An e-mail program does not need to be able to do much: receive messages and send messages. But whoever takes the trouble to look a little further, soon discovers that there are a lot of functions that allow you to email much more efficiently. We provide ten super tips for Outlook.
We look at various useful features of Outlook that may not be that striking, but that ensure that you can e-mail faster and easier. That ranges from the layout of your e-mails to the quick e-mail to multiple contacts. We work with Microsoft Outlook 2016/365.
01 Stationery
Making your e-mail messages more attractive seems like a good start. Open Outlook, go to the tab Start and choose in at New the option New items / E-mail message with / With letter paper. You can now choose stationery or select a theme and this with OK to confirm. Don’t overdo it, there are quite a few old-fashioned-looking themes in this package. If you want to set this theme for all messages from now on, go to File and choose Options / E-mail. Bee Compose messages in this format select you HTML, after which you Stationery and fonts select. Then open the tab Personal e-mail paper, press the button Theme and choose a suitable layout.
Do you prefer to make your own stationery? Then start a new message and add one or more images. Right click on such a picture and choose Text wrapping / Behind text if you want to move that backwards. Add a background via the tab Options, where you Page color / Fill effects and on the tab Image the option Select image click on.
To get your design in the list of letterheads, open the tab File and choose you Save as. Select here HTML (* .htm; * .html) and choose as the target location C: Users
02 Signature
You can place a “signature” under your e-mail messages, just like in many other e-mail clients. You can also put an image there in Outlook. You do that as follows. Create a new e-mail and click Signature / Signatures. The window Signatures and e-mail paper appears. Make sure the tab Email signature is open and press New. Give your signature a handy name and enter the corresponding text in the bottom panel. Just above that panel you will find the options to specify your signature layout (font, alignment and more). With the second-to-last button you can add an image that is on your computer to your signature. Make sure that you do not choose a picture that is too large, then your emails will become unnecessarily “heavy”. Confirm with OK.
Via the button Signature you can place your signature yourself when creating an e-mail. It is also possible automatically: open the Signatures and e-mail paper window again. Right on the tab Email signature first choose the e-mail account. Underneath you select the signature that you have with New messages want to enter and / or at Answers and forwarded messages.
03 Linked plate
Do you want an image in your signature that changes automatically when you change the corresponding image? Which can. You then have to ensure that the image is available somewhere online. Instead of including the image in the signature, you include a link to the image. You do this in almost the same way as described in tip 2. When choosing the image you do not browse to a location on your computer, but you enter the url to that image, including http (s): //, for example: http://www.mijnsite.nl/mijnplaat.jpg. Do not click Insert but on the arrow right next to this button, where you then Link to file select. You will see: if you change the picture online, the recipients will see the adjusted picture when opening the message (again). Given that this is external content, they will first be used up Click here to download images / Download images must click before they see the image.
04 Profiles
If different family members register on a PC with the same Windows account, it can be useful if each family member only sees the mail folders from his / her own account in Outlook. To get that done, make sure that every family member has their own mail user profile. Press the Windows key, type configuration and start Control Panel on. Select at View for a bit Large icons. Then click E-mail or Mail (Outlook 2016) On. The window Email configuration pops up where you put the button Show profiles pressed. On the tab General you press Add and enter the settings of the intended e-mail account. Bee Use this profile when starting Microsoft Outlook then choose Specify profile to open. Confirm with OK. If you now start Outlook, you will always be asked with which profile you want to open the mail program.
05 Answer
It is possible to set an automatic answer in Outlook. That is fairly simple, but if you work with a pop or imap account in Outlook, it is a bit more difficult to set up an automatic answer function. A bit trickier, but not impossible. First prepare the e-mail text for your automatic reply and save it via File / Save as / Outlook template (* .oft) at the location C: Users
Close the message, open the tab Start and choose Manage Rules / Rules and Alerts. Click here New rule and select at the bottom Start with an empty line the item Apply rule to messages I receive. Press Next one and place a check mark via the account name folder. Then click on folder name in the bottom panel and select the desired account. Confirm with OK. Press again Next one and place a checkmark reply to the message with a specific template. Then click on one in the bottom panel specific template. A new window pops up with you Search in the option User templates in file system and refers to the saved .t file. Confirm with To open and with Next one (2x). Give your rule a suitable name and finish with Complete. A disadvantage is that Outlook must be active to be able to forward the automatic response as soon as you receive a message.
06 Distribution lists
If you regularly mail to the same group of people, then it is useful if you compile a distribution list: you only have to enter the name of this group in the To or (b) cc field to e-mail everyone immediately. Go to Start and choose New items / More items / Group contacts. A new window will open where you click the button Add members press. Then indicate how you want to add members: From Outlook contacts, From address book or do you want one New e-mail contacts to create?
Select the desired people – hold the Shift or Ctrl key for multiple selections – and press Members / OK. If you have added all desired persons, make sure you enter a clear list name in the field above the names and confirm with Save and Close. From now on you only have to enter the (initial letters of) that list name in the To or (b) cc field, and Outlook takes care of the rest.
07 Procrastination
You want to send someone an e-mail, but still wait a while (for example, until you know the time that the person comes home). You can then make it clear to Outlook that you want to send a message later. Prepare the message, but do not send it yet. Instead, open the tab Options and choose in the section More options in front of Postpone delivery. In the window that appears, you can access Delivery options indicate precisely when you want the message sent, for example Do not deliver before 25/03/2019, 11.15 p.m.. Also place a checkmark Save copy of sent message; afterwards you give that more certainty that the shipment has been (properly) carried out. Confirm with Close and then click To send in your email. The message will stay in your Outbox until the big moment arrives. Of course your PC and Outlook must be active at that time!
08 Search folders
To search for specific messages, you may use the search bar above the list of emails. If you regularly use the same search terms, then you better create a search folder for this. Outlook then saves your search terms in a folder and automatically adds a copy of all new messages that meet those search criteria. You do that as follows.
Scroll down until you in the folder window Search folders come across. Right click on it and click New search folder. A window appears with a number of predefined search criteria, such as Email from specific people and Email with attachments. At the bottom you can also determine your own criteria: click below Adjusted on Create a custom search folder and then on Select. In the new window you can choose from a variety of criteria, whether or not combined, via Conditions. Confirm with OK and enter via the button Leaves which mail folders should be searched. Make sure you give your search folder a recognizable name and finish with OK (2x). If all goes well, all corresponding emails will appear in your search folder, both messages that have already been received and new ones.
09 Fast help
Outlook has a few functions that are especially useful for tasks that occur again and again. For example, if you use the same text (parts) more often, you do not have to type it in again each time. Prepare your message and select the relevant part of the text with the mouse. Open the tab Insert and click Fast parts in the section Text. Choose Save selection in the Quick Parts Gallery and confirm with OK. From now on you will find your text part nicely via Fast parts.
Or how about the position Quick steps, which can help you, for example, when you often send emails to a friend or colleague. Open the Start tab and click the arrow at Quick Steps. Press on the button New and choose from one of the presets or select Adjusted. In the drop-down menu at Choose an action then choose one or more steps that you want to have done when selecting your “quick step”. You can also link one here Hotkey On. Confirm with Complete and with OK. Test your quick step.
10 Archiving
If your inbox has since become a repository of e-mails that keeps on growing, but you are reluctant to really delete messages, then there is another handy way to go: archiving. Depending on your Outlook version and account type, you will find the mail folder for this as standard Archive back. You move a message / message selection to this folder by dragging it. It is also possible via the Backspace key or by clicking on the tab Start the button To archive in the press. Through File / Utilities / Archive folder you can also choose a different folder.
If you want more flexibility, we recommend that you use the free MailStore Home tool here finds. This tool can also handle various mail programs and services. In a nutshell, it works as follows for Outlook. After the (portable or non-portable) installation you start the tool. Click on in the left panel Archive emails. Bee Email clients choose you Microsoft Outlook and then select your Outlook profile or a .pst file. Next, indicate the desired folders and submit Filter which messages you want to archive, for example Only archive messages that are older than 3 months. Via the lower button with the dots you make clear whether archived messages can be deleted from Outlook. Press To end and on OK and then on Run: the archiving starts. From the left panel, at Personal archive, you can easily navigate through your archive.
