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	How to Use Outlook XP
	Quicknote #85	October 2007

Introduction: This Quicknote is intended to serve as an elementary guide for using Outlook.  For instructions on how to configure Outlook XP, see Quicknote 83. You will learn how to access Outlook as well as how to read, send, forward, and reply to messages.  Along with instructions for the calendar and task list.  This Quicknote is also a guide for working address books, distribution lists, and signatures.

Table of Contents ¨   Introduction ¨   Accessing Outlook ¨   Outlook Bar ¨   Read Messages ¨   Send a Message ¨   Reply to a Message ¨   Forward a Message ¨   Send an Attachment

¨   Receive an Attachment ¨   Using Contacts ¨   Using Distribution Lists ¨   Using Signatures ¨   Using Rules ¨   Out of Office Assistance ¨   Using the Calendar ¨   Using the Task list.

 

Accessing Outlook:

On Campus

1. Double-click on the Outlook icon.

**Note:  Follow Quicknote #10 if you need instructions on how to access the computers in the lab.

Off Campus

1. On the Desktop, double-click on the Outlook icon.

Please refer to Quicknote #83 for further instructions on how to install and access Microsoft Outlook from home.

 

 

Introduction to the Outlook Bar:

The Outlook Bar contains buttons that are shortcuts to frequently used folders and features of the Outlook application such as the Calendar or Task List.  These toolbar buttons can help you easily navigate and perform various tasks in Microsoft Outlook.

	Outlook Today – View calendar, task, and message summaries.
	Inbox – View current messages.
	Calendar – The Calendar keeps track of your appointments and meetings.
	Contacts – The Contact list stores email and postal addresses of your colleagues and friends.
	Tasks – The Tasks list tracks “to do” items that you can create for your own reference or assign to others.
	Notes – Use notes to record or organize ideas.
	Deleted Items – Used to retrieve items that have been deleted.

How to Read Messages:

1.  On the toolbar, click   to open your Inbox.

2.  Double-click a message you want to read.

3.  The contents of the message will now appear.

4.  When finished viewing the message, you may close it by clicking the button.

5.  To view the contents of another message, double-click the message.

How to Send a Message:

1.      With the Inbox open, click the  button on the toolbar. A blank message with appear. 2.      In the To... field, type the recipient’s full email address.  When sending to multiple people, separate email addresses with a semi-comma (;) **Note:  Click  button to select a name from your Contact list, see the Contact List section of this Quicknote. 3.      In the Subject field, type a subject for the message. 4.      Type a message in the message area.

5.      Click the  button located near the top-left of the message window.

How to Reply to a Message:

1.      On the message toolbar, click the  or  button.

2.      Outlook opens a new mail message and fills in the email address and subject for you. 

3.      Click in the message area and then type your reply.

4.      Click the  button located near the top-left of the message window.

How to Forward a Message:

1.      Open the message you want to forward.  Click the    button that appears near the top of the message.

2.      In the To... field, type the recipient’s email address.

3.      If you want to include a message, type it in the message area.

4.      Click the  button located near the top-left of the message window.

Sending Attachments:

1.      Before you can attach a file in Outlook, you must first create, save, and close the file.

**Note:  The file must not be open when you are trying to send it as an attachment.

¨       When saving files, it is recommended that the filenames be limited to no more than 8 characters in length.  In addition, please remember that your colleagues may not use the same version of the software programs that you used to create the file.

**Note:  It is imperative that you remember where you have saved your file.

2.      In Outlook, compose and address a new email message. Be sure to complete the To: and Subj: fields, and insert any related text in the body of the email message. 3.      To attach a file, click on the  paperclip icon. 4.      Locate the file by selecting the appropriate drive and directory.   5.      Highlight the file or by typing in the File name field (i.e.A:\directory\file.doc). Then click Insert  6.      To add additional files, repeat steps 3-5. **Note:  To remove an attachment from the list, highlight the file and press Delete on the keyboard.

7.      Click the  button to send the message.

Receiving Attachments:

Depending on the type and preferences of the email client that your colleague uses, you may receive an attachment as a separate email from the text or you may receive it as an enclosure.  When your message has attachments, a small attachment indicator, like this  will appear to the right of the tab controls in the message editor.  

How to Open Attachments

1.  Open the email message containing the attachment by double-clicking on it. 2.  Click on the underlined file name in the Attachments Field.  3.  The Attachments box should appear as shown.   4.  To open the attachment, click on Open it.  If you want it saved to a disk, select Save it to disk.

**Note: If Outlook cannot find an application on your system that can be used to view the attachment, you will need to save the attachment following step 4. Then manually try opening the saved file in the appropriate program.   

Using Address Books:

The Address Book is a directory of address lists that contains names you can address mail to. These lists include names of users, distribution lists, and public folders. You have at least two address lists: Global Address List and Contacts.  You can use the Address Book to look up and select names, e-mail addresses, and distribution lists when you address messages.

®               Global Address List - a feature that contains all users and distribution list addresses at UM-Flint; including Faculty, Staff, and Students.

®               Contacts Folder - a list of names that you have created and maintain. Use the Contacts folder to store the e-mail address, street address, multiple phone numbers, and any other information that relates to the contact, such as a birthday or anniversary date.

Setting up the Address Book

Default Address Book Specifies the address book you want to use as the default. When you click the To, Cc, or Bcc box of an e-mail message, this will set the default address book. 1.      In Outlook, go to Tools and click. 2.      On the Address Book screen, click Tools and click Options. 3.      In the “Show this address list first” field, click the drop-down arrow and choose

 

Check Name When you type a name in the To, Cc, or Bcc box of an e-mail message, Outlook automatically checks to see if the name you typed matches a name in the Address Book. 1.      In Outlook, go to Tools and click . 2.      On the Address Book screen, click Tools and click Options. 3.      Confirm that both Contacts and Global Address List are listed in the “When sending mail... following order” field

Add an Address Book 1.      In the Address Book, click the Add... button. 2.      Select the Address book you would like and click the Add button. 3.      Click Close.

 

Using Contacts

Adding a Contact 1.  From the toolbar, click Contacts  to open your Contacts folder. 2.  Click  to create a new contact. 3.  After entering the information you want, click .
Searching for a Name 1. In the toolbar, click Inbox. 2. Start a new e-mail message. 3.  Click  button to select a name from your Contact list. 4.  Enter the criteria you wish to search for the person by.

 

Using Distribution (Mailing) Lists

You can create a distribution list to send the same message to many people at once.  Creating a list saves you the time of having to type each person's address into a message.

Create a Distribution List

1.      Click the down arrow on the  button, and click Distribution List in the drop-down menu. 2.      Type a name for the list. 3.      Click the  button, select a person you want to be part of the list, and click . 4.      Add more members, and when the list is complete, click . Edit a Distribution List Settings In the Contacts folder, double-click the Distribution list to edit.
Add an Address to a Distribution List 1.  Click the  button, select a person you want to be part of the list, and click . 2.  Repeat step 1 for all member of list.  Then click OK. 2.  Click  when you are finished. Delete an Address to a Distribution List 1.  Click the name you wish to delete and click . 2.  After removing the desired users, click .

Send a Message to a Distribution List

1.  In the Contacts folder, double-click the Distribution list to send to.

2.  In the Distribution List window, click  (Send mail to list).

Using Signatures:

A signature is information about yourself added to the end of every message you send.  It can include information such as your name, email address, occupation, phone/fax number, or Web page address.

Create a Signature

1.      In Outlook, go to the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Mail Format tab. 2.      Click the Signatures button to display the Create Signature window, and then click the New button. 3.      Enter a name for the signature, and click Next. 4.      Type your signature the way you want it to appear. 5.      Click Finish, and click OK twice. 6.      Compose a message in the usual way, leaving the insertion point at the end of the message. Automatically include a Signature. 1.      In Outlook, go to the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Mail Format tab. 2.      Under Signature area, click the drop-down arrow to choose the signatures that you want to use for new messages and for replies and forwards. You can use different signatures for each.

Add a Signature to a Message 1.      Compose a message. 2.      Go to the Insert menu, click Signature. 3.      Select the name of the signature you want to insert.

Using the Calendar:

To view the Calendar, click on the  icon on the Outlook Bar.  The Calendar Toolbar contains the following buttons that are used to view the Calendar in different ways:

¨       The current date can be located by clicking on the Today button on the Toolbar.

¨       To find a different date, choose View, Go To, Go To Date. Type or select the date to be found and the view to use before clicking on OK.

There are a couple different types of activities you can schedule in the calendar:

Activity	Description
Appointments	Activities in your calendar that does not involve other people
Meetings	Appointments to which other people are invited using email

Create an appointment 1.      Open the Calendar.  On the toolbar, click  for Work Week view. 2.      In the Date Navigator, click the date of the appointment. 3.      Double-click the time slot when you want to make the appointment. 4.      Type in Appointment information, subject, location, and description of appointment. Then press Enter.

Schedule a recurring appointment 1.      Open the appointment.  See Create an appointment if you have not already created an appointment. 2.      On the Actions menu, click New Recurring Appointment. 3.      In the Recurrence pattern area, select the Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly options. 4.      In the Range of recurrence area, select an end date. 5.      Click OK. 6.      Fill in the details of the appointment in the appointment window. 7.      Click the  button.

Attach a file to an appointment

1.      After scheduling the appointment, click in the message area at the bottom of the window.

2.      On the toolbar, click the Insert File button.

3.      In the Insert File window, navigate to the file you want to attach, and select it.

4.      Click the Insert button.

5.      Click the  button

Create a new meeting 1.      Create an appointment.  Confirm that the appointment has an appropriate subject, location, and description. 2.      Click the Scheduling tab. 3.      Click Add Others ▼ button.  4.      Double-click names of required attendees to the meeting from your address book.  Click OK. 5.      Click the  button. **Note: This will send the request to all Required Attendees.
Respond to a meeting request 1.      When you receive a meeting request in your Inbox, open it just like any other message. 2.      Click the appropriate response button to send your reply to the meeting organizer. 3.      Select whether you want to send a message with your reply, and click OK.

4.      Click on the Save and Close button when complete.

Using the Task list:

How Do I Create a task in the task 1.      Open the Task list.   Click the New button on the toolbar. 2.      In the task window, enter task information, such as, a subject, description in the message area, and set a Due Date. 3.      Click the button.
How to Update a task’s status 1.      Open the task whose status you want to update by double-clicking it in the task list. 2.      Click the drop-down arrow to the right of the Status box, and click the appropriate setting in the list. 3.      Click the button.

Using Rules

You can manage your e-mail messages by using rules to automatically perform actions on messages. Sometimes you may prefer that all email sent to your account be forwarded to another email account so that you may retrieve it.  You can do this by setting the Autoforward option in Microsoft Outlook.

 

To Create a New Rule:

1.      Select Tools, then Rules Wizard. 2.      Click the New… button. 3.      You can select to create a rule from a template with the given options, or to create from a blank rule. 4.      Select the conditions you want based on the e-mails you want to block. 5.      Then, list what you want to do with the message when it would be sent to you, such as moving it or deleting it. 6.      Finally, you can set any exceptions you want on top of the rule. 7.      Click Finish.

To forward your email:

1.      Select Tools, then Rules Wizard. 2.      Click the New… button. 3.      Select Start creating a rule from a template and choose Move new messages from someone  and Click Next >. 4.      Unselect from people or distribution list and select with a size in a specified range. 5.      In the Rule description click on the underlined words in a specific range.  Leave ‘0’ in the At Least text box and type ‘999999’ in the At Most text box. Click OK, then Click Next >. 6.      Unselect move it to the specified folder and select redirect it to people or distribution list. 7.      In the Rule description, click on the underlined part people or distribution list. 8.      On the right-hand side, click in the list area under Specify to whom to forward and type in your e-mail address you wish to forward to. 9.      Click OK, then Click Next >. 10.  Add any exceptions as desired and Click Next >. 11.  Click Finish.

Using Out of Office Assistance

To Setup an Automatic Reply

1.      Go to the Tools menu, click Out of Office Assistant.

2.      Click I am currently Out of the Office.