Outlook 2013 Absolute Beginner's Guide

Diane Poremsky is the owner of Slipstick System’s Outlook and Exchange Resource Center. She has provided support and training for Microsoft Outlook for the past 15 years. She is the author of several books and video training CDs. She also teaches online training classes. You can find her in the forums at OutlookForums.com and in Microsoft’s Answers and TechNet forums.   Diane is a longtime Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) in recognition for her support of Outlook in the Microsoft forums and Internet community. She is often accused of knowing more about Outlook than many Microsoft employees.   Diane and her husband, Phil, live near the shores of Lake Erie, with their dog Henri. She spends her free time trying to keep up with the activities of her grandchildren, doing what every good grandparent does when they come for a visit: sugar them up before sending them home. She enjoys bird watching, gardening, and traveling. You can reach her at diane@slipstick.com and visit her websites at slipstick.com and outlook-tips.net. You can follow her on Twitter @dicot or @outlooktips.   Sherry Kinkoph Gunter has written and edited oodles of books over the past 20 years covering a wide variety of computer topics, including Microsoft Office programs, digital photography, and web applications. Her recent titles include Word 2013 Absolute Beginner’s Guide, Sams Teach Yourself Facebook in 10 Minutes, Easy Microsoft Word 2010, and Microsoft Office for Mac Bible. Sherry began writing computer books back in 1992 for Macmillan, and her flexible writing style has allowed her to author for a varied assortment of imprints and formats. Sherry’s ongoing quest is to aid users of all levels in the mastering of ever-changing computer technologies, helping users make sense of it all and get the most out of their machines and online experiences. Sherry currently resides in a swamp in the wilds of east central Indiana with a lovable ogre and a menagerie of interesting creatures.

INTRODUCTION 1

What’s in This Book? 2

1  Introduction to Outlook 3

Welcome to Your New Outlook 4

Outlook Then and Now 5

What’s New? 7

Things to Know Before You Get Started 8

Starting and Exiting Outlook 10

Familiarizing Yourself with the Program Window 13

Finding Help with Outlook Issues and Topics 16

2  Basic Outlook Operations 21

Working with the Ribbon 22

How to Use Ribbon Elements 23

Hiding and Displaying the Ribbon 26

Working with the Quick Access Toolbar 27

Using Context Menus and Toolbars 28

Dealing with Dialog Boxes 30

Working with the Navigation Bar 31

Working with Panes 34

Working with the Folder Pane 34

Working with the Reading Pane 37

Working with the To-Do Bar and Peeks 38

3  Setting Up Accounts and Personalizing Outlook 43

Understanding Email Services and Internet Access 44

Using Backstage View 47

Adding Email Accounts to Outlook 49

Automatically Configure an Account 50

Manually Configure an Account 51

Editing Your Email Accounts 54

Personalizing Your User Account 55

Changing the Background and Theme 55

Adding and Switching User Accounts 58

Changing Your Account Photo 59

4  Basic Email Tasks 65

Composing and Sending Messages 66

Reading and Replying to Messages 70

Checking for New Messages 74

Replying to a Message 76

Forwarding a Message 77

Deleting a Message 78

Saving Messages 79

Saving a Draft Message 79

Saving a Message File 80

Working with File Attachments 82

Attach a File 83

Open an Attachment 85

Using Simple Message Tools 86

Marking Messages as Read or Unread 87

Flagging Messages 88

Categorizing Messages 88

5  Managing Email 93

Organizing Messages with Folders 94

Making a New Email Folder 94

Moving a Message to Your New Folder 97

Working with Folder Contents 97

Routing Messages with Quick Steps 99

Managing Incoming Messages with Rules 102

Controlling Junk Email 105

Archiving Messages 108

Manually Archive Messages 108

Setting Up Automatic Archiving 110

Searching for Messages 111

Conducting a Quick Search 111

Making Search Folders 113

6  Advanced Email Features 117

Formatting Your Messages 118

Setting Priority and Sensitivity Options 121

Using Quick Parts 122

Adding Signatures 124

Controlling Replies, Forwarding, and Receipts 127

Inserting Other Items into Messages 129

Inserting a Picture 130

Inserting Online Pictures 132

Inserting Shapes 133

The Wonderful World of RSS Feeds 135

7  Using the Calendar 139

Displaying Your Calendar 140

Navigating Your Calendar 142

Navigating to a Date 146

Changing the Weather Display 147

Recording Events and Appointments 149

Recording Events 149

Recording Appointments 154

Setting Reminders 157

Setting Up Meetings 158

Sending Out an Invite 159

Tracking Invites 160

Sharing Your Calendar 162

8  Contacts 167

People Hub 168

Editing Contact Cards in the People Hub 169

Linking Contacts 170

Creating Contacts 170

Creating a Contact 172

Create New Contacts from the Same Company 174

Customizing Contacts and Business Cards 174

Using Contact Groups 177

Auto-Complete List 180

Using the Contact Data 182

Using the Address Book 183

Changing Contact Options 184

Searching for Contacts 186

Using the People Pane 187

Using Views 187

The People Peek 189

9  Using Tasks and To-Do’s 193

Creating Tasks 194

How to Create a Task 194

More Ways to Create Tasks 196

Completing Tasks 197

Entering Task Details 199

Recurring Tasks 199

Using Task Requests 201

Viewing Tasks 203

Configuring Task Options 206

Creating To-Dos 208

Sending tasks to and linking with OneNote 210

10  Social Connector 215

Meet the Social Connector 216

Configuring the Social Connector 216

Setting Up Social Networking Accounts 217

Turning Off Contact Photos 220

Showing or Hiding the Social Connector Pane 220

Social Connector Security 221

Facebook 221

Who Sees Your Photo and Your People Pane Content? 223

11  Notes and Journal 225

Using Outlook’s “Sticky Notes” 226

Creating Notes 226

Assigning Categories to Notes 228

Saving Notes 228

Emailing Notes 230

Organizing Your Notes 230

Keyboard Shortcuts 231

Outlook’s Hidden Journal 232

Creating Journal Entries 232

Journal Views 236

12  Sync and Share Outlook Data 239

Sharing Calendar and Contacts 240

Syncing with Smartphones and Tablets 240

Sharing with a Second Computer 241

Using Outlook.com to Share Calendar and Contacts 243

Using Contacts in Other Programs 248

Using Contacts in Word 248

13  Using Exchange Server and SharePoint 249

Sharing Folders with Other Users 250

Sharing Mailbox Folders 252

Using Delegates 256

Using Public Folders and Shared Mailboxes 258

Connecting SharePoint and Outlook 259

14  Using Color Categories 263

Assigning Color Categories to Outlook Items 264

Using the Quick Click Category 266

Creating Color Categories 268

Upgrading to Color Categories 270

How to Upgrade to Color Categories 270

Using Color Categories to Create Contact Groups 272

Sharing Color Categories 273

Discovering tips for using categories 273

15  Using Folders 275

Creating New Folders 276

Managing Folders 277

Managing Data Using Folders 280

Conversation View 281

Adding More Data Files 282

16  Using Search 285

Instant Search 286

Instant Search Queries 287

Partial Word Searches 288

Finding Mail Sent to or from Specific People 289

Find Related 289

People Pane 290

Search Folders 290

Advanced Find 292

Search Troubleshooting 295

17  Working with Views 297

Changing Views 298

Email Views 299

Calendar Views 300

People Views 301

Task Views 302

Notes Views 303

Journal Views 303

Applying Views to Folders 304

Creating Custom Views 305

Resetting Views 306

Copying Views 307

Using Conditional Formatting 307

18  Printing 311

Printing Basics 312

Printing Email 313

Print Styles 314

Configuring Printing Options 317

Removing Your Name from the Printout 320

Printing Calendars 321

Printing Contacts 323

Phone Directory 325

19  Data File Management 327

Understanding Outlook Data File Types 327

Moving Data Files 328

Importing and Exporting Data Files 329

Backing Up Your Data 332

Archiving Email 333

Mailbox Cleanup 336

Storing Data Files in the Cloud 337

Repairing the .pst Using Scanpst 338

20  Using Mail Merge 343

Using Contacts for Mail Merge 344

How Mail Merge Works 344

Using Mail Merge 344

Starting the Merge from Outlook 345

Mail Merge Using Categories 348

Starting the Merge in Word 349

Create Envelopes and Labels 349

Index 353