The UsefulTechnology Blog: Outlook

New downloads for Outlook

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:28:51 GMT

Hot off the press this month, two new must have add-ons for Outlook:

Microsoft Office Outlook Connector 12.1 Beta (with added ooomph!)
With Microsoft Office Outlook Connector, you can use Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 or Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 to access and manage your Microsoft Windows Live Hotmail or Microsoft Office Live Mail accounts, including e-mail messages, contacts and calendars for free! [GET IT HERE]

Outlook 2007/2003/2002 Add-in: Personal Folders Backup (updated version)
The Personal Folders Backup download creates backup copies of your .PST files at regular intervals, in Outlook 2002 and later versions, making it easy to keep all of your Outlook folders safely backed up. [GET IT HERE]
For instructions on how to use the .PST backup tool see this page

Is RSS making Outlook run slow?

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 08:47:42 GMT

Following on from yesterday's post about shutting down (or rather not shutting down) Outlook, I'm reminded of these performance enhancing tips. If, when you look at the outlook.exe process in Task Manager (SHIFT+CTRL+Escape, then Processes tab), you see that the memory in use is very high (say, greater than 100,000KB) there may be things you can do to speed up Outlook:

If you have chosen to synchronise RSS feeds between Internet Explorer and Outlook, turn this off:
- In Outlook, choose Options from the Tools menu
- Click on the Others tab, then Advanced Options
- Clear the tick against 'Sync RSS Feeds to the Common Feed List' then click OK twice
You may have a massive Personal Storage File (.pst) so consider creating a new one to reduce the amount of data held in memory when using Outlook:
- Find out if your .pst is big by right-clicking on your .pst root folder (the topmost folder(s) in your Outlook folder list) then choose Properties, then click the Folder Size button.
- If your folder is bigger than, say, 500,000KB, consider starting a new one or splitting its contents over two or more .pst files.
- To create a new .pst file in Outlook, click File > New > Outlook Date File.
- Once created, simply drag 'n' drop items from one .pst folder to another.
- And, always remember to backup your .pst files to an external storage location like an external hard drive or USB memory stick!

It's a good idea to get into the habit of creating a new .pst every once in a while. How frequently depends on how much email you send and receive. I typically start a new .pst file annually, but may move to a six monthly regime to help keep my .pst file sizes down. I also delete all rules and recreate my folder structure from scratch each year as this encourages me to spring clean and unsubscribe from distribution lists that no longer interest me. Maybe a bit of spring cleaning is exactly what your Outlook world needs?!

Shutting down Outlook properly

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:30:25 GMT

Ever seen one of these messages?

If your computer reports that a data file did not close properly the last time you used Outlook the chances are you may have interrupted the normal shut down routine of your outlook.exe process. This could have happened for a multitude of reasons: maybe your laptop battery ran flat, or you had to force your PC to shut down in a hurry. But most likely, you simply closed Outlook then shut down your PC normally without giving Outlook enough time to finish its business.

It takes several seconds for the outlook.exe process to finish when you exit from Outlook. If you quickly also tell your PC to shut down, the outlook.exe process may be only partially closed when your PC switches off. The result: that nagging warning the next time you start Outlook.

Here's how to avoid this problem: Never close Outlook. Just leave it running. And when you next shutdown your computer Windows will carefully close down Outlook properly in the background before shutting itself down. If you must shut down Outlook, be sure to check that the outlook.exe process is no longer running in the Task Manager (SHIFT+CTRL+Escape, then Processes tab) before shutting down your PC.

So, for a pain free Outlook life, just ignore everything you ever learned about shutting down applications before shutting down your PC. Leave Outlook running, and leave the operating system to do the work for you. And, I promise, you'll never see that nagging message again.

Xobni now free to download

Tue, 06 May 2008 06:12:08 GMT

This just in from Xobni HQ:

Dear Xobni Beta User,
Today is an exciting day for Xobni. After seven months of invite-only beta, we're proud to announce that Xobni is now publicly available for anyone to download. Your feedback has been essential in helping us improve the performance and features of Xobni during this period.
If you are currently running Xobni, it will automatically update to the latest version. If you need to re-download Xobni, download it instantly here:
http://www.xobni.com/download
You can read more about Xobni's launch in today's New York Times by going here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/technology/05xobni.html
Of course we will continue to work hard to improve the Xobni experience. And we hope that you will continue to provide valuable feedback.
Please let your friends and colleagues know that a better Outlook email experience awaits them at http://www.xobni.com.
Thanks!
Matt Brezina
Cofounder

So, for all of you who were not lucky enough to secure a Beta trial, now's your chance!

Transferring your Outlook settings to Windows Vista

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:29:07 GMT

I received a handy reminder yesterday from Diane Poremsky's excellent Outlook Tips web site that it's best not to rely on the Windows Easy Transfer (WET) tool when moving your Outlook settings to a new Windows Vista computer. In fact, using WET can sometimes cause problems including a corrupt profile.

It's far safer, and quicker in my opinion, to take a backup of your important Outlook files and manually copy them over to the new computer. Diane has provided the locations of the major Outlook files that you should copy across on this page. By working this way you'll not only be in complete control of your Outlook files, you'll also benefit from taking a backup and learning about the different support files that make Outlook work just the way you like it.

Share your favourite RSS feeds in Outlook

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:34:40 GMT

If you read your RSS feeds in Outlook 2007 and, let's face it, why wouldn't you, you may be pleased to learn how easy it is to share a feed with a friend.

Simply right-click on any feed entry and choose Share this Feed:

Outlook will instantly create a new email for you complete with an embedded link to the RSS feed. Simply send to your intended recipient(s) and they'll see a little link like this in the email:

Now sit back smugly as they wonder how you learned such a clever trick.

Stop hitting 'Reply to All'

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 09:20:32 GMT

Are you a victim of an inadvertent 'Reply to All' gaffe? Don't worry, you're not alone. Every day, thousands of people unwittingly share their most intimate thoughts with complete strangers. And it's all thanks to that pesky 'Reply to All' button in Microsoft Outlook.

Thankfully, there is a cure. The NEW "UsefulTechnology Gaffe Destroyer™ (Patent-Pending)" solution works by reducing the temptation* to hit the 'Reply to All' button. Here's how it works:

Right-click on the Reply to All button in Microsoft Outlook and choose Customize
On the Commands tab, click Rearrange Commands
Select the Toolbar button and make sure Standard is selected in the drop down box
Highlight the Reply to All control and either:
1. For basic protection: click Modify Selection, change the name to 'Reply to Everyone' and change the button image to something less appealing like . Now click Close and your standard toolbar should look a bit like this . There, that's better already.
2. or for total protection: click Delete, then click Close.
Now learn the keyboard shortcuts for Reply and Reply to All:
- Reply to mail message: CTRL + R
- Reply to all to mail message: SHIFT + CTRL + R

Trust me, that extra little requirement to press the SHIFT key to invoke the 'Reply to All' command will completely eliminate future mistakes. By having to make a conscious decision to 'Reply to All' rather than simply clicking a button, you will regain control over your communications and permanently banish embarrassing declarations of love to your work colleagues. Give it a try. It really works!

* Willpower required. Always read the label.

Jump to your Inbox in Outlook

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:41:23 GMT

Here's a super time saver for Outlook. Whenever you need to go to your inbox (if you're like me that happens about 3,000 times a day) just hit:

SHIFT + CTRL + I

That's it! It works from any view in Outlook.

Adding jump links to your e-mails

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:06:51 GMT

If you write a long e-mail, sometimes it's a nice idea to add jump links to help people navigate to the content that's most relevant to them. Say, for example, you write an e-mail about the three things you did on holiday, you could add a jump link to take your reader straight to each of the three sections (eating, sleeping, and queuing at the airport). Think of it as an interactive list of contents, something that helps people find the bits they're most interested in.

Jump links look really impressive, but adding them is a piece of cake in Outlook. Keep in mind that this only works when you compose your e-mail in HTML or Rich Text; hyperlinks are not supported in plain text. Here's how:

First, compose your email (in HTML or Rich Text mode)
Now highlight the first point in your e-mail body copy where you would like to add a jump link (the place your reader will jump to)
Now select Insert > Bookmark, type a memorable name for your bookmark (no spaces!), then click Add
Repeat step 3 for each of the jump link destinations in your e-mail
Now, go to the top of your e-mail body and type your list of jump links
Highlight each jump link in turn and select Insert > Hyperlink, then click Place in this Document, then select the relevant Bookmark link and press OK. Repeat this step for each jump link.
Now test your hyperlinks by CTRL+Clicking on each in turn to see where the cursor jumps to. If all is well, send your e-mail and wait for the recipients to reply asking how you learned to do such clever links!

For more on adding hyperlinks to Outlook e-mails, click here.

Searching your .PSTs in Windows Vista

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 16:17:52 GMT

Here's an ace tip from Channel 10 that explains how to configure Windows Vista to automatically index all .pst (Outlook Personal Storage) files on your computer. This saves you having to open archived .pst files in Outlook every time you need to dig out an old email.

Follow the steps in the tip on Channel 10.

The only enhancement I'd suggest to this tip is that at step 5 you should do this "Quickly type pst on your keyboard to locate the pst entry, then check the checkbox next to pst to include it in the search".

Making this change does force Windows Vista to rebuild your search index and may slow down your PC for a while. Do this just before you can leave your PC idle (before lunch or at the end of the day) if you don't want to impact your productivity.

Speed Formatting

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 08:14:11 GMT

Regular users of Microsoft Word and Outlook will have discovered the Format Painter tool which looks like this . By selecting some text then clicking the button, you can apply the exact same formatting to other text in your document just by selecting it. Give it a try.
Advanced users will have spotted that by double-clicking on the Format Painter tool you can apply the formatting over and over again to different parts of your document. Just remember to press the ESC button when you've finished to restore normal cursor behaviour.
And super-advanced users may even know that using the SHIFT+CTRL+C keyboard shortcut will copy the formatting of your selected text allowing you to subsequently apply that formatting to any other highlighted text by pressing SHIFT+CTRL+V.

I find the keyboard shortcuts much more useful than the button because they allow me to copy the desired formatting then continue working on the document without losing the stored formatting style. I am then free to apply the stored formatting at any time I like simply by clicking SHIFT+CTRL+V. Very speedy indeed.

Quick Parts for Outlook 2007

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:00:11 GMT

If you find yourself inserting things like your address, maps, travel directions, disclaimers and your web site URL into emails over and over again, then Quick Parts could be your new friend.

Quick Parts are new to Outlook 2007 and Word 2007 and provide an easy way for you to quickly insert regularly used text into an e-mail or document. To get started you need to create your first Quick Part. Here's how:

In Outlook 2007, create a New Mail Message and click your cursor into the body of the e-mail editor (not in the To... or Cc... or Subject lines)
Now type/paste the Quick Part details you'd like to create. For example, type your home address and format it as you would like it to appear in future emails.
Now, highlight the text and click on the Insert tab, then the Quick Parts drop down then Save Selection to Quick Part Gallery (or, if you like keyboard shortcuts, simply hit Alt+F3)
Name your new Quick Part, something like 'Home Address', and click OK.
Now, whenever you wish to insert your home address, just click on the Quick Parts drop down under the Insert tab and select from the available quick parts. Easy!
Repeat steps 2-4 for every Quick Part you'd like to create.

Handy eh? Now you've discovered Quick Parts you'll never look back!

For more details visit this site.

Easy! Mail merge to e-mail

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:00:43 GMT

Surprisingly, before today I had never used mail merge to send a personalised e-mail. I say "surprisingly" because now that I've mastered the technique I can think of dozens of uses for this simple but very powerful tool.

Put simply, mail merging allows you to create customised communications (be they e-mails or ye olde printed letters & envelopes) containing personalised fields like the recipients name and address. The simplest way to create a mail merged e-mail is to open Microsoft Word then follow the guidance in the Help screens (press F1) under 'e-mail merge'. The basic steps you follow are:

Set up the e-mail message. The main document contains the text and graphics that are the same for each e-mail message. For example, your company logo or the body of the message.
Connect the e-mail message document to your address list. Your address list is the data source that Word uses in the mail merge. It is a file that contains the e-mail addresses where the messages will be sent.
Refine the list of recipients or items. Word generates a message for each e-mail address in address list. If you want to generate messages for only certain e-mail addresses in your address list, you can choose which addresses, or records, to include.
Add placeholders, called mail merge fields, to the e-mail message document. When you perform the mail merge, the mail merge fields are filled with information from your address list.
Preview and complete the merge. You can preview each message before you send the whole set.

To find out more, visit this tip or this Microsoft Knowledge Base article.

Why you'll love Xobni!

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:32:54 GMT

As an email addict, I think Xobni Insights for Outlook (Beta) is an amazing tool. I've been playing with it for a while now and I really like the fact that I can instantly read threaded conversations and zip around between senders and recipients.

Even better though are the analytics which let me instantly see how many emails I get from each recipient at each hour of the day, and a gazillion other interesting stats on top. Among the instant insights I got into my email behaviour are:

My boss only replies to around 1 in 10 of the emails I send her. Grrr!
The student intern in my team has never sent me an email between the hours of 12 and 1pm. (That's because he loves his food too much to leave the canteen at this time!)
My average email response time is around 12 hours, but rose as high as 22hours in December when I was insanely busy.
My worst ever email response time is 52 days!
My inbound email peaks at 11am each work day, while my outbound email peaks an hour earlier at 10am.
I send emails to around 200 unique contacts each month.
I still spend too much time dealing with emails.

I have two private beta invites remaining for this tool. If you'd like one contact me at Xobnisoundscool@usefultechnology.co.uk telling me why Xobni would help you. The two best emails received will get a Xobni invite and instant email happiness!

Fix performance problems with large PST files for Outlook 2007

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 15:59:32 GMT

I had a few queries recently about slow performance issues in Outlook 2007.

If this sounds like your day-to-day experience and you have a large PST (personal storage) file, then you might benefit from installing the patch at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/933493. This update can help eliminate poor performance while reading, moving, or deleting emails. If this doesn't help, there are more tips at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932086.

And while we're on the subject, a great place to start resolving any issue you encounter with any Microsoft software product is at http://support.microsoft.com. Type your query into the search box (e.g. Outlook 2007 Performance) and you'll gain instant access to loads of helpful Knowledge Base (KB) and Solution Center articles like these. As long as your hardware meets the minimum system requirements, there's no need for Outlook to ever run slow. If the advice at the Microsoft Help and Support site doesn't fix your problems, talk to your helpdesk, email administrator, or someone who can inspect your computer for any possible underlying issues.

Try Xobni Insight for Outlook

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:49:20 GMT

This looks interesting. Xobni (that's inbox backwards—geddit?!) is a new add-on for Microsoft Outlook that can help you manage your email. It features a new email search engine (especially handy if you're not yet using Outlook 2007 which has it's own built-in Search feature), a clever threaded conversation feature, phone number extraction, and some email analytics to help you understand how you and your contacts use Email.

Xobni currently runs on Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows XP, and Microsoft Vista with Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007. It also requires Microsoft's .Net Framework version 2.0 or higher. Macs, Lotus Notes and web mail clients are not yet supported.

You can sign up for the Xobni Beta here. Let me know what you think.

We're all 'To-Do' list addicts!

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 09:07:32 GMT

It will come as no surprise to you, my long-suffering reader, that our hectic lives mean we are increasingly reliant on 'to-do' lists to stay on top of things.

So says a new survey (subtitled "Statement of the blindingly obvious") from Microsoft and Kelton Research.

Apparently, U.S. citizens have the highest dependency on to-do lists with more than three-quarters currently managing at least one list. Some claim to manage three or more lists concurrently; surely an exercise in self-delusional inefficiency itself. Here in the UK, a mere 69% of people have a to-do list, while only 54% of the ultra-productive Japanese keep a record of their workload.

It's not just having a list of the things we should be doing that unites us; ignoring the list is also popular around the world. On average, the longest time an item remains on our to do lists is an impressive 26 days here in the UK. Italians only ignore tasks for 14 days, while Americans ponder for 22 days before crossing items off. I'm sure I have a long-ignored list somewhere that would make those stats look positively speedy.

Of course, Microsoft Outlook and a Windows Mobile device are my chosen weapons for ~~procrastination~~ productivity. You can find my tips for managing tasks in Outlook at my old blog here. In the meantime, if you have any suggestions on the best ways to unite lists and eliminate inaction, do let me know.

How to stop Outlook 2007 caching other people's calendars

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:26:00 GMT

Outlook users connected to an Exchange Server will appreciate this tip from Ewan that explains how you can stop Outlook from caching (i.e. storing on your computer) the content of other people's calendars. This tip could speed up your Outlook experience considerably as well as reducing any possible synchronisation problems you encounter.

Thanks Ewan!

The Electric Wand : Outlook 2007 caches other people's calendars

The right way to tell people you're OOF

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 12:00:25 GMT

With the festive season fast approaching now is a great time to let your work colleagues know when you'll be out of the office (OOF) over the holiday period.

Like most things in life, there's a right and a wrong way of doing this. Lots of people I know do it the wrong way. Here's what I consider the right way.

Firstly, tell your colleagues face-to-face, over the phone or by text. Use the most personal form of communication you know. After all, it's in your interests to let people know when you'll not be around so they can offer to help out if needed.
Now, and only now, turn to Microsoft Outlook and send your colleagues a 'meeting request' so they can see your work absence in their calendars. This is where most people go wrong, so pay attention now:
1. In Outlook, create a new meeting request (Ctrl+Shift+Q)
2. In the To... field enter all the names of the people you wish to notify
3. In the Subject field enter a sensible description in this format "[INFO] Allister Frost on holiday"
4. Leave the location field blank
5. Tick the All day event field, then select the start and end dates for your holiday period.
6. This is the important bit. In Outlook 2007, click the attendee responses button on the ribbon and:
  1. Deselect 'Request Responses' ('Allow New Time Proposals' will be automatically deselected for you)
  2. Set the 'Show time as' filed to 'Free'
  3. Set the 'Reminder' field to 'None'
  4. Set the 'Importance' field to 'Low'
    
    If you've done it right it should look like this:
7. Optionally add some extra body copy in your meeting request explaining how you may be contacted while away from the office or who will be deputising for you in your absence.
8. Press Send
9. Sit back and wait for sarcastic emails from your colleagues reminding you that you've already had 16 holidays this year or that it would be simpler for you to notify them when you're in the office, not out.

Congratulations! You have now created a user-friendly out of office notification in Outlook. You won't get emails back telling you that people have declined your holiday invitation, no-one will suggest an alternative time for your holiday, you won't trigger reminder alarms on your colleagues's computers 18 hours before the start of your holiday, and you won't clog up their calendars with irrelevant 'busy time'. And, most importantly, you won't annoy your colleagues every day you're away by having sent them a silly subject line like "I'm sunning myself on the beach, glad you're not here". And we can all be grateful for that!

Outlook Tasks - speed tips

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 15:29:38 GMT

Anyone who's read my blog for any length of time (1) has my sympathy and (2) will know that I'm a fan of tasks in Outlook. I've written extensively on the subject. Here's a selection of my favourites.

One aspect I've never shared publicly is how I create a subject line for my tasks. When I convert an email into a task (using the magical SHIFT+CTRL+V, T, Enter shortcut) the subject line is pre-populated with the subject line from my email. It's worth editing this is little bit or adding some simple abbreviations to make trawling through your tasks a little quicker. Here's my system:

If the subject line is clear, I make no change. No point wasting time here!
If the content of the email needs careful reading then to be filed, I type RDF (which stands for Read, Digest, File!) before the existing subject line
If the content needs reading then some response, I type R&R (read & respond)
If it just needs reading then deleting (maybe it's not worth keeping or I've already filed it) I type R&D
If the task calls for anything more complex I simply type what it is, e.g. "Book travel then notify team"

There's no right or wrong here but if you regularly create tasks from emails it's worth figuring out a shorthand code to make task creation quicker. Not only that but it also makes sorting through tasks easier. For example, if I'm tired I'll avoid an RDF as I need to be switched on enough to remember the content. If I've had a day away from the keyboard then wading through a few R&Rs gives my fingers some exercise and avoids my having to deal with these when I've been typing all day.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Tidy up those RSS feeds

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 10:38:44 GMT

I tend to read my RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds in Outlook 2007. For some reason I never got the hang of reading them in a web browser, even though this functionality has been included for some time in Internet Explorer 7. But one thing that bugs me is that subscribing to more than a handful of RSS feeds can quickly degenerate into a frustrating daily trawl through a lengthy list of feed names.

By default, Outlook adds new RSS feeds to the (predictably named) 'RSS Feeds' folder in Outlook. It doesn't attempt to structure the feeds in any way, other than sorting them alphabetically. Even if you assigned a feed to a specific feed folder, the only place you'll find this folder is in Internet Explorer, not in Outlook. To organise your RSS feeds in Outlook you have to manually create folders that replicate the structure in Internet Explorer. A bit of a bind I know but still well worth doing if you prefer to read RSS feeds in Outlook. Thankfully Outlook is at least smart enough to know that if you move a feed from one folder to another it should deliver future feeds to the new location.

Some tips:

Keep your RSS feed folder structure as simple as possible. The more folders you create the more you'll have to navigate through.
Try to prioritise your feeds into folders, maybe 'High' and 'Low' could help define a priority so you read the most important feeds first
If you have several folders, consider numbering them like '1-Work', '2-Personal', '3-Home' so they appear in a logical order
Rename long feed names to something simpler. E.g. 'BBC Sport | Sport Homepage | World Edition' becomes 'BBC Sport'

You can manage your RSS feed list in lots of ways. The simplest is to right click on a feed folder in Outlook and select Properties. Another neat way is through Tools>Account Settings then the RSS Feeds tab. Here you can edit feed names (although note their appearance won't change in Outlook), the folder where they land in Outlook and the frequency with which they update (handy if you're on a slow connection).

If, for whatever reason, your Outlook and Internet Explorer RSS feeds are not synchronised (i.e. showing the same RSS feeds) you can fix this by following these steps:

On the Tools menu, click Options.
On the Other tab, under General, click Advanced Options.
Under General settings, select the Sync RSS Feeds to the Common Feed List check box.

The RSS integration in Outlook 2007 is not yet perfect, but with a little jiggery-pokery you can quickly turn it into the streamlined communications hub that you deserve. Let me know how you get on!

NEW Live Search Maps Add-In for Microsoft Office Outlook

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 07:53:18 GMT

Lots of new stuff appeared earlier this week in Windows Live Maps. Check out Steve Lombardi's blog post here. Top things to check out include the all new GeoRSS publishing of collections, the ratings feature for businesses and the new Live Maps add-in for Outlook. Useful stuff!

Preview .pdf files directly in Outlook 2007

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 08:09:33 GMT

Yes! I love the way Outlook 2007 allows me to preview attachments without having to open them in their own window. This works briliiantly for common file formats like Microsoft Office Word, Excel and PowerPoint. But there's never been a previewer for Adobe Acrobat files (.pdfs). Until now...

Head over to Steve Clayton's blog for the full story and install the Foxit PDF Preview Handler today. It works a dream and is a real timesaver for anyone who receives lots of .pdfs by e-mail.

Move to Folder Magic!

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 11:33:26 GMT

Regular readers of this blog (and its predecessor on technet.com) will know my fondness for Microsoft Outlook’s SHIFT+CTRL+v keyboard shortcut which is a quick way to the ‘Move to Folder’ command. Using this cuts out a lot of mouse travel, allowing you to move any item in Outlook (an email, a task, a calendar appointment, a contact etc) to a different folder location. After the ‘Move to Folder’ dialog box appears you can type the first letter of the folder to quickly find it in the list. So to create a new Task from an email, simply highlight the email then press SHIFT+CTRL+v then t.

The trouble come when you have lots of folders, all starting with the same initial letter and you find yourself then scrolling around in the 'move to folder' windows trying to find the right folder. Don’t worry, help is at hand now! Microsoft Outlook 2007 is smart enough to understand multiple character inputs so you simply start typing the name of the folder and Outlook will hone in on the one you want. So, in the previous example, if you have multiple folders beginning with t, just press SHIFT+CTRL+v, then t, then a, then s, etc until you find the folder you need.

If you’re not yet running Outlook 2007, you can buy an add-on utility called ‘Speedfiler for Outlook’ from www.claritude.com to get this same functionality and a couple of extra features. It will set you back £11.50 / $19.95 / AU$28.50 but is a useful short term fix until you can upgrade to Microsoft Outlook 2007.

Sort your signatures in Outlook 2007

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 07:47:41 GMT

On my old TechNet blog I used to post lots of tips and tricks for Microsoft Outlook. Some of the most popular postings were about everything there is to know about using signatures in Outlook emails. Things are much simpler in Outlook 2007 with a new interface to help you manage your signatures and insert them into emails directly from the 'Insert' tab of the new ribbon toolbar at the top of each email.

One thing that hasn't changed is the way Outlook automatically creates 3 versions of each signature; one for each of the three supported email formats: HTML, RTF and TXT.

Confusingly, one thing that has changed, and has caught a few users out here at Microsoft, is the location of these signature files should you wish to edit them manually outside of Outlook. In Outlook 2007, email signatures are stored at this location:

[root]\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Signatures

If you've created a signature, particularly one with graphical content, you may wish to edit the TXT version of your signature by simply navigating to the folder location above and editing the [yoursignature].txt file in Notepad. Then test inside Microsoft Outlook by responding to a plain text email. Your plain text email buddies will thank you for it!

Did they read that email?

Fri, 22 Dec 2006 08:02:32 GMT

The ‘Read Receipt’ feature in Microsoft Outlook offers a simple way to track whether an email that you sent has been read or not. But it has its limitations, not least that the recipient has to agree to send the read receipt when prompted. If they refuse you’ll be none the wiser. That’s why the service offered by www.didtheyreadit.com caught my eye. After registering on this site you simply need to add ‘.didtheyreadit.com’ to the end of the email address you are sending to. Like this:

The recipient of your email won’t know that you’ve done this – they just receive, and hopefully read, the email as normal. When they do read the email you’ll get an email direct from the tracking computer at www.didtheyreadit.com that shows where and when the email was opened. The service is free for the first 10 email tracks that you do, after which a small fee is payable. Find out more at www.didtheyreadit.com.

Soapbox on MSN Video gadget

Tue, 19 Dec 2006 08:50:51 GMT

I've added a little gadget over there on the left which shows my Soapbox videos. Sadly this only includes a handful of 'blogcasts' that i recorded many moons ago back in my TechNet blog days. If you haven't yet discovered Soapbox, head over to http://soapbox.msn.com/ and have a play. It's a beta service at the moment but works remarkably well. It's like YouTube but with the added convenience of being linked to your Windows Live/MSN contacts which makes sharing those, er, private videos so much simpler! To find my blogcasts on Soapbox (which are all about productivity tips and tricks for Microsoft Outlook) simply search for 'usefultechnology' (all one word).

Useful Outlook gadgets for Windows Vista

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 21:07:59 GMT

There are some nice new Microsoft Outlook related gadgets now available for download from http://gallery.microsoft.com/home.aspx.

The first new addition is Outlook Upcoming Appointments. This gadget has been built by Microsoft and (I believe) currently only works for Windows Vista PC with language set to English US. It allows you to see the next three to five upcoming appointments in your Outlook 2007 calendar anywhere on your desktop.

The other new addition direct from Microsoft is Outlook Tasks which also only works in English US language. This handy gadget shows your tasks, flagged emails and flagged contacts on the desktop. As with all gadgets you can either dock these gadgets on the sidebar or float them anywhere on your desktop.

Useful stuff!