Tips on Using Microsoft Outlook Efficiently

Here are some tips on using Microsoft Outlook more efficiently. Most businesses use Microsoft Outlook as an email platform, but not very many people know all the features in Outlook that can help maximize efficiency.  With so many buttons and icons, it can get quite overwhelming. We created time-saving tips to help you get the most out of these tools and also some cool features you may not know:

Create meetings, contacts, groups, and tasks from your inbox screen.

A lot of us still click on the calendar icon to create a meeting invite or click on the contacts tab when adding new contacts. Some people do not realize that there is a shorter way in getting this done.

From your email default page, click on the icon on the upper left corner labeled new items. Click on the drop-down arrow, and it will give you selections of what you want to achieve. Whether you want to create a meeting, add new contacts, create groups, create tasks, etc.

Keyboard shortcuts

There is no need to hover and click your mouse in different directions to get something done. There are keyboard shortcuts you can use to save some time.  Here are a few of them:

  • Go to the home screen- press Alt+H
  • Create a new message- Ctrl+Shift+M
  • Send a message- Alt+S
  • Insert a file- Alt+N, A, F
  • Search for an item- Ctrl+E or F3
  • Go to calendar- Ctrl+2
  • Create an appointment- Ctrl+Shift+A
  • Check for new messages- Ctrl+M or F9

Assign and track tasks to your team

You can use Outlook as a collaborative tool by delegating tasks to your team. You can also track updates on the progress of the assigned work.

To do this, click on New Items on the navigator bar, and select New Task on the drop-down menu. From there, click on Assign Task. Enter the name or email of the person you want to assign the task to. Enter Subject, Start Date, and Due Date. You have an option to get updated progress as well as receiving a status report as soon as the task is completed. Then, click Send.

These are just a few tips on using Microsoft Outlook more efficiently. It will help save you some time as well as getting more use out of Outlook. For more information on Microsoft products, drop us a line today.

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