McCombs School of Business
Technology Training Team
Training Team : Tutorials : Outlook : Email Skills

Outlook

Email and Mailbox Management Skills

 

Write/Send Email

1. To begin a new email, click on the New icon in the upper left of the Outlook screen.
2. Write out your email. Add the recipient's email address to the To line and add a subject to the Subject line. To add a recipient from the Global Address List or your personal Contacts list, click the To button. Use the Show names from drop-down list to select from the GAL or Contacts.
3. When you are finished, click the Send icon in the upper left of the message screen.

Opening/Responding to Email

1. When you receive an email, you will see an icon appear in your system tray, and a Desktop Alert appear in the lower right corner of your screen with the first few lines of the new email message.
2. If you go to Outlook, you will see the new message bolded in your message list. Click on the message once to read it in the Reading Pane. Double-click the message to open it in a new window.
3. To reply to the message, click the Reply button. You can also Reply to All and Forward the message.

Find Someone by Last Name in the GAL

1. Open a new message and click the To button to open the Global Address List (GAL).
2. Click the Advanced button in the bottom left of the pop-up screen and select Find.
3. In the Last Name field, type their complete last name or the first few letters of it.
4. Click OK.  
5. A list will return of every name that meets your search criteria.  
6. Highlight the person you were looking for and click the To button, then click OK.

Add Attachments

1. You can attach 2 kinds of files in Outlook - a File or an Item. Both are attached from the same menu. A File is a file located on your computer. An Item is an email message in your mailbox.  
2. To insert a file, click the paperclip icon on the toolbar, or go to the Insert menu and select File. You can now browse for a file on your computer. Select it and click OK to attach it to your message.
3. If you are using MS Word as your email editor, to insert an item, click the drop-down arrow next to the paperclip icon. If you are using Outlook as your email editor, go to the Insert menu and select Item. Outlook will open a small version of your mailbox, and you can find the message you want to attach. Select it and then click OK to attach it to your message.  

Delete Attachments (But Save the Email Message)

You may want to save an email but delete the attachment to reduce the size of your mailbox.

1. In your message list, double-click the email to open it.  
2. Right-click on the attachment and select Remove.
3. Click the red X to close the email.
4. Select Yes when asked if you want to save changes.

Out of Office Messages

When you are going to be out of the office for an extended period of time, Out of Office messages can automatically respond to emails you receive.

1. From the Tools menu, select Out of Office Assistant....
2. Write your message in the text box.
3. Select "I am currently Out of the Office" and click OK.

Check Your Mailbox Size
Your mailbox size is limited, and if you exceed your limit, you cannot send or receive emails. You can see if you are reaching your size limit using the following steps.

Mailbox size limits:
Faculty/staff = 200 MB
Students = 100 MB

1. In the folder list, right-click on your Mailbox and select Properties.
2. Click the Folder Size button.
3. If you see two tabs, "Local Data" and "Server Data," switch to "Server Data."
4. The total size is in KB. Roughly 1000 KB = 1 MB, so simply add a decimal point to calculate your mailbox size. You can see which folders are problem areas by scrolling through the subfolder list.

Mailbox Cleanup
Mailbox Cleanup can help you determine if your mailbox is reaching its size limit and help you clean it up.

Mailbox size limits:
Faculty/staff = 200 MB
Students = 100 MB

1. Go to the Tools menu and select Mailbox Cleanup.
2. Click View Mailbox Size and if there are two tabs at the top, switch to the Server Data tab.
3. The total size is in KB. Roughly 1000 KB = 1 MB, so simply add a decimal point to calculate your mailbox size. You can see which folders are problem areas by scrolling through the subfolder list.
4. If your mailbox is reaching its size limit, you can search for large emails from the main Mailbox Cleanup window by setting "Find items larger than" to 1000 (1 MB) and clicking Find.
5. Click Close to exit the Mailbox Cleanup window.  

Access Public Folders
Your department or cohort may use public folders to store files or calendars. Here is how you can find these folders. (Files in Public Folders do not count towards your mailbox size.)

1. Click on the Folder icon in the bottom of your Outlook folder list.
2. The folder list will expand. Click on Public Folders.
3. Drill down to the folder you want by double-clicking or clicking the + next to the folder.  
4. To add a folder as a Favorite, right-click and select Add to Favorites. It will be added to Public Folders > Favorites.
5. To add a Public Folder Favorite to the Favorites list at the top of your Mail folder list, right-click on the Favorite and select Add to Favorite Folders.

Departmental folders are saved by department name in All Departmental Folders.

Student folders are saved under Students. For MBAs, there are cohort-specific folders in the Students section.

Turn Off Outlook Sounds

Even when you mute your computer, Outlook sounds will still play. Annoying, huh? Here's how you can turn them off. You have to turn off two different settings - to play a sound when email arrives and to play reminder sounds.

  1. In Outlook, go to the Tools menu and select Options.
  2. On the Preferences tab, click E-mail Options.
  3. Click Advanced E-mail Options.
  4. Uncheck Play a sound.
  5. Click OK twice.
  6. Back on the main Options screen, switch to the Other tab.
  7. Click Advanced Options.
  8. Click Reminder Options.
  9. Uncheck Play reminder sound.
  10. Click OK 3 times to close all windows.

Turn off Desktop Alerts

By default, Outlook has the Desktop Alerts feature turned on - when you receive a new email, a little box appears in the lower right corner of your screen with the name of the sender, the subject, and the first 2 lines of the email. If you don't want these alerts to appear, you can turn them off.

  1. In Outlook, go to the Tools menu and select Options.
  2. On the Preferences tab, click E-mail Options.
  3. Click Advanced E-mail Options.
  4. Uncheck Display a New Mail Desktop Alert.
  5. Click OK 3 times to close all windows.

Create Reusable Email Messages

You can create reusable email messages using templates.

  1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Mail Format tab.
  2. Clear the Use Microsoft Office Word 2003 to edit e-mail messages check box.
  3. Click Apply, and then click OK.
  4. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Mail Message.
  5. When the new message opens, give it an appropriate subject and compose your content. Leave space for variable information that will be added when you send the message.
  6. On the File menu, click Save As.
  7. In the Save as type list, select Outlook Template, and then click Save.
  8. To restore Word as the message editor, click Options on the Tools menu, click the Mail Format tab, and then check the Use Microsoft Office Word 2003 to edit e-mail messages check box.
  9. Click Apply, and then click OK.

When you are ready to send your message:

  1. Make sure you are in the Inbox folder in Outlook.
  2. From the Tools menu, select Forms, and then select Choose Form.
  3. In the Choose Form dialog box, click the Look in drop-down arrow, and then select User Templates in File System.
  4. Select your template, and then click Open.

Working with Offline Personal Folders (.pst)

If your Exchange mailbox is constantly filling up, you may want to move items from residing on the Exchange server to storing on your computer. Within Outlook, you'll just see another set of folders, but these folders are actually stored as one file on your computer called an Offline Personal Folder, or .pst file.

NOTE: Emails moved to your offline personal folder are stored on your computer, and cannot be viewed using Outlook Web Access.

You can move items into your offline personal folders manually or by setting up auto-archive.

1. To create an offline personal folder file, go to the File menu and select New > Outlook Data File.  
2. If you are using Outlook 2003, choose Offline Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst). Click OK.

If you are using Outlook 2002, you have only one choice. Click OK.
3. Select where to save your file. The default location that Outlook recommends is BAD! It puts the file in a location you'll never find when you're trying to back up your files. Instead, we recommend saving to My Documents or another folder you commonly back up.

If you like, you can change the name of the file to something more descriptive, such as McCombs_email.pst. This name is how you can find your file on your computer.

Click OK.
4. Give your folder a name for how it will display in Outlook. You can accept the default "Personal Folders," or change it to something more descriptive like Offline Email. You can accept the other defaults and click OK.
5. Your personal folder will now appear in the folder list.

By default, the folder contains nothing but a Deleted Items folder and Search Folders.

6. You can add folders to the offline personal folder by right-clicking on it and selecting New Folder. Give the folder a name and click OK.
7. You can easily move emails into your offline folder by dragging them from your online Inbox and dropping them in your offline folder.  

Auto-Archiving

Auto-Archiving is a built-in feature in Outlook that automatically moves files from being online in your Exchange server mailbox to being offline in a personal folder file stored on your computer. It allows you to save older emails without hogging space in your Exchange mailbox.

Auto-Archiving is based on two "time" questions:

  1. How often do I want to archive?
  2. How old should an item be to move it offline?

You can set all folders to use the same settings, or you can customize each folder differently.

NOTE: Emails moved to your archive are stored on your computer, and cannot be viewed using Outlook Web Access.

Set up Default Settings

1. From the Tools menu, select Options and move to the Other tab.  
2. Click the AutoArchive button.
3. To answer the question, how often do I want to archive, check the Run AutoArchive every __ days and set the # of days to how often you want it to run.

We also recommend that you check Prompt before AutoArchive runs. If you accidentally shut down your computer while auto-archive is running, you can lose emails. Prompting before archiving ensures this won't happen.
4. Make sure that Archive or delete old items and Show archive folder in folder list are checked.
5. Now you can choose the default answer to the question How old should an item be to move it offline? Set Clean out items older than to your preferred # of months, days, or weeks. Your default should be based on how quickly your mailbox tends to fill. If you find that you are filling your mailbox to its limit every 3 weeks, then archiving items older than 6 months isn't that helpful - maybe set it to archive items older than 2 weeks instead.
6. Select Move old items to and then click Browse. The default location that Outlook recommends is BAD! It puts the file in a location you'll never find when you're trying to back up your files. Instead, we recommend saving to My Documents or another folder you commonly back up.

If you already have a personal folder file, we recommend you archive to that same file.
7. If you want to apply these default settings to all folders currently in your mailbox, click Apply these default settings to all folders now. You can always change this for specific folders following the below instructions.
8. Click OK until all pop-up windows are closed.  

Change Individual Folder Settings

We recommend you at least change the settings for your Calendar so that it will not archive. Other folders can be changed as you deem appropriate. Contacts never archive.

1. Click on the Folder icon in the bottom of your Outlook folder list.
2. The folder list will expand. Right-click on the folder you are adjusting settings for and select Properties.  
3. Move to the AutoArchive tab.  
4. Select the appropriate item:
a. Do not archive items in this folder
b. Archive items in this folder using the default settings  - or -
c. Archive this folder using these settings.		  
If you picked Archive this folder using these settings, set Clean out items older than to your preferred # of months, days, or weeks. Your default should be based on how quickly this folder tends to fill. Make sure to select Move old items to default archive folder.
5. Click OK.  

Create Signatures for Messages

1. In Outlook, go to the Tools menu and select Options.  
2. Move to the Mail Format tab.  
3. Click the Signatures button at the bottom of the window.
4. Click New to create a new signature.
5. Name the signature you are about to create. You can have multiple signatures, for example, you could have a signature for work and a personal one.

Select Start with a blank signature and click Next.
6. Enter your signature text. You can use the Font button to change the font, font size, and font color.

When you are done creating your signature, click Finish.
7. If you are done adding signatures, click OK.  
8. On the Options screen, your Signature for new messages should automatically set to your signature (if you did not previously have one). You can also set this as the default Signature for replies and forwards.  
9. Start a new email message. Your signature should appear automatically!  

Rules

One of the most useful features of Outlook is creating Rules. Rules allow you to have things happen to your account automatically with no action required from you. For example, one common rule is to automatically move an email to a specific folder based on sender. This is a great way to keep track of email from your co-workers, boss, or cohort.

Creating Rules is very easy. There is a wizard that guides you through the whole process. Rules are generally made up of two conditions.

  1. What kind of email are you looking for? (mail sent from your boss, mail with the subject "I love you", etc.)
  2. What do you want to do with this email? (move it to a folder, delete it, play a sound, etc.)

These instructions are specifically for Outlook 2003.

1. From the Tools menu, select Rules and Alerts.
2. Click New Rule.
3. Select Start from a blank rule. Most rules will also Check messages when they arrive. Click Next.
4. Check any boxes to identify the kind of email you are looking for. In the above example of moving a message from someone to a folder, you would check from people or distribution list.

In the bottom half of the screen, click the underlined portion of the condition to specify the actual condition, such as finding your boss's address from the Global Address List.

When you're done setting up the 1st condition, click Next.
5. Check any boxes to identify what you want to do with emails that meet your 1st condition. For the above example, you would check move it to the specified folder.

In the bottom half of the screen, click the underlined portion of the new condition to specify the actual condition, such as selecting the folder Boss.

When you're done setting up the 2nd condition, click Next.
6. If you have any exceptions to you rule, you can set them using the 3rd optional condition. If you don't have any exceptions, just click Next.  
7. The last screen allows you to Name your rule. To save the rule, click Finish.

You will return to the Rule list, where you'll see your new rule. You can add more or click OK to exit.

Delegation

You can grant permission to people so they can view various folders of you Mailbox. This is especially useful for your calendar. This would allow people to see not only if you are free, busy, or out of office but they could also see your actual appointments.

1. From the Tools menu, select Options. Select the Delegates tab.
2. Click Add.
3. The Global Address List will open. Select a name and click Add, then click OK.
4. Now you can give the delegate permissions to specific folders in your mailbox. Reviewer can view items, but cannot make changes. Author can read and create items, but cannot delete. Editor can read, create, and modify/delete items in your folder.

Click OK when done setting permissions.
5. Click OK to exit the Options window.