Outlook 2010

Manage Tasks in Outlook

Here are some of the features and customization related with tasks in Outlook 2016, Outlook 2013, Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2007.

Changing task status color

A task in outlook has different status associated with it like Not Started, In Progress, Completed, Waiting for some one else and Deferred . Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2010 provide option for changing overdue task colour and completed task colour from their default colour. Listed below are the steps to change task status color in Outlook

Click on the File menu and select option from the list. In the Outlook Options window, navigate to Tasks tab.

Under Task options the settings for changing colour for Overdue and Completed task are available. You can set your desired colour using these options.

Demo Video – Change task status colour in Outlook 2010

Unhide task list

This tutorial provides the steps for unhiding the task list in Outlook. The task list is shown on the right hand sidebar below the Appointments section. And if you do not see the task list in your Outlook 2010 then you can do the following

Click the View menu, navigate to Layout section and then click the down arrow available below the To-Do Bar menu option. From the displayed menu list make sure to select Task List Option.

This would display the Task list below the Appointment section as shown below.

Changing default reminder time for task

In Outlook, when a task items are created, the default reminder time is set as 08:00 A.M. Using Outlook options you can change this default time.

Click on the File menu –> options and select Tasks link on the left hand side.

Under Task options section, there is dropdown available next to a label Default reminder time. Using this dropdown you can change the default reminder time to your choice.

Changing task work hours in Outlook

Task’s work hours in Outlook 2010 can changed using Outlook Options.

Click on the File menu –> select Options link and navigate to Tasks tab in Outlook Options window

Under Work hours section, using Task working hours per day and Task working hours per week you can set the working hours per day or week respectively.

Turn off display of hyperlinks in Outlook 2013 & Outlook 2010 messages

By Ravi Shankar Leave a Comment

Outlook 2013 & Outlook 2010 by default displays any Internet address as hyperlinks. This is pretty useful feature and by clicking the hyperlink would quickly launch the website. But if you want to disable this feature while reading as well as composing mail, then you turn off this feature using Editor Options.

Turn Off display of hyperlinks when reading messages

Click the File menu –> Options link then navigate to Mail Options.

Click the Editor Options button available under the Compose messages section. In the Editor Options window, click the AutoCorrect Options button available under the Proofing section.

In the AutoCorrect Window, navigate to Replace section under AutoFormat tab and un tick the check box with label as Internet and network paths with hyperlinks.

Turn Off display of hyperlinks when composing messages

In the AutoCorrect Window, navigate to Replace as you type section under AutoFormat as You Type and un tick the check box with label as Internet and network paths with hyperlinks.

How to see forward date in Outlook 2010 Calendar

By Ravi Shankar Leave a Comment

Outlook 2013 & Outlook 2010 Calendar provides option to the user to see forward date. This can be done by using the Keyboard shortcut Ctrl + G.

1. Navigate to Calendar View in Outlook 2013 or Outlook 2010

2. Press Ctrl + G to launch the following Go To Date dialog box

3. Type in the future date in the Date field and select the your preferred Calendar view and click OK button.

4. This would display the future date in Day Calendar view in Outlook navigation pane.

By this way you can check the future date in Outlook 2013 & Outlook 2010.

How to change send and receive emails settings in Outlook

By Ravi Shankar 32 Comments

Microsoft Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2010 has option to automatically send or receive emails at a specified time interval. It also provides option to change this time period using the Send/Receive settings. List below are the steps to change send and receive email settings in Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2010.

Change send and receive email settings in Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2010

Click on the File menu –> Options

Navigate to Advanced tab and scrolled down to Send and receive section. Then click on the Send/Receive button.

How to hide send and receive progress dialog in Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2010

Using the Schedule an automatic send/receive every minutes field you can specify the time period at which the automatic send/receive emails needs to be done. The default value for this is 30 minutes.

Outlook 2010 displays a send and receive dialog box showing the progress of mails received and sent from the email Accounts. If you have configured more than one email accounts in Outlook then the time taken to complete Send/Receive will be more and the progress dialog will be displayed till the process is completed. Outlook provides allows users to hide the Send/Receive Progress. If you want to hide the dialog box then tick the check box with label as Don’t show this dialog box during Send/Receive.

Similarly if you want to turn on the display of progress message back then navigate to Send / Receive menu option and click the Show Progress option available under the Download section.

Change receive emails time for single mail account in Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2010

When you have more than one email account configured in Outlook 2010 and you want to specify a different send and receive time for a single account then you can follow the below mentioned steps.

Click the Send / Receive menu and navigate to Send & Receive section. Select Define Send/Receive Groups from the Send/Receive Groups menu list.

In the Send/Receive Groups window, you can see the default time specified in “Schedule an automatic send/receive” option for All Accounts.

Now click the New button and specify a name for the group. In the below example, I want to specify a change the send and receive time for my Yahoo account and I have named the group as Yahoo.

Then select the Account (Yahoo) in the Account section and click the Ok button.

Now change the value for “Schedule an automatic send/receive every” option for the Yahoo group and click the Close button.

Also See: How to quickly block a sender in Outlook

How to export Outlook events to Google Calendar

By Ravi Shankar 3 Comments

This tutorial explains the steps required to export Outlook Calendar events to Google Apps Calendar. In order the transfer events from Outlook 2013 and 2010 to Google Calendar, you need to do the following

Export Outlook events in to CSV file.
Import CSV file with Outlook events in to Google Calendar.

Export Outlook Calendar Events

Let us take the following example with two calendar events in Outlook.

To export these events in to a CSV file, click the File menu then navigate to Open menu.

Click the Import option, and select Export to a file in Import and Export Wizard and click the Next button.

Choose the file type as Comma Separated Values (Windows)

Select the Calendar from which you want to export the events and click the Next button.

Enter a name for the export file and click Next button.

Then click the Finish button.

The following message window will be displayed for setting the date range and events that fall between these dates will alone be exported. Click the OK button to complete the export.

Import Calendar Events in CSV to Google Apps Calendar

Login to your Google Apps Account and launch the Google Calendar page. Click the Option icon and select Calendar settings from the list of available menus.

In the Calendar Settings page, click the Calendar tab and navigate to Create new Calendar section.

Click the Import Calendar link and select the CSV file that has the Outlook Calendar Events. Then click the Import button.

The following confirmation message with the Processed and Successfully imported events will be displayed as shown below.

When you navigate back to your Google Calendar, the imported events should be displayed.

How to use Outlook as a RSS reader

By Ravi Shankar 9 Comments

There are lot of RSS readers available but if you have already installed Microsoft Outlook (Outlook 2013, Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2007) then you can use that as a RSS reader. Listed below are the steps to add and read RSS feeds In Outlook 2013, Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2007

In Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2010, Click the File menu –> Info and click on the Account Settings

In Outlook 2007, Click the Tools menu and select Account Settings

Navigate to RSS feeds tab and click on New link

Enter the RSS feed of a blog or a website. In this example, I am going to enter this tech blog RSS feed.

Click on the Add button to add the RSS feed. The following RSS Feed Options dialog box would be displayed and if you want to change the delivery location of the RSS feed then click on the Change Folder button and specify the desired location. Click Ok to confirm the changes.

Navigate to RSS Feed delivery location, this would display the RSS feeds from the configured tech blog

How to share RSS feeds in Outlook 2013, Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2007

If you want to quickly mail the configured RSS feed to your email contacts then you can follow the below mentioned steps.

You can share the feed using the Share This Feed option available as part of Context menu or using Office Ribbon

Context menu – Right click on the any one feed post and select Share This feed option from the menu list.

Office Ribbon – Select the feed that you want to share then navigate to RSS section under Home menu and click the Share This Feed option.

This would launch the following Share RSS Feed window where you can enter the recipients email address and email them the feed details.

Also See: How to configure RSS feeds from YouTube channel in Outlook 2013

How to export rules from Outlook 2013 & Outlook 2010

By Ravi Shankar 1 Comment

Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2010 allow users to create rules based on the sender, recipients or conversation of the topic message and move mail to different folder. If you have created lot of rules and want to take a backup or copy these rules to another PC then you can use the Export Rules options.

In the Home menu, navigate to move section and the click the down arrow below Rules menu option.

Select Manage Rules & Alerts option form the list of available menus.

In the Rules and Alerts window, click on Options

The Rules Options window will displayed as shown below. To export the rules click on Export Rules button

In Save Exported Rules as dialog box, specify the File name and click on Save button. This would now export all the Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2010 rules in to a Rules Wizard rules (.rwz) file.

How to turn off the reading pane in Outlook 2013 & Outlook 2010

By Ravi Shankar 1 Comment

Outlook 2013 & Outlook 2010 have reading pane which displays the email details when we browse through the messages. This reading pane can be positioned either to the right or bottom of the email list.

A Sample message displayed in Reading Pane is shown below

If you want to turn off the reading pane using the Options available as part of View menu. Navigate to View menu then to the Layout section.

In the Layout section, click the down arrow available below the Reading Pane and select Off from the list of available menus.

By this way you can hide the reading pane in Outlook 2010.

Video demo – Turn off reading pane in Outlook 2013 & Outlook 2010