With this option you will be able to customize the Navigation Pane, Reading Pane and To-do Bar. The font, font style and text size can be customized for each of these panes. If you have any questions or comments please use the comments form at the end of this guide.

Note: Outlook 2010 was used for the screenshots below.

1. Click on the File menu button.

2. Click on Options from the men.

3. When the Outlook Options window opens, click on Advanced from the list.

4. In the Outlook panes section click on one of the Outlook panes that you wish to customize: Navigation Pane, Reading Pane and To-Do Bar.

5. When the Options window opens for the selected pane click on one of the pane’s elements from the list.

6. Then click on the Font button.

7. Set the Font, Font style and Size for the selected element.

8. When you are done click OK. Repeat the steps above for other pane elements.

If you have other Outlook 2010 tips to share, please use the comments form below.

Note: I used Outlook 2010 for this guide.

1. Click on Contacts in the left pane.

2. Click on Suggested Contacts under My Contacts.

3. A list of of contacts that you have emailed will be listed.

Note: I used Outlook 2010 for this tutorial, but the steps should be very similar in Outlook 2007.

Simple Method to Save Attachments

1. Right-click the Attachment you wish to save.

2. When the menu appears you will have two options:

• Save As: Will allow you to save the attachment you right-clicked on only.
• Save All Attachments: Will allow you to save all of the attachments included in the selected message.

Proceed to Step 4 below.

Save Attachments Using the Office Ribbon

1. Click on the attachment you wish to save.

2. Make sure the Attachments tab is active on the Office Ribbon.

3. You will have two options in the Actions group.

• Save As: Will allow you to save the attachment you right-clicked on only.
• Save All Attachments: Will allow you to save all of the attachments included in the selected message.

Either choice will lead you to the next step.

4. Select the destination folder for the files and name the file.

5. Click Save to save a copy of the attachments to the selected directory.

Do you have other Outlook 2010 tips? Please post them below.

Note: I used Outlook 2010 for this tutorial.

1. Use Conversations to Follow the Thread

In the screenshot above I have highlighted 3 different conversations with the 3 different people. Notice how three conversations consist of 8 emails and how these 8 emails are disjointed and how they clutter the list. Now think of the number of conversations you have in a week…what does your inbox look after that?

In Outlook 2010, Microsoft greatly improved the display of conversations in the email list (see below).

The view above is after Show as Conversations was enabled. Where did all the messages go? Don’t worry they are all there, they’ve just been grouped into the conversation/thread. In this view Outlook will automatically combine all of the emails related to a conversation into one thread. You can tell a message is a thread because the email icon will change to (A) three stacked envelopes.

To read the messages within the thread or conversation, click on the (1) small triangle to the left of the conversation. This will expand the thread and (A) list all of the emails related to the conversation. Click on the small triangle to collapse the list. You can do this with any thread.

So how do you enable this awesome feature? Follow the instructions below.

How to Enable the Conversation View in Outlook 2010

1. Right-click on the Arrange By: bar and click on (A) Show as Conversation from the menu. That’s it!

2. Clean Up Conversations to Save Space

How many times have you gone tried following a conversation where 30 people have replied? So you have all of this space to list all of these conversations, but still have a ton of emails to go through. There’s another feature that will take advantage of the conversation view and help you get rid of repetitive email messages.

Message listing before Clean Up Conversation.

Message list after Clean Up Conversation was applied. The number of messages was reduced from 6 to 3 emails. Imagine you can cut all of your conversations by 50% without losing any information.

To use this great feature follow the instructions below.

How to Clean Up Conversations

1. Right-click the conversation you wish to clean up.

2. Click on Clean Up Conversation from the menu.

Note: You can change the rules used when cleaning up conversations and don’t worry the messages will be in the Deleted folder if you make a mistake.

3. Ignore Meaningless Chatter

The last tip which should really help you focus on the messages that matter most is the Ignore Conversation Tool. Think of all the emails you receive, specifically those that you get copied on but have nothing to do with them. Just because you have nothing to do with the conversation doesn’t mean that the other 40 people on the conversation wont hit the Reply All button. Luckily with the Ignore Conversation tool you can literally ignore an entire conversation. The ignored conversation will be placed in the Deleted folder along with all future correspondence about the same conversation.

How to Ignore Conversations

To use this tool follow the instructions below.

1. Click on the Conversation you wish to ignore.

2. Click on the Ignore button in the Delete group on the Office Ribbon.

3. Click on Ignore Conversation to confirm.

All future messages regarding the ignored conversation will be placed in the Deleted Items folder.

If you have any comments or questions, please post them below.

Note: I used Word 2010 for this tutorial, but this tool is available in Excel 2010, PowerPoint 2010, and Outlook 2010.

1. Click on the Insert tab in the Office Ribbon.

2. Click on the Screenshot button in the Images group.

A. A group of thumbnails displaying Available Windows will appear. This should list all of the windows you currently have open. When you click on a window it will automatically insert the image into the document you are working on.

B. The Screen Clipping option will allow you to select an area on your screen to use as a screenshot.

Window inserted into Word document.

Screen clipping inserted into Word document.

Once the image is inserted you can use the Picture Tools to format the images.

The tutorial below will show you how to add an SMS account to Outlook and how to send the first text message.

Do you know of free SMS providers for Outlook? Please post the URL below.

Note: I used Outlook 2010  and a free trial messaging account at RedOxygen.com for this tutorial.

Add an SMS Account to Outlook

1. Click on File to open the menu.

2. Click on the Add Account button.

3. When the Add New Account window opens, choose Text Messaging (SMS).

4. Click Next to proceed.

5. Enter the Account information for the provider you use.

6. To make sure everything is running as it should, click on the Test Account Settings button.

7. If the test is successful you will be asked if you would like to test sending a text message. Click Yes to test the service.

If everything went well, you should have received a text message on the mobile phone that was set up with the provider.

8. Click OK to close the window.

9. Click Finish to exit the Add New Account window.

Sent a Text Message with Outlook

Now that we have the SMS account set up, let’s send the first text message using Outlook 2010.

1. Click on the New Items button.

2. Click on Text Message (SMS) from the list.

3. Enter the mobile number you would like to send the message to or choose a contact by clicking on the To… button.

Note: When you click on the To… button your contact list will appear.

4. Compose the message you would like to send and click the Send button.

a. You can insert smilies by clicking on them from the list.

b. Notice that a preview of the message you are composing will appear in the Preview pane to the left of the screen.

Check Sent Messages in Outlook

So you’ve sent a couple of text messages, but don’t know where they are.

1. Click on the Send Items folder in Outlook’s Navigation Pane.

2. A list of sent messages will appear. You will notice that text messages will have a small mobile phone icon instead of the usual email icon.

3. When you click on the message you will be able to view the contents of the message in the preview pane.

Due to the number of different email clients out there, I will limit the instructions to just get you to the settings page to edit the signatures. I will be including a link to relevant posts describing the process of customizing the signatures along with each client when available.

Did I miss an email client in the list below? Please add the name of the email client in the comments below.

Make sure to bookmark this page because I will be updating it with new clients and suggestions from readers.

Desktop Clients

• Outlook 2010
• Outlook 2007
• Windows Live Mail
• Outlook Express 6
• Thunderbird 3
• Apple Mail

Web Email Clients

• Gmail
• Hotmail
• Yahoo! Mail

Mobile Clients

• iPhone 3GS
• iPad 3.2

Microsoft Outlook 2010

1. Click on File.

2. Click on Options from the menu.

3. When the Outlook Options window appears, click on the Mail in the left pane.

4. Click on the Signatures button to the right.

The Signatures and Stationary window will open.

Microsoft Outlook 2007

1. Click on Tools to open the menu.

2. Click on Options…

3. When the Options window opens, click on the Mail Format tab.

4. Click on the Signatures button to edit your email signatures.

Windows Live Mail

1. Click on the Menus button located on the top-right corner of the application window.

2. Click on Options from the menu.

3. When the Options window opens, click on the Signature tab.

You will now be able to add or edit your email signatures.

Microsoft Outlook Express 6

1. Click on Tools to open the menu.

2. Click on Options.

3. When the Options window opens, click on the Signatures tab to edit your signature.

Thunderbird 3

1. Click on Tools to open the menu.

2. Click on Account Settings.

Apple Mail

1. Click on the Options/Settings icon.

2. Click on Edit “Email Account Name…” form the menu.

3. Click on the Signatures button.

4. The Signatures page will open.

Gmail

1. Click on the Settings link on the upper right corner of the page.

2. Make sure the General tab is active.

3. Scroll down and you should find the Signature options box.

Hotmail/Live Mail

1. Click on Options to open the menu.

2. Click on More options.

3. Click on Personal e-mail signature.

4. You can edit the email signature for Hotmail by adding your personal email signature.

Yahoo! Mail

The screenshots below are for the version of Yahoo! as of this writing.

1. Click on the Options link.

2. Click on the More Options… from the menu.

3. Click on the Signature link.

4. The edit signature page will appear.

iPhone 3GS

These steps should cover the iPhone 3G and 3GS.

1. Tap on Settings in the Home Screen.

2. Tap on Email, Contacts, Calendars.

3. Tap on Signature.

4. You can customize the signature for your iPhone on this page.

iPad OS 3.2

Although similar to the iPhone instructions above, there are some slight variations in the screenshots used so I decided to post an individual how-to just for the iPad.

1. Tap on Settings.

2. Tap on Mail, Contacts, Calendars.

3. Tap on Signature.

4. Enter the signature you would like to use.

If you have other Outlook tips to share, please post them below.

Note: I used Outlook 2010 and a .pst file created in Outlook 2007 for this tutorial.

1. Click on File to Open the menu.

2. Click on Account Settings.

3. When the Account Settings window opens, click on the Data Files tab.

4. Click on the Add button.

5. Select the .pst file you wish to add.

6. Click OK to open the file.

A. Notice how the file is now listed among the Outlook files available.

7. Click Close to continue.

8. Head on over to the Outlook Navigation pane and locate the file you just added to Outlook. Click on the file name to expand the list. All of the folders contained within the .pst file should be listed. Now you will have access to all of the emails in that file.

If you have any comments or questions, please post them below.

Note: I used Outlook 2010 for this tutorial, but the instructions should also apply to Office 2007.

1. Click on File.

2. Click on Options from the menu.

3. When the Outlook Options window opens, click on Mail on the left pane.

4. Click on the Reading Pane button under Outlook panes.

5. When the Reading Pane window opens you will be presented with the following options:

• Mark items as read when viewed in the Reading Pane – when chosen you will be able to set the number of seconds the item is viewed before it is set to the read status.
• Mark items as read when selection changes (default option) – Disable this option.
• Single Key reading using space bar (default option).

When you choose the first option, “mark items as read when viewed in reading pane…” Outlook will wait the specified number of seconds before the item is considered read. I use about 3 seconds, which keeps me from inadvertently marking items Read. Play with the setting until you find the one that best works for you.In order for this to work you will need to disable “Mark items as read when selection changes”.

6. Click OK when you’ve made your selection to close the Reading Pane window.

7. Click OK again to close the Outlook Options window.

By setting up these parameters you help others become aware of what your work hours are and at the same time help yourself manage your time better.

If you have any comments or questions, please post them in the comments section at the end of this how-to.

Note: I used Outlook 2010 for this tutorial.

1. Click on File to open the Backstage.

2. Click on Options from the menu.

3. When the Outlook Options window opens, click on Calendar in the left pane.

4. Use the drop-downs and check boxes to customize the following information:

• Start time
• End time
• Work week
• First day of week
• First week of year

Click OK to save the changes.

You will notice that the hours designated as work hours appear lighter than those outside of the specified time. This helps you and others identify what hours and work days you are available.