Since I was on Outlook for so many years, I have been asked many, many questions on it.  I want to share my top tips, and offer one warning about a feature in Outlook as well.  Let's jump right in.

 

  1. Create a rule to delay sending all items by two minutes.  We jokingly call this a "career saver" or "cooling off period."  It keeps me from sending an unwanted/unneeded/extraneous/foolish email about once per year.  My most frequent mistake:  typing "JOhn"   instead of "John" when closing an email. 
    1. TO (see, I did it again :) )do this, click Tools | Rules and Alerts.
    2. Click New Rule
    3. Select "Check messages after sending."  On my computer, this is the bottom item.
    4. Click Next, and then Next again
    5. You will get an alert that says "This rule will fire for all outgoing mail."  That's what we want, so click Yes and then Next.
    6. Set to defer delivery by 2 minutes.  Again, on my computer, this is the bottom option.
    7. Then Finish.

 

  1. SHIFT+DELETE to permanently delete email.  Be careful with this one since the items do not get exposed in tools \ recover deleted items.

 

  1. This is probably just my preference, but I change Outlook to open the item "above" the item I'm reading in my inbox.  In other words, when I close an email, if there is a newer one waiting, I want it to open.  You can change this in tools | options | email options.  Change the topmost setting for "After moving or deleting an open item:" to "open the previous item."

 

  1. Last tip: I have a search folder created which shows me unread items in my deleted items folder.  This way, I can quickly identify items that are able to be deleted and I empty this folder every day.  I keep deleted items around for 30 days.  To create the search folder:
    1. Right click Search Folders and select New
    2. Create a Custom search folder
    3. Give it a name and click Criteria
    4. On the first tab, select the deleted items folder
    5. On the More Choices tab, select "Only items that are unread"
    6. Save it.

 

My warning concerns message recall.  In Outlook, you can go to your sent items folder, open an email and see a command under "Other Actions" to Recall this Message…  This will send out a "torpedo" to delete unread copies of the email from other people using Outlook.  It sounds great, but the human element of seeing a "Message Recall Notice" takes over when these things arrive and everyone looking at Outlook at that time opens the original mail to see what salacious information you did not want them to see.   I did this once, and it was a minor embarrassment.  That's when I came up with the idea of delaying all outgoing mail.  I think this rule is about to hit its ten year mark on my email account: I've had it active that long.

 

I hope some of this helps!

 

Questions, concerns, comments and criticism always welcome,

John