Microsoft Outlook Tips #10



*1. OUT WITH THE OLD--PART 3 OF 4

In the first tip in this series, we introduced archiving, the 
process of moving an Outlook folder's contents--all, or just 
the part from before a certain date-- to an archive file. Then 
in our last tip, we showed you how to archive a folder's 
contents: Select File, Archive, then select Archive This Folder 
And All Subfolders. Select the folder you want to archive, and 
under Archive file, type a name for the archive file you're 
about to create. Enter a date in the Archive Items Older Than 
box and click OK. Need to go back and read an archived message? 
There are two ways to access this item: Either open the archive 
file (*.pst), or import the file's contents back into Outlook. 

Assuming all you want to do is read the message and then close 
the archive back up again, go with the first option--opening 
the file. Select File, Open, Personal Folders File (.pst). 
Navigate your way to the file you want to open and select it, 
then click OK. The file now appears as a folder in your Folder 
list (inside an Archive Folders folder). Select it, and a 
message list appears, just as in any other Outlook folder. 

When you're done with the archive, close it back up again. With 
your folder list displayed, right-click Archive Folders and 
select the Close "Archive Folders" option.


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

Two tips ago, we showed you how to archive a folder's contents: 
Select File, Archive; select Archive This Folder And All 
Subfolders; select the folder you want to archive. Under 
Archive file, type a name for the archive file you're about to 
create. Enter a date in the Archive Items Older Than box and 
click OK. 

Need to access archived messages? One way is to open the 
archive, as described in our last tip: Select File, Open, 
Personal Folders File (.pst), select the file you want to open, 
click OK, and the file now appears as a folder in your Folder 
list (inside an Archive Folders folder). Select it, and a 
message list appears. To close the archive, right-click Archive 
Folders (in your folder list) and select the Close "Archive 
Folders" option. 

If you want more permanent access to the archived messages, you 
may wish to import them back into their original Outlook 
folder. Select File, Import or Export, and with Import From 
Another Program or File selected, click Next. Select Personal 
Folder File (.pst) and click Next again. Click Browse, select 
the file that contains the items to import, then click Open. 
Choose a duplicates option, if desired, then click Next again. 
Select the folder to import from (the archive file), then 
select Import Items Into The Same Folder In Personal Folders  
(or choose your desired destination) and click Finish. Those 
messages are right back where they started!


*3. IT'S TOTALLY AUTOMATIC--PART 1 OF 4

A few tips ago, we showed you how to archive a message folder's 
contents by hand: Select File, Archive; select Archive this 
folder and all subfolders; select the folder you want to 
archive. Under Archive file, type a name for the archive file 
you're about to create. Enter a date in the Archive Items Older 
Than Box and click OK. We also mentioned that you can archive 
folder other than message folders. For example, perhaps your 
Calendar is jam-packed full of information and you'd like to 
clean it out a bit. 

Well, before you start messing around with archiving options 
for Calendar, get a load of this: As long as you have 
AutoArchive turned on, Outlook 98 archives any Calendar 
information that's older than six months. It's also set to 
archive Tasks and Journal items after the same time period; and 
it archives Sent items and Deleted items after two months. One 
simple setting, and Outlook does the rest. 

To turn AutoArchive on, select Tools, Options, and select the 
Other tab. Click the AutoArchive button and select Archive 
Every 14 Days. (Note: You can change the number of days to any 
number you want.) Under Default Archive File, type the name of 
the file to which Outlook should move archived items (or click 
Browse, select a file, and click OK). Assuming you want Outlook 
to prompt you when AutoArchive is about to begin (so you have 
the option to cancel the operation), leave Prompt Before 
AutoArchive selected. And finally, if you want AutoArchive to 
delete expired items from the e-mail folder, select Delete 
Expired Items. 

Click OK, and the AutoArchive settings mentioned above (for 
Calendar, Tasks, and so on) go into motion. Our next tip 
describes adjusting AutoArchive options for these and 
other folders.


*4. IT'S TOTALLY AUTOMATIC--PART 2 OF 4

In our last tip, we showed you how to turn Outlook's 
AutoArchive feature on so that outdated items in your Calendar, 
Tasks, Journal Sent Items and Deleted folders get archived 
automatically: Select Tools, Options; select the Other tab; 
click the AutoArchive button; select Archive Every 14 Days 
(feel free to change the number of days). Under Default Archive 
File, type the name of the archive file. Select or deselect any 
remaining options and click OK. Now Outlook archives any 
Calendar, Tasks, and Journal information older than six months, 
and Sent and Deleted items over two months old. 

Not happy with these default six- or two-month settings? Want 
to set up AutoArchiving for other folders? You set AutoArchive 
options individually in each folder's Properties dialog box. In 
the folder list or the Outlook Bar, right-click any folder, 
select Properties, and click the AutoArchive tab. Select the 
Clean Out Items Older Than option, then adjust which items to 
archive (for example, Older Than  6 Weeks). Under Move Old 
Items To, type the name of the file to which Outlook should 
move the outdated items, then click OK. 

Repeat these steps for each folder you want to keep lean. From 
now on, as long as you have AutoArchive turned on, Outlook 
removes any items older than the specified age out of their 
respective folders.


*5. IT'S TOTALLY AUTOMATIC--PART 3 OF 4

In our last tip, we showed you how to change AutoArchive 
options for individual folders (to determine if and how often 
Outlook moves outdated items into an archive file): In the 
folder list or the Outlook Bar, right-click any folder and 
select Properties. Click the AutoArchive tab. Select Clean Out 
Items Older Than and adjust which items to archive (for 
example, Older Than 6 Weeks). Under Move Old Items To, type the 
name of the file to which Outlook should move the outdated 
items, then click OK. 

You can also use AutoArchiving to DELETE old items, rather than 
moving them to an archive file. Just follow the steps above, 
but instead of typing a file name under Move Items To, select 
Permanently Delete Old Items. Click OK, and now when 
AutoArchiving occurs, outdated items move to the Deleted 
Items folder.


*6. IT'S TOTALLY AUTOMATIC--PART 4 OF 4

Two tips ago, we showed you how to change AutoArchive options 
for individual folders (to determine if and how often Outlook 
moves outdated items into an archive file): In the folder list 
or the Outlook Bar, right-click any folder and select 
Properties. Click the AutoArchive tab, select Clean Out Items 
Older Than, and adjust which items to archive (for example, 
Older Than  6 Weeks). Under Move Old Items To, type the name of 
the file to which Outlook should move the outdated items, 
then click OK. 

So what happens if there are items you don't want archived, 
regardless of their age? For example, perhaps you have some 
e-mail messages that are ancient, but that you want to keep 
right where they are (while archiving the rest of the folder's 
contents). For exactly this purpose, Outlook offers a setting 
that protects individual messages. 

Double-click any message you'd like to protect, and in the 
resulting message window, select File, Properties. Select Do 
Not AutoArchive This Item, then click OK. Archive all you 
want--that message won't budge. 


*7. STICK WITH THE MESSAGE GROUP

If you frequently have lengthy e-mail conversations, you know 
what it's like to have gobs of related messages strewn all over 
your Inbox. Want to consolidate? Group your messages together 
by subject. 

Inside Inbox, right-click the Subject column heading anywhere 
and select Group By This Field. Each item in your message list 
now includes a plus sign, the subject, and the number of items 
grouped by that subject. More important, each subject, no 
matter how many items within it, takes up only one line on your 
message list. Click the plus sign to expand a message group, 
then double-click any message inside to open it (or click it 
once to view it in the preview pane). 

To return to an ungrouped view, right-click the Subject heading 
(now a stand-alone heading in the bar above the column 
headings) and select Don't Group By This Field. To remove the 
extra bar (the one that says Drag A Column Heading Here To 
Group By That Column), right-click any column heading and 
deselect Group By Box. 

Note: You can use this technique to group messages in any 
message folder, not just Inbox.


*8. DOUBLE YOUR GROUPING PLEASURE

In our last tip, we showed you how to group your Inbox messages 
(or messages in any other folder) by subject: Right-click the 
Subject column heading and select Group By This Field. Want to 
group messages by a field within a field--for example, by From, 
and then by Subject?  Go right ahead. Outlook allows you to 
take this grouping thing four fields deep. 

>From any message folder, such as your Inbox, select View, 
Current View, Customize Current View. Click Group By, and under 
Group Items By, select the first field by which you'd like to 
group messages (if you haven't already)--in this case, From. In 
the next box down, under Then By, select the next field by 
which you'd like to group messages--in this case, Subject. 
Click OK twice, and now check out that folder's message list. 
You'll see messages grouped together by the sender, and when 
you expand any of those message groups, messages inside are 
grouped by subject. Now that's organized!


*9. ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL

Two tips ago, we showed you how easy it is to group the 
messages in an e-mail folder by subject (or any other column): 
Right-click the Subject column heading and select Group By This 
Field. Doing so consolidates the messages in that folder and 
makes it easy to find what you need. 

Grouping also makes it easier to delete a whole bunch of 
related messages in one fell swoop. For example, suppose you 
want to get rid of all messages to Aunt Betty in your Sent 
Items folder. As it happens, you have the messages in that 
folder grouped by the To field. Simply right-click the Aunt 
Betty group and select Delete. Buh-bye. 

Don't have your messages grouped together? That's easy enough 
to fix. Right-click the To column heading and select Group By 
This Field. Now go ahead with your group deletion.


*10. MAY THE BEST FIT WIN

Tired of manually sizing the columns of your e-mail folders up 
(and down again) to accommodate wide entries--for example, 
those under Subject? Don't waste your time clicking and 
dragging those column edges left and right. Instead, let 
Outlook autosize your columns for you. Right-click any column, 
select Best Fit, and Outlook enlarges (or shrinks) the column 
to fit the widest entry.
