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Keyboard Shortcuts |
Here's a list
of handy keyboard shortcuts that will work in the main and View Message
windows:
KEYSTROKE ACTION
[Ctrl]> Go to the next message
[Ctrl]< Go to the previous message
[Ctrl]A Select all messages (also works in the Send window)
[Ctrl]D Delete the selected message
[Ctrl]F Forward the selected message
[Ctrl]G Reply to all in a newsgroup
[Ctrl]I Go to Inbox
[Ctrl]M Send and receive mail
[Ctrl]N Open or post a new message
[Ctrl]P Print the selected message
[Ctrl]R Reply to the message author
[Ctrl][Shift]R Reply to all
[Ctrl]U Go to the next unread mail message
[Ctrl][Shift]U Go to the next unread news thread
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Read Receipt |
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If you would
like to know if the mail you're sending is actually being read by the
recipient, just activate your read receipt feature. Here's how: Click on
Tools, choose Options, then click on the Receipts tab. Put a check in the
box that reads; "Request a read receipt for all sent messages".
NOTE: Outlook Express only supports the read
receipt feature in version 5.01 and later. You can upgrade Internet
Explorer to upgrade Outlook Express.
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Add New
Sub Folders |
To
quickly add a new subfolder to your standard set of mail folders.
-
Right-click the folder you want to use as the parent.
- Then
select New Folder.
- Enter
the new folder's name.
- Click
OK.
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Automatically Sort Your Mail |
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The old
Internet Mail in IE 3.0 had an Inbox Assistant to help you sort mail
messages as they arrived, but Outlook Express's new Inbox Assistant puts
it to shame.
To access the
Assistant.
- Select
Tools/Inbox Assistant from the main Outlook Express menu.
- Click
the Add button to create a new sort rule.
- The old
Inbox Assistant let you select only basic To, From, CC, and Subject
criteria, and then only let you move corresponding messages to a new
folder. The updated Inbox Assistant gives you many new options, such as
deleting messages, autoreplying, leaving copies on the server, or
forwarding messages to a different address.
You can even
use the Inbox Assistant to sort mail that's already in your inbox. Just
set up your sorting rules with the Inbox Assistant, click the Apply To
button, and select your inbox. Outlook Express filters through the
existing inbox messages and applies the rules accordingly.
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Sending Mail in HTML |
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Outlook
Express lets you create and view email in HTML instead of just in plain
text.
To create an
HTML message, click the Compose Message button on the main menu. In the
New Message menu, select Format/Rich Text (HTML). A new toolbar appears
that contains standard HTML formatting buttons for fonts, lists, images,
and lines. You can use these buttons to create slick HTML email that your
recipients can view either in HTML-ready email programs or in a Web
browser.
NOTE: Not all mail software can read HTML pages, so
unless you know the recipient can read this format send the mail in text
format.
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Import your address book |
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There is no
need to start from scratch with Outlook Express! It's easy to import your
existing Netscape or Eudora email messages and address books.
To import messages.
Select File> Import> Messages from the main menu. A Wizard steps you
through the process of importing the message.
Importing an
address book is even easier.
- Select
File/Import/Address Book from the main menu.
- Select
the email client you want to import from
- Click
the Import button. Done!
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Create Multiple Email Accounts |
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These days,
many people have multiple email accounts, both personal and
business-related.
Outlook
Express makes it easy to create several accounts that you can check
independently or all at once. With Inbox Assistant, you can even combine
multiple accounts and put your mail in different folders based on those
accounts.
When you
first install Outlook Express (as part of the IE 4.0 installation) you
create your first account.
To add more:
-
Select
Tools> Accounts from the Outlook Express main menu.
-
Click the
Add button
-
Select the
Mail tab to create a new mail account.
The Wizard
steps you through the process of creating the new account. When the Wizard
finishes, click the Close button in the Internet Accounts dialog box.
Note: You will need to know the necessary SMTP
(outgoing) and POP3 (incoming) server mail addresses. Contact your
Internet Service Provider for these details.
To check mail
in any or all of your accounts:
-
Select
Tools> Send and Receive from the Outlook Express menu.
-
Choose
either All Accounts or an individual account name.
This will
check for mail in the account/s you have specified.
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Change the title bar text |
You can
change the text on the Title Bar from Outlook Express to a text of your
choice:
-
Start the
Registry Editor (Start> Run> type in regedit)
-
Go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Outlook Express
-
Click on
Outlook Express to open its contents in the right pane.
-
Select Edit
from the menu.
-
Select New>
String Value
-
Name it
NewTitle
-
Now
double-click this entry and insert your text.
-
Close the
Registry editor and restart Outlook Express.
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Change
the Default Font |
If you would
like to change the font that Outlook Express uses by default when sending
HTML mail. Here's how:
- From
the menu bar select Tools, then select Stationery
-
You can now
set the Default font for both Mail and News
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Backup your Accounts
Information |
If you want
to backup your Accounts Information, follow these steps:
-
Start the
Registry Editor (Start> Run> type in regedit)
-
Go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Internet Account Manager/Accounts
-
Click the
Accounts key.
-
From the
menu select Registry> Export Registry File
-
Select a
name for the file, select the location where you want to save it, and
from the Export range, make sure that Selected branch is selected
-
Click Save
If you want
to restore your Accounts Information, simply Double click on the registry
file, and the values will be imported to your registry (you will have to
re-boot for the process to be completed).
[Top] |
Create a Signature |
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You can save
a great deal of time by creating a signature that you can add to your
emails with the click of your mouse button. In Outlook Express 5, choose
Tools> Options> Signatures and click New. Type your signature in the Edit
Signature box. To create an alternate signature, click New and type this
second signature. Enable the "Add signatures to all outgoing messages"
checkbox and click Apply, then OK. Your first signature will be the
default and will appear automatically at the foot of all new messages. To
use the alternate signature, highlight and delete the default one from the
message, choose Insert/Signature, and choose the alternate signature to
use.
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Dialup a Contact |
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Outlook
Express has the ability to dial a phone number for you. You can dial a
number for one of the contacts in your address book. To do this, choose
Tools> Address Book, right-click your contact's name, and choose Action>
Dial. Enter the phone number (if it isn't listed already), or choose one
from the drop-down list and click Call to begin dialing.
[Top] |
Block
senders list |
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If you have
added some-one to the block senders list and you would like to reverse
this, here's how:
Choose Tools>
Message Rules> Block Senders List, click the address of the person in the
list, and click Remove.
[Top] |
Sending
attachments |
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Before
sending an attachment, please scan it to be sure it is virus-free using
your favorite virus utility. Refer to the virus utility's manual for
instructions on how to do this. Also, limit its size to 1 MB (maximum), to
avoid lengthy downloads for the recipient. You can attach a file to a
message you are composing by clicking on the Attach button on the New
Message toolbar. Then locate the file you want to attach, double click on
the file. This will automatically attach the file.
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Prompt for password |
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You can keep
others that may share Outlook Express with you from accessing your email
account by making Outlook Express prompt for your password before
accessing your email. Choose Tools/Accounts/Mail tab, select your account,
and click Properties/Server tab. Disable the Remember Password check box,
click OK, then Close.
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Save a
formatted email |
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If you find
yourself emailing the same type of formatted email over and over again,
you can save a template of the email to your hard drive for repeated use.
Here's how: Once you have the email created to where all you have to do
is add a few minor details, go to "File", click on "Save as", the subject
line of your email will be the name of your saved mail as default. Choose
a destination to store your email and click "OK".
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File Attachment
Considerations |
-
If the file
is larger than 2mb (2,048K), check with the recipient before sending to
ensure that he/she will be able to receive it. Some Internet Service
Providers place restrictions on message sizes.
-
Do not
change the extension of the file. This extension (for example, .doc for
Word documents, .xls for Excel spreadsheets) is used by Windows 95 to
determine what program was used to create the file, and it also makes it
easier for the recipient to know what type of file you have sent.
-
When
sending an attachment, be specific when indicating what type of document
is attached. If you know the software program and its version, include
that in the message
Note: You
may find it necessary to zip or compress the files.
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Delete attachment not the email |
There are a
few methods you can use for this action:
-
If it is a
new message, you can remove the attachment by opening the email message,
right-clicking the attachment icon and selecting "Delete". This
operation will not work once the email has been moved to another folder
as the "Delete" option will be grayed out.
-
Open the
email, click File/Save As and save the eml file on your Desktop. Then
open it there with Notepad or Wordpad and delete
all info below the text in the body of the message all the way to the
end. Then in Notepad or Wordpad, click File/Save (NOT Save As) and you
can then drag and drop it into a local mail folder in Outlook Express.
-
Open the
folder with the message(s) from which you would like to delete the
attachment. Right click on the message in the message list and chose
"Save message(s) to file(s)...". Save the message to your "New mail
folder" which is nothing but your mail directory and give the file
containing the message the extension ".cnm". A few seconds later you
might be informed that new mail had arrived .... Proceed with method
"deleting attachments, when mails are still in the new mail folder".
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Drag and Drop Attachment
|
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Instead of
using the traditional method of attaching files to your emails, here's a
quicker way of getting it done:
Open up a New
email, then minimize it to the taskbar. Browse for the file you wish to
attach and drag & drop it in to the email sitting on the taskbar.
Note:
You will have to hold the mouse over the email until the email opens up,
then drop it in.
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Backup
address book and put on new computer |
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[You will
need a blank, formatted floppy disk.]
To copy the
Windows Address Book from one computer to another, use the following
steps:
-
Start
Outlook Express on the computer that has the Windows Address Book you
want to copy, point to Export on the File menu, and then click Address
Book.
-
Click Text
File (Comma Separated Values), and then click Export.
-
Type a
descriptive name in the Save Exported File As box, click Browse, click a
floppy drive in the Save In box, and then click Save.
-
Click Next,
click the appropriate check boxes to select the fields you want to
export in the "Select the fields you wish to export" box, and then click
Finish.
-
Quit
Outlook Express, and then insert the floppy disk in the computer you
want to copy the Windows Address Book to.
- Start Outlook
Express on the computer you want to copy the Windows Address Book to,
point to Import on the File menu, and then click Address Book.
NOTE: To import a comma-separated file in Outlook
Express 5, point to Import on the File menu, click Other Address Book,
click "Text File (Comma Separated Values)," and then click Import. Skip to
step 8.
-
Click Text
File (Comma Separated Values), and then click Import.
-
Click
Browse, click the appropriate floppy drive in the Look In box, click the
file name you typed in step 3, click Open, and then Next.
-
Click the
appropriate check boxes to select the fields you want to import in the
"Map the fields you wish to import" box, and then click Finish.
-
If you
receive a message "Would you like to replace the existing entry with the
import entry?," click Yes To All to replace all duplicate entries, and
then quit Outlook Express. Reopen outlook Express and the address book
will function normally.
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Open
Address Book from Run |
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Microsoft Outlook and Outlook
Express store your address book information in a file called "Windows
Address Book". To access this file, go to Start, type in:
wab
then press enter on your keyboard.
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Q |
User Id
Password
