Organising Outlook Messages

Organising Outlook Messages

In ORGANISING MESSAGES in Outlook FOCUS Outlook provides a number of tools and features for organising and locating e-mail messages. There are also ways that you can label and categorise messages so that they are easier to display and are prominent on the screen. In this session you will: learn how to use the find facility to find messages learn how to list messages from a sender learn how to locate messages by subject learn how to perform advanced finds learn how to assign categories to messages learn how to find messages by category learn how to use a search folder learn how to create a custom search folder learn how to create a new message folder learn how to move messages between folders learn how to flag a message for follow up learn how to set a message for follow up with a reminder learn how to create a follow up search folder learn how to remove a message flag learn how to sort messages in a message list. LSBU - IT Training

FINDING MESSAGES There's nothing more frustrating than remembering that you read about widgets in an e-mail you received and not remembering which e-mail it was! Fortunately, Outlook has a very useful search facility that allows you to search for keywords within e-mail messages. All messages that contain the keyword will then remain on view while others will be filtered out of view. Open Before starting this exercise ensure the data file Watsonia.pst is open... Click on the Inbox folder to display the messages currently in the Inbox Click on the Find tool to display the Find toolbar Type Germany in the Look for box and click on to display all of the messages from the Inbox that contain the word Germany Click on to clear the filtered messages and see the entire Inbox again Click on on the Find toolbar to hide the toolbar again 3 To find messages:. Click on the Find tool. Type the search text in Look for 3. Click on You can also access the Find operation using Tools > Find > Find, or by using. LSBU - IT Training Page

REMOVING MESSAGE FLAGS Message flags are useful to indicate whether some form of follow up is required on a message. When that follow up has been completed or if it no longer applies then you can safely and easily remove the follow flag from the message. Same Continue using the previous file with this exercise, or open the file Watsonia.pst... Click on the Meeting With UK Partners message to select it Select Actions > Follow Up > Clear Flag to remove the flag from the message To remove message flags:. Click on the message with the flag to select it. Select Actions > Follow Up > Clear Flag If the follow up has been completed you can actually mark the message as such using the Flag Complete option. The message flag will be replaced by a tick and the message will no longer appear in the Follow Up Search folder. LSBU - IT Training Page

CREATING A FOLLOW UP SEARCH FOLDER Outlook 003 allows you to create special search folders where copies of specific and/or marked messages are displayed. One such folder is a follow-up search folder where messages that have been marked for follow up are automatically displayed. These messages still exist in their original folders Outlook actually links to these messages through the search folder. Same Continue using the previous file with this exercise, or open the file Watsonia.pst... Right click on Search Folders under Watsonia in the Navigation Pane Click on New Search Folder to display the New Search Folder dialog box Click on Mail flagged for follow up and click on [OK] to create and display the new folder Click on Inbox under Watsonia in the Navigation Pane to return to the Inbox To create a follow up search folder:. Right click on Search Folders and click on New Search Folder. Click on Mail flagged for follow up and click on [OK] There are a number of different types of Search Folders that you can create. Revisit the New Search Folder dialog box and spend a bit of time browsing the options here. LSBU - IT Training Page 3

FLAGGING MESSAGES WITH REMINDERS While Outlook allows you to place a coloured flag next to a message so that you know there should be a follow up, it also allows you to set a reminder for that follow up. Reminders are handy for follow ups that are either time critical or that may need to be done some time in the distant future. Same Continue using the previous file with this exercise, or open the file Watsonia.pst... Click on the Meeting With UK Partners message from John Smith to select it Select Actions > Follow Up > Add Reminder to display the Flag for Follow Up dialog box Click on the Due by drop arrow to display a calendar and click on s date working days from today Click on the Flag colour drop arrow and click on Blue flag Click [OK] to mark the message notice the follow up message in the Reading Pane 3 5 To flag a message with a reminder:. Click on the message to select it. Select Actions > Follow Up > Add Reminder 3. Specify a due date and flag colour and click on [OK] Use a different colour for follow ups with reminders. Using colours effectively will allow you to easily distinguish between the different types of follow ups you have set. LSBU - IT Training Page 4

FLAGGING MESSAGES The messages that arrive into your Inbox have varying degree of significance and importance. Some need to be followed up immediately, others can be ignored, and some may need to be looked at later. Outlook 003 allows you to attach a flag to your message in fact there are 6 standard colours. These flags can then used by you as a reminder to review or follow up on the messages. Open Before starting this exercise you MUST open the file Watsonia.pst... Click on the Travelling Expenses message from John Smith to select it Select Actions > Follow Up > Red Flag to mark the message with a red flag To flag a message for follow up:. Click on the desired message to select it. Select Actions > Follow Up > Red Flag The colour of the flag has no significance in Outlook it is just one of six standard colours that you can use according to your own needs and colour schema. For example, you might assign red to very important messages, blue to lesser ones, and so on. LSBU - IT Training Page 5

MOVING MESSAGES Outlook allows you to easily move messages between folders, either new folders that you have created or existing ones. There are several ways to move messages from one folder to another. However, the command method, using the Move to Folder command on the Edit menu, allows you to move messages easily into folders anywhere in your Outlook system. Open Before starting this exercise ensure the data file Watsonia.pst is open... Click on any message in the Inbox to select it. Hold down the key and click on more messages to select them also Select Edit > Move to Folder to display the Move Items dialog box Click on the Replies Needed to nominate the destination folder and click on [OK] Click on the Replies Needed folder to see the messages there 4 To move messages:. Select the messages to move. Select Edit > Move to Folder 3. Click on the name of the destination folder and click on [OK] You can also drag messages between folders in the Folder List and from a folder to a folder icon in the Navigation Bar. You can drag and drop folders to new locations in the same way that you can drag and drop mail messages. Any items within a moved folder will move with the folder. LSBU - IT Training Page 6

CREATING A MESSAGE FOLDER A message folder is a repository for mail messages. There are a number of standard messages folders in a mailbox, including InBox, Outbox, Sent Items, Deleted Items, and the like. You can create additional message folders to store your messages. For example, if you purchase goods online you may wish to create a folder that stores electronic receipts as they arrive. Open Before starting this exercise ensure the data file Watsonia.pst is open... Select > New > Folder to display the Create New Folder dialog box Type Replies Needed in Name Click on Watsonia in Select where to place the folder and click on [OK] to create the new folder To create a new message folder:. Select > New > Folder. Type the name of the new folder and choose where to place the folder 3. Click on [OK] You can also create a new folder with > Folder > New Folder or by right clicking on an existing folder and selecting New Folder. LSBU - IT Training Page 7

CREATING YOUR OWN SEARCH FOLDERS Outlook allows you to create your own search folders. Search folders are virtual folders - they do not contain messages but rather point to specific messages in your mailbox. This pointing is done by using special filters. When you create your own search folder you are specifying a filter to use - only messages from your mailbox that match that filter will be displayed in the search folder. Open Before starting this exercise ensure the file Watsonia.pst is open... Right click on Search Folders and select New Search Folder to display the New Search Folder dialog box Scroll down the list and click on Mail with specific words Click on [Choose] to display the Search Text dialog box Type Germany in Specific words or phrases to search for in the subject or body and click on [Add]. Click on [OK] to return to the New Search Folder dialog box and see the messages displayed in the folder Click on the Inbox folder To create a search folder:. Right click on Search Folders and select New Search Folder. Choose the appropriate filter type, specify any additional text to search for, and click on [OK] Messages from all folders of the mailbox are displayed in the Search Folder - not necessarily ones from the Inbox. LSBU - IT Training Page 8

USING A SEARCH FOLDER Search folders are special folders that display only specific messages from your mailbox. They are virtual folders and merely point to specific messages rather than hold them themselves. Your messages are stored just once in the mailbox, but can appear in a number of different search folders. 3 Open Before starting this exercise ensure the data file Watsonia.pst is open... Right click on any read message in the Inbox and select Mark as Unread to mark the message as unread. Repeat this step so that there are at least 3 or 4 unread messages Click on the expand button for Search Folders to see the Unread Mail folder Click on Unread Mail to see all of the unread messages With the Reading Pane in view click on each until they have been read Click on the Inbox folder and notice that these messages have now been marked as read To use the Unread Mail search folder:. Click on the expand button for Search Folders and click on Unread Mail Search Folders are special, virtual folders and appear with a magnifying glass icon to clearly distinguish them from other folders. In a default installation there are 3 search folders: Unread Mail, For Follow Up, and Large Messages. LSBU - IT Training Page 9

FINDING MESSAGES BY CATEGORIES If categories have been assigned to messages the job of finding specific individual or groups of messages is made much easier. The Advanced Find function of Outlook will display a list of categories. You can nominate which category of messages you are looking for and the Advanced Find function will display all matching messages. Open Before starting this exercise ensure the data file Watsonia.pst is open... Select Tools > Find > Advanced Find to display the Advanced Find dialog box and click on the More Choices tab Click on [Categories] to display the Categories dialog box Click on German Dealings, then click on [OK] Click on [Find New] to begin the search based on this category - 3 messages should be found Click on the Close button of the Advanced Find dialog box to return to the Inbox To find messages by categories:. Select Tools > Find > Advanced Find and click on the More Choices tab. Click on [Categories] 3. Choose the category and click on [OK] 4. Click on [Find New] Once messages have been located you can do a variety of things with them - you can print them, delete them, move them, and more. LSBU - IT Training Page 0

ASSIGNING CATEGORIES TO MESSAGES Outlook allows you to assign various items such as mail messages, contacts, tasks, appointments, and the like, to categories. Categories are like labels which can then be used to sort, group or locate items assigned to them. For example, you might have a category called Private for all non-business appointments, messages, and the like. Open Before starting this exercise ensure the data file Watsonia.pst is open... Click on the Inbox folder Click on the Find tool to display the Find toolbar. Type Germany in Look for and click on the Find Now tool to display relevant messages Hold down the key and press to select all of the messages Right click on the selected messages and click on Categories to display the Categories dialog box Click in Item(s) belong to these categories and type German Dealings Click on [Add to List], then click on [OK] Click on on the Find toolbar to hide the toolbar again 3 4 To assign categories to selected messages:. Right click on the selected message(s) and click on Categories. Tick one or more categories 3. Click on [OK] Nothing much appears to happen when you assign categories to messages. However, a category label has been applied to the messages behind the scene. LSBU - IT Training Page

PERFORMING AN ADVANCED FIND The most common types of searches will be ones where you are looking for words or phrases either in the text of the message or its subject. However, from time to time you may wish to perform more specialised searches. Outlook has a number of advanced settings that you can use for searching for messages. Open Before starting this exercise ensure the data file Watsonia.pst is open... Click on the Inbox folder Click on the Find tool to display the Find toolbar, click on the Options tool, then click on Advanced Find to display the Advanced Find dialog box Click on the More Choices tab Click on Only items with until it appears ticked and one or more attachments shows and click on [Find Now] to display all of the messages with attachments Double click on the Travelling Expenses message to open it in its own window Click on the Close button of the message, then on the Advanced Find dialog box Click on on the Find toolbar to hide the toolbar again 3 To perform an advanced find:. Click on the Find tool, click on the Options tool, then click on Advanced Find. Choose the appropriate settings and click on [Find Now] Invest a little time studying the various options in the Advanced Find dialog box. There are a number of useful options here that will help you to locate hard to find messages. LSBU - IT Training Page

SEARCHING MESSAGES BY SUBJECT Outlook 003 provides a number of ways for searching for messages using the Advanced Find dialog box. This box allows you to set one or more parameters and then search the message list based on these parameters. The Advanced Find dialog box is especially useful for searching messages by subject. Same Continue using the previous file with this exercise, or open the file Watsonia.pst... Select Tools > Find > Advanced Find to display the Advanced Find dialog box Type Europe in Search for the words and click on [Find Now] The dialog box will expand to show all messages that match the search criteria Double click on Sales in Europe to open the message in a message window Click on the close button of the message window to close it Click on the close button of the Advanced Find dialog box to close it To find messages by subject:. Select Tools > Find > Advanced Find. Type the text in the relevant fields and click on [Find Now] As you can see from above there are many options available for searching using the Advanced Find dialog box. Spend some time getting familiar with the options here as they can save you a great deal of trouble and effort in the future. LSBU - IT Training Page 3

SEARCHING FOR SENDER MESSAGES As you become more familiar with your email you ll find that one or two people will send you messages on a regular basis. To help find a particular message sent by a person Outlook 003 provides you with a facility for searching messages from only from that person. Outlook will present you with a list of messages and you can then scroll through and see which to view. Same Continue using the previous file with this exercise, or open the file Watsonia.pst... Click on the message from John Smith to select it Select Tools > Find > Messages from Sender to display the Advanced Find dialog box listing all of the messages from the sender Double click on the Travelling Expenses message to open it up Click on the close button of the message window to close it Click on the close button of the Advanced Find dialog box to close it 4 To display messages from a sender:. Click on an email from the sender. Select Tools > Find > Messages from Sender You can also right click on a message and use Find All from the short cut menu and then click on Messages From Sender. LSBU - IT Training Page 4

SORTING MESSAGES Messages in the Inbox are displayed in a grid view the messages are listed in rows and the columns represent the different parts of a message (sender, date, subject, etc). As is standard in the Windows environment you can use the various columns of information to sort or arrange your messages. Same Continue using the previous file with this exercise, or open the file Watsonia.pst... Click on Arranged By immediately below the Inbox label to display a menu of sorting options Click on From to arrange the list in order of Sender Click on Arranged By again and click on Attachments to arrange the list in order of messages with attachments Click on Arranged By again and click on Date to arrange the list in order of Date received To sort the messages in the Inbox:. Click on Arranged By immediately below the Inbox label. Click on the desired sort option You can change the order to ascending or descending by clicking on either Oldest on top or Newest on top next to the Arranged by heading. LSBU - IT Training Page 5