Information Technology
03 October 2024
Essential Microsoft Outlook Tips
Want to become an Outlook expert? We’ve pulled together some essential Microsoft Outlook tips you can use to help you become more efficient and improve your productivity.
Navigating around Outlook
You can easily jump between Outlook's different areas – Mail, Calendar etc. – based on the order they're displayed (usually, Mail is first, Calendar second, People third, and Tasks fourth):
- Press Ctrl+position_number – so normally Mail would be Ctrl+1, Calendar Ctrl+2, etc.
- Hit Ctrl+Shift+I to return to your Inbox from anywhere in Outlook (Classic, only)
In Outlook you can rearrange these:
- Right-click the relevant area in the Navigation Bar > Move Up/Down (Mail and Calendar cannot be moved)
Creating Outlook items
| New message | Ctrl+Shift+M |
| New appointment | Ctrl+Shift+A |
| New task | Ctrl+Shift+K |
| New contact | Ctrl+Shift+Copilot |
| New item (based on current area) | Ctrl+N |
Working with emails
| Reply | Ctrl+R |
| Reply All | Ctrl+Shift+R |
| Forward | Ctrl+F |
| Delete | Ctrl+D |
| Send current message | Ctrl+Return |
Outlook Calendar
Date Navigator
| View any date range | Drag across dates in the Navigator |
| View specific date | Click first in Navigator; Ctrl+click next |
| Jump to month | Click-and-hold on month name, and scroll |
Go To Date
‘Go To Date’ enables you to jump to any date in the span of the Calendar – simply press Ctrl+G and enter the required date.
Depending on the current date and date entered, the Calendar will respond in different ways. For example, if the current date is 16 September 2024:
| Date entered | Result |
|---|---|
| View any date range | Drag across dates in the Navigator |
| View specific date | Click first in Navigator; Ctrl+click next |
| Jump to month | Click-and-hold on month name, and scroll |