Exam 77-604 Using Microsoft Offi ce Outlook 2007 453
5.6 Customize your Outlook 2007 experience
This chapter guides you in studying the categorization and sorting by category of Outlook items, creating and managing data files, managing folders, archiving mes-sages, managing sent and deleted messages, and managing junk e-mail. You will study the var- ious search features, ways in which you can manage messages by using rules, and ways of customizing the Outlook environment.
Important No practice files are required to complete the exercises in this chapter. See
“Using the Companion CD” at the beginning of this book for more information.
Tip Graphics and operating system–related instructions in this book reflect the Windows Vista user interface. If your computer is running Windows XP and you experience trouble following the instructions as written, refer to the sidebar “If You Are Running Windows XP”
in “Working in the Microsoft Office Fluent User Interface” at the beginning of this book.
5.1 Categorize Outlook 2007 items by color
Color Categories
Assigning messages, appointments, contacts, and tasks to color categories can help you more easily locate information. You can apply color categories several ways. If you frequently use a particular category, you can assign it as your Quick Click category.
You can also assign keyboard shortcuts to up to 11 color categories.
An item that has been assigned to a color category appears as follows:
l Messages have colored boxes to the right of the message header in the message list.
In the Reading Pane, colored bars appear above the header. Up to three categories can be displayed in one row; additional categories are displayed in additional rows.
l Appointments, events, and meetings are shaded in the calendar pane with the color of the category.
l Contacts have colored boxes in Phone List view.
➤To assign an item to a color category
➜ In any folder, select the item, click the Categorize button on the Standard toolbar, and then click the category you want.
Tip If you haven’t renamed a color category, Outlook gives you the option of renaming the category the first time you use it.
➜ In any folder, right-click the item, point to Categorize, and then click the category you want.
➜ In any mail folder or in the task list on the To-Do Bar, apply the Quick Click category to a message or task by clicking its Category box.
➜ In any mail folder or in the task list on the To-Do Bar, right-click the Category box to the right of the message or task header, and then click the category you want.
➤To assign an item to multiple categories
1. In any folder, select the item, display the category list, and then click All Categories.
2. In the Color Categories dialog box, select the check boxes of the categories you want, and then click OK.
➤To designate the Quick Click category
1. With any item selected in any folder, display the categories list, and then click Set Quick Click.
2. In the Set Quick Click dialog box, click the color you want in the category list, and then click OK.
➤To assign a keyboard shortcut to a category
1. With any item selected in any folder, display the categories list, and then click All Categories.
2. In the Color Categories dialog box, click the category, and then in the Shortcut Key list, click the key combination you want.
3. Click OK.
Custom Categories
You can rename a default color category and change its color to create a new category.
Twenty-five colors are available, but if that’s not sufficient, you can assign the same color to multiple categories. You can also create new categories from scratch.
➤To create a custom category
1. Display the categories list, and click All Categories.
2. In the Color Categories dialog box, click New.
3. In the Name box of the Add New Category dialog box, type a name for the category.
4. Click the Color arrow, and click the color you want to associate with the new category.
5. Click the Shortcut Key arrow, and click the keyboard shortcut you want.
6. Click OK twice.
➤To rename a color category
1. Display the categories list, and click All Categories.
2. In the Color Categories dialog box, click the name of a color category (not the check box), and then click Rename.
3. With the category name selected for editing, type the name you want, and then press Enter.
4. Click OK.
Automatic Color Display
To help you easily distinguish messages received from certain people, you can have Outlook display the message headers in different colors when they are received in your Inbox. You can also choose to have messages that were sent only to you displayed in a
different color than messages sent to multiple people or a distribution list. This method does not assign the messages to a color category, but it does make it easy to visually identify them.
➤To display the headers of messages from a specific person in color
1. In your Inbox, click a message from the person whose message headers you want to display in color.
2. On the Tools menu, click Organize.
3. In the Ways to Organize Inbox pane, click Using Colors.
4. In the color list, click the color you want, and then click Apply Color.
5. To refine the color rule, click Automatic Formatting. Then in the Automatic Formatting dialog box, in the Rules for this view list, click the Mail received from rule you just created, and click Condition. In the Filter dialog box, change settings as necessary, and then click OK twice.
6. Close the Ways to Organize Inbox pane.
Sorting
To quickly view the messages and tasks belonging to a category, you can sort them.
By default, the uncategorized items are shown at the top of the list. You can also sort contacts by their categories.
➤To sort messages or tasks by category
1. At the top of the message list or task list, click Arranged By, and then click Categories.
2. To display the categorized messages at the top of the message list, to the right of the Arranged By bar, click A on top.
➤To sort calendar items by category
➜ In the Calendar module, point to Current View on the View menu, and then click By Category.
➤To sort contacts by category
➜ In the Contacts module, in the Current View area of the Navigation Pane, click By Category.
Practice Tasks
You need to have a working Outlook account to complete these tasks. There are no practice fi les for these tasks.
l In your Inbox, assign two messages to the blue category and two to the green category.
l Create a new category named Management with the assigned color of orange and the assigned shortcut key of Ctrl+F2. Then assign one blue message and one green message to the Management category.
l Arrange your Inbox by category.
l Assign two contacts to the Management category. Then sort your contacts list by category.
Practice Tasks
You need to have a working Outlook account to complete these tasks. There are no You need to have a working Outlook account to complete these tasks. There are no practice fi les for these tasks.
practice fi les for these tasks.
l In your Inbox, assign two messages to the blue category and two to the In your Inbox, assign two messages to the blue category and two to the green category.
green category.
l Create a new category named Create a new category named ManagementManagement with the assigned color of orange ntnt with the assigned color of orange and the assigned shortcut key of Ctrl+F2. Then assign one blue message and and the assigned shortcut key of Ctrl+F2. Then assign one blue message and one green message to the Management category.
one green message to the Management category.
l Arrange your Inbox by category. Arrange your Inbox by category.
l Assign two contacts to the Management category. Then sort your contacts Assign two contacts to the Management category. Then sort your contacts list by category.
list by category.
5.2 Create and manage Outlook 2007 data files
The items you create and receive in Outlook—including messages, appointments, con- tacts, tasks, notes, and journal entries—are kept in a data file in one of the following locations:
l On a network server. If your Outlook items are stored on a server, which is usually the case when you are working on a network that uses Exchange Server, they are stored in a data file called a private store. You can access this store only when you are connected to your server. This is the most common storage configuration.
l On your computer. If your Outlook items are stored on your computer, they are stored in a data file called a Personal Folders file, which has a .pst file extension.
Whether your Outlook items are stored on a server or on your computer, you can create a Personal Folders file at any time. You can name the file to reflect its contents and store it anywhere on your hard disk. By default, a newly created Personal Folders file contains only a Deleted Items folder and a Search Folders folder, but you can create subfolders within the Personal Folders file in the same way you would within your Inbox.
The password is optional.
Create subfolders as you need them.
Choose where to store the file.
➤To create a new Personal Folders file
1. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Outlook Data File.
2. With Office Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst) selected in the New Outlook Data File dialog box, click OK.
Tip If you want to use the Personal Folders file on a computer running an older version of Outlook, you must export the file in the Outlook 97-2002 Personal Folders File format. Both file formats have the same extension (.pst).
3. In the Create or Open Outlook Data File dialog box, navigate to the location where you want to save the file, and then click OK.
4. In the Create Microsoft Personal Folders dialog box, assign a display name and a password (optional), and then click OK.
➤To export Outlook items as a .pst file
1. On the File menu, click Import and Export.
2. In the Choose an action to perform list on the first page of the Import and Export Wizard, click Export to a file, and then click Next.
3. In the Create a file of type list, click Personal Folder File (.pst), and then click Next.
4. In the Select the folder to export from list, click the folder you want to export as a .pst file, and then click Next.
5. Click Browse to the right of the Save exported file as box. Then in the Open Personal Folders dialog box, navigate to the location where you want to save the file, type a name for the file, and click OK.
6. Click Finish.
7. In the Create Microsoft Personal Folders dialog box, assign a display name and a password (optional), and then click OK.
➤To open a data file
1. On the File menu, point to Open, and then click Outlook Data File.
2. In the Open Outlook Data File dialog box, locate and double-click the file you want to open.
➤To close a data file
➜ In the Navigation Pane, right-click the data file, and then click Close “<file>”.
➤To change the display name of a data fi le
1. In the Navigation Pane, right-click the data fi le, and then click Properties for “<fi le>”.
2. In the Properties dialog box, click Advanced.
3. In the Name box, type the display name you want.
4. Click OK twice.
➤To add a data fi le created on a different computer to your Outlook profi le
1. On the Tools menu, click Account Settings.
2. On the Data Files tab of the Account Settings dialog box, click Add.
3. In the New Outlook Data File dialog box, select Offi ce Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst), and click OK.
4. In the Create or Open Outlook Data File window, locate and double-click the data fi le you want to add.
5. In the Personal Folders dialog box, change the display name and assign a password if necessary, and then click OK.
6. Close the Account Settings dialog box.
➤To remove a data fi le from your Outlook profi le
1. On the Tools menu, click Account Settings.
2. On the Data Files tab of the Account Settings dialog box, select the fi le that you want to delete, and click Remove.
3. Close the Account Settings dialog box.
Practice Tasks
You need to have a working Outlook account to complete these tasks. There are no practice fi les for these tasks.
l Create a new Personal Folders fi le named MCAS Confi dential, and save it on your desktop. Then close the data fi le.
l Export the contents of your Contacts folder as MCAS Contacts.pst, and save it on your desktop so that it is available in the Navigation Pane.
l Open the MCAS Confi dential data fi le by adding it to your Outlook profi le.
l Change the display name of the MCAS Confi dential data fi le to MCAS Private.
Practice Tasks
You need to have a working Outlook account to complete these tasks. There are no You need to have a working Outlook account to complete these tasks. There are no practice fi les for these tasks.
practice fi les for these tasks.
l Create a new Personal Folders fi le named Create a new Personal Folders fi le named MCAS Confi dentialMCAS Confi dential, and save it on ialialialial, and save it on your desktop. Then close the data fi le.
your desktop. Then close the data fi le.
l Export the contents of your Contacts folder as Export the contents of your Contacts folder as MCAS Contacts.pstMCAS Contacts.pst, and save it stststst, and save it on your desktop so that it is available in the Navigation Pane.
on your desktop so that it is available in the Navigation Pane.
l Open the Open the MCAS Confi dential MCAS Confi dential data fi le by adding it to your Outlook profi le.data fi le by adding it to your Outlook profi le.
l Change the display name of the Change the display name of the MCAS Confi dentialMCAS Confi dential data fi le to ialial data fi le to MCAS PrivateMCAS Private..
5.3 Organize mail folders
Folder Structure
If you keep messages for future reference, the number of messages in your Inbox can increase to hundreds and even thousands. To avoid an accumulation of unrelated messages, you can create folders in which to organize messages.
You can move messages to folders manually, or you can create rules that tell Outlook which messages to move where.
See Also For information about rules, see section 5.5, “Create, modify, and remove rules to manage e-mail messages.”
If your Outlook items are stored on a server in a private store and your administrator restricts the amount of storage space available for your account, you can create a Personal Folders file on your local computer and use the same techniques to move messages from your private store to folders created within your Personal Folders file.
See Also For information about Personal Folders files, see section 5.2, “Create and manage Outlook 2007 data files.”
➤To create a new mail folder
1. In the Navigation Pane, click the folder in which you want to create a subfolder, and then on the Standard toolbar, in the New list, click Folder.
Or
In the Navigation Pane, right-click the folder in which you want to create a subfolder, and click New Folder.
2. In the Name box of the Create New Folder dialog box, type the folder name, and then click OK.
➤To move a message to a different folder
➜ Drag the message from the message list to the folder in the Navigation Pane.
Or
1. Right-click the message, and click Move to Folder.
2. In the Move Items dialog box, in the Move the selected items to the folder list, click the folder where you want to move the message, and then click OK.
➤To move a folder to another location
➜ In the Navigation Pane, drag the folder to its new location.
Or
1. In the Navigation Pane, right-click the folder, and click Move “<folder name>”.
2. In the Move Folder dialog box, click the destination folder, and then click OK.
Archiving
Archiving messages helps control clutter and the size of your primary data file, while still allowing easy access to the archived messages from within Outlook. By default, Outlook automatically archives messages in all your folders at regular intervals to a location determined by your operating system—usually an archive data file you can access from the Navigation Pane. The data file contents are organized in the same folder structure as the original contents.
You can change the following settings in the AutoArchive dialog box:
l Archive frequency and location
l Whether Outlook requests approval to run the autoarchive process l How old an item is before it is archived
l Whether old items are permanently deleted
l Whether the archive data file is displayed in the Folder List
(If you are working on an Exchange Server network, your archival options might be limited by retention policies set by your network administrator.)
You can set the archive options for each folder individually from the AutoArchive tab of the folder’s Properties dialog box, as follows:
l If you select the Archive Items In This Folder Using The Default Settings option, you can view and modify the default settings in the AutoArchive dialog box by clicking the Default Archive Settings button.
l If you select the Archive This Folder Using These Settings option, you can specify a unique archival age and location for the items in this folder.
If you turn off autoarchiving, you can manually archive your entire mailbox or selected folders from the Archive dialog box. When you click OK, Outlook displays archiving progress on the status bar in the lower-right corner of the program window. You can cancel an archive process by clicking the Archiving button on the status bar and then, in the list, clicking Cancel Archiving.
Tip You can restore archived Outlook items from the Archive Folders data file by dragging or moving them to mailbox folders.
➤To change the global autoarchive settings
1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. On the Other tab of the Options dialog box, click AutoArchive.
3. In the AutoArchive dialog box, adjust the settings as you want them.
4. To apply the changes to all the folders in your mailbox, click Apply these settings to all folders now.
5. Click OK twice.
➤To change the autoarchive settings for one folder
1. In the Navigation Pane, right-click the folder, and then click Properties.
2. On the AutoArchive tab of the Properties dialog box, click Archive this folder using these settings.
3. Make changes to the folder’s autoarchive settings, and then click OK.
➤To manually archive messages
1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. On the Other tab of the Options dialog box, click AutoArchive.
3. In the AutoArchive dialog box, adjust the settings, and then click OK twice.
Tip You can click Mailbox Cleanup on the Tools menu to see the size of your mailbox, find and delete old items or items that are larger than a certain size, manually archive your mail, empty your Deleted Items folder, and delete conflicting versions of items stored on your computer or on the server.