Recalling an Email

If you're in an Exchange environment (work, school, etc.) meaning your mail server is an Exchange server, when you try to recall a message you'll get an email in return that either your recall was successful or it wasn't (the recipient already opened it). 

If you're a home user and your mail server is hosted by an ISP or webmail (Gmail, Hotmail, etc.), then recalling a message won't work. 

In order to recall a message, if you have a Microsoft Exchange mail serever, you must do it directly from the sent email. You'll find the selection under Other Options. 

If you are connected to any other type of mail server, this option won't work. Outlook is an excellent product, and as a Microsoft product works best when connected to a Microsoft Exchange server and you'll have access to all the functions. including both Message Recall and even Recovering Deleted Items. 

If you're a home user, Outlook is still an excellent product but will lose some degree of functionality as a result. 

Outlook Send and Receive Issues

Whenever you have problems sending or receiving mail with Microsoft Outlook, there are basic troubleshooting steps to take.

I will cover both Outlook crashes as well as Outlook send/receive errors.

Note: If you are getting send/receive errors instead of crashes, see the guide; Send/Receive errors

If Outlook crashes when you try to send and/or receive, here are the first steps you should take:

Disable virus scanner integration

This is really where you need to start. If you still have a virus scanner installed which integrates itself with Outlook, disable this integration and try again. Turning off your virus scanner will not disable its integration components, what this means is that turning off your antivirus will not stop it from interfering with Outlook. Check the documentation of your virus scanner carefully to see how to properly disable its mail integration. It may be as simple as disabling the email scanning service, or it may be more complicated than that.
You can also opt to uninstall your virus scanner completely to make sure it cannot interfere while testing. Be cautious though, some brands of antivirus do not uninstall as gracefully as others (Symantec/Norton is an excellent example and requires a utility that you need to download from their website to complete the uninstall). Afterwards you can install it again without the mail scanning features or use Microsoft Security Essentials instead.
Contrary to common beliefs, you are still fully protected if your virus scanner does not integrate with Outlook. The real time scanner will catch everything it's updated for so please make sure that your application is kept up to date at all times. Also see; Disable virus scanner integration?

Reset send/receive settings

Outlook keeps the send/receive settings in an srs-file. If this file ends up corrupted, the send/receive will crash. To reset your send/receive settings, all you have to do is renaming the srs-file to .old when Outlook is closed. You can find the file in the following location;

• Windows 7 and Windows Vista
  C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Outlook\
• Windows XP
  C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\

Note 1: The file is called <profilename>.srs where <profilename> stands for the name of your Outlook Mail Profile. By default this is called Outlook so the file would then be called outlook.srs and you would rename it to outlook.old or outlook.srs_old.
Note 2: Resetting the srs-file won't delete any mail accounts you've configured in Outlook. It only resets information such as how often Outlook checks the server for new mail.
Note 3: You must enable the view in Windows Explorer so that you can a) see file extensions for known file types, and b) Show hidden files and folders. Tools > Folder Options > View.

NOTE: As of March 2014, I will no longer support Windows XP as it has been end-of-lifed by Microsoft, and in March they will no longer release updates, hotfixes, security patches, etc. for this old operating system.

Pst-file corruption and size

If your pst-file is corrupted, then writing new data to it could crash Outlook as well. To scan your pst-file for errors you can use the Inbox Repair Tool (scanpst.exe).
If the pst-file is reaching the 2GB (usually around 1.6 - 1.8 GB) and you are using an ANSI formatted pst-file, you are reaching the limit of the pst-file. You must then start with a new pst-file. If you are in ANSI format and are using Outlook 2003 or later, you can convert your pst-file to a Unicode formatted pst-file.

Corrupt message on mail server

If the message on your mail server to be downloaded is not what Outlook expected, depending on the message corruption, Outlook could crash. To fix this, simply logon to your mailbox via the web interface provided by your ISP or company and take a look at the messages that still need to be downloaded. If the send/receive crash is caused by a corrupt message, it often is not hard to detect which message it is; often it is caused by a spam message.
Delete the corrupt message from the web based mailbox and try the send/receive function in Outlook again.
Note: Some web mailboxes require you to delete the message twice to really get rid of it. For instance, if your ISP is using H-Sphere Horde Mail, look for the “Purge Deleted” option.

Recreate the mail profile

If Outlook still crashes when you send/receive, the issue might be your actual mail profile. To verify this, you can recreate your mail profile.

Further troubleshooting

Still nothing? Further details about your crash and Outlook environment is needed. Look in the Event Viewer to locate Outlook’s error log. Then post this crash log including additional information about your environment (such as version of Outlook, version of Windows and type of mail account) in one of the Outlook Forums.

Speeding Up Microsoft Outlook

If you've been using Microsoft Outlook for any length of time, you know that it has the potential to slow down... *WAY* down. Outlook can become pretty much useless if you don't perform some maintenance and upkeep.

Luckily for you, I have a few things you can do to make Outlook perform at a much improved level. None of it requires any change to your email server configuration (Exchange, IMAP or POP3).
You must understand however that some of these suggestions may seem a bit more rudimentary than others, and some may give you a light bulb moment! Since I can't comment on anyone's skill level, I'll cover the basics to help you improve your Microsoft Outlook experience.

1: Windows Updates

Most people don't understand that with Windows updates, the updates for Microsoft Office are also included. Make sure you allow the updates to install. Why? Microsoft may might update Exchange. Sometimes, those updates can either break or cause problems with the communication between Outlook and Exchange and Microsoft might issue a patch to the server or client to resolve a speed issue or patch a security hole. Don't use Automatic Updates strictly, visit the Microsoft update site to catch up on non-critical updates as well. Microsoft Windows Updates

2: Archive

I have truly lost count of how many times I see users with thousands of emails in their Inbox and Sent Items. This can cause serious issues, especially when using PST files. Instead of just letting those folders grow to ridiculous numbers, set up auto archiving so that your Inbox retains only a portion of those emails. When you archive, you create a new data file so Outlook doesn't have to struggle against the burden of an oversize PST or OST file. You truly do not need that Merry Christmas email from your boss from the 1990's!

3: Download complete items

When you use Outlook with either an IMAP or POP3 mail account, you should have Outlook set up to download the complete message (instead of just the header). If you do this, Outlook won't have to synch with the server every time you click on a new item (as it will already be in the data file.) How you do this will depend upon which version of Outlook you're using. Look for the setting "Download Complete Item Including Attachments" or similar.

4: Use Cached Exchange Mode

If you use Cached Exchange Mode in Outlook, you effectively take a copy of your data from the server and cache it on your local machine (OST). This can make a huge difference in speeding up your Outlook experience because Outlook doesn't have to read the data from a server across a network or outside the network. Instead, all it has to do is read the locally stored data file. This option (obviously) is available only when connecting Outlook with an Exchange server.

5: Compact your PST file

When the Outlook PST file gets out of hand, a built-in tool can keep the size of that file under control. One of the issues is that even when you delete email from your Inbox, the size of the PST file may remain the same, it's called whitespace. If you're using Outlook 2010, you can go to Account Settings | Data Files and select the data file to be compacted. Once you've selected the file click Settings | Advanced | Outlook Data File Settings and click Compact Now. Depending on the size of your data file, this process can take some time.

6: Repair your PST file

Scanpst is THE go-to tool when Outlook is acting off kilter. It will scan through your data file and look for data inconsistencies and errors. Here's the thing about Scanpst -- it's not always the easiest tool to find. Do yourself a favour and search through your C drive to locate the Scanpst.exe file. Make note of its location (usually within the Office installation folder). Be forewarned - Outlook must be closed while using it and it can be a time-consuming experience. Make sure you back up that data file before you start the repair tool. If Scanpst finds errors and repairs them, run it again. Repeat until no further errors are found. Then open Outlook.

7: Cut back on the published and shared calendars

It's easy to publish and share your calendars with others. The problem is that the more you do it, the more of a burden you place on Outlook. The more data Outlook has to share and pull down from the Internet, the slower it will perform. Just know that the more data you have to push and pull, the slower your connection will be.

8: Disable RSS

By default, Outlook will sync RSS feeds from Internet Explorer to the RSS reader in Outlook. If you have a lot of RSS feeds bookmarked in IE, that syncing could easily bring Outlook to a crawl. Disable this feature (if you don't use Outlook as an RSS reader) from within Outlook 2010 by going to Options | Advanced and then unchecking both options under RSS Feeds.

9: Disable add-ins

How many times have you installed some program only to find it installed something else behind your back? This can happen to Outlook as well as Internet Explorer. Sometimes those add-ins can cause major Outlook slowdowns. To find out what add-ins you have installed in Outlook 2010, go to Options | Add-ins. Select COM Add-ins from the drop-down and click the Go button. The resultant window will list all add-ins available to Outlook. Search through this list and uncheck any that might seem suspect. If you want to test how Outlook runs without any Add Ins, open it in safe mode: Start > Start Search > outlook.exe /safe (note the space between outlook.exe and /safe).

10: Get rid of Antivirus integration

Configuring your antivirus to actively scan incoming and outgoing email is a great way to slow Outlook down, and it accomplishes nothing. There is no need to scan outgoing email since you're not going to detect anything malicious going out. If you can send it in an email, your antivirus is already compromised so scanning won't do you any favours. As for scanning incoming email, your real time scanner will catch everything it's updated for anyway. How you disable email scanning depends on your antivirus solution. Some are easily handled (check services for the email scanner and disable it) and some not only require an uninstall but you must download a utility off their website to complete the uninstall, then you have to reinstall but make sure you omit the email scanning portion.

If you know of other ways to speed up Outlook, I am interested in hearing from you and any comments you may have, as always.

 

Repair Your Microsoft Outlook PST (Personal Folders)

One day, you try to open Microsoft Outlook and encounter this error:



What is this and what do you do? How do you fix this?

Your personal folders (aka PST file) has corrupted or suffered errors. How does this happen?

You may have forced Outlook to close.
You may be keeping the PST file in a location other than on your local drive. Not only is it not supported by Microsoft, but it is not practical to keep your PST anywhere other than your local PC/laptop. Outlook needs constant read/write access to the PST with no interruption. The tiniest blip in the connection can cause corruption.
You may have shut down the PC, or even lost power to it, before Outlook had time to finish writing to the PST file after Outlook closed.
Multiple other reasons.

Before you attempt to repair the file however, you must make sure you can see files properly:

• Open Windows Explorer. Click on View and ensure Details is checked.
• Then click on the Tools tab. Scroll to Folder Options. Click on View.
• Click the radio button Show Hidden Files and Folders.
• Uncheck the box Hide Extensions for Known File Types. Click Apply. Click Apply to Folders. Click OK.

Now search for scanpst.exe. You can either use the search function, or locate it in the default location.For the purposes of this blog, listed below are the default scanpst.exe locations for various versions of Microsoft Outlook:

Outlook 2013
32-bit Windows; C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15\
64-bit Windows; C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15\
64-bit Outlook; C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15\
Office 365 Home Premium / Outlook 2013 Click to Run
any Windows; C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15\root\office15\Outlook 2010
32-bit Windows; C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\
64-bit Windows; C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14\
64-bit Outlook; C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\
Outlook 2007 32-bit Windows; C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\
64-bit Windows; C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12\
Outlook 2003
32-bit Windows; C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\<locale ID>\
64-bit Windows; C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\<locale ID>\
Outlook 2002/XP
C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MAPI\<locale ID>\
Outlook 2000
C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MAPI\<locale ID>\NT\
Outlook 97 / Outlook 98
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Windows Messaging\

When you locate it, double click it. Follow the instructions (it will ask you to browse to the location of your PST).  One fast and easy way to check is to open the Control Panel, click on Classic View or Small Icons and check the mail applet. It will tell you where your data files are. Again, for the purposes of this blog the default location of the PST is as follows:

Windows XP


• Outlook 2007 and previous
  C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\
• Outlook 2010
  C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\My Documents\Outlook Files\

Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8

• Outlook 2007 and previous
  C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\
• Outlook 2010
  C:\Users\%username%\Documents\Outlook Files\
• Outlook 2013
  C:\Users\%username%\Documents\Outlook Files\

After double-clicking on scanpst.exe, allow it to run through completely. It will find errors and repair them. Run it again. If it finds no further errors, then close everything and try opening Outlook.

If scanpst.exe finds further errors, run it again. Repeat until no errors are found. This can be a lengthy and time-consuming process. Make sure you close scanpst.exe before opening Outlook.

Writing Effective Email

Do people respond to your emails in the way you really want them to? Or do they seem to ignore them, or miss important information? Are you even sure that you're making the best possible impression with your emails?

When you compose an email message, there are a few very simple rules that you can follow to ensure that your emails make a positive impression as well as get you the response you want. I'm going to give you some examples to illustrate the points I'm making with both good and bad examples at the end of each section.

Subject Lines are Like Headlines

A newspaper headline has two functions: It grabs your attention, and it tells you what the article is about, so that you can decide if you want to read further. Email subject lines need to do exactly the same thing! Use a few well-chosen words, so that the recipient knows at a glance what the email is about.
If your message is one of a regular series of emails, such as a weekly project report, include the date in the subject line. And for a message that needs a response, you might want to include a call to action, such as "Please reply by November 7".
Remember that everyone tries to reduce the amount of "spam" email messages they receive. If you make appropriate use of the subject line, you increase the chances that your email will be read, rather than mistaken for spam and deleted without so much as a glance.
Of course, just as it would be ridiculous to publish a newspaper without headlines, never leave the subject line blank. Emails with blank subject lines are usually spam and if they aren't, they're highly annoying!

Bad Example

Subject: Meeting
Hi Cameron,
I just wanted to remind you about the meeting we have scheduled next week. Do let me know if you have any questions!
Best wishes,
Katie

This email is an example of poor communication for several reasons. Let's focus on the headline. As you can see, it's titled "Meeting".
Why is this a bad headline?
There's no information about the meeting. If your calendar is full of meetings, you might even wonder which one Katie is talking about. And there's certainly no clarity about the subject including when and where the meeting's being held.
What's more, the lack of specific information makes it look like a spam email. This email risks being deleted without being read!
Also, the tone of the message is that of a friendly reminder. There's nothing wrong with that, but essential details are missing. If Cameron hasn't heard anything about the meeting, or has completely forgotten about it, he'll have to write back for more information.

Good Example

Subject: Reminder of 10am Meeting Sched. 10/05 on VMWare Process.
Hi Cameron,
I just wanted to remind you about the meeting we have scheduled for Monday, October 5, at 10:00am. It's being held in conference room A, and we'll be discussing the new VMWare Process.
If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch (x3021).
Best Wishes,
Katie

See how specific this new headline is?
The great thing about this headline is that the reader doesn't even have to open the email to get most of the relevant information.
And the precise nature of the headline serves as a useful prompt. Every time the reader glances at his saved emails, he'll be reminded about that specific meeting.

Make One Point per Email

If you need to communicate with someone about a number of different things, consider writing a separate email on each subject. I don't necessarily agree with this but this particular method has its merits:

This way, your recipient can reply to each one individually and in the appropriate time frame. One topic might only require a short reply that he or she can send straight away. Another topic might require more research. By writing separate messages you should get clearer answers while helping other people manage their inboxes better.
If you do want to put several points in an email - perhaps because they relate to the same project - consider presenting each point in a separate, numbered paragraph. This makes each point stand out, significantly increasing the likelihood that each point will be addressed.
As with traditional business letters, each individual email should be clear and concise, with the purpose of the message detailed in the very first paragraph. Sentences should be kept short and to the point. The body of the email should contain all pertinent information, and should be direct and informative.

Bad Example

Subject: Revisions For Sales Report
Hi Jacqui,
Thanks for sending in that report last week. I read through it yesterday and feel that you need more specific information regarding our sales figures in Chapter 2. I also felt that the tone could be a bit more formal. The report is going to be read by our Executive Team, and needs to reflect our professionalism.
Also, I wanted to let you know that I've scheduled a meeting with the PR department for this Friday, regarding the new ad campaign. It's at 11:00, and will be in the small conference room.
Please let me know if you can make that time.
Thanks!
Celeste

Celeste got a good headline in there, and she was pretty clear on the changes she wanted Jackie to make to that report.
But what did she do wrong?
Well, that second paragraph about the meeting is pretty important, and yet she lumped it into the email that detailed the revisions. If Jacqui doesn't put it straight in her calendar, she'll have to remember that the meeting details were in the email titled "Revisions For Sales Report", which is not very logical.
Combining those two important communications increases the chance that either the meeting or the revisions will be forgotten. Let's look at how she could have done it better:

Good Example

Subject: Revisions For Sales Report
Hi Jacqui,
Thanks for sending in that report last week. I read through it yesterday and feel that you need more specific information regarding our sales figures in Chapter 2. I also felt that the tone could be a bit more formal. The report is going to be read by our Executive Team, and needs to reflect our professionalism.
Thanks for your hard work on this!
Celeste

AND

          Subject: Friday 10/9, 11am Meeting w/PR Dept

Hi Jacqui,
I wanted to let you know that I've scheduled a meeting with the PR department for this Friday, 10/9, regarding the new ad campaign.
It's at 11:00am, and will be in the small conference room. Please let me know if you can make that time.
Thanks!
Celeste

By separating those two important communications, Jacqui will be able to find what she needs quickly in her inbox.
As well as this, separating the two topics helps her keep her saved emails relevant. Once she's done with the revisions email she can delete it, but keep the meeting reminder email until the end of the week.

Specify the Response You Want

Make sure to include any call to action you want, such as a phone call or follow-up appointment. Then, make sure you include your contact information, including your name, title, and phone numbers. Do this even with internal messages. Remember, the easier you make it for someone else to respond, the more likely they are to do so!

Bad Example

From: homestaging@prettyhomes.com
Subject: Proposal
Lynn,
Did you get my proposal last week? I haven't heard back and wanted to make sure.
Can you please call me so we can discuss?
Thanks!
Joanne

There are several pieces of important information missing from this email.
The first thing that's missing is information about the proposal. What if Lynn got several proposals? Which one is the writer talking about? Also, did she send it by post, or through email?
Also, the writer gave Lynn no information on how to get in touch. Where is her office number, her cell number, or her business name? Lynn will have to go and find that information.
And, most critically, she didn't give his full name and title at the bottom of the mail - despite the fact that her name doesn't form part of her email address.

Good Example

Subject: Checking On Home Staging Proposal
Dear Lynn,
I just wanted to check that you have received the home proposal I emailed to you last week. I haven't heard back and wanted to make sure it went through.
Can you please call me by Thursday so we can discuss? This is when our discount offer expires, and I want to make sure you don't miss it!
The quickest way to contact me is by cell phone.
Thanks!
Joanne Doe, Owner
Homestaging, Inc.
555.135.4598 (office)
555.135.2929 (cell)

Joanne has now given Lynn all the information she needs. She knows she emailed the proposal last week, that she'd like her to call by Thursday, and that she should use her cell phone to make contact quickly.
Most importantly, Joanne included her name and title, so Lynn now knows who he is, and put her contact information at the bottom.

 

Be a Good Correspondent

Make sure that you go through your inbox regularly and respond as appropriate. This is a simple act of courtesy and will also serve to encourage others to reply to your emails in a timely manner. If a detailed response is required to an email, and you don't have the time to pull together the information straight away, send a holding reply saying that you have received the message, and indicating when you will respond fully.
How frequently you should check your mail will depend on the nature of your work, but avoid interrupting a task you're working on to check your mail simply because you wonder if something interesting has come in.
Always set your Out of Office agent when you're going to be away from your email for a day or more, whether on leave or because you're at meetings.

Internal Email

Internal emails, just like other emails, should not be too informal. Remember, these are written forms of communication that can be printed out and viewed by people other than those for whom they were originally intended! Always use your spell checker and most definitely avoid slang.

Above all, remember that email is surprisingly quite public. Never put anything in writing that you couldn't say to your mother.

Backing Up Outlook Data

It's important to back up your data, all data - any data. It's no different with Outlook.

Reasons to back up Outlook data:

• Computer hard drive crash
• Corruption that can't be repaired
• Accidental deletion
• Damage to your storage medium (USB, CD, partition on your HDD, etc.)
• Save a tree, you won't have to print everything.
• Clean up and organise.
• Play it safe.
• Keep your sanity.

Data loss can happen to anyone, even a seasoned professional.

Before you can back up your data, you need to know where to locate it. The first thing you need to do is unhide system files, and hidden files and folders using Windows Explorer.

Microsoft covers this in their knowledge base (they cover most everything and are a good resource):

HTTP://support.Microsoft.com/KB/141276

Now you can search for your Outlook data file, also called Personal Folders, and known as a PST for short.

For Outlook 2007 and previous on Windows XP the default location is;
C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\

For Outlook 2007 and previous on Windows Vista and Windows 7 the default location is;
C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\

For Outlook 2010 on Windows XP the default location is;
C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\My Documents\Outlook Files\

For Outlook 2010 on Windows Vista or Windows 7 the default location is;
C:\Users\%username%\Documents\Outlook Files\

You can also locate the file this way:

Right click the root folder (probably Outlook Today)-> Properties-> button Advanced-> field Filename

If you have multiple PST aka Data Files you can get an overview by clicking
  File-> Data File Management if you use Outlook 2007 or anything older
  File-> Account Settings-> Account Settings-> tab Data Files if you use Outlook 2010

NOTE: While making a copy of the PST-file will effectively backup your Outlook data, it will not include any mail account configuration settings (mail profile), templates or signatures.

Backing up the PST-file is quite easy; you just copy the PST-file to your safe location *while Outlook is closed.* A safe location can be one of the following;

• another physical hard drive in your machine
• another physical hard drive in another machine
• an external hard drive
• a USB memory stick
• a Flash memory card
• a CD-R(W)
• a DVD+/-R(W)
• a backup tape

I recommend running a backup whenever you make a significant change to the contents of your Outlook data file, or even daily.

For myself, I have written a small batch file that runs every evening after I close Outlook that copies my PST file to another drive on another computer.

The batch file reads like this: COPY %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Outlook\*.PST u:data\outlook /y

u:data\outlook is the location that my PST file is copied to. You can change it to suit your particular location.

It's written in Notepad, saved as a batch file. Then I use the Windows Scheduler to set it to run at my specified time. I have a copy of the batch file backed up in case I ever break it, delete it, do something stupid. I can wait for the scheduler to run at the appointed time but any time I close Outlook I can trigger a back up by simply double-clicking the batch file.

And as always, backing up Outlook will not work unless Outlook is CLOSED.

As always you can post questions on my blog if you want clarification or even help.    

  

Where I Look For Outlook Help

As a Microsoft Outlook MVP, you'd think I'd know everything there is to know about Outlook right? WRONG!  I just know how to search really well, and I do my research. I also pay attention to those people I think are very intelligent and knowledgeable when it comes to Microsoft Outlook!

So here are my fave places to research the most accurate Outlook info:

http://www.slipstick.com/
http://www.howto-outlook.com/
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/outlook
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/outlook-users/
http://support.microsoft.com/ph/8753#tab0

And of course
https://www.google.ca/

I listen closely when other MVP's talk about Outlook and I read their answers on the Outlook forum and Yahoo Group mailing list. They are bright people and well worth my time and effort to hear their advice. 

I am an Outlook sponge!

Customise your Tasks View

In Outlook Tasks, you can find your tasks and view their status with a quick glance. If you choose the appropriate view for your needs, you can save a surprising amount of time. As a quick example, you can prioritise the items that are most critical on your list without scrolling through all the other tasks that are still marked as incomplete. If you prefer to deal with a priority task or if you want to sort your tasks by project, name, or who you assigned it to, the options in Tasks can help you organise your tasks the way that works best for you and the project at hand.

To discover the task view that works best for you in Outlook 2010, in the Navigation pane on the left side of the window click Tasks. On the Ribbon, click the View tab, and then, in the Current View group, click Change View.

For a basic view of your tasks and main details, click Simple List. In this view, you see columns for Task Subject, Due Date, Categories, In Folder, and Sort by: Flag Status.

The Advanced View Settings dialogue box is available for each view. You can use it to add or remove categories, set various filtering parameters, and even adjust type size and font.

To reset a Tasks view that you’ve customised back to its original settings, click the View tab, click Reset View, and then, when the dialogue box asks you if you’re sure you want to reset the view, click Yes.

Try experimenting with different views, options, settings, fonts. If you don’t like the way your tasks appear, you can always reset the view to the default settings or choose a new one. The purpose here is to choose which view helps you sort your tasks so that you aren't digging for information. Create unique views that provide the information you need. This is your chance to customise Outlook to meet your needs.

Outlook 2007 users: The processes for changing or customising your tasks views vary slightly. To find out more about customising views in Outlook 2007, go to Customise Your View.

Things I Love About Outlook

 

• You may choose to use Microsoft Outlook to be in sync with all your personal and business mail accounts. You can configure Exchange, IMAP, POP3 accounts as well as use the Hotmail Connector for Hotmail and now Outlook.com ALL at the same time! You may also opt to use Microsoft Outlook for your personal email account alone or along with your corporate or business needs. To be precise, it is highly customisable to your needs, preferences and requirements. It's a one stop email client.
• It's been around since the 1990's and it integrates with the rest of Microsoft Office.
• It integrates with Windows Desktop Search.
• It has sticky notes you can use as reminders or for lists. You can even drag and drop them onto your desktop. They're very handy! 
• I love the calendar! I can schedule reminders, either one time or with a recurrence so I don't forget to do things like change the back up tapes or take a vitamin pill. I can even invite others to participate, like when it's time to give our dog Dazzle her regular Revolution dose for flea, tick, and heartworm control!



Dazzle

 

• I just invite my husband and when he accepts the request it goes into his calendar and reminds him when the medication is due. I love it's reminder function! I can snooze something I don't need to do right this moment. I also use the calendar to help set goals and time lines for myself.
• If you have a handheld PDA or Smart Phone, you can sync the device with Outlook. Skype talks to Outlook. ACT! talks to Outlook.  
• While it's not quite foolproof (reading some of the questions on the Microsoft Outlook Forum will show anyone that nothing is foolproof), it's mostly pretty straightforward.
• For you Network Administrators/System Administrators, Outlook plays well with Microsoft Exchange and Active Directory plus you get OWA (Outlook Web Access) so you can check your work email from any browser.
• Outlook's superior rules raise the bar. You can sort email, automatically send them into particular folders, and even set automatic responses for some. With newer versions of Outlook with Exchange as the mail server, you can even customise your Out of Office for internal and external users with different messages for each.
• Outlook's improved security features are great. You have to now make a conscious decision to bypass them. It has great junk mail filtering and, as long as you keep Outlook up to date, it will block web bugs, downloaded images, disallows executable attachments, and even prevents ActiveX applets from executing. 
• You can share mailboxes or even assign tasks to others. When you assign a task, you'll even get status updates, too.   
• Voting buttons! You can use them to help facilitate work flow, choose a restaurant, or even with training. Example: we send a link via email monthly to employees to a training presentation. Once they read it, they can use the voting button to say that yes, they have read and understood the training.
• When entering dates, you never have to type in the entire date. Outlook will offer a date for you. You can simply hit enter to accept it. If a date is in the current month, just enter the day and Outlook will enter the rest of the date for you. For instance, if the current month is March and you enter 14, Outlook assumes you mean March 14 of the current year and fills in that date.
• If you use Outlook 2010, you have access to Information Rights Management. Information Rights Management (IRM) allows individuals and administrators to specify access permissions to documents, workbooks, and presentations. This helps prevent sensitive information from being printed, forwarded, or copied by unauthorised people. After permission for a file has been restricted by using IRM, the access and usage restrictions are enforced regardless of where the information is, because the permission to a file is stored in the document, workbook, or presentation file itself. In other words, you can prevent someone from forwarding, pasting, or even printing your email.  

Backing up Outlook Data

Most people don't think of it until they learn it the hard way. They have not backed up their Outlook data! Fortunately, this task is relatively easy and can be done on a regular basis.

I have a great go-to website for teaching Outlook back up step by step, and making it pretty painless.

The data you want to back up includes everything from your Deleted Items folder to your Sent Items folder, and everything inbetween. The folders are kept alphabetically. This will include any folders that you create to make your mail more organized, and used for filing purposes.

Note that the Deleted Items folder is not recommended as a filing folder or a holding folder. These items are "trash" and this folder should be emptied regularly.

My favourite links for Outlook back ups are as follows:

Outlook Back Up and Restore

Back Up Your Outlook Account Settings

Outlook Files and Settings Guide

You can even recover items you've deleted if you're using Outlook Personal Folders:

Recover Deleted Items

So you see there are many options for ensuring that your important Outlook data is kept up to date and always available, even if you have a hard drive crash.

Out of Office

If you are going to be out of the office for a period of time, say for an afternoon or longer, it is customary to create an Out of Office message (OOF) so that your senders know that you are currently not available.

If you are in an Exchange environment (connect to a Microsoft Exchange mail server):

• In the Inbox, click the Tools Menu, and then click Out of Office Assistant.
• Click I am Currently Out of the Office.
• Type the message you want to send to others while you are out, in the text box.
• Click OK when finished.

If you are a home user, you can use Out of Office but you need to leave Outlook turned on and running in your absence.

If this is not feasible, log onto your webmail and create the away message. Your ISP (Internet Service Provider) should also have this feature available and almost all of them have a webmail feature on their website.

Outlook Calendar Features

Basic Calendar Features of Microsoft Outlook

• The purpose of this blog is to define the difference between Appointments, Meetings, and Events and to detail how to create them.
• Appointments are activities that you schedule in your calendar that don't involve inviting other people. You can set reminders for your appointments. You can also specify how your calendar appears to others by designating the time an appointment takes as busy, free, tentative, or out of office.
• You can schedule recurring appointments. You can view your appointments by day, week, or month. You can schedule an appointment in your own calendar and others can give you permission to schedule or make changes to appointments in their calendars. Appointments can also be made private.

Calendar Features: Meetings

• A meeting is an appointment you invite people to or reserve resources for (a meeting room for example). You can create and send meeting requests and reserve resources for face-to-face meetings or for online meetings. When you create a meeting, you identify the people to invite and the resources to reserve, and you choose a meeting time. Responses to your meeting request appear in your Inbox. You can also add people to an existing meeting or even reschedule a meeting.

Creating a Calendar Entry

• After you open Outlook, click the Calendar on the Navigation Pane (this used to be called the Outlook Bar in versions older than Office 2003). You must do this in order to set Outlook's focus on the calendar component.
•  To create a new entry, click on the New Entry icon in the upper right hand corner of the calendar, or you can click on File > New > Appointment, or Meeting Request, or Live Meeting, or Conference Call, etc.
• Enter a subject and location.
• Select a start date and time, as well as an end date and time.
• Click on the Scheduling button to add attendees, if appropriate.
• Set the Reminder time if you want a reminder to pop up. The default is 15 minutes but you can change it from the drop down menu.
• If you wish to set a recurrence for this entry, choose the recurrence button at this time.
• You may also set the appointment as busy, free, tentative, or out of the office.
• You may add additional details about the meeting in the blank pane under the time/date of the meeting.

Inviting Attendees

• Click on the Scheduling button to invite attendees or stay on the main pane and click on the To button. 
• You can either type the names or email aliases in or click on the Add Others button at the bottom of the pane.
• Under certain circumstances (an Exchange server environment which is normally seen in businesses and schools, very rarely for the average home user), you may see their schedule to know if they're available.
• When finished, click Save and Close.  
• When attendees receive the invitation if they choose to accept it, the meeting is automatically scheduled for them and a reminder will pop up at the correct time. When they accept, you will automatically receive notification of acceptance.

  

Outlook Message Recall

Today I'm going to cover how Message Recall works in Outlook. This is only of interest to you if you have an Exchange server mailbox since this feature requires Microsoft Exchange mail server running in the background in order to work. Most home and personal accounts do not use Exchange.

Message recall is an excellent tool if you've sent an email in error. Perhaps you've made a terrible spelling error or forgot to attach an important document. Email is a great way to share communications, schedule meetings and events, and even share documents.

Side note: I do not recommend emailing documents to your co-workers. If you're on the same network, rather than clutter up their mailbox and yours with needless attachments, you should instead place the document in a folder in a network location that everyone can access and simply email a hyperlink to it.

Back to recalling a message! Sometimes your day is so busy and rushed, you may fail to include pertinent information, a critical document, or misspell words which comes across as very unprofessional. What if you sent the email to the wrong person? It's only after you hit the SEND button that you realize your mistake!

How do you fix this? You want to recall the original message and send another with the correct information included and/or to the correct intended recipient. For anyone who hasn't opened the email yet, you can perform a little bit of trickery and pull the email out of their Inbox quietly and replace it.

What steps does it take to do this? Read the following:

1. In Mail, in the Navigation Pane, click Sent Items.
2. Open (double-click, don't simply highlight) the message you want to recall or replace.
3. On the Actions menu, click Recall This Message.
4. Click Delete unread copies and replace with a new message.

Note If you are sending the message to a large number of people, you may want to consider clearing the Tell me if recall succeeds or fails for each recipient check box.

5. Click OK, and then type a new message and include the attachment.
6. Click Send. 

What if you don't see Recall This Message on the Actions menu? Make sure you are in the Sent Items folder. The command will also not appear if you are using a POP3, IMAP, or HTTP e-mail account, including MSN Hotmail. Remember, Recall This Message only works if you have an Exchange mailbox.

In some scenarios, you simply wish to Recall This Message and choose Delete Unread Copies of This Message. Say you sent out an invitation to a party for your co-workers, but you chose the wrong date. Simply recall and delete the message quickly.

Here's your next big question: Will my recall be successful?

Whether or not your recall works will depend on several factors. The settings your recipient has configured in Outlook, whether or not you requested a response to notify you whether or not the recall failed, and the time it takes for your message and even your recall to reach the recipient.

Here are some different situations you may run across:

You send an email. You perform the steps to recall and replace it. In your recipient's copy of Outlook, they have selected Process Requests and Responses Upon Arrival in Tracking Options.
What happens next is that both the original email and the recall request arrive in their Inbox. Assuming that the original email has not been read, your original email is deleted and your recipient is notified that you deleted the message from their Inbox.
NOTE: If your original message is marked as read, then when the recall message is processed the recipient is informed that you wish to recall the message. However the message remains in your recipient's Outlook Inbox. Viewing the email in the Reading Pane does not constitute being read.

You send an email. You perform the steps to recall and replace it. Your recpient does NOT have Process Requests and Responses Upon Arrival selected in Tracking Options. Your recipient receives both the original email and the recall. One of two scenarios happens for your recipient:

• If your recipient opens and reads your recall message first then the original email is deleted. The recipient is informed that you deleted the email from their mailbox.
• If your recipient opens and reads your email first, the recall fails. Both the email and the recall remain in their mailbox and are available to them. Again, viewing the email in the Reading Pane does not constitute being read.

You send an email. You perform the steps to recall and replace it. Your recipient has moved your email to another folder, either by a rule or manually by dragging and dropping. The recall message remains in the Inbox, or is moved to another folder. If the recall message and the original email exist in separate folders, the recall attempt fails. This happens no matter what settings are configured in Outlook. This leaves both the original message and the recall available to the recipient.

You send an email. You perform the steps to recall and replace it. Your recipient has either manually moved both emails to the same folder, or used a rule to move both messages to the same folder (not in the Inbox). This will cause Outlook to behave as though it's NOT set to Process Requests and Responses upon Arrival. One of two scenarios happens for your recipient:

• If your recipient opens and reads your recall message first then the original email is deleted. The recipient is informed that you deleted the email from their mailbox.
• If your recipient opens and reads your email first, the recall fails. Both the email and the recall remain in their mailbox and are available to them. Again, viewing the email in the Reading Pane does not constitute being read.

If your recipient reads the mail and then marks it as unread, Outlook will treat the email as though it has never been read.

You send an email to a Public Folder on Exchange. You perform the steps to recall and replace it. One of the following scenarios will occur:

• If the recipient reading the recall message created and has read access to all the items in the public folder, and didn't read the original message, the recall succeeds, and only the new message remains. You, the sender, receive a message indicating that the recall succeeded.
• If the recipient has already marked the original message as read, he or she is informed that the recall failed, and only the recall message is deleted.

If a user with different or any other Public Folder rights opens the recall message, the recall will fail. Both the old and new messages will stay in the Public Folder. In a Public Folder, it is the Reader's Rights, not the Sender's, that determine if a recall attempt succeeds or fails.   

The Outlook Toolbar

A menu displays a list of commands. Some of these commands have images next to them so you can quickly associate the command with the image. Most menus are located on the menu bar which is across the toolbar at the top of the screen.

Toolbars can contain buttons, menus, or a combination of both.

Microsoft Outlook automatically customizes menus and toolbars based on how often you use the commands. When you first start Outlook,. only the most basic commands appear. Then as you work, the menus and toolbars adjust so that only the commands and toolbar buttons you use most often appear.

To look for a command that you don't use often or have never used before, click the double down-facing arrows at the bottom of the menu to show all the commands. You can also double-click the menu to expand it. When you expand one menu, all of the menus are expanded until you choose a command or perform another action. When you click a command on the expanded menu, the command is immediately added to the short version of the menu. If you do not use the command often, it is eventually dropped from the short version of the menu.

 

 

Microsoft Outlook Views

The two main views I'm going to cover today are the Outlook Bar and the Folder List.

• Outlook Bar: The column on the left side of the Outlook window that includes groups such as Outlook Shortcuts or My Shortcuts, and the shortcuts within each group. Click a group to show the shortcuts contained within it. Click a shortcut to quickly access that particular component of Outlook.

• By default, Outlook displays folders under the Outlook Bar for each of the following item types: Inbox, Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, and Notes. It also provides the following folders: Drafts (stores unfinished emails you are working on), Sent Items (copies of emails you sent to other people), Deleted Items (stores temporarily deleted items until you permanently delete them. The Deleted Items folder is NOT a storage folder.

• In Microsoft Outlook, you store information in folders, the same way you store documents in Windows Explorer or even a file cabinet. You use a variety of folders based on the type of Outlook item you're working with and the type of email account you have. The Folder List is the most complete list of all the components and information held within Outlook.

• The Folder List is not displayed by default. To make the Folder List appear, perform the following steps: In Outlook, click on the View Menu at the top of the screen. Click on Folder List in the menu. If "Folder List" does not immediately appear as an option, single click the double down arros at the bottom of the menu list to see the full menu.

Email Attachment Handling for the Visually Impaired

I want to credit Karen McCall for the following information. She's a Microsoft Word MVP in Canada and her contributions to Microsoft accessibility are invaluable. I will include her information at the end of this blog.

A note if you're using adaptive technology:

First go into Word and turn off Screen Reading Layout or Reading Layout as this is an inaccessible view of documents when using adaptive technology.

In both Outlook 2007 & 2010 if you press Alt + F for the File Menu, Office Button or File/Backstage area (it has changed over the past iterations of Office but can be accessed using the same keyboard command) you’ll see “Save Attachments.”

If you are saving Office documents through Outlook 2010, once you open them they are in Preview mode so you need to press Alt + F, letter I for File/Backstage area, Info and then turn on editing by then pressing E.

Here are the steps for Outlook 2010 from when an email arrives:

1. Press Enter to open an e-mail with an attachment.
2. Your cursor will be on the first line of the message.
3. Press Shift + Tab to move to the attachments area of the e-mail.
4. You can then use the Arrow keys to move among attachments.
5. Press Enter on an attachment you want to open.
6. If it is an Office document, you’ll then have to press Alt + F, letter I, E once the document opens as it will be in Protected view.
7. Press Escape on the e-mail post to close the post and return to Outlook.

You can choose to press the AppKey (located to the immediate left of the Ctrl key on the right side of the main keyboard area…has two little square applications on it) or Shift + F10 would also work I think. This gives you the option to open or save as without going through the Office Button/File menu in Outlook 2007 or the File/Backstage area of 2010.

You can use Shift + Tab when a post is open to move to the BCC, CC or To field, press the AppKey/right mouse button and perform actions on addresses in those fields. Tab would move you forward through these fields.

You can choose to go to the File Menu, Office button or File/Backstage area (depending on your version of Outlook) and choose Save Attachments. This will let you save all attachments to a location on your computer or storage device. As with the other method of saving attachments, if it is an Office document you’ll have to turn off Preview mode.

I haven’t found a way to open or work with attachments in the Reading Pane (this happens in emails received in Rich Text Format). At one time F6 and Shift + F6 would move you forward or backward through the larger pieces of Outlook like the list of messages to the Reading Pane to the To Do Bar to the Status Bar and so forth and using Tab or Shift + Tab would move you forward or backward through the pieces of each larger chunk….the Reading Pane for example. This would let you navigate to the reading Pane using F6 and then use Shift + Tab to move to the Attachments area and work with attachments but this does not work consistently so working with attachments in the Reading Pane is not possible, you have to open the message or use the Save Attachments tool.

If someone is blind and using the JAWS  screen reader, JAWS 13 announces it when you come across an attachment in Outlook 2010.

 A person using JAWS will hear that there is an attachment as long as the Attachments Colum in the mail folder is visible. This is the little paper clip next to a message. Pressing the JAWS command for listing objects, Ctrl + Shift + letter O will give you a list of the attachments which in this case are objects.

I used the ability to create random text in Word/Outlook to create the surrounding text as many people just plunk objects into e-mail. The keyboard  command is =rand(3). This will put three paragraphs of text from the \Office Help files into a document. Each paragraph will have a default number of 3 sentences. If you type (4, 5) and press Enter you’ll get 4 paragraphs each with 5 sentences. I include this in case you didn’t know…

Anyway, I can either use the Up and Down Arrow keys on their own or with the screen reader and the objects can also be found.

Even if the attachment is indented on a line….is not at the left margin which is where most adaptive technology recognizes objects, JAWS 13 in Outlook 2010 found it and told me it was there. So once I knew it was there, or if you actually can see the attachment, select it by placing your cursor just before it and press the Shift key + right Arrow.

You can then press the AppKey/right mouse button to access the context menu.

There are lots of clues that the post contains an attachment and using the keyboard you can choose which ones to open or save, even print. If you need all attachments, it is still better to go through the Alt + F, Save Attachments method.

In case you might need these, I have a page for Office 2007 accessibility including an Excel workbook with all the Ribbon, Sub-Ribbon and Non-Ribbon commands for Office 2007.

http://karlencommunications.com/MicrosoftOfficeAccessibility.html

And a page for Office 2010 with some resources:

http://karlencommunications.com/MicrosoftOfficeAccessibility2010.html

There is a book on each page about how to use OneNote from the Keyboard.

Karen McCall, M.Ed.

Microsoft MVP/Most Valued Professional for Word (2009-2011)
Canadian delegate to the ISO/TC 171 committee
Member of PDF/UA Universal Access working group
Member of G3ICT
Karlen Communications
Paris ON Canada

Organizing Your Inbox - Colour Code With Automatic Formatting

Whether you have lots of email or just a few messages, you can use colour to help you quickly determine what you have. You can use the Automatic Formatting feature to quickly organize your email with colour. For example, you can see messages from your boss in one colour, and messages from your spouse in another!

Use Automatic Formatting to make specific messages stand out in the colour of your choice so that even if you have thousands of emails, messages from your boss stand out and catch your eye.

Select an email message. Click on the Organize command on the Tools menu. You'll find the Organize option when you click on Tools > Organize. Next click "Using Colours." Set the rule for colour coding, then apply it.

Outlook creates an Automatic Formatting rule and shows you the details in the Automatic Formatting dialogue box. If you want to see the rule, click the Automatic Formatting button in the Organize pane.

You can use this feature to colour code:

• Mail from any specific person of your choosing
• Mail to any email distribution list that you belong to
• Mail regarding any specific subject that you choose

Don't forget to test this out. Try turning colour coding off and on, or even change the colour. Delete and recreate the rule.

In review, you may use colour coding to help you organize your inbox by making certain emails stand out visually.

Welcome to Microsoft Outlook

What is Microsoft Outlook?

Outlook is an information and communication manager that primarily handles messaging, calendaring, and contacts.

Basic Outlook Overview

• The mail component lets you send, receive, and manage email messages. Messages can be sent to other email users with a valid email address and can include file attachments and hyperlinks to webpages.
• The calendar is used to keep track of appointments and plan meetings with other email users. On a personal level, it can be used to record appointments, events, and other important dates such as birthdays and anniversaries. You can even use it to remind you to do a task every day. On a group level it can be used to schedule and track meetings with others at a time convenient to all.
• Contacts are used to maintain address, phone, FAX information, etc.

Outlook's Additional Components

• Tasks provide to-do lists comprising jobs that can be assigned to other Outlook users, tracked and scheduled in your calendar. You can check the status of a task and set tasks that recur at specific intervals.
• Outlook can also be used to record notes for any textual information. Notes can be posted on your desktop as constant reminders and can be forwarded to other users or even included in Word processing documents.

Your Outlook View

• You can customize your Outlook View
• To manage Outlook it's often easiest to view two toolbars (standard and advanced), the Outlook bar, and the folder view.
• You should also view mails in your Inbox without the preview pane as a security measure but include the following fields: importance, icon, flag, attachment, From, Subject, Size, and Date.

Outlook Options

• Outlook options are where you set your signature, how you read your email, what format you use, how you choose to empty your Deleted Items folder, spellcheck, etc.
• Options are the way you can customize some Outlook behavior.
• Located under Tools on the Menu Bar, using options allows you to set some email preferences, format, spelling, and many other items.

Outlook Format

• The Outlook format, while found under Options, should be identified separately since incorrectly formatted emails may lead to several avoidable problems.
• The default format on older versions of Outlook (95 - 2002) is Rich Text. Rich Text format is Outlook specific, that is to say that email recipients not using Outlook may not be able to read this format. They may even receive blank emails and if you include an attachment, they probably won't receive it since improper formatting may strip it out.
• The format I recommend is either plain text or HTML.

Outlook Signature

• A signature goes out at the bottom of all of your emails. It should tell the recipient your name, title, telephone number including extensions if applicable, and your website if you have one. There is no need to include your email address since every email you send includes it already.
• Don't make your signature too long or people will ignore it. If it's too cute, people may not take you seriously.
• Keep the font simple and legible. Don't use all capitalized letters.
• Your signature should not be sent on replies and forwards.

Outlook Organization - Folders and Rules

• To organize your mail and keep your Inbox uncluttered, create folders to hold common emails.  For example, if you receive mail from Microsoft on a regular basis create a Microsoft folder.
• To further keep your Inbox clean, create rules that make Outlook automatically move emails into your important folders. Make sure you keep the folders up to date and delete anything not required (example: Merry Christmas from your boss in 1999 is not required).

Outlook Size

• If you are in an Exchange environment (at work or at many schools), you may face a mailbox cap. When you are close to your limit you will receive email notifications from the System Administrator. If you ignore the warnings and exceed your limit, you will be unable to send email. If you continue to ignore the warnings, eventually you will not be able to receive email.
• Outlook itself does not have a cap, depending on which version you use and what type of mail account you have created. For a home user, older versions of Outlook (2002 and older) do have a Personal Folders maximum size of 2 GB though it can become pretty flakey at around 1.6 GB. In Outlook 2003, they did away with this cap by changing the format from ANSI (American National Standards Institute) to Unicode. This allowed the PST file in Outlook 2003 & 2007 to become a maximum size of 20 GB (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/830336).
• To determine how much mail you have, view the properties of Outlook Today in the folder view. This will show you what you have and where the bulk of your mail is stored.

Outlook Deleted Items

• Emptying your Deleted Items folder regularly helps to maintain your mailbox or PST size. It is not to be used as a filing system.
• To this end, if you delete an email and discover later that you need it, if you're in an Exchange environment you may be able to recover by clicking on Tools > Recover Deleted Items. If Deleted Item Retention is turned on, you have a chance of getting your email back depending upon how long it's been since you deleted it.
• If you delete an email and you have a POP3 or IMAP account, you can try the following but it is unpredictable at best if you are not trying to recover a deleted email immediately: http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/restoredeleteditemsfromanoutlookpst.htm 

Outlook PST (Personal Folders)

• These can be helpful in an Exchange environment if you have a mailbox cap but should be used with caution. The Outlook PST is created automatically in a non-Exchange environment (say you're a home user and you create a POP3 for your ISP email).
• If you're in an Exchange environment, all email moved to Personal Folders removes it from the Exchange mail server. This means it reduces your mailbox size but it is not being backed up anymore.
• Whether you're a home user or in an Exchange environment, it is in your best interests to regularly back up your PST (aka Personal Folders). The procedure is easy, with Outlook closed, simply copy your PST to another location that is not on your C drive (on a network you can use your User or Home drive, if you're at home you can put it on a CD or USB key or on your D drive - away from your operating system drive which is usually C).
• How to find your Personal Folders: http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/backupandrestore.htm#Locating_the_pst-file 
• How to back up and restore your Personal Folders: http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/backupandrestore.htm 

Outgoing Email Requests

• Request a delivery receipt to verify it was delivered to the email address that you specified.
• Request a read receipt to verify that an email has been read by the recipient. Use this with caution. A recipient may deny this read receipt or their email server can.
• Voting buttons
• Delayed delivery
• Filing outgoing mail
• Recall an outgoing email that you wish to revise or delete (this usually only works in an Exchange environment and only if the recipieint has not read the email).

The Outlook Calendar

• Use the calendar to schedule meetings, reminders, events.
• All scheduled items can be single instance (once) or recurring.
• Invite others to your meetings.
• As the recipient of a meeting request, you can accept/decline/tentative.
• Use the calendar to schedule with people ahead of time. Don't surprise them at the last minute. Give people time to prepare!

Attachments

• If you're in an organization, sending a document by email eats up everyone's mailbox space. Share the document, spreadsheet, PDF, presentation, etc. on the network in a common location that everyone can access. Instead of including the attachment in your email, insert a hyperlink to the location of the attachment.
• Often, incoming and outgoing attachment size is limited. Take note of the size of the attachment size that you wish to send. Sending a huge file can also tie up your own outgoing email.

Email Etiquette

• I am covering email etiquette for several reasons; professionalism, courtesy, efficiency, and liability.
• By using proper language and correct spelling, we portray an image of professionalism.
• Emails that get to the point are much more efficient than poorly-worded ones.
• Since text-based communication has no tone of voice or body language to associate with it, take extra care to be courteous.
• Awareness of email risks protects you from lawsuits.

What Are the Rules?

• Be concise and to the point.
• Answer all questions and pre-empt further questions.
• Use proper spelling, grammer, and punctuation.
• Make it personal.
• Do not attach unnecessary files.
• Don't type in all capitalized letters.
• Add a signature to your outgoing email.
• Read and re-read your email before you send it.
• Double-check that you're sending to the correct recipient.
• Do not forward chain emails and hoaxes.
• Don't use email to discuss confidential information.

Outlook Caution

• Never send or forward emails that contain libelous, defamatory, offensive, obscene, or racist remarks.
• Use the Reply to All button only when all recipients require the information you convey.
• Don't reply to SPAM.

Troubleshooting Microsoft Outlook

It doesn't matter which version you use, though it is hoped you've upgraded to Office 2003 at the very oldest, you will come across problems with Outlook that you won't understand or know how to deal with. This is where troubleshooting comes into play, and you have many options!

You can research for yourself and here are my two favourite websites to use:

Robert Spaarnaij's Microsoft Outlook Help Site

Diane Poremsky's Slipstick Solutions Centre for Microsoft Outlook

Both websites will cover all of your basic questions and problems if you search through them. I would even advise you to bookmark them.

Both are written and maintained by Microsoft Outlook MVP's. MVP stands for Most Valuable Professional. This is a coveted designation offered by Microsoft at their invitation only. That is, you can't write an exam to get this. Microsoft invites you to become an MVP based on your expertise!

If you have a Yahoo! account, you can join the outlook-users group and post or email questions:
Outlook Users Yahoo! Group

You can also join and ask questions in the Microsoft Answers Outlook forum, all you need is a Live or Hotmail account to do so.

Microsoft Answers Forum

The forum is not frequented by Outlook developers but Outlook users and of course all of the Outlook MVP's who are experts in their field.

And of course, Microsoft offers Outlook Help and How-to as well:
Microsoft Office Help

This is just a start to help you troubleshoot any Outlook problems you might have.

If you have suggestions for further Microsoft Outlook blog topics, don't hesitate to let me know!