Outlooks contains a feature called AutoComplete which helps to automatically fill in names for you when entering an e-mail address in the To or CC fields. Based on the characters you type, Outlook will display a list of possible choices, narrowing down the choices as you type. Tapping the Enter key at any time will insert the address on top of the list into the field.

I personally find this feature to be a real time-saver as it can save several steps when composing an e-mail. Many people find this feature irritating, however. While it is a handy feature, it can get you into trouble if you not careful, as you can inadvertently send a message to the wrong person. The trick here is to slow down and be aware of what is displaying in the message box. However, if you really do not like this feature, you can disable it.

To disable Outlook’s Autocomplete feature:

1. In the Outlook Mail window, select Tools > Options from the menu.
2. Click the E-mail Options button.
   
3. Click the Advanced E-mail Options button.
   
4. Uncheck the Suggest Names While Completing To, Cc, And Bcc Fields checkbox.
   
5. Click OK three times.

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If you have an e-mail list or newsletter that others can subscribe to, it is a good idea to tell them to add your e-mail address to their Safe Senders list in Outlook. This ensures that your e-mails will not end up in their trash folder.

Keep in mind however, that not everyone knows what a Safe Senders list is or how to add an e-mail address or domain to it. Therefore, it may be a good idea to provide them instructions as well.

How to add an address to the Safe Senders List in Outlook

1. Select Tools > Options from the menu.
2. If necessary, click the Preferences tab on top of the Options window.
3. Under the E-mail area, click the “Junk E-mail” button.
4. Click the Safe Senders tab on top of the Junk E-Mail Options window.
5. Click the Add button to displays the Add Address or Domain dialog box.
6. Type in the e-mail address or domain name you wish to add.
7. Click OK

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Yesterday, we looked at how to backup up your Outlook data. However, a backup is of little use unless you are able to bring it back in. Today, we are going to look at how to import the data from our backup file back into Outlook.

To Import Data from an Outlook Backup File:

1. Select File > Import and Export from the menu to display the Import Wizard dialog box.
2. Click “Import from another program or file” in the Action to Perform window.
3. Click Next
4. Click “Personal Folder File (.pst)” in the Select file type to import from window.
5. Click Next
6. Click the Browse button and then navigate to the folder where your backup file is located.
7. Select the backup file and then click Open.
8. Choose the desired radio button under Options: Replace duplicated with items imported, Allow duplicated to be created, or Do not import duplicates.
9. Click Next.
10. Select the folder from your backup file whose data you want to import.
    
11. If you want the imported items to be placed into a folder in a different location in Outlook, choose “Import items into the same folder in” and then choose where you want to place the folder.
12. If you want the imported items to be placed in the current folder choose the Import items into the current folder radio button. When using this option, you should have the folder open that matches the type of data you are importing. Thus, if you are importing Contacts data, the Contacts folder should be the active folder in Outlook.
13. Click Finish.

Your backup data should now reside in Outlook.Similar Posts:

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Things happen. Computers have been known to crash. Address book or calendar data become corrupt. For this reason, it is a good idea to backup your Outlook data. I don’t know about you, but I certainly could not recreate my contacts list from memory.

To backup your Outlook data:

1. Select File > Import and Export from the menu to display the Import Wizard dialog box.
2. Click “Export to a file” in the Action to Perform window.
3. Click next
4. Click “Personal Folder File (.pst)” in the Create a file of type window.
5. Click Next
6. Click the plus (+) symbol next to Personal Folders and choose “Contacts” (You can also export your Calendar using this method). If the folder you are exporting contains subfolders, click the “Include subfolders” checkbox on the bottom of the window.
   

   Exporting Personal Folders

7. Click Next.
8. Click the Browse button and navigate to the folder where you want to save your file.
9. Type a name for your file in the File Name box.
10. Click OK.
11. Click Finish.
12. In the name box, type something meaningful like “My Contacts Backup”.
    
13. If you wish to password protect your file, enter in your password information.
14. Click OK

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Rather than scrolling through your calendars in Outlook to find a specific date, you can quickly find a date in Outlook by choosing Go > Go to Date from the menu and then typing in the date you want in the Date box.

But did you know that you can also type in phrases like “7 days from now”, “2 months from now”, “11 weeks from now”, etc.? Outlook understands such date related phrases which can come in handy when you don’t know the exact date.

To Quickly Find a Date in Outlook

1. Select Go > Go to Date from the menu
   Or
   Press Ctrl + G
2. Type the date you want to search for (the date in the date box is already highlighted – all you have to do is type in the new date)
   Or
   Enter a date related phrase in such as “Two weeks from tomorrow”
3. Click OK
4. To jump to Today’s date, click the Today button on top of the screen
   Or
   Choose Go > Today from the menu.

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Because of privacy concerns, it is not recommended to display everyone’s e-mail address when sending mail to multiple recipients. Some people may even become quite upset with you if you do so. One option is to send an e-mail to yourself and Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) your recipients. Unfortunately, e-mail sent this way is often flagged as spam and ends up in the recipients junk folder.

A better option is to send an e-mail to an undisclosed recipients group. You can name this group anything you like: Undisclosed Recipients, Fred’s Bowling Group, My Best Buddies, etc. Only the group name will show up in the recipient’s To field, thus hiding all the other e-mail addresses.

To create an “undisclosed recipients” group

1. Click the New button’s drop-down arrow and choose “Contact”.
2. Type the name for your group in the Full Name field (i.e. Undisclosed recipients, Movie group, etc.)
3. Type in your own e-mail address in the Address field.
4. Click the Save and Close icon.

To send an e-mail to the “undisclosed recipients group”

1. Click the New button’s drop-down arrow and choose “Mail Message” to create a new e-mail message.
2. Click the To button
3. Click the “Undisclosed Recipients” entry in the Select Names dialog box.
4. Click the To-> button and then click OK.
5. Type the contents of your message and then click Send.

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A handy Outlook plugin from TechHit, TwInbox (previously known as OutTwit), turns Outlook into a full-featured Twitter client. With TwInbox, you no longer need to have a separate application to access Twitter. From Outlook you can:

• Receive your follower updates in Outlook
• Shorten URLs
• Manage tweets just as you would any Outlook folder (archive, group, etc.)
• Perform Twitter searches
• Update Twitter Status
• Upload and post photos
• Assign folder and categories to Tweets
• Replies and DM’s are automatically marked with High Importance

The best part – it’s free!

Download TwInboxSimilar Posts:

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Many people are familiar with Word’s Find and Replace feature, which allows you to replace all instances of specified text with new next. However, there may be times when you simply wish to see how many times you used a particular word or expression in a document. To do this, use the Find and Replace feature but instead of replacing specified items, you highlight them.

To Highlight Specified Items using Find & Replace:

1. Click Find on the Home Ribbon on the Editing Tab
 (or press the Ctrl + F keystroke combination)
2. Type the word(s) that you want to find in the Find What box
3. Click the Reading Highlight button
4. Click “Highlight All” from the drop-down list

All instances of the word or expression will be highlighted in the color that is active in the Highlight icon on the Font group of the Ribbon.

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Have you ever hit the send button on an e-mail message and realized a moment later that you forgot to add your attachment? How many messages have you had to send out later with the subject “Whoops…forgot to include the attachment”.

The Lifehacker blog recently posted a link to someone who created a little VBA script, which reminds you if you should forget to add your attachment to your e-mail message. It scans your e-mail for words like “attach”, “attachment’, etc. and if there is not attachment to your message, a little pop-up box asks if you have neglected to add your attachment.

This little script may help prevent a lot of embarrassment moments.

You can get the script code here: http://mark.bird.googlepages.com/Similar Posts:

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In addition to creating your own tasks in Outlook, you can create tasks that are assigned to others. When assigning a task to someone else, they are sent a task request via e-mail. The person who receives the task request can decline the task, accept it or assign it to someone else. If they decline the task, it is returned to the original initiator of the task.

The person who accepts the task becomes the owner of the task. The owner is the only one who can make changes to the task. When the owner completes the task, Outlook automatically sends a notification to the person who originally assigned the task as well as to any other prior owners.

To Assign a Task to Someone Else

1. To create and assign a new task, select File > New > Task Request from the menu.
2. To assign an existing task, double-click the task to open it and click the Assign Task button on the Ribbon in the Task dialog box.
3. In the To box, enter the e-mail address of the person to whom you want to assign the task
   Or
   Click the To button, select the person from your Contacts list and then click the To -> button. Click OK.
4. In the body text box, enter any instructions or information about the task.
5. Enter any other desired task information
6. Click Send

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