Microsoft Outlook Tips #3



*1.  WHY SO BOLD?

March 1st, 1999

A reader, K. Leichtman, writes, "Some of my folder titles 
appear highlighted in bold type. Is there a setting somewhere 
that determines whether a title appears in bold or not?" 

A boldface folder title indicates that the folder contains 
messages that haven't been marked as read. (The number of 
unread messages appears in parentheses next to the folder 
title.) To remove the boldface from the title, either read the 
messages or mark all items as read, like this: 

- 1. Switch to the folder with the boldfaced title. 
- 2. Choose Edit + Mark All as Read. 
  

*2.   READ MINE FIRST

March 2nd, 1999

Ever gotten a message with a little red exclamation point in 
the far left column of your message list? Makes you look, 
right? It's supposed to. The red exclamation point means the 
message is urgent. 

You, too, can have that power over your recipients, because 
you, too, can mark any new message as urgent. 

- 1. Click the Compose Message button. 
- 2. Address and compose your message as usual. 
- 3. Choose Tools + Set Priority + High. 
- 4. Click Send. 

Tip-in-a-tip: Don't mark every message as urgent. If you do, 
you'll eventually get a reputation as an alarmist, and then 
people may stop reading your messages altogether. 
 

*3.   C-S-V SPELLS SAFETY--PART 1 OF 2

March 3rd, 1999

A reader, S., writes, "I lost everything on my computer. I had 
my Address Book on floppies, and now I want to put it back into 
my Outlook Express Address Book. Can I copy this information 
from the floppy, or will I have to retype everything?" 

Ouch. Sounds like a fiasco! In any case, as long as you saved 
your Outlook Express Address Book in a *.csv (Comma Separated 
Values) format, you're all set. In today's tip, we show you how 
to export all the information in your Address Book to a *.csv 
file so that you're protected in the event of disaster. 

- 1. Choose File + Export + Address Book. The Address Book 
     Export Tool launches. 
- 2. Select Text File (Comma Separated Values) and then click 
     Export. The CSV Export menu launches. 
- 3. Click Browse, navigate your way to the destination of the 
     *.csv file (such as your floppy drive with a floppy disk 
     in it), type a name for the file, and click Save. 
- 4. Click Next and select all the fields you want to export 
     (for example, First Name and Home Phone). 
- 5. Click Finish to close the CSV Export menu. 
- 6. You see the message "Address book export has completed 
     successfully." Click OK. 
- 7. Click Close to dismiss the Address Book Export Tool. 

You're all set. Just be sure to keep that floppy in a safe 
place. In our next tip, we explain how to restore this 
information to your Address Book. 
  

*4.   C-S-V SPELLS SAFETY--PART 2 OF 2

March 4th, 1999

In our last tip, we showed you how to export your Outlook 
Express Address Book to a *.csv file so that you have it on 
hand in the event of a disaster: Choose File + Export + Address 
Book, select Text File (Comma Separated Values), click Export, 
type the destination path (or click Browse, and so on), click 
Next, select the fields to export, and click Finish. 

Assuming you placed this file on a floppy disk, here's how to 
restore it to Outlook Express: 

- 1. Open Outlook Express and choose File + Import + Address 
     Book. The Address Book Import Tool launches. 
- 2. Select Text File (Comma Separated Values) and then click 
     Import. The CSV Import menu launches. 
- 3. Click Browse, navigate your way to the *.csv file (such as 
     your floppy drive), select the file, and click Open. 
- 4. Click Next. 
- 5. The CSV Import menu tells you to "Map the fields you wish 
     to import." You probably won't need to change these 
     settings, so click Finish. 
- 6. Click OK when you see the message "Address book import 
     has completed successfully." 
- 7. Click Close to dismiss the Address Book Import Tool. 
  

*5.   A PLACE FOR PAPER--PART 1 OF 2

March 5th, 1999

Have you ever needed the phone number of one of your Outlook 
Express contacts when your computer was off? When that happens, 
wouldn't you like to have a good old-fashioned, printed list of 
these numbers?

Here's how to make a hard copy:

- 1. Click the Address Book button (or press Ctrl + Shift + B). 
- 2. Choose File + Print. 
- 3. Under Print range, select All. 
- 4. Under Print Style, select Phone List. 
- 5. Click OK. 

The result is an alphabetized list of all your contacts, 
complete with home and business numbers (including faxes, 
pagers, and cellular numbers). You'll never have to wait for 
that system to boot again--at least not for a phone number! 
 

*6.   A PLACE FOR PAPER--PART 2 OF 2

March 8th, 1999

In our last tip, we showed you how to print a phone list for 
all your Address Book entries: Open the Address Book and choose 
File + Print; under Print range, select All; under Print Style, 
select Phone List; and then click OK. If you want a bit more 
information on that list, such as company names, e-mail 
addresses, and so on, follow these steps:

- 1. Click the Address Book button (or press Ctrl + Shift + B).
- 2. Choose File + Print. 
- 3. Under Print range, select All. 
- 4. Under Print Style, select Business Card. 
- 5. Click OK. 

While you're at it, print a couple extra copies to keep at home 
and in your briefcase. (Note: If you choose Memo under Print 
Style, Outlook Express prints every bit of information you've 
typed into every contact's Properties dialog box.) 
  

*7.   Featured Tip - Keeping Contacts Handy

In TNPC #2.3 I waxed philosophical about how dependent we have 
become on our computers and how devastating it can be when they 
stop working. Particularly troublesome would be finding 
important phone numbers because even though I backup all 80Mb 
of my Outlook PST file it would be tough to get it restored and 
operational again in a hurry if anything serious went wrong. 
TNPCer Mike B. sent me this great Low Tech solution: "Export 
your Contacts from Outlook to a .CSV file. Put the file on a 
bootable MS-DOS diskette along with the DOS FIND.COM program. 
In case of a hard disk crash or catastrophic operating system 
failure, boot the floppy and use FIND to get your contact data. 
I exported about 500 Contacts (many with lots of text notes) 
and they only took up 150Kb, so you should be able to get 
several thousand on one floppy." Hats off to Mike B. for this 
handy Low Tech tip that I suspect would work with contact lists 
other than Outlook's. If your data can be exported to a .CSV 
format, you're in business.


*8.   TRY THIS START-UP PAGE ON FOR SIZE

March 9th, 1999

In a previous tip, we showed you how to go directly to your 
Inbox folder at start-up (a great option for those of you who 
want to read your new messages first thing). But if you miss 
the more global Outlook Express folder, complete with links to 
mail, news, your Address Book, and so on, take heart. It's 
still there, right where you left it. Click any folder and then 
press the Backspace key on your keyboard; up you go. From 
there, just click any of the six links to start the task you 
want. (Note: If you're in a subfolder, you have to press 
Backspace until you reach the Outlook Express folder.) 

(Tip-in-a-tip: If you miss this folder so much that you'd 
prefer to go directly there at start-up, Outlook Express is 
happy to oblige. Inside the Outlook Express folder, scroll down 
and deselect When Starting, Go Directly to My 'Inbox' Folder.) 
  

*9.   THIS SEND BUTTON REALLY SENDS YOU MESSAGES

March 10th, 1999

When you click the Send button after composing a message, 
Outlook Express doesn't actually send the message. Instead, it 
moves the message to your Outbox, where the message sits until 
you manually click the Send and Receive button or until Outlook 
Express automatically checks for new messages (based on the 
interval you specified on the General tab of the Options dialog 
box). If you prefer--and if you're sure that you don't need a 
safety net--you can make Outlook Express send your messages 
immediately, as soon as you click Send: 

- 1. Choose Tools + Options. 
- 2. Click the Send tab. 
- 3. Select Send Messages Immediately. 
- 4. Click OK. 

-From now on--and as long as you're online--clicking Send sends 
your messages immediately. No having to click Send and Receive 
and no looking back. 
  

*10.   LOOKING FOR MAIL IN ALL THE RIGHT PLACES--PART 1 OF 3

March 11th, 1999

Did you just acquire another e-mail account (for example, you 
already have a work account and just subscribed to a new mail 
service)? Outlook Express can handle the job. Enter all the 
information for the new account, just as you did the first time 
around, and Outlook Express sends and receives e-mail through 
both servers. 

- 1. Choose Tools + Accounts. 
- 2. On the Mail tab, click the Add button; then, in the pop-up 
     list, choose Mail. 
- 3. Follow the Internet Connection Wizard, entering all 
     necessary account information (e-mail address, server 
     names, and so on). 
- 4. When the new account appears in the Internet Accounts 
     dialog box, click Close. 

-From now on, whenever you click Send and Receive (or whenever 
Outlook Express automatically sends and receives messages, as 
defined on the General tab of the Tools + Options dialog box), 
it checks all accounts for messages. 
  