I don’t think there is much that is more satisfying than crossing things off a to-do list. The To-Do Bar in Outlook 2007 can help you automatically create a to-do list and provide you with a few options for getting that satisfied feeling after you’ve wrapped up a task or followed up on an e-mail.

If you haven’t made use of the new To-Do Bar yet, now’s the time to take a look. Back in June 2007, Outlook program manager Jed Brown blogged about this handy new feature; he provides a great background on how to use and customize the To-Do Bar.

Among Outlook 2007 users however, a question continues to arise: ”How do I remove items on the To-Do Bar?” There are a few different options available, and some people are understandably cautious after they find, for example, that choosing to delete a message from their To-Do Bar deletes it from their Outlook Inbox (or other folders) too.

Before removing an item from the To-Do Bar task list, decide if you want to have a record of it. Then you have three options for dealing with the item (in order of destructiveness):

• Mark the item complete This removes the item from the view in the To-Do Bar (as the To-Do Bar only shows active tasks). In its original location, such as your Inbox, appears with a check mark in the Flag Status column. You can also see the completed item in the Daily Task List and in Tasks in the Completed Task view.
  
• Clear the flag on an item This removes the flag from mail and contact items and removes any reminders set with the flag. The item is no longer displayed in the To-Do Bar or in the Daily Task List, but remains in its original location, such as your Inbox. Clearing the flag removes all history of the item having ever been a to-do item, but does not delete the item.
  Note You can’t clear the flag on a task. Tasks can only be completed or deleted.
  
• Delete This removes the item from Outlook, dropping it into your Deleted Items folder.

The marking the item complete leaves you with a record of the item having been a task; clearing the flag removes the history of the item having been a task, but leaves the item; and deleting the item removes it completely.

How to remove an item from the To-Do Bar task list

1. To mark the item complete, just left click on the Flag Status column or click Insert on your keyboard.

OR

1. On the To-Do Bar, right-click on the item.
   
2. Do one of the following:

• To mark the item complete, point to Follow Up on the shortcut menu, and then click Mark Complete.
  
• To clear the flag, point to Follow Up on the shortcut menu, and then click Clear Flag.
  
• To delete the item, click Delete on the shortcut menu (you don’t click Follow Up first on this one)

OR

1. To delete the item, click Delete on your keyboard.

How to see your completed tasks

If you want to see all of your completed items, just switch over to the Calendar and look at the Daily Task List. It shows all of the tasks completed on a given day. (For more on the Daily Task List, see Owen Braun’s Post.)

I hope that this clarifies removing items from the To-Do Bar. You deserve the satisfaction of crossing tasks off of your to-do list, the peace of mind of keeping track of important issues and not worrying about losing the history of all that you have accomplished.

Thanks!

Laurie Hughes
Outlook UA Writer