-looking emails. This lesson covers security and protection issues,from keeping spam out of your Inbox to backing up your Microsoft Outlook2007 files.

Part of the problem in keeping your Inbox empty is the sheer volume of junkmail that's received. Outlook 2007 has a Junk E-mail Filter, however, thatcatches the most blatant spam, sending it directly to your Junk E-mail folder soyou never see it. The filter evaluates messages on a variety of factors,analyzing every message based on its content and configuration.

You can quickly move an email you've received to the Junk E-mail folder. Onthe Message tab from within the email, click Move to Folder and then click JunkE-mail.

By default, the Junk E-mail Filter is turned on with a protection level of Low.You can change this level of protection to catch even more spam by followingthese steps:

Select Tools > Options. The Options dialog box opens.1.On the Preferences tab, click Junk E-mail under E-mail. The Junk E-mail2.Options dialog box appears.Your choices are No Automatic Filtering, Low, High and Safe Lists Only.3.Select a new level of protection, such as High, and click OK.

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Page 29: Microsoft Outlook Tips and Tricks

Figure 4-1: Changing Junk E-mail protection levels.

Click OK to exit the Options dialog box.1.

Regardless of the level of protection you select, always remember to routinelycheck your Junk E-mail folder to be sure that legitimate emails aren't gettingcaught in the spam filtering process.

Blocking senders

Another form of junk email protection in Outlook 2007 is the Blocked Senderslist. It's a great way to reduce the amount of junk email entering your Inboxbecause it blocks emails by address or domain. For example, you can tellOutlook to block [email protected] or just add "example.com" toblock any messages coming from that domain.

To add a person or a domain to the Blocked Senders list, follow these steps:

Select Tools > Options.1.On the Preferences tab under E-Mail, click Junk E-mail.2.In the Junk E-mail Options dialog box, click the Blocked Senders tab.3.Click Add. The Add address or domain dialog box appears, as shown in4.Figure 4-2.

Figure 4-2: Junk Email Options.

Type the email address or domain you want to block, and click OK.1.Add more addresses or domains if you wish, and click OK.2.Click OK to close the Options dialog box.3.

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Once the sender has been blocked, any email from that individual or domainwill be moved to the Junk E-Mail folder unless you specifically tell Outlook todelete it.

You can also quickly block senders from within an email you've received andopened. Go to the Message tab on the Ribbon, and click Block Sender in theJunk E-mail group.

Deleting emails in the Junk E-mail folder

To automatically delete emails in the Junk E-Mail folder, follow these steps:

Select Tools > Options.1.In the Preferences tab under E-Mail, click Junk E-mail.2.In the Junk E-mail Options dialog box, click the Options tab.3.Select Permanently delete suspected junk e-mail instead of moving it to4.the Junk E-mail folder, as shown in Figure 4-3.

Figure 4-3: Configuring Outlook 2007 to delete junk email.

Click OK.1.

Remember, however, that automatically deleting junk emails might cause youto lose some emails from legitimate senders that accidentally got caught in theJunk E-mail filter. If you're concerned about that, selecting the High filteringsetting is the best choice. It usually catches most junk email, even withoutspecifying specific senders or domains, but enables you to check your Junk E-mail folder regularly to be sure you're not missing emails from people you wantto hear from.

Using antivirus software and spam filters

There are many different brands of antivirus software and spam filters on themarket for business users. Antivirus software is designed to stop maliciousthreats like viruses, worms, spyware and other bullying tactics that hackers useto try to gain access to your computer. Spam filters sort and eliminate incoming

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emails to identify junk mail that can clog your Inbox.

Never reply to spam. If you do, the spammer receives confirmation that youremail address is active. You'll find yourself on even more lists.

Although Outlook 2007 has automatic spam filtering processes, you should stilltake advantage of the added level of security you get from antivirus andantispam products. Some popular software suites are Symantec Norton 360,Symantec Norton Internet Security 2009, McAfee Total Protection Service andMicrosoft Live OneCare. You don't want your systems to go down just becausea spammer sent you a virus, so it's worth using the extra layer of security foradded peace of mind.

Next, you'll learn how to back up your files.

 

Backing up your files

Just like with Microsoft Word documents or other files on your computer, youneed to back up your email files. All of your Outlook data is saved in a PersonalFolders file (.pst) unless you're using a Microsoft Exchange account or anHTTP account, such as Windows Live Mail. Even in those situations, you canback up data to a Personal Folders file, which lets you save all your emailslocally on your computer.

A .pst file holds your Outlook folders: Inbox, Contacts, Calendar, and so on.There are three different ways to back up .pst files:

Export them to another location.Archive them.Use the Personal Folders Backup tool.

If you work offline a lot, you can also create Offline Folder (.ost) files.

Exporting email files as a backup

Using the Outlook 2007 Export feature, you can save .pst files to anotherlocation on your hard disk. From there you can copy them to removable mediasuch as a CD, DVD or flash drive and keep them in a safe place separate fromyour computer.

Outlook 2007 offers the Import and Export Wizard to make the process simple.Follow these steps to perform the export process:

Select File > Import and Export.1.In the Import and Export Wizard, click Export to a file as shown in Figure2.4-4.

 

Page 32: Microsoft Outlook Tips and Tricks

Figure 4-4: The Import and Export Wizard.

Click Next.1.Select Personal Folder File (.pst), and click Next.2.Select the folder you want to export, as shown in Figure 4-5. For3.example, select the Mail folder you created in Lesson 2. Click Next.

Figure 4-5: Selecting a folder to export.

Select the location for your backup file, as shown in Figure 4-6. You can1.leave the default location, or click Browse to select a different location.

Write down the path to your backup file so you can quickly find it later if youcopy it to removable media.

Figure 4-6: Selecting a location for the backup file.

If you're saving over an existing backup file, select one of the three1.options to tell Outlook how to treat the file:

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Replace duplicates with items exported

Allow duplicate items to be created

Do not export duplicate items

Click Finish.1.You should be prompted to provide a password. Enter a password, and2.write it down so you don't lose it. Microsoft can't retrieve this passwordfor you if you forget it.Click OK.3.If prompted for the password at this point, enter the one you just4.provided and click OK.

See how to export a PST file. (0.7 MB)

Using AutoArchive to back up files

You can use the AutoArchive process, explained in Lesson 2, to back up youremail messages, too. The trick is to run the archiving process more often (atleast once a week), and then transfer the data from that archive folder to a CDfor safekeeping.

Clearly label your CDs with dates and file names so that you know whatinformation is included. This will help you if and when you ever need to restoreinformation to Outlook.

Using the Personal Folders Backup Tool

This is a tool you download from Microsoft Office Online. It copies all your .pstfiles to your hard disk or a network server/share. It creates backup copies ofyour files at regular times, which means you essentially can set up the toolonce and let it run itself. If you don't want to think very much about how andwhen to backup your email, contacts and other information, this is a great toolto use.

In the next section, you'll discover how to repair a corrupted Inbox.

 

Repairing a corrupted Inbox

It happens: Your Outlook 2007 Inbox can become corrupted for a variety ofreasons. If this happens, you won't be able to open your .pst or .ost files.Fortunately, there's a tool you can use to scan, diagnose and repair errors inthese files. Called the Inbox Repair tool, it's automatically installed for youwhen Outlook 2007 is installed on your computer.

If you want to reduce the size of a .pst file, select File > Data File Management.Select the file, click Settings and click Compact Now.

To repair errors using the Inbox Repair tool, follow these steps:

Close Outlook 2007. Outlook shouldn't be running while this tool is1.being used.In Windows Explorer, go to your Program Files folder, usually located on2.your hard disk. Under Microsoft Office, locate Scanpst.exe.

 

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To repair offline files, run Scanost.exe.

In the Enter the name of the file you want to scan box, enter the name of1.the .pst or .ost file you want to check, or click Browse to search for thefile. The main Outlook 2007 file is named Outlook.pst.Click Options to specify the scan log options, and then click the option2.you want.Click Start.3.You're prompted to start the repair process to fix the errors if any are4.found after the scan is complete.A backup file is created during the repair process. If you want to change5.the default name or location of this backup file, enter a new name for itin the Enter name of backup file box, or click Browse to look for the filethat you want to use.Click Repair.6.Start Outlook by using the profile that contains the .pst file you tried to7.repair.On the Go menu, click Folder List.8.In the Folder List, you might see a folder named Recovered Personal9.Folders that contains your default Outlook folders or a Lost and Foundfolder. The recovered folders are usually empty, because this is a rebuilt.pst file. The Lost and Found folder contains the folders and itemsrecovered by the Inbox Repair tool. Items that are missing from the Lostand Found folder can't be repaired.

Moving on

That's it—you've completed this class. In this lesson, you picked up sometechniques for keeping spam out of your Inbox. You also discovered how toback up files and repair a corrupted Inbox. Before moving on, take the quiz andcomplete the assignment for this lesson.

Assignment #4

For the first part of this assignment, you'll block junk email senders. Open Microsoft Outlook 2007,and then follow these steps:

Click Mail in the Navigation Pane.1.In your Inbox, scroll down to the first piece of junk mail you see.2.Right-click that piece of email.3.Select Junk E-mail > Add Sender to Blocked Senders List.4.

Continue right-clicking junk email senders in your Inbox and adding them to the Blocked SendersList as needed. Using this technique along with setting the spam filter to High and using antivirusand antispamware software, you'll greatly reduce the number of junk emails you have to deal with,over time.

For the second part of this assignment, you'll check the level of protection you have for your Junk E-mail filter and increase it, if necessary. Follow these steps:

Select Tools > Options. The Options dialog box appears.1.On the Preferences tab, click the Junk E-mail button in the E-mail section.2.Review your level of protection. Your choices are No Automatic Filtering, Low, High and Safe3.Lists Only; Outlook 2007 selects Low by default. To force a higher level of protection, selectHigh. You can select Safe Lists Only if you've previously added most or all of your safesenders to this list. Otherwise, the High setting is best to use.

Remember to routinely check your Junk E-mail filter to be certain that safe emails aren't gettingcaught by mistake.

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Click OK.1.Click OK to exit the Options dialog box.2.Close Outlook 2007.3.

 

Quiz #4Question 1:True or False: You can block anyone you want from sending emails to you.

A) TrueB) False Question 2:True or False: Outlook 2007 uses a spam filtering process that catches spam and places it into the Junk E-mailfolder.

A) TrueB) False Question 3:Outlook data is saved into which of the following types of files? (Check all that apply.)

A) .pst filesB) .pptx filesC) .ost filesD) .docx files Question 4:True or False: You can use the Export process to save .pst files to another location.

A) TrueB) False Question 5:True or False: The Inbox Repair tool can scan, diagnose and repair errors in your Outlook Inbox.

A) TrueB) False 

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