Course Description Managing your items is essential if you want Outlook to run as efficiently and effectively as possible. As with any filing system the longer you put off doing anything the larger the project becomes and more time consuming. There are several ways you can have Outlook manage your items for you. We will go over just a few. Objectives Folder List/Add Folders Categories Organize Instant Search and Advanced Find Filters Arrangements Rules and Alerts Permissions Personal Folders (Archive) Page 1
Folder List By default, Outlook gives you a folder for the Inbox and Sent Items but more can be added. You can create additional folders to store messages, appointments, contacts, etc. Create a New Folder 1. Click File. 2. Hover over New. 3. Choose Folder from the list. 4. In the Name box, enter the folder s name. 5. Identify the folder contents, such as mail items, contacts, appointments, etc. 6. Select the location for the folder. 7. Click OK. To move items to the folder, press and hold the item in the display window and drag the item to the correct folder, release the mouse. Right click on a folder and choose Add to Favorites Folder to place a shortcut to the folder under your Favorite Folders List. Categories A category is a keyword or phrase that helps you keep track of items so you can easily find, sort, filter, or group them. Use categories to keep track of different types of items that are related but stored in different folders. Outlook provides you with a basic list of categories; however, you can add as many as you wish to help manage your items! To add a Category to a message 1. Right click on the message. 2. Hover over Categorize. 3. Choose All Categories. 4. Check the box of each category which the message is a part of. If you want to add a new category, click New, enter in a category name, select a color and click OK. 5. Click OK. Some messages by default are grouped into categories by Outlook. The first one pertains to messages which are flagged For Follow Up, the second pertains to messages which are larger than 100 kb, and the last one pertains to Unread Mail messages. These categorized items appear in the corresponding Favorite Folders. Keep in mind that if something is deleted from one of these Favorite Folders, it is deleted in the original folder. Page 2
Organize Outlook makes it easy for you to organize the Inbox by using the Organize tool. Just click the Organize button from the Tools menu to see how this page enables you to create rules, change views, and manage junk e-mail messages. The following examples give you some ideas about how this feature can help you organize your e-mail messages. When you click Using Folders, you can create a new folder to store messages from your boss, and then set up a rule to automatically move all future messages from your boss into that folder. When you click Using Colors, you can create rules to color-code messages that meet criteria you specify. You can set up a rule so that all messages from your boss appear in blue text, making it easy for you to identify them. When you click Using Views, you can change the way you view your messages. When you don t want to show the Organize box anymore, you can click the x in the right corner of the Ways to Organize Inbox frame. Find & Advanced Find If you need to find a specific item in a specific folder, you can use either the Instant Search box or look under Tools to find the Advanced Find option. The Advanced Find option asks more specific questions and helps narrow the search a little more. To do an Advanced Find 1. Click Tools. 2. Hover over Instant Search. 3. Choose Advanced Find. 4. Fill in the Search for box. 5. Fill in the In: box. 6. Fill in the rest of the criteria. 7. Click Find Now. If you use the Browse button, you will get a dialog box to choose specific folders. Page 3
Filters A filter is an easy way to view only those items that you specify. You can filter all items from your co-worker or from a specific department. Or you can filter only those messages which reference university announcements or important system messages. This does not eliminate the rest of the items, only hides them briefly. All items can be displayed again by removing the filter. Applying a filter 1. Select the folder you wish to apply the filter to such as your Inbox or Sent Items. 2. Select View. 3. Hover over Current View. 4. Choose Customize Current View. 5. Click the Filter button. 6. Select the Filter choices. 7. Once the setup is complete, click OK. 8. Click OK on the Customize View: Messages dialog box. When a filter is applied the status bar displays the words Filter Applied. Removing a filter 1. Select the folder you wish to remove the filter from. Arrangements 2. Select View. 3. Hover over Current View. 4. Choose Customize Current View. 5. Click the Filter button. 6. Click the Clear All button. 7. Click OK. 8. Click OK on the Customize View: Messages dialog box. Outlook provides some filters for you to use. These filters are called Arrangements. There are quite a few ways in which you can view your items. Each arrangement can also be shown in groups. Choose an Arrangement 1. Select the folder you wish to apply the arrangement to. 2. Select View. 3. Hover over Arrange By. 4. Choose one of the sort options or choose Show in Groups. Page 4
Rules Wizard The Rules Wizard helps you manage your e-mail messages by using rules to automatically perform actions on messages. When you create a rule, Outlook automatically applies the rule to any incoming or outgoing message that meets its criteria. Listed below are a few examples: Forward all messages received from Sally Smith to your supervisor while you are out of the office. (The original message will remain in your Inbox for you to review when you return.) Move messages to a particular folder based on who sent them. Assign categories to your sent messages based on their content. You may also turn the rules off. This is helpful when you have a specific rule that only applies while you are out of the office, when you return, you can turn the rule off, but leave the rule in Outlook and turn it on when you are out of the office again. Two types of rules exist Server Rules these are received or processed by the Exchange Server. Client Rules these are applied to messages stored in your mailbox. How to Create a Rule 1. Click the Inbox (this is a must to be able to create a rule). 2. Select Tools. 3. Choose Rules and Alerts. 4. The Rules and Alerts dialog box will appear. 5. Click New Rule and follow the Rules Wizard prompts. Page 5
Following are screen prints of the various screens and options you will receive. The first screen will show you all the current rules you have previously created. Here you can see if a rule is a client rule or a server rule. This is also where you will turn a rule off or on as needed. You can create a new rule, modify a rule, copy and modify a rule, rename the rule(s) or delete the rule(s). The description of the rule is shown in the dialog box on the bottom of the screen. This next screen asks you what you want your rule to do! Depending on your response, the dialog will change in the Rule Description display. The dialog box will ask for specifics based on your response to the prior screen(s). Notice this is asking for people or distribution list and a specified folder. The box on the right will appear so you can list any exceptions to the rule, such as do not move the message if it is sent to PC Users. The finish box will appear for you to review the rule and make any changes if necessary. Page 6
Permissions Several users want to share their calendar, notes, or contact information with other users. You may change permission settings for any of your folders to allow others to view your information. The instructions below are for the calendar; however, they may be applied to any folder. Share Calendar 1. Click on the Calendar button. 2. Select Share My Calendar. 3. Click the To button to select as many users as you want. 4. Click OK. 5. Click Send. 6. The system gives you a message that asks if you want to give reviewer rights to the person(s) and click Yes. 7. The individual is notified via the e-mail message that you gave them access. 8. The user may open your calendar now. Another way to change the permissions on your calendar is to right click on it and choose Properties, select the Permissions tab and choose what each individual has access too. Owner Publishing Editor Editor Publishing Author Author Reviewer Contributor Custom None Create, read, modify, and delete all items and files and create subfolders. As folder owner, you may change the permission levels for others. Create, read, modify, and delete all items and files, and create subfolders. Create, read, modify, and delete all items and files. (No subfolders) Create and read items and files, create subfolders, and modify and delete items and files you create. Create and read items and files, and modify and delete items and files you create. Read items and files only. Create items and files only. The contents of the folder do not appear. Perform activities defined by the folder owner. Not open the folder; you have no permission. Verify your settings are correct so individuals who have permission to view your items can actually get to them! Click with your right mouse button on your mailbox folder, select Sharing, click the Permissions tab, and verify Folder visible is checked. Click OK. Page 7
Once another person shares their folder(s) with you, you can display it in your Outlook. Open another 1. Select File. User s folder 2. Hover over Open. 3. Click Other User s Folder. 4. Select the Name and the type of folder you are opening (Calendar, Notes, Inbox, etc.). 5. Click OK. If you are able to view the other person s mailbox, you will want to add it to your listing of mailboxes in the navigation pane. In order to create a shortcut in your favorite folders list, you will need to run through this process. To add a Mailbox to your Folder List 1. Select Tools. 2. Choose Account Settings. 3. Make sure Microsoft Exchange Server is selected. 4. Click the Change button. 5. Choose the More Settings button. 6. Select the Advanced tab. 7. Click the Add button, and type in the users name you wish to add to your folders list. 8. Click OK, then select Apply, repeat to add others. 9. Click OK when done adding. 10. Click Next. 11. Click Finish. 12. Choose Close. The user's Mailbox now appears on your all mail folders list. Double-click on their mailbox to expand the listing. You will only see the folders which the user has given you access to. Mailbox Size You have up to 100 MB of space in Outlook. Once this space is filled up, you will stop receiving e-mails, appointments, adding contacts and will not be able to send items. If the mailbox is getting close, a warning message from the system administrator will be generated advising you of your current size. It is good practice to not wait for this message but to periodically check your mailbox size. Check Mailbox Size 1. Select Tools. 2. Choose Mailbox Cleanup. 3. Click View Mailbox Size. 4. Click Close twice to get out of the dialog boxes. Page 8
Personal Folders (Archive) As you use Outlook 2007, your folders will eventually become filled with items you no longer need. Just as you clean your paper file folders or clean off your desk, you need to clean your Outlook 2007 files! This process is called Archive. If you need to review the archived items in the future, you can retrieve them simply by opening the archive folders and selecting the item you wish to review. There are two archive methods. First, using Outlook s AutoArchive feature and second, manually archiving each item. This is not an either/or situation you can use both depending on your individual situation. When you archive Outlook folder items, your existing folder structure is maintained. By doing this Outlook creates the same folder structure in the Archive Folder as in your Mailbox. Even if the folders are empty Outlook leaves them in place. Creating a Personal Folder on your M-drive allows you to keep important emails, attachments, notes, etc. at your fingertips to refer to at anytime. This process also removes them from the Exchange Server which frees up valuable space. Creating a Personal Folder 1. Select File. 2. Click Data File Management. 3. Choose the Data Files tab. 4. Click the Add Button. 5. Choose Office Outlook Personal File (.pst). 6. Click OK. 7. Locate the folder on your M-Drive where you want to place this file. It might be a good idea to create a folder called Outlook Archive or something similar and place this file in it. 8. Type Outlook Archive in the File Name. 9. Click OK. 10. Click OK. 11. Choose Close. Page 9
To change the default setting for your AutoArchive 1. Select Tools. 2. Click Options. 3. Click the Other tab. 4. Click the AutoArchive button. 5. A dialog box will appear on your screen. 6. Specify how often you want the AutoArchive process to run by entering the number of days. 7. Prompt before AutoArchive - if you want Outlook to prompt you before the Archive begins, check this box. 8. Delete expired items when AutoArchiving (e-mail folders only). This option allows any e-mail that was sent with an expiration to not be archived, but to be permanently deleted. 9. Default archive file - this tells Archive how old items should be to archive them and the location of your archive file. 10. Click OK twice when finished. Setting AutoArchive properties for a folder 1. Right-click the folder you want to AutoArchive, and then click Properties on the shortcut menu. 2. Click the AutoArchive tab. Enable automatic archiving of this folder by selecting Archive items in this folder using the default settings. OR Enable automatic archiving of this folder by selecting the Archive this folder using these settings: Specify when items should be automatically transferred to your archive file by entering a number. Specify a file for the archived items to be transferred to by clicking Move old items to. Select Permanently delete old items if you do not want any items archived, but you want to have Outlook to automatically delete items from your folders. You will need to repeat this procedure for each folder that you want to set up AutoArchiving for. The AutoArchive choices you select for a folder take effect the next time Outlook automatically archives the folder s items or when you manually archive them. Page 10
Manual Archive There are two ways to manually archive your items. If your Folder List is open, you may simply press and hold the item and drag it over to the correct folder in your Archive Folders and release. This moves the item(s) from your active folders to the archive folders. The other method is listed below. It is referred to as manual; however, the computer moves the items for you. 1. On the File menu, click Archive. To archive all folders, click Archive all folders according to their AutoArchive settings. OR To archive one folder only, click Archive this folder and all sub-folders, and then click the folder that contains the items you want to archive. 2. In the Archive items older than box, enter a date. Items dated before this date will be archived. (This is based on created date and not received date!) 3. In the Archive file box, type a file name for the archived items to be transferred to, or click Browse to select from a list. Retrieving Archived Folders Items The main reason you are archiving your items instead of deleting them is so you can read or refer to them later if you need them! The most common way to view your Archive folder(s) is to scroll down in your All Mail Items list and find your archive folder(s). 11 Page
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