Five Quick Tips for Classic Outlook to Reclaim Your Workday

Staff Writer
1 day ago
2 min read

Woman typing at Laptop Keyboard. Photo by Kaitlyn Baker on Unsplash.

Technology should be a tool that improves your life, not one that takes it over. For many of us, Classic Outlook remains the command center of our workday. However, most users only scratch the surface of its capabilities.

If you’re ready to move from overwhelmed to organized, here are five "quick tips" from our Quick Tips for Classic Outlook class to help you lead with clarity and confidence.

Add a Screenshot Without Leaving Outlook

You don't have to save images to your desktop just to re-upload them or open another screenshot tool. You can capture and insert visuals directly into your message using Outlook's built-in tools.

Here's how:

Place your cursor in the body of the email.
Navigate to the Insert tab and find the Illustrations group.
Click Screenshot to see a gallery of your open windows, or use Screen Clipping to select a specific area.

Reply with Meeting

Have you ever found yourself in an endless email chain that could be resolved with a five-minute call? Outlook can convert that thread into a meeting invite instantly with a single click.

Follow these simple steps:

While viewing the email, go to the Respond group on the Home tab.
Select Reply with Meeting (or use the keyboard shortcut CTRL+ALT+R!)

Outlook will automatically create a new invite with participants from the email string. The original email text will be included for reference. Gmail has similar functionality allowing you to create an event based on an email.

Use Keyboard Shortcuts for Navigation

Speaking of keyboard shortcuts, you can easily navigate through Outlook without a mouse. These shortcuts will shave seconds that compound into hours over a year.

Here are a few:

CTRL+1: Mail
CTRL+2: Calendar
CTRL+3: Contacts
CTRL+4: Tasks
CTRL+SHIFT+M: Create a new email from any screen.

For the entire list of Outlook keyboard shortcuts, follow this link:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/keyboard-shortcuts-for-outlook-3cdeb221-7ae5-4c1d-8c1d-9e63216c1efd

Use the Taskbar to Create New Items

You don't even need to have the Outlook window open to create a new task or email. Simply find the Outlook icon on your Windows Taskbar and right-click! It will reveal a "Quick Tasks" menu with options to create the most common Outlook items.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT6MOjoSdvs

Demos from Quick Tips for Classic Outlook

View Non-Consecutive Days in Your Calendar

If you're planning a project or checking availability across a busy week, you don't have to settle for the standard views.

Navigate to the Calendar view (CTRL+2).
Select a date from the date navigator.
Hold the CTRL key and click on additional specific separate dates.

Outlook will display only those selected days side-by-side, making it easy to spot a perfect meeting time!

Go Deeper and Grow with Intention

Information is quickly forgotten without action, so pick one of these tips to start using it today. You will be taking a small step towards a more peaceful, productive week.

If you want to dive deeper into streamlining your tech stack, schedule a call to discuss how we can help your organization or team. You can also join an upcoming live session or request a longer customized class for your organization or team.