Productivity Cheat Sheet 13 - Outlook 1

Correct me if I’m off beam, but as far as office suites go there seems to be no work-alike alternative to Microsoft Outlook. The OpenOffice (www.openoffice.org) cupboard is bare. Corel WordPerfect Office is always pretending to look the other way. And Google has just about started collating its goodies (Gmail, Writely, Calendar, and Spreadsheets). So until Mozilla Lightning (www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/releases/lightning0.1.html) graduates from infancy (version 0.1) and strikes a chord, we must live with and learn to love what we have: Microsoft Outlook.

For those who came late, Outlook is a personal information manager (PIM) that’s part of the Microsoft Office suite. Though popularly used just as an e-mail app, it also provides an integrated calendar function, task and contact management, note taking, and a journal. You can use it as a standalone or in conjunction with Microsoft Exchange Server for collaborative functions across multiple users--like shared mailboxes and calendars, public folders and meeting time allocation--in an organisation.

Now for some essential Outlook keyboard buckshot…

NAVIGATING
Ctrl + 1: Switches to Mail
Ctrl + 2: Switches to Calendar
Ctrl + 3: Switches to Contacts
Ctrl + 4: Switches to Tasks
Ctrl + 5: Switches to Notes
Ctrl + 6: Switches to Folder List in Navigation Pane
Ctrl + 7: Switches to Shortcuts
Ctrl + , (coma): Next item (with item open)
Ctrl + . (period): Previous item (with item open)
F6 or Ctrl + Shift + Tab: Switches between Folder List and main Outlook window
Tab: Moves among Outlook window, Navigation Pane, and Reading Pane
Arrow keys: Moves around within Navigation Pane
Ctrl + Y: Goes to different folder
+ (plus ) or - (minus ) from Numeric keypad: Expand/collapse group (with group selected) in Navigation Pane
Left and right arrow keys: Collapse/expand group in e-mail message list

CREATING AN ITEM OR FILE
Ctrl + Shift + A: Appointment
Ctrl + Shift + C: Contact
Ctrl + Shift + L: Distribution list
Ctrl + Shift + X: Fax
Ctrl + Shift + E: Folder
Ctrl + Shift + J: Journal entry
Ctrl + Shift + Q: Meeting request
Ctrl + Shift + M: Message
Ctrl + Shift + N: Note
Ctrl + Shift + H: New Office document
Ctrl + Shift + S: Post in this folder
Ctrl + Shift + P: Search Folder
Ctrl + Shift + K: Task
Ctrl + Shift + U: Task request

ALL ITEMS
Shift + F1: Displays ScreenTip for active element
Ctrl + S or Shift + F12: Saves
Alt + S: Saves and Closes, Sends
F12: Saves As
Ctrl + Z or Alt + Backspace: Undoes
Ctrl + D: Deletes
Ctrl + P: Prints
Ctrl + Shift + Y: Copies item
Ctrl + Shift + V: Moves item
Ctrl + K (using the Outlook e-mail editor): Checks names
F7: Checks spelling
Ctrl + Shift + G: Flags for follow-up
Ctrl + F: Forwards
Alt + S: Sends/posts/invites all
F3 or Ctrl + E: Finds items
F4: Searches for text in items
Shift + F4: Finds next during text search
Ctrl + Shift + F: Uses Advanced Find
Ctrl + Shift + P: Creates new Search Folder
F2: Turns on editing in field (except icon view)

E-MAIL
Ctrl + Shift + I: Switches to Inbox
Ctrl + Shift + O: Switches to Outbox
Ctrl + Tab (with focus on To line) and then Tab to Accounts button: Chooses account from which to send message
Alt + S: Sends
Ctrl + R: Replies to message
Ctrl + Shift + R: Reply all to message
Ctrl + Alt + J: Marks message as not junk
Ctrl + Shift + I: Displays blocked external content (in a message)
Ctrl + Shift + S: Posts to folder
Ctrl + M or F9: Checks for new mail
Up arrow: Goes to next message
Down arrow: Goes to previous message
Alt + Up arrow: Goes to row above (message or group heading)
Alt + Down arrow: Goes to row below (message or group heading)
Ctrl + N: Composes new message
Ctrl + O: Opens received message
Ctrl + Shift + B: Displays Address Book
Ctrl + Shift + O: Converts HTML or RTF message to plain text
Insert: Adds Quick Flag to message
Ctrl + Shift + G: Displays Flag for Follow Up dialog box
Ctrl + Q: Marks as read
Ctrl + Shift + W: Shows menu to download pictures, changes automatic download settings, or adds sender to Safe Senders List.

SENDING/RECEIVING MAIL
F9: Starts send/receive for all defined Send/Receive groups with Include this group in Send/Receive (F9) selected
Shift + F9: Starts a send/receive for current folder retrieving full items (header, item, and any attachments)

CALENDAR & TASKS
Alt + C: Accepts
Alt + D: Declines

CONTACTS
Ctrl + Shift + D: Dials
F11: Enters name in Find a Contact box

FORMATTING TEXT
Alt + O: Displays Format menu
Shift + F3: Switches case (with text selected)
Ctrl + B: Bold
Ctrl + Shift + L: Adds bullets
Ctrl + I: Italics
Ctrl + T: Increases indent
Ctrl + Shift + T: Decreases indent
Ctrl + L: Left aligns
Ctrl + E: Centres
Ctrl + U: Underlines
Ctrl + ]: Increases font size
Ctrl + [: Decreases font size
Ctrl + X or Shift + Delete: Cuts
Ctrl + C or Ctrl + Insert: Copies
Ctrl + V or Shift + Insert: Pastes
Ctrl + Shift + Z or Ctrl + Spacebar: Clears formatting

ADDING WEB INFO TO ITEMS
Ctrl + Left mouse button: Edits URL in body of item
Shift + Left mouse button: Specifies Web browser
Ctrl + K (When using Word as e-mail editor only): Inserts hyperlink

PRINT PREVIEWING
Ctrl + F2: Opens print preview
Alt + P: Prints
Alt + S or Alt + U: Prints preview page setup
Alt + Z: Zooms
Alt + C: Closes print preview