With over 400 million users, Microsoft’s Outlook is one of the most popular email services around. You’ll find businesses using outlook all across the world, from local businesses in San Luis Obispo and the central coast, across to Dubai and Algiers, it’s a commonly used tool, but not all of its features are being used to their potential.
For Microsoft 365 users, however, Outlook is about so much more than sending and receiving emails, thanks to shared calendaring, workflow management, extensive cross platform integrations, and a host of other features that make managing information easy and convenient.
Despite a rich features list and extensive capabilities, many users fail to look far beyond the service’s utility as an email client. As a result, businesses fail to exploit the features that make the service such a valuable and integral part of the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.
To help you get more out of your Outlook experience, here are 5 helpful features that you may not have heard of.
Deferred Delivery
Has there ever been an occasion when you’ve had an email composed and ready to go, but you wanted to defer sending it? Perhaps you were working at an unsociable hour and didn’t want to disturb colleagues on their leisure time. Or maybe you were planning an important announcement that you want to coincide with an upcoming event.
Outlook lets you defer the delivery of such emails, allowing you to specify a precise send time. To access this feature, compose your email, navigate to the options menu at the top of the window, and click “Delay Delivery”- on the browser version of Outlook this appears as a send icon that reads “schedule send” when you hover your cursor near it. To schedule a delivery time, check the box that reads “Do not deliver before,” and select a time and date accordingly.
Automate Your Inbox with “Quick Steps”
“Quick Steps” allow you to condense multi-stage email management actions into a single click with the use of light automation. For example, if you routinely file mail from a key client into a folder marked “Important,” a quick step can allow you to do this in a single click rather than the two it would normally take. This may not seem revolutionary, but those seconds saved will soon add up when applied to hundreds, or thousands of inbound emails.
Quick Steps come in a number of handy defaults. “Move to” relocates the message to a mail folder of your choice and marks it as “read.” “Reply and Delete” initiates a reply window featuring the sender’s email, and deletes the original.
In addition to 6 defaults, you also have the ability to create completely new, custom quick steps. To do this, locate the quick step gallery on Outlook’s home tab, and choose the “create new” option as highlighted below.
You’ll then be presented with a vast array of options for creating custom quick steps designed to help you manage your inbound mail more efficiently.
Use Emails as a Basis for Calendar Entries or Tasks
If you receive an email that relates to a planned event or a project, there may be instances when you’ll want to use that email as the basis for a calendar entry, or a task that you assign to your team. Instead of copying and pasting the contents of that entry into your calendar, or To Do, Outlook lets you set up tasks and calendar engagements using a single drop and drag action.
In the web version of outlook, start by opening the “My Day” tab at the top of the taskbar.
This will open an abridged version of your calendar on a pane on the left of the window. Then, drag and drop your email into this pane. You’ll then be presented with 2 options: “add as an event” or “add as a task.”
Adding an email as an event will open a new window, where you’ll see the email’s subject line used as the event’s name, and the content of the email populated into the event description section. All that’s left to do is set a time for the event, add attendees and specify a location.
Scan Emails Quickly with Message Preview
In San Luis Obispo and the Central Coast thousands upon thousands of emails are sent everyday, and a small but personally considerable portion of them are going to go into your inbox!
If you’re faced with a high email workload each day, you’ll know how time-consuming it can be navigating through the clutter to find the messages that really matter. Sometimes sender information and subject lines aren’t enough for you to make a judgement, and you’re forced to open each email individually and scan its contents.
This is where Outlook’s message preview feature comes in handy!
Instead of opening each email, message preview gives you a one, two or three line insight into the contents of each message. This lets you quickly discern vital messages from the noise, and allows you to make light work of inbox decluttering.
To configure this feature in the Outlook app, click on the “View” tab at the top of the window, and locate message preview as shown below. You’ll then be give an option to display 1,2 or 3 lines of message content.
Expedite Formatting with Email Templates
Pre-formatted templates provide a handy way to complete tasks faster in PowerPoint and Word, but many Microsoft 365 users fail to recognize that Outlook also supports the creation of custom email templates that can be used time and time again.
To create a template, draft a message in the desired format, open the file tab, and click “save as.” Then, change the “save as type” to “Outlook Template” as shown below.
This will redirect your save location to the folder which stores your user-created Outlook templates. Now you can give your template a name and click “save.”
Ready to make use of that template you’ve created?
Open the “Home” tab on your Outlook app, and click on the drop down menu attached to the “New Email” button. From this menu, select “More Items” and then “Choose Form” as shown below.
You’ll then be required to locate the template you’ve just created. To do this, select “User Templates in File System” from the “Look in” drop down menu, as shown below.
Select your template, and click “open.” Your template should open in a massage window, ready for you to customize and adapt as necessary.
A Final Word For The Central Coast and San Luis Obispo’s Businesses
Accqua IT Solutions – Elevating Central Coast Businesses with Tailored IT Services in San Luis Obispo
Nestled in the heart of San Luis Obispo, Accqua IT Solutions extends its expertise in IT management, support, and cutting-edge solutions to businesses throughout California’s picturesque Central Coast Region, including the stunning landscapes of California’s coastal jewel, San Luis Obispo. Proudly serving as a beacon of innovation, we specialize in enhancing the productivity and fortifying the cybersecurity of businesses across this scenic stretch of coastline.
Let Accqua be your partner in unlocking the true potential of IT as a driving force for growth within your enterprise, right here on the captivating Central Coast of California. Reach out to us today and discover how our friendly and seasoned team can tailor tech solutions to meet your unique needs. We’re excited to connect and contribute to the success of your business amidst the scenic beauty of California’s Central Coast.
