OUTLOOK EXPRESS

1.Color-Code Meetings

You can use color codes in Microsoft Office Outlook to highlight key diary dates and additional activities, such as traveling. When you create a new appointment in the Outlook calendar, you can categorize it as an internal or external meeting so that you can easily see when you need to leave the office. On the Appointment tab, in the Options section, click Categorize, choose a color category, and rename it with a suitable label (like Needs Preparation or Travel Required).

For meetings already in your calendar:

1. Right-click, click Categorize, choose the color you want to use, and rename it with a suitable label. To rename all the color categories, right-click, click Categorize, and then click All Categories; or, in the Calendar view, click Edit, click Categorize, and then click All Categories.

2. Choose one of the existing color categories and rename it.

You can automatically color all appointments that meet a condition, much like setting up a message rule.

1. Click Edit, click Automatic Formatting, and then click Add.

2. Give the rule a name, choose a color, and then click Condition to choose which appointments will be color-coded.

2.Get the Right People in a Meeting from the Start

You can clearly indicate in a meeting request who is required for a meeting and who is only optional.

1. In the meeting request, click Invite Attendees and add all relevant names (including the conference room if applicable).

2. After the names have been resolved, click Scheduling.

3. For each name, determine Required or Optional status by clicking the small red arrow next to each name.

4. Indicate the conference room as a resource (and it will be automatically added as the meeting location).Also be sure to include the meeting agenda in the invitation, rather than in a separate e-mail message.

3.Choose a Signature for Different Recipients in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007

If you want to use a different e-mail signature for different recipients (a different one for coworkers than for customers, for example), you can change your signature with two mouse clicks. Right-click your signature, and then click the other signature that you want to use.

4.Dragging Your Files to Outlook

When you select a file and drag it to Microsoft Office Outlook, the action that Outlook takes depends on which folder you place the file in. If you drag the file to the Tasks folder, Outlook will create a new task with your file attached. If you drag it to the Calendar folder, Outlook will create an appointment where you placed the file, and your file will be attached. If you drag it to the Mail folder, Outlook will create a new e-mail message with your file as an attachment.

5.Using the To-Do Bar

You can organize your daily activities by using the new To-Do Bar in Microsoft Office Outlook. The To-Do Bar, located on the right side of your Outlook Inbox, brings together tasks, calendar information, and e-mail messages flagged for follow-up into one view. Now you don’t need to switch back and forth between your Inbox, diary, and task list.

6.See Tasks in the Calendar

In Microsoft Office Outlook, you can link tasks to calendar days to increase your productivity and provide a record of when tasks were completed. If you complete them on the designated day, they're linked to that day to show a record of your work completed. If not, tasks roll over to the next day and continue to accumulate until completed. You can see a list of current tasks displayed below a specific day on the calendar. You can add your tasks to the list on any day you choose.

7.Avoid Constant Interruptions for Quiet Work Time

How many interruptions do you get every day? It's nearly impossible to complete anything when you allow constant interruptions from the phone, people stopping by your office, and instant messaging.
In Microsoft Office Outlook, you can book yourself a recurring appointment for an hour a day to process e-mail, and mark the time as Busy. During this time, don't answer the phone or permit interruptions, and work only on dealing with your Inbox.
At first, keeping these appointments will take discipline. But over time, it will become a habit. And after you get to zero e-mail in your Inbox, you'll see the value of this one hour a day and stick to it.

8.Rearrange the Outlook Window for Smaller Screens

You can create plenty of room on the screen in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, even with all of the new views in Outlook. Here's how:1. Click the chevrons at the top of the folder pane and the To-Do Bar. This will give you a clear view with summary bars for the folders on the left and for the To-Do Bar on the right.2. Click Navigation Pane on the summary bar at left to get a pop-out view of the full navigation pane.3. Click To-Do Bar on the summary bar at right for a similar pop-out. The resulting view has plenty of room for e-mail messages and the preview pane, even on a small laptop screen.

9.Categorizing Calendar Appointments

By using the Automatic Formatting feature in your Microsoft Office Outlook calendar, you can highlight different types of appointments by using different colors.

1. Right-click an appointment, and then click Automatic Formatting.

2. Use the Rules Wizard to display that meeting or person's name in the color of your choice.
If you repeat this procedure for other types of appointments, you can build different categories within your Outlook calendar for easy recognition—for example, weekly team meetings, customer visits, and personal appointments.

10.Finding E-Mail Messages Quickly

You can search for a specific e-mail message in Microsoft Office Outlook without expanding the Search box. Here’s what to do:
In the Outlook Search box, type your target. For example, to find a particular e-mail message from John Smith, type from:John Smith. This search request quickly lists e-mail messages from that person, but not messages that contain his name.
This tip also works for other criteria, such as folders. For example, searching for folder:expenses quickly lists only those folders that contain "expenses" as the subject.

11.Creating a Meeting Request by Using Fewer Clicks

You can quickly create a meeting request with one or more attendees by using the New Meeting Request With feature in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. Here’s how:While viewing one or more colleagues' calendars, right-click the desired time, click New Meeting Request With, and then select the recipients.

12.Delete a Meeting Without Notifying Invitees

If you have set up a meeting, and your attendees have declined to come, it's obviously an irritation for them to then receive an e-mail message confirming the cancellation of the meeting. Instead, you can delete the meeting without sending a notification.

1. Right-click the meeting, and then click Delete.

2. In the notification e-mail message, delete all the addresses from the To field, and type your own e-mail address instead.

3. Click Send.

13.Manage Meeting Resources

Here’s how Microsoft Office Outlook can help you schedule resources and plan meetings within a group.
1. Create a group schedule.a. Go to Calendar view in Outlook, and on the Actions tab, click View Group Schedules.b. In the Group Schedules dialog box, click New, and then type the name of your schedule.c. Click OK.
2. Add all the resources you need to the Group Members column (for example, all the conference rooms in your building). You will see the free/busy information for all the resources in one view. You can use the same technique to book other resources, like audio/video equipment.
3. Plan your meeting.a. By using the Group Schedule view, find the appropriate resources that are free for your time slot.b. Click the Make Meeting button, and then click New Meeting as Resource.
4. A meeting request form appears, prefilled with the time booking information and the resource allocation. Just fill in the rest of the meeting details, and then click Send. The resources you requested will be booked automatically for you.

14.Easier Access to Centralized Calendars

1. Connect team members’ calendars via Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. Browse your team calendar within your company's SharePoint portal and select a detailed view of it from Select a View.2. Click the Link to Outlook button to integrate your team calendar into Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. Your team appointments will be displayed within your personal calendar—with additional direct access to edit the central SharePoint calendar from Outlook.