Microsoft Outlook

How to Create Contact Groups in Outlook

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HappyUsingOutlook

I often hear grumbles around the office from people who have unfortunately been left off of important emails. A lot of times, this is only by mistake. It’s hard to remember every person you need to include! So here’s a quick run-down on how to create contact groups using Outlook 2013. By following these steps, you can create a group of contacts. And then later, when you email the group, you won’t need to individually remember every person you want to contact.

1.  In Outlook 2013, under the “Home” tab, in the “New” section, click “New Items.”

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2. Under “More Items,” click “Contact Group.”

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3. A new window will appear. To add members to your group, under “Add Members,” click “From Outlook Contacts.”

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4. Now, in the new pop-up that appears, go to the “Address Book” drop-down menu and select “Global Address List.” From here, you will be able to find any of your contacts by searching.

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5.  When you are done finding all of your contacts, click “OK.” Before you finish, don’t forget to name your group!

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6.  That’s it! Click “Save & Close.” Now, when you create a new e-mail, in the “To…” field you can just type in the name of your contact group to email all of the people in that group simultaneously.

 

You Can Run, but You Can’t…

By in Microsoft Office, Technology Tags: , , ,

Interconnected

I have to admit this. Some people are good at keeping meticulous records, but I am not one of them. My colleagues laugh at me because I am always losing notes, notepads, and even the pens I use to write my notes. Knowing this, I do use technology to help me. For some bizarre reason that I can’t really explain, I keep my digital life in much better order than my physical one. Perhaps it’s because you can throw a pile of virtual papers into a digital stack and rely on your technology to sort things out.

If you want me to dig out an address of someone I haven’t seen for ten years, I usually have all the contact details because I faithfully record any contact every time I make one. Here are some of the things I do:

  1. Every time I receive an email, I record the person’s email address using Outlook. (I right-click on the person’s name in the email and add it to my Outlook contacts.)
  2. Every time I make or receive a phone call, I make sure the contact information is preserved with the name.
  3. Whenever I get an email announcing a change of address, I record it in my contacts database.
  4. I make sure that my Outlook database on the computer is synchronized with my records on my iPad and my cell phone.
  5. I periodically review these databases, getting rid of contacts (usually on a long plane ride) that I am certain I will never see or hear from again.

That is how I make sure I don’t waste any time looking for someone’s contact information. It’s usually at the tip of my fingers. The maintenance of this information takes no time at all, and it is very handy to be able to reach the right people when you need them.

Outlook is an incredibly powerful tool, and it can do so much more than simply send and receive emails. Maintenance of a good contacts database is an excellent, painless way of making your professional and personal life easier to manage.

 

Recalling an Emailed Message in Outlook #notreally

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Unhappy_with_email

It’s 11:30 a.m., you have a teensy break before your next meeting, and you are rushing to answer one more email. You push the Send button on that email and less than a split-second later, you realize that you just sent the wrong version or that the auto-correct feature in the TO line included someone who shouldn’t be receiving this particular message.

What to do?

You can try recalling the message in Outlook…

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However this does not guarantee 100% success because of the reasons listed below:

Limitations:

  • If this email routes to an outside server, the email cannot be recalled. Since many people route/autoforward their work emails via google, smart-phone, or Facebook, there is a large possibility that you cannot recall that message because it’s already at a router off-site.
  • It can be recalled via the recall feature in Outlook — but only if the email only circulates on the local intranet AND has not been read or opened by the recipient.
  • Both the sender AND the recipient should be using Outlook during a recall.

Click here for more information on recalling emails in Outlook.

 

Forgotten Attachments in Outlook 2013

By in Microsoft Office Tags: , , ,

Oops2

I suspect that many people are like me. We prepare a document. When it’s ready, we compose a quick email explaining the purpose of the document, we attach the document, and finally we send it.

But, if you’re really like me, quite often we forget to send the attachment. We realize what we’ve done five minutes later and send another email saying, “Oops, I forgot the attachment.” I know I am not the only one who does this because I often get these “oops” emails.

Outlook 2013 notices your mistake! It politely reminds you if it “thinks” you have forgotten an attachment. You can turn off the feature, but who’d want to do that?

 

Creating a Contact Group in Outlook 2013

By in Microsoft Office, Technology Tags: ,

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Do you ever find yourself continuously sending emails to the same groups of people? I do. Still, it feels like I’m constantly reviewing and thinking “who did I miss?” Then I wised up and realized there’s a solution for that! Now you can stop racking your brain with questions like, “who was on that committee?” And there’s no longer any need for my go-to technique of adding people based on their office location in order from front to back. The answer — create a new distribution list in Outlook (2013) and you’ll no longer need to worry about forgetting to add anyone!

Follow these steps:

  1. Create a list of the people you want to add.
  2. In Outlook, click People from the navigation bar at the bottom.Photo 1
  3. Under My Contacts, pick where you want to add the contact group.Photo 2
  4. Click Home and then select New Contact Group.Photo 3
  5. Type a name for the group in the Name field. Photo 4
  6. Click Add Members, and then add people from your address book or contact list.
  7. Click Save & Close.
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When you need to send an email to this group of people, simply begin to type the name you saved the list as, and it should appear. Click the list to select and use.Photo 7

Note: clicking the plus sign next to the contact list name will display each individual your message will be sent to.Photo 8

Do you have any useful tips about creating groups in Outlook?

 

Color-Coding Messages in Microsoft Outlook 2013

By in Microsoft Office, Technology Tags: ,

ColorCoding

Learning Solutions would like to thank System Source for writing this blog article.

Did you know that Microsoft Outlook 2013 can change the color of email messages sent to you by a particular person, like your boss, your best customer, or a co-worker?

Let’s say that you’d like to color-code the emails from your co-worker, “Suzanne.” Here’s how you would do it:

1.  Click View –> View Settings –> Conditional Formatting

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2.  Click the Add button.

3.  In the Name field, type the name of your view (for example, “Emails from Suzanne”).

4.  Click the Font button and choose the formatting you would like. For instance, you could choose to make the font purple. When you’re done, click OK.

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5.  Click Condition –> Messages tab –> From –> and then search for Suzanne’s name. When you locate it, double-click it and then click OK.

6.  Click OK. Click OK again. Then click OK one more time to complete the process.

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And you’re done! Never miss that important email again!

 

Cool Outlook Hack for Scheduling

By in Microsoft Office, Technology Tags:

Outlook_Tip

Imagine it’s one of those days when you’re getting inundated with emails at work. Some of these emails have important tasks and/or deadlines attached to them, and you don’t want them to get lost in the shuffle. Here’s a quick little Outlook hack to make sure you never overlook an important task or deadline.

  1. From your Inbox view, click on the email.
  2. Drag the email directly over the Calendar tab on the left side of your Outlook screen.
  3. A dialog box will open, allowing you to turn the email into an entry on your calendar.
  4. Enter the necessary details and then click Save & Close.

 

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