Use Search to Find E-Mail Messages

In Microsoft Office Outlook, e-mail search helps you locate messages by keyword or phrase. You can also use search folders to find mail by type of message.
To locate specific keywords or phrases within e-mail messages:
Type a word or phrase in the Search box at the top of your Outlook Inbox. The search starts automatically as soon as you stop typing. Search results will appear in the main window of your Inbox. To return to your normal Inbox, click Clear Search (the green ×) to the right of the Search box.
You can enable search folders from the mail pane on the left of your Inbox. To expand the folders tree, click Search Folders. Outlook comes with three default search folders: For Follow Up, Large Mail, and Unread Mail.
To add new search folders, click File, point to New, and then click Search Folder.
To build a custom search folder:

1. Click Search Folder, and then either click a predefined folder name, or scroll down and click Create a custom Search Folder.
2. Click Choose, give the new folder a name, and then click Criteria to fill in the search terms.

Categorizing Calendar Appointments

By using the Automatic Formatting feature in your Microsoft Office Outlook calendar, you can highlight different types of appointments by using different colors.

1. Right-click an appointment, and then click Automatic Formatting.
2. Use the Rules Wizard to display that meeting or person’s name in the color of your choice.

Finding E-Mail Messages Quickly

You can search for a specific e-mail message in Microsoft Office Outlook without expanding the Search box. Here’s what to do:
In the Outlook Search box, type your target. For example, to find a particular e-mail message from John Smith, type from:John Smith. This search request quickly lists e-mail messages from that person, but not messages that contain his name.
This tip also works for other criteria, such as folders. For example, searching for folder:expenses quickly lists only those folders that contain “expenses” as the subject.

Creating a Meeting Request by Using Fewer Clicks

You can quickly create a meeting request with one or more attendees by using the New Meeting Request With feature in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. Here’s how:
While viewing one or more colleagues’ calendars, right-click the desired time, click New Meeting Request With, and then select the recipients.

Rearrange the Outlook Window for Smaller Screens

You can create plenty of room on the screen in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, even with all of the new views in Outlook. Here’s how:
1. Click the chevrons at the top of the folder pane and the To-Do Bar. This will give you a clear view with summary bars for the folders on the left and for the To-Do Bar on the right.
2. Click Navigation Pane on the summary bar at left to get a pop-out view of the full navigation pane.
3. Click To-Do Bar on the summary bar at right for a similar pop-out. The resulting view has plenty of room for e-mail messages and the preview pane, even on a small laptop screen.

Avoid Constant Interruptions for Quiet Work Time

How many interruptions do you get every day? It’s nearly impossible to complete anything when you allow constant interruptions from the phone, people stopping by your office, and instant messaging.
In Microsoft Office Outlook, you can book yourself a recurring appointment for an hour a day to process e-mail, and mark the time as Busy. During this time, don’t answer the phone or permit interruptions, and work only on dealing with your Inbox.
At first, keeping these appointments will take discipline. But over time, it will become a habit. And after you get to zero e-mail in your Inbox, you’ll see the value of this one hour a day and stick to it.

See Tasks in the Calendar

In Microsoft Office Outlook, you can link tasks to calendar days to increase your productivity and provide a record of when tasks were completed. If you complete them on the designated day, they’re linked to that day to show a record of your work completed. If not, tasks roll over to the next day and continue to accumulate until completed. You can see a list of current tasks displayed below a specific day on the calendar. You can add your tasks to the list on any day you choose.

Using the To-Do Bar

You can organize your daily activities by using the new To-Do Bar in Microsoft Office Outlook. The To-Do Bar, located on the right side of your Outlook Inbox, brings together tasks, calendar information, and e-mail messages flagged for follow-up into one view. Now you don’t need to switch back and forth between your Inbox, diary, and task list.

Dragging Your Files to Outlook

When you select a file and drag it to Microsoft Office Outlook, the action that Outlook takes depends on which folder you place the file in. If you drag the file to the Tasks folder, Outlook will create a new task with your file attached. If you drag it to the Calendar folder, Outlook will create an appointment where you placed the file, and your file will be attached. If you drag it to the Mail folder, Outlook will create a new e-mail message with your file as an attachment.

Choose a Signature for Different Recipients in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007

If you want to use a different e-mail signature for different recipients (a different one for coworkers than for customers, for example), you can change your signature with two mouse clicks. Right-click your signature, and then click the other signature that you want to use.

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