Tips+Outlook

2/25/2015 FivelittleknownwaystoendrepetitionandbusyworkinOutlook

https://employeecontent.intel.com/content/news/nonportal/digitaledge/2015/ww08/outlook.html 1/3

Figure 1: Instead of retyping afrequently repeated section in anemail, use Outlooks Quick Partsfeature to place it where and whenneeded.

Figure 2: Regular tasks such as forwardingmail or sending meeting invites can be spedup by using shortcuts and Quick Steps.

Figure 3: Need to keep your hours straight?Use Outlooks dual time zone feature.

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Five little-known ways to end repetition andbusywork in OutlookType less, find email faster, and more-easily keep track of appointments

Alan NaditzDigital Edge staffFebruary 17, 2015 WW08

Tagged As: Digital Edge,Microsoft Outlook, Productivity,email

With all the things Outlook can do, wouldnt it be nice if there were ways to make it even easier to use? Some of theapplications most-helpful functions are not very obvious, but they can make your job a lot less redundant. Heres a look ata handful of them:

1: Instead of repeat typing, think Quick

If you regularly need to pound out a standard block of text, you can save it as aQuick Part for easy insertion into your emails:

With your Outlook email open, highlight the text you want to copy. Notethat this must be an email that you are currently trying to write, reply to orforward.

Go to theInserttab, and move to theTextsection of the Outlook Ribbon.

Click theQuick Partsdrop-down and select Save selection to Quick Part Gallery" (see Figure 1).

Now, whenever you start typing the phrase, it will pop up as a suggestion. Hit Returnto insert it in full.

You can also select your text from the Quick Parts drop-down. Right-click on it for placement options, or to edit andmanage other Quick Parts.

2: Instantly create new emails and appointments

If you find yourself frequently switching back and forth between email and calendar modes, you can speed up the process:

Create new emails, appointments, contacts and more by using theNew Items drop-down on theHometab while onthe Outlook home screen.

Or, if you dont want to open the Outlook interface, right-click on Outlooks icon on the Windows taskbar. Youll opena jumplist with direct shortcuts to create various new items.

3: Get in Step with recurrent tasks

If you regularly perform a particular tasksuch as forwarding anincoming email to a colleague, or inviting a group of recipients to ameetingthen Quick Steps can save you time. Theres a predefinedset of Quick Steps on the Home tab, but you can also create ones for your own needs:

In the Quick Steps section of the Home tab, click the drop-down arrow.

In the Manage Quick Steps window, select the New button on the lower left.

Select from the various options to categorize, move, flag and delete messages with a single tap of your mouse. You canduplicate and edit shortcuts to further customize your Steps (see Figure 2).

4: Change with the times

Or in this case, time zones. Anyone who travels frequently, or whotalks to people in far locations, knows the frustration of discoveringmeetings and appointments in Outlook that show up at the wrong local time. To keep your time zones straight:

On the Outlook home screen, go to the File tab, then scroll down to Options.

Select Calendar, and scroll down to Time zones to set your local time zone.

If you need a second time zone visible so you can track what time it is back home, or perhaps see what time it is forcoworkers elsewhere, click Show a second time zone and set appropriately.

You can switch from one location to the other by clicking the Swap Time Zones button (see Figure 3).



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When done, click OK.

5: Stick em up

Those colorful Post-it notes that once appeared all over your computer monitor and desktop can now appear insideOutlook, thanks to a built-in sticky notes feature.

Press Ctrl+Shift+N from anywhere in the Outlook interface to create a new note, which can be dragged andpositioned where desired on screen.

By default, notes appear in pale yellow, but you can assign them to categories, which causes them to switch to theassociated color.

To manage your notes, click on the Note icon at the bottom of the View pane. From here you can copy, organize andprint notes. You can also use the field at the top-right of the window to search for notes containing specific text.

There is no automatic deletion of notes, so they will remain as long as you leave them there. (There used to be a six-month retention on notes, but that was removed a couple of years ago.)

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Newest| Oldest| Top Comments (12)Comments

Gibson, Sharon L 2/23/2015 9:42:47 PMThank-you Quick Parts! That's definitely a day of my life saved - whoop!Reply |Like (0)

Bernat, Yehezkel 2/19/2015 7:51:39 PMGreat article. I learnt some new things. Thanks!Reply |Like (0)

Sindhu, Chaitrananda R 2/18/2015 12:21:11 PMvery useful article. thank you.Reply |Like (0)

Shmilovich, Dov 2/18/2015 11:24:52 AMLearning something new every day :) Thanks!Reply |Like (0)

V, Aishwarya 2/18/2015 9:23:25 AMUseful article. Thank youReply |Like (0)

Preciado, Jose 2/18/2015 1:41:14 AMOutlook should be the most common tool across Intel we should expend 3 to 4 hour avg. the tips and tricksto use it will really impact, I want to be part of this comments Reply |Like (0)

Andersen, James 2/18/2015 1:23:52 AMNow I have a new outlook on Outlook. Reply |Like (1)

Trevor, Scott 2/18/2015 1:20:52 AMMy favorite feature is the "Ignore" option. It allows you to ignore all replies to a specific email thread. It landsall future replies to that thread in your deleted items folder. It's great for an email thread that get's out ofcontrol with replies you no longer care about. Reply |Like (2)

Mueller Espinosa, Vikki A 2/17/2015 9:59:45 PMI would love to know how to have Outlook prompt me to delete the original mail from my inbox as I amhitting the send button on a reply or forward. One of our old email systems did this. It helped keep theinbox much cleaner. Anybody know how to do this?Reply |Like (2)

Godin, Leo G 2/17/2015 9:17:49 PMLearn keyboard shortcuts! ctrl + (1, 2, 4) to switch between mail, calendar and tasks. ctrl + shift + m tocreate a new mail message ctrl + r to reply ctrl + shift + r to reply all And my favorite: ctrl + shift + v to movean email to a folder. Create a folder in your inbox named "current". When you process your emails in themorning, go through each email, if it needs attention, reply (see above), if it needs attention later, make it atask (drag to tasks in the right sidebar), if it needs delete (del), and if it is something you want to save forlater reference, move it to "current" (ctrl + shift + v). I used to process 100+ messages in a few minutes thisway, and I'd end up with a task list for the day. For ribbons, use alt, then select the letter corresponding tothe menu you want. Great for excel too (Alt + a, then T to filter/unfilter). I never liked the ribbons until Irealized you can access them with the keyboard and they show which keys to use once you press alt. Reply|Like (14)

Godin, Leo G 2/17/2015 9:37:56 PM



Let's try this again with line breaks. Learn keyboard shortcuts! ctrl + (1, 2, 4) to switch betweenmail, calendar and tasks. ctrl + shift + m to create a new mail message ctrl + r to reply ctrl + shift+ r to reply all And my favorite: ctrl + shift + v to move an email to a folder. Create a folder in yourinbox named "current". When you process your emails in the morning, go through each email, if itneeds attention, reply (see above), if it needs attention later, make it a task (drag to tasks in the rightsidebar), if it needs delete (del), and if it is something you want to save for later reference, move itto "current" (ctrl + shift + v). I used to process 100+ messages in a few minutes this way, and I'd endup with a task list for the day. For ribbons, use alt, then select the letter corresponding to themenu you want. Great for excel too (Alt + a, then T to filter/unfilter). I never liked the ribbons until Irealized you can access them with the keyboard and they show which keys to use once you pressaltReply |Like (2)

Qian, Linda L 2/17/2015 9:15:13 PMGreat tips! :)Reply |Like (0)

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