Best Outlook Tips For More Efficiency

Microsoft Outlook is a program included in the Microsoft Office software package. According to Microsoft, more than 750 million people worldwide use it, mainly for work. Outlook has become indispensable in companies due to its versatility. Nevertheless, there are some functions and subtleties that are hardly used, but can be very helpful. We show you the best Outlook tips from our experts in Hamburg, Essen and Munich and how you can use them yourself!

Outlook Tip 1: Highlight unread mails more clearly

It’s a typical everyday scenario: In the morning, before the actual work starts, quickly check the new e-mails to see if anything important has happened or if there are new instructions from the boss. In contrast to the older Outlook versions, however, unread messages in Outlook 2013 hardly stand out from the already highly regarded ones in terms of color. To avoid that important e-mails are overlooked, there is a simple but very effective trick:

Simply select the “View” tab in the menu and click on the “View settings” button. Then select the “Conditional formatting” option. Then look at this site entitled “Unread messages”. Now you can freely choose how the unread messages should be displayed in the future. Font, font size and color can be chosen freely, so that in the future no messages will go unnoticed and the boss has no reason to reproach you. If you don’t dare to change Outlook settings yourself, our experts will be happy to help. With the coupon code OUTLOOK5 you can even get a 5 Euro discount on our Outlook help.

Outlook Tip 2: Use of search folders

The list of e-mails in the mailbox is getting longer and longer and more confusing? Certain messages that you’re looking for are likely to get lost. The use of search folders makes it much easier to find messages in Microsoft Outlook and the mass of messages is divided in a meaningful way. For example, it is helpful to have private emails from family and friends displayed in a separate folder.

From the beginning, Microsoft has already preset some folders with simple criteria, such as “unread”. These folders can be found under the tab “Folder” and there under “New search folder” and can be activated. At the end of the list of these folders is the item “Create user-defined folder”. A personalized folder with a specific filter can be created here. A click on the tab “Advanced” opens the possibility to define even more detailed settings.

The ingenious thing about the Outlook search folders is that the e-mails are not moved there, but only displayed according to certain criteria. They are still in the inbox as usual.

Outlook Tip 3: Useful key combinations

To switch between the different functions of Outlook or to enter different commands you need longer arias of clicking and moving the mouse?

With the Control key (on the keyboard “Ctrl”) and the numbers one to three you can quickly switch between e-mails (1), calendar (2) and contacts (3). To do this, “Ctrl” and the correct number must be pressed together. Microsoft Outlook already switches between the different views. There are also some tricks for faster handling when managing an e-mail.

To forward a mail uncomplicated, there is the combination “Ctrl + F” and to start a completely new e-mail “Ctrl + N”.

We have shown above that the use of search folders makes sense. To quickly create a new one and save a lot of mouse movements, you need another key combination: With Ctrl + Shift + P you can create a new search folder in no time at all (the Shift key is the one directly above “Ctrl”).

Outlook Tip 4: Setting up automatic spell checking

Everyone knows the annoying subject of spelling mistakes. Especially with important e-mails to the boss or business partners, these are extremely embarrassing and must not be undermined under any circumstances.

Microsoft Outlook has a clever trick for this, which can help with just a few clicks: After opening Outlook, “File” and then “Options” must be selected with the mouse. A new window should open automatically. Select “E-Mail” and check the box next to “Always spell check before sending”.

The whole thing has to be confirmed with a mouse click on “OK” and Outlook corrects your spelling mistakes before it really sends the e-mail. From now on you don’t have to worry if every letter is correct and every message goes through several times.

Bottom line

Microsoft Outlook is already a very good program, but with these insider tricks, the handling becomes even easier for you. With our Outlook tips you can now tiger around even faster in your email program and have even less work with managing messages! From now on Outlook just takes care of it! And you have more time for the nice things in life. We hope to have shown you some new and helpful things and wish you a lot of fun working with Microsoft Outlook.