Tips for Microsoft Outlook 2002 and Higher

Create Outlook e-mail templates

You can create and use templates in Outlook to reduce the amount of time you spend typing repetitive message text. Templates are also handy for generating automatic replies.

To create an e-mail template, open a new e-mail message and type in any information that you are likely to use repeatedly (e.g., Subject, CC or BCC addresses, and body copy, etc.). When you're done, choose File, Save As. Select Outlook Template (*.oft) from the Save As Type list. and type the name for the template.

To use your custom template, from the Tools menu, click Forms, and then click Choose Form. Click the Look in box, and select User Templates in the File System from the drop-down list. Select your template, and then click Open. If necessary, personalize the message and click Send.

  To create a custom colored label:

1. Click the Calendar folder and alternate-click an appointment or meeting.
2. Choose Label from the shortcut menu, and then click Edit Labels.
3. Pick the color you want to rename, type in a new label name, and click OK.

Turn Off AutoComplete E-Mail Address As You Type

At first glance, the AutoComplete option in Outlook 2002 and higher looks like a useful feature. If Outlook recognizes a name that you are typing in a recipient box (To, cc, bcc), it attempts to complete the address for you. Most of the time this feature works well, however, it can be dangerous if the wrong name is filled in and you don't notice before clicking Send. The following steps walk you through the process of turning this feature off.

1. Open Outlook.
2. From the Tools menu, choose Options|Preferences.
3. Click the E-Mail Options button.
4. Click Advanced E-Mail Options and uncheck the option to Suggest Names While Completing To, Cc, Bcc Fields.
5. Click OK.

Delay Sending of Messages

To create a delay in sending all messages, add the following rule:

1. From the Tools menu, choose Rules and Alerts.
2. Click New Rule.
3. Select Start From a Blank Rule and in Step 1, choose Check Messages After Sending. Click Next twice.
4. Check the box next to Defer Delivery by a Number of Minutes. In the section below, specify how long the message should be delayed after sending.
5. Click Finish. When any message is sent from you, it will be delayed by the specified number of minutes.

Turn off Default Reminder for Appointments

1. From the Tools menu, choose Options.
2. On the Preferences tab, under Reminder, uncheck Default.
3. Click OK. When you create new apointments, the reminder will be off by default.

Remove More Metadata From Attached Documents

1. From the Tools menu, choose Options.
2. On the Preferences tab, click E-mail Options.
3. Click Advanced E-mail Options.
4. Uncheck Add Properties to Enable Reply with Changes.
5. Click OK.

List Full Path of All Folders

Note: This assumes some knowledge of using the VBA Editor and you understand the risks involved in changing the Security settings in Outlook.
Note: Requires Outlook 2000 or higher

1. In Outlook, Go to Tools|Macro|Security.
2. Change Security to no higher than Medium. (Note: You are doing this at your own risk)
3. From the Tools menu choose Macro|Visual Basic Editor.
4. Once the Editor opens, from the Insert menu choose Module.
5. Copy the following Code into the module:

   Sub ListAllFoldersPlaceInMailItem()

      Dim oNameSpace As Outlook.NameSpace
      Dim oFolder As Outlook.MAPIFolder
      Dim oFolders As Folders
      Dim strFolderList As String
      Dim oMailItem As MailItem
      Set oNameSpace = Application.GetNamespace("MAPI")
      Set oFolders = oNameSpace.Folders
      Set oFolder = oFolders.GetFirst
      Do While Not oFolder Is Nothing
           strFolderList = strFolderList & oFolder.FolderPath & vbCr
           strFolderList = strFolderList & ListAllSubFolders(oFolder)
           Set oFolder = oFolders.GetNext
      Loop
      Set oMailItem = Application.CreateItem(olMailItem)
      oMailItem.Body = strFolderList
      oMailItem.Display
   End Sub
   

   Function ListAllSubFolders(oParentFolder As MAPIFolder) As String

      Dim oFolders As Outlook.Folders
      Dim oFolder As Outlook.MAPIFolder
      Dim strFolderList As String
      On Error GoTo ExitFunction
      Set oFolders = oParentFolder.Folders
      Set oFolder = oFolders.GetFirst
      Do While Not oFolder Is Nothing
           strFolderList = strFolderList & oFolder.FolderPath & vbCr
           strFolderList = strFolderList & ListAllSubFolders(oFolder)
           Set oFolder = oFolders.GetNext
      Loop
    ExitFunction:
       ListAllSubFolders = strFolderList
   End Function

6. Save the macro and switch back to Outlook.
7. From the Tools menu choose Macro|Macros. Select ListAllFoldersPlaceInMailItem from the list of available macros and click Run.
8. Depending on how complex your folder structure is, it could take a while.
9. When complete, a new mail item will contain the results of the macro in the body of the message.