When Outlook is installed there are 10 defaults that I suggest that you change:

1. Turn on the Advanced Toolbar
   Right mouse click on any toolbar icon and select Advanced from the list.
2. When starting Outlook, don’t start in the Inbox, start in Outlook Today. 
   -  First you’ll need to get to Outlook Today so you can customize its components. 
   -  The left most icon on the Advanced Toolbar is the Outlook Today icon (a clock, house, and calendar are on the icon).  Click that icon or click on Mailbox – “your name” if you are on Exchange Server.
   -  On the right side of the Outlook Today bar click Customize Outlook Today.
   -  The first items is a check box – put the check in the box:  When starting, go directly to Outlook Today
   -  Show this number of days in my calendar   I suggest changing the default from 5 to “7″ … on Wednesday you would get a quick view of the appointments you have at the first of the week.
   -  In my task list show me All Tasks (this is the default … not change it to Today’s Tasks)
   -  Sort by Importance (Descending) then by Due Date (Ascending).  The most important tasks will appear at the top of the list with the most current Due at the top and those Due in the future below.
   - Click Save Changes – the upper right on the Customize Outlook Today bar.
3. Click on Tools from the menu, then Options.  On the Preferences tab, click the E-mail Options… box, then the Advanced E-mail Options box.  If you have rules that move mail to specific folders when the mail arrived, then you will want to check the box In folders other than the Inbox, save replies with original message.  Using this feature means that the mail in the folder will have the incoming mail and your replies to that e-mail.  Click OK twice. 
4. You are now back at Options.  Click the Contacts box.  The default “File As” for contacts is Last name, first name.  If I have several contacts from the same company, I find it easier to find then if I have then sorted together by the Company name, so I would change:  Select the default setting for how to file new contacts:  Default “File As” Order:  Company (Last, First).  Then click OK.
   
5. Are you frequently changing the font of a new message?  Instead of changing each message, let’s change the default font for new messages and for replies/forwards:
   -  Click on the Mail Format Tab, then the Fonts (Outlook 2003 and earlier) or Stationery and Fonts … (Outlook 2007).
   -  Do nothing at the Stationery Picker (pre 2007)/Theme (2007)… no ivy, no dark background color … just leave it a plain old white sheet.
   - Select the font you want for New Messages, then for Replying or Forwarding.  You can also change the font for composing and reading plain text messages … it does not have to be Courier New if your prefer Arial!
   -  When you are satisfied with your selections, click OK.
6. Click on the Signatures … box and add the following signatures (at a minimum):
   -  signature for a new e-mail going outside your company (more formal with more information)
   -  signature for a new e-mail going inside your company
   -  signature for replies and forwards.
7. Click on the Spelling Tab.  By default, your e-mail messages are NOT checked for spelling errors when you click Send.
   -  Click on Always check spelling before sending.
   -  Outlook 2007 – click on the Spelling and AutoCorrection box.
   - I suggest you remove the check in Ignore words in UPPERCASE and Ignore words that contain numbers.
   - Outlook 2007 – click OK.
8. Click on the Other Tab.  Click to add a check mark in Empty the Deleted Items upon exiting.  The Deleted Items folder should not be a HOLD folder.  You can create a folder to HOLD things in and then when you delete an item, you mean for it to be deleted.
   -  If you are on Exchange Server, you can undelete something once you delete the Deleted Items.  Instructions will follow on a separate Post.
9. Click on the box for the Reading Pane…
   -  Notice that the default is to Mark item as read with selection changes.  This means that when you leave one e-mail message and simply click on another – perhaps to view it in the reading pane – then the last message is marked as having been opened and read (the closed envelope icon changes to an opened envelope).
   -  Remove the check mark in this item.
10. Last, click on the AutoArchive…box and remove the check mark in Run AutoArchive every xx days.
    -  I’ll give instructions on how to do a Manual Archive in a future Post.  Using the Manual Archive, you are in control of what you are archiving and which folder you are archiving to.

It doesn’t matter if you are new to Outlook or have been using it for awhile, these changes will make Outlook easier to work with!

Need help with anything listed above, contact me at Gretchen@UhasCT.com.