I’m a big fan of the Clean Inbox concept for triaging my e-mail (more on that in a future postJ). This has naturally lead me to look for ways to keep ‘noise’ out of my Inbox and leave it as the single place to monitor mails that I need to triage (read/respond/defer). I already have a set of rules for keeping my distribution lists at bay inside their own folder, but have realized that a decent amount of noise coming into my Inbox had to do with meetings – specifically, responses...

You’ve probably realized that the person at the desk next to you uses Outlook differently than you. Some folks view Outlook as a task system, others use it to collaborate on documents with public folders, and still others use it to manage other peoples’ calendars. But almost every Outlook user reads their email in Outlook. And to do it, they use the message list.

Sure, we aren’t getting any points for creativity on that name, but the message list, put simply, is the list of emails you read in Outlook. Like other parts of Outlook, it’s highly customizable, and yours might look different than your manager’s. In Outlook 2013, we overhauled the message list, focusing on the way most people use it.

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If you are a fan of the Snooze button for Outlook reminders, you might have noticed a subtle change in how the feature works in Outlook 2010.

In Outlook 2010, your last selected snooze time is remembered so that it is automatically selected the next time you click Snooze. We made this change in response to feedback that some of you preferred to repeatedly snooze items by using a delay other than the default 5 minutes before start time. After we released Outlook 2010, we received a lot of feedback that many of you missed the default 5-minute snooze time, and that the change was confusing.

We heard you loud and clear! In the upcoming Microsoft Office 2010 Service Pack 1, the old Snooze returns with the 5-minute default.

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Next time someone sends you an attachment, instead of double-clicking, try single-clicking on it. Outlook 2007 has a great new feature that previews an attachment when you single-click on it: Outlook can preview many common types of files. Images work great, as do files created in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Visio. If you are using Windows Vista you can also preview audio and video files. With Adobe Reader 8.1 installed, you can even preview PDF files. Many previewers allow you to interact with...

So you’ve finally decided to follow-up on your dream and began setting up your own small business. Although there is an endless list of things to do, your high level to-do list probably reads like this: Find a good business idea Establish your company Put together a productive team Find a catchy name for the company Design a great logo Get your name out there There are numerous things that companies can do to get their name out; however, the most common approach that is still used by every business...

Earlier posts about Meeting Requests with a Preview of your Calendar and Introducing Quick Steps might have left you wondering what other improvements Outlook 2010 brings to creating and managing meetings. There are many, and I am glad to give you an overview. Here’s how they can work for you. Meeting Reply If an e-mail conversation gets to a point where a meeting would be more useful, just click Meeting Reply to set up a meeting with the people involved in the conversation. It will copy the...

Hello Blog Readers! The creative folks in the Office Design Group have provided us a refreshing new “2010” look for our blog masthead. The new look mirrors that of some of the other Office team blogs and we think the new year is the perfect time to put it on display. Let us know what you think! The Microsoft Outlook Team

Last year, the Office 2010 Engineering blog announced the new version of Business Contact Manager (BCM) for Outlook 2010 , a powerful contact and customer information management software that integrates with Outlook. There has been a recent update, and we wanted to share important news with you: Microsoft is making BCM for Outlook 2010 available free to users who have previous BCM versions and Outlook 2010 . To see if you qualify, visit the BCM team blog .

Have you visited Office.com recently? Microsoft offers free online video training courses that increase your Outlook 2010 productivity. Whether you’re new to Outlook, recently upgraded from Outlook 2003, or an experienced user that likes to organize your Inbox with the new Conversations view, there is something for you. Go here to check them out. We’re also happy to introduce three new courses: · Use e-mail signatures in Outlook 2010 · Get familiar with the Outlook Calendar...

Earlier we’ve shown how Conversations and Quick Steps are designed to help you get through your email faster than ever before. Now, we’d like to show you another feature that will save you time whenever you receive a meeting request! Handling meeting requests usually involves two important steps – reading the meeting request and checking your calendar to see if you’re available. To save you time, Outlook 2010 simplifies that process and combines those steps into a single experience with the Calendar...