Microsoft Outlook Tips #9



*1. WRITE YOUR OWN DICTIONARY

If there are certain words Outlook 98's spelling checker is 
always pointing out as misspelled even when they aren't--for 
example, an acronym or slang term you use frequently--add them 
to Outlook's custom dictionary. From then on, Outlook views 
these words as correct. 

Whenever the spelling checker stops at what you think is a 
correctly spelled word, just click the Add button. If you 
prefer, you can add a whole bunch of words to Outlook's 
dictionary at the same time. Select Tools, Options, click the 
Spelling tab, and click the Edit button. Inside the custom.dic 
file, type any additions to the dictionary, pressing Enter 
after each one. Save your changes, close the Notepad window, 
and click OK.


*2. OUTLOOK WON'T EVEN NOTICE THIS TIE-PO

In our last tip, we showed you how to add words to Outlook's 
custom dictionary so that Outlook's spelling checker views 
these words as correct. Either click the Add button whenever
the spelling checker stops at one of these words; or select 
Tools, Options, click the Spelling tab, click Edit, type any 
additions to the dictionary, save your changes, and close the 
Notepad window. 

If your e-mail messages frequently include random uppercase 
abbreviations or words with numbers in them (say, invoice 
numbers), adding each and every one of them to the custom 
dictionary isn't possible. But that doesn't mean you'll have to 
click Ignore to make the spelling checker bypass them each and 
every time. You can ask Outlook to ignore all uppercase words, 
all words with numbers, or both. 

To do this, select Tools, Options, and click the spelling tab. 
Select Ignore Words In UPPERCASE, Ignore Words With Numbers, or 
both, then click OK.


*3. SHORTCUT TUTOR

Do you prefer keyboard shortcuts over menu commands or buttons? 
If you already know every existing shortcut out there, you're 
all set. But if you're still learning, Outlook offers some 
good reminders. 

By default, when you hold your mouse pointer over a toolbar 
button, a small, yellow box--called a ScreenTip--appears with 
that button's name inside. You can ask Outlook to display that 
button's keyboard shortcut, if any, inside its ScreenTip. 

Select View, Toolbars, Customize, and click the Options tab. 
Select Show Shortcut Keys In ScreenTips, then click Close. To 
try out this new option, hold your mouse pointer over the Send 
And Receive button. You'll see that the keyboard shortcut to 
this command is F5.


*4. WAIT--GO BACK!

Did you know that you can navigate your way through Outlook 98 
just as you can through your browser window? Select Go, Back, 
and you'll jump back to the last folder you were viewing. 
Continue selecting this command, and you'll continue jumping 
backward through the current work session. Now select Go, 
Forward (repeatedly if necessary), and you'll jump ahead to 
where you started.


*5. IT'S A BROWSER--NO, IT'S OUTLOOK 98!

In our last tip, we showed you how to jump back or forward 
through recently visited folders: Select Go, Back to jump back 
one folder at a time; then use the Go, Forward command to move 
ahead again. 

Do you wish you had Back and Forward buttons in your Outlook 98 
window, just like in your browser? You do--they just aren't 
visible at the moment. To bring them into view, select View, 
Toolbars, Advanced. In the toolbar that appears (between the 
Menu bar and the Standard toolbar), you'll see two buttons with
arrows on them: Back and Forward buttons. The Forward button 
will be grayed out, since you can't move forward until you 
move back.


*6. DROP-DOWN FOLDERS

In our last tip, we showed you how to place the Forward and 
Back buttons on your Outlook 98 screen: Select View, Toolbars, 
Advanced. In the toolbar that appears (between the Menu bar and 
the Standard toolbar), you'll see two buttons with arrows on 
them: Back and Forward buttons. 

You might also notice a small downward arrow between the 
Forward and Back buttons. To see a drop-down list of your 
folders, click this arrow. Select a folder, and off you go.


*7. DO THE BUTTON SQUEEZE

In our last tip, we showed you how to display the drop-down 
folders list from the Advanced toolbar: Select View, Toolbars, 
Advanced. In the toolbar that appears (between the Menu bar and 
the Standard toolbar), you'll see two buttons with arrows on 
them: Back and Forward buttons. Now click the small downward 
arrow between the Forward and Back buttons to see a drop-down 
list of your folders. 

Not willing to sacrifice a whole row of toolbar space for these 
buttons? Try squeezing all your buttons into one row. Click the 
two vertical bars at the left edge of the Advanced toolbar and 
drag the toolbar straight down to the Standard toolbar. Presto! 
The first five icons from the Advanced toolbar appear on the 
left side of the Standard bar. If you dragged the Advanced 
toolbar to the right and then down, its icons appear on the 
right side of the bar.


*8. THANK YOU, I CAN SEE THAT!               
      
S. Aron writes, "I'm tired of seeing the pop-up message 'You 
have new mail.' Is there a way to disable it?" 

Fortunately, yes. (This message can be annoying--especially if 
you have Outlook set to open to Inbox, where you can see and 
access your new messages immediately.) To disable the message, 
pull down the Tools menu and select Options. Click the E-mail 
Options button, and in the resulting dialog box, deselect 
Display A Notification Message When New E-mail Arrives. Click 
OK twice, and that message won't bother you again.


*9. OUT WITH THE OLD--PART 1 OF 4

L. Phipps writes, "My work requires that I maintain a history 
of e-mail contact with my clients and the media. Needless to 
say, Outlook 98 is getting pretty bulky with stuffed folders. 
When I have finished with a project, can I move folders from 
Outlook to a backup disk for long-term storage?" 

Yes, by archiving. Archiving an Outlook 98 folder copies its 
contents--all of it, or just the part that falls before a 
certain date--to an archive file in your location of choice, 
such as a floppy disk. Unlike exporting, archiving leaves the 
original folder in place even if it's empty, so the same folder 
structure is present in the archive file and your mailbox. 
(This consistency makes it easy to move the messages back into 
Outlook, if necessary.) Over the next five tips, we'll show you 
all the ins and outs of archiving your message folders. In our 
next tip, we'll cover manually archiving a folder. 

(Note: You can archive folders other than message folders, too. 
More in upcoming tips.)


*10. OUT WITH THE OLD--PART 2 OF 4

In our last tip, we introduced archiving, the process of moving 
an Outlook folder's contents--all, or just the part that falls 
before a certain date--to an archive file. Now we'll show you 
how to archive a message folder's contents. 

Select File, Archive. Inside the Archive dialog box, select 
Archive This Folder And All Subfolders, then select the folder 
containing the items you want to place in storage. Under 
Archive File, type a name for the archive file (*.pst) you're 
about to create (or click Browse, navigate your way to the 
desired location of the file--for example, a floppy disk--type 
a file name, and click OK). Finally, enter a date in the 
Archive Items Older Than box. Click OK, and the items you've 
chosen to archive disappear from Outlook! (When the process is 
complete, you'll see an Archiving Complete message in the lower 
right corner of the screen.)
