How to Use Microsoft Outlook 2003

Microsoft Outlook is best known as an email application. Outlook may be part of the MS Office suite, or it can be a stand-alone application. While it does allow you to send and receive email messages, Outlook is much more. You can use it to manage your personal and business contacts, maintain your schedule and track appointments, and write notes or journal entries to keep at your fingertips.

Instructions

1. 

   Add contacts to Outlook. Entering contacts will make it easier to send email messages as well as make phone calls or address postal mail to the people with whom you regularly communicate. To add a contact, click "Contacts" in the task pane on the left. Click the "New" button on the toolbar. Enter information and click "Save and Close."

2. 

   Add an event to your Outlook calendar. Click "Calendar" in the task pane on the left. Right-click the date you want to add an event to. If it is a recurring event, such as an anniversary or birthday, click "New Recurring Event." You can choose from "New Appointment" and "New Meeting," as well as other options. Enter the necessary information and click "Save and Close."

3. 

   Change your Outlook calendar's appearance. Click the "Calendar Coloring" button on the toolbar and then click on "Edit Labels." Choose the colors you want to use for different types of events and appointments. Change the number of dates viewed at one time by clicking "Day," "Work Week," "Week" or "Month" on the toolbar.

4. 

   Send email messages. To create a new email message, click "Mail" on the task pane to the left of the Outlook window and then click the "New" button on the toolbar. Enter details such as "To" and "Subject" and then type the message. To add attachments, click the "Insert File" button, which looks like a paperclip. Click the "Options" button in the message to add tracking and delivery options to your message.

5. 

   Sort incoming messages automatically using Outlook's rules feature. From the "Mail" window, click "Tools" and then click "Rules and Alerts." Click the "New Rules" button and follow the steps in the "Rule Wizard." For example, you can set a rule that any emails from a specific contact go directly to a specified folder.

Resources

• Make Outlook Stationery, from eHow
• Using Outlook Notes, from eHow