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16 Time-Saving Tips for Outlook

By , About.com Guide

You spend time aplenty in Outlook. Don't waste it.

Change defaults to what you prefer; use a keyboard shortcut or two; employ filters; make sure Outlook itself runs at maximum speed, and your time in Outlook will be spent well.

Looking for more tips and tricks?

1. Make Sure Service Pack 2 for Outlook 2007 is Installed

Outlook 2007 SP 2 trades disk space for significantly faster file operations and includes further optimizations that render oft-performed tasks brisker.

2. Archive Old Mail in Outlook and Keep the PST File Small

If you want to make sure your Outlook is fast and snappy, keept your main PST file size small — by moving old mail to a separate archive file, for example.

3. Move Messages Quickly in Outlook

Transfer emails quickly with the power of your keyboard alone in Outlook.

4. Create and Use an Email Template in Outlook

Are you composing similar messages again and again? Here's how to save one such message as a template now in Outlook and write that much faster — again and again — in the future.

5. Undelete a Message Quickly in Outlook

Have you just deleted a message in Outlook that was not (yet) meant to head to the "Deleted Items" folder? No worries! Here's a simple and really fast way to get it back.

6. Filter One Sender's Mail to a Certain Folder Automatically

Starting with a message, easily set up an Outlook filter that moves all the sender's future emails to a particular folder automatically.

7. Find Related Messages with Outlook

Why are we talking about this right now? How did the discussion get started? What was it that I said? In Outlook, finding all related messages is easy.

8. Search Inside a Message in Outlook

Want to find something in a long, unwieldy email? Here's how to search the text in a message in Outlook.

9. Find All Mail from a Sender Quickly in Outlook

Outlook has all the messages from a particular sender, and it will show them quickly with this tip.

10. Set Up a Distribution List in Outlook

Create your own mailing lists in Outlook and send messages to groups of people easily.
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