Outlook Tips : A fortnight ago, we shared ten suggestions to help you become more productive during the day. But let’s be honest: the majority of today’s professionals begin and end their workdays using Microsoft Outlook, the industry standard for corporate email, calendars, and contact management. Since Outlook is used by hundreds of millions of people all over the world (the overall number of users for the Microsoft Office suite in the entire world is 1.1 billion), there are millions of various methods to make the application operate quicker. In the following section, we have included ten of our preferred tips and techniques for maximizing productivity and enhancing the efficiency with which this important tool is used. (Microsoft Office 2019)
1. Create folders to store your incoming and outgoing emails.
If you want to make more efficient use of email, starting here is the most logical place to start. But it’s also the one that might be the most intimidating, especially if your inbox is already stuffed to the brim with messages. In spite of this, it makes the most sense to organize your emails into a folder structure that is user-friendly and simple to traverse. This way, you won’t have to spend hours looking for an old email amid hundreds of others. In addition, having a folder structure that is simple to traverse will encourage you to deal with each incoming email as soon as it arrives rather than continually putting it off until a later time.(Outlook Tips)
2. Make use of the simple email templates that are available in Outlook.
If you notice that you are always writing the same sort of message, you should save one of the emails as a template so that you may quickly refer to it in the future. When you are ready to utilize the pre-saved form, navigate to File > Save As… > Outlook template. When you are ready to use the form, navigate to Items > Choose Form… > User Templates.
3. Save essential emails, calendar events, and notes as files on your desktop.
Not only does this assist to organize your inbox, but it also makes it possible for you to access important messages and events in an even more timely manner. You may easily save an email, calendar entry, or other type of note to your desktop or into a folder by dragging and dropping it there, or you can use the menu option “File” > “Save As” to save it in a specified file format. After that, when you are ready to view it, double click on it, and Outlook will open up to display it instantly.
4. Establish a delivery time for an email.
Do you want to write a message right now, but not send it till later? Outlook makes it easy. After composing your message, select Options > Delay Delivery > Do not send before from the drop-down menu, and then enter the time and date that you want it to be sent. The ideal setting for putting together a few well-timed replies before boarding a plane or beginning an afternoon of meetings.(Microsoft Office 2019)
5. Present e-mails in the form of discussions.
Because it displays all of the associated messages in a single conversation view, this feature helps to make those lengthy email threads a bit easier to process. To enable it, simply go to the View menu and select the option to Display Conversations.
outlook tips6. Embrace the web-based future of Microsoft Outlook.
Outlook 2013, Office 365, and other newer versions of the application move a significant portion of the email, calendar, and contact infrastructure to a web-based interface, making it available from any device. This makes it easier to collaborate with other people. Even sending brief notes amongst coworkers is made simple with the Microsoft Send email software for smartphones. The app also enters all of the interactions into your Microsoft Outlook history, making it simple to archive and view the information later. (Outlook Tips)
7. When creating a calendar event, rely on language that seem natural.
Simply enter a phrase into the date field, such as “next Saturday” or “two weeks from now,” and let Outlook do the rest of the work for you. This saves you the time of having to navigate through the calendar to find a certain day for an appointment or meeting.
8. Prevent certain senders’ emails from reaching your inbox.
Even while genuine anti-spam protection is most effectively implemented by a reliable IT consultant, there are certain things you can do to filter junk email. After selecting Home > Junk email options from the drop-down menu, a new window will emerge where you may specify the senders and even countries whose emails you wish to have blocked as spam.
9. When you need a fast reminder, rely on post-it notes.
You may make a new note in Outlook by pressing Ctrl + Shift + N from anywhere in the Outlook interface. This note can then be dragged and dropped to any location on your screen. This is wonderful for doing fast chores that do not require you to manually put them into your calendar.(Outlook Tips)
10. Make sure that you are only aware of the most important messages by adjusting your desktop notifications.
There is a good risk that you will become sidetracked if a notice appears every time a new message is sent to your inbox. But you don’t want to overlook vital emails, so turn off desktop alerts by going to File > Options > Mail Options. Next, establish a bespoke rule that will only show notifications for emails sent to you by particular contacts.