UCSF/CNS Dean's Office - Computing & Network Services
Outlook/Exchange 2000 Online Help

1. Introduction
2. Tutorials
3. Troubleshooting
4. Keyboard Shortcuts

I. Introduction

What is Outlook and Exchange?

Microsoft Exchange is a mail system. It is physically a server that specializes in the storage of messages and coordinates the transmission and receipt of messages between users on that server, between other Exchange servers and the outside world.

It determines who has rights to the mail service. Being a unique server, it functions in much the same manner as your network server. Like any server, you will need to log onto that server in order to use any of its services.

Outlook is the "client" package that you will be using that works in conjunction with the Exchange server. It is software that resides on your computer. It is customizable with such functions as personal address books, calendars, notes, tasks, and archive settings.

Where is your information stored?

On the Exchange Server:

• Your primary "Mailbox", including anything you add to Contacts, Calendars, Private folders etc.
• Personalized settings regarding how your Outlook program appears and operates
• Information is backed up nightly for disaster recovery.

On your personal drives on the file server:

• Archived Records (Personal Folder)

Features of Outlook

• E-mail (The "Inbox")
• Calendars
• Contacts (Rolodex)
• Task Management
• Notes
• Journals
• Interaction between each of these modules
• Interaction between users
• Interaction between other Microsoft applications such as Word and Excel.

Primary Objective

The first objective in learning Outlook is to master the basic skills in sending, receiving and storing messages. Judging from the list above, it is easy to become overwhelmed, if not confused or intimidated by the wide range of functions of this software. It is, in essence, a work environment within Windows. You will be spending a great deal of time inside Outlook. You will discover, over time, that it will be a constant resource for messages, scheduling and task management. You will learn how it easily manages files on your computer and how it is easy to jump into other programs such as Microsoft Word, or to attach files and images from other programs.

But the primary objective, as it concerns new users of Outlook, is to manage e-mail.

II. Tutorials

Email Basics

• Compose a message
• Reply to a message
• Deleting messages
• How to attach files
• Requesting return receipts
• Sorting messages
• How to organize email addresses with folders

Email Advanced Features

• How to create an email signature
• Using the "Out of Office Assistant"

Contacts

• Creating a contact
• Using distribution lists
• Sending a message to a distribution list

Calendar

• About appointments, meetings, and events
• Creating a new appointment
• Creating a recurring appointment
• Plan a meeting
• Create an event

Compose a message

• Select Compose, New Message or click the New Message button. A blank message appears.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Address A Message: Click the To: button. The address dialog box appears. The top right drop down box will tell you which address book you are in. Scroll to locate the name, or type the first few letters of the last name to search for the user. Click the To: button. Repeat as necessary. To send a carbon copy, highlight the recipient’s name and click the Cc: button. Click OK after all addresses have been entered.
  
  
• Add Subject And Message Text: Click in the subject box and type the subject of the message. Press the Tab key to enter the message text area.
  
  
• Send Message: After the message has been prepared, click the Send button. The message is temporarily stored (for a few seconds) in the Outbox until it’s delivered to the addressees.
  
  
  

Reply to messages

• Reply to a Recipient: On the toolbar, click the Reply to Sender button. The Standard Send form appears. The To: and Subject: boxes are automatically filled in. Complete the message and click the Send button.
  
• Reply to All Recipients: On the toolbar, click the Reply to All button. The Standard Send form appears. The TO and Subject boxes are automatically filled in. Complete the message and click the Send button.

Forwarding messages

• On the toolbar, click the Forward button. The Standard Send form appears with the Subject box filled in. The To box is not filled in. Click the To: button and address the message. Click in the message area and type the message. Click the Send button.
  
  

 

Deleting messages

• If you no longer need a message you should delete it. Because deleted messages are moved to the Deleted Items folder, if you change your mind about deleting a message, you can still retrieve it. However, items in the Deleted Items folder use up disk space on the mail server. To avoid receiving a "mailbox disk quota exceeded" error from the mail server, regularly empty the contents of the Deleted Items folder. Do this by clicking Tools | Empty "Deleted Items" Folder from the Outlook menu.
  
  
• To delete a message, click on the message to highlight it and click on the Delete button on the toolbar. The message is moved from the Inbox to the Deleted Items folder.
  
  
  
  
  
• To view items in the Deleted Items folder, click on it. The deleted items will be listed. Click on the Inbox to return to your mail.
  
  
• Some users tend to use the Deleted Items folder to file their messages. This practice is not supported. Learn to organize messages into folders instead of using the Deleted Items folder.
  

How to Attach Files

• Attaching files to messages: To attach a file to a message, click the Attach File icon , and the Insert file dialog is displayed. Browse to the file to be attached, select the file, then click the Insert button located in the lower right corner of the window.
  
  
  
  
• Opening Attachments: Open the message with an attached file. Attached files are displayed in the lower portion of the message window.
  
  
• Double-clicking on an attached file fails to open the file: Sometimes double-clicking on an attached document fails to open the document. How can this be resolved? First the solution, then the explanation. When a file fails to open, follow these steps:
  
  
  • Right click on the attached document
  • Select "Save As"
  • Save the document to the directory of your choosing. If it is a document you do not care to save, you can save it to the C:\TEMP or C:\WINDOWS\TEMP directories.
  • Next, open the program you think will work with the file. If you think it is a spreadsheet, use Excel. If it is a document, open Word.
    Go to the "File" menu and select "Open" and then navigate to the directory where the file was saved.
  • Attempt to load the file and see if it works.
  • If other programs fail to open the file, forward the message with an explanation to the computer support person to see if an alternative can be found.
    
    
• Why does this happen?
  
  
  • File incompatibility -- The sender might be using a computer with a different operating system (i.e., Macintosh vs. Windows).
  • Undefined file endings -- All files have what is called an "extension." A file name is composed of an number of letters, followed by a period ("."), and then ended with a three or four letter extension. Windows 9x uses the extension to interpret what sort of file is being read. If it ends with DOC, it assumes it is a document. If it ends with XLS it assumes it is a spreadsheet. It can read extensions from numerous programs such as WordPerfect or QuatroPro or Lotus 1-2-3. Occasionally, however, a file arrives with an unusual ending and Outlook fails to open the file. Under most circumstances, following the "Save As" approach as described above will solve this riddle. Probably the most ambiguous ending is no ending at all. Windows 9x often reserves files with no extensions so that no particular program can open them.

Requesting Return Receipts

There are two ways you can set up Outlook to request a return receipt for email messages that you send.

• Requesting return receipts for individual messages:
  
  
  1. Open up a new message.
  2. Click the Options button on the toolbar.
     
     
     
     
  3. Under Voting and Tracking options you have two choices:
     
     Request read receipt for this message.
     Request a delivery receipt for this message.
     
     
• Configuring Outlook to ALWAYS request a return receipt for messages:
  
  
  1. Go to Tools > Options.
  2. Click the Email Options button.
  3. Click the Tracking Options button.
  4. At the bottom of the list of check boxes you will see the following options:
     
     Request a read receipt for all messages I send
     Request a delivery receipt for all messages I send
     
     
  5. Click OK.

Sorting Messages

• You can organize your messages by sorting them. The information in the message header is used to sort messages by column, such as sender, subject, and received date.
  
  
  
  
• To change how your messages are sorted, you can click a column heading. For example, if you click on the column header for received date, you messages will be sorted in ascending order by received date.

Organizing Email Messages with Folders

• How to create a folder within Outlook
  
  
  1. Display the inbox by clicking Inbox in the Shortcut Bar.
  2. Click the arrow to the right of the New Message icon and a menu is displayed.
  3. Select Folder from the menu, the Create New Folder window appears.
  4. Enter a name for the folder in the Name field of the window.
  5. Select the location in which to place the folder by clicking the destination folder name in the Select where to place folder frame of the window.
  6. Click the OK button and the folder is created
     
     
• How to Transfer Messages to Folders
  
  
  1. Display the Inbox by clicking the Inbox Icon in the Shortcut Bar.
     
     
     
     
  2. Right-click the message you want to move and select Move to Folder from the menu. A window is displayed containing a list of folders that have been created in Outlook.
  3. Double-click the folder you wish to move the message to, and the message is moved to that folder

Signatures

"Signatures" are essentially the basic information at the end of correspondence. For most documents, a signature is nothing more than a title and name. But with e-mail, you can include more: office address, phone number, fax number, web address and e-mail address.

• Create a signature for messages
  
  
  1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Mail Format tab.
  2. Click Signature Picker, and then click New.
  3. In the Enter a name for your new Signature box, enter a name.
  4. Click Next.
  5. In the Signature text box, type the text you want to include in the signature. You can also paste text to the Signature text box from another document.
     
     

     Sample signature format: FirstName LastName Department/Division University of California, San Francisco 1001 Potrero Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94110 (415) 206-XXXX (phone) / (415) 206-XXXX (fax)

     
     
  6. To change the paragraph or font format, select the text, click Font or Paragraph, and then select the options you want. These options are not available if you use plain text as your message format.

Using Out of Office Assistant

If you are going to be out of the office for an extended period, you can use the Out of Office Assistant to automatically reply to messages while you are away.

1. Go to your Inbox, then on the Tools menu, click Out of Office Assistant.
   
   
   
   
2. Click I am currently Out of the Office.
   
   
3. In the AutoReply only once to each sender with the following text box, type the message you want to send to others while you are out.
   
   
4. Click OK.

Creating a new Contact

1. Click the Contacts icon in the shortcuts window to open the Contacts module.
   
   
2. Click the New button and the contact dialog appears.
   
   
   
   
3. Fill in the name, email, address and any other relevant fields.
   
   
   
   
4. Click OK. The contact is added to your contact list.
   

Creating a Distribution List

Distribution lists allow you to group any number of contact addresses together. When you send a message with the list as a message recipient, the message is mailed to everyone in the group at one time. You can create as many lists as you want, and store them in your contacts folder. To create a personal distribution list:

1. Click on the Contacts button.
   
   
2. From the Contacts Folder, right-click and select New Distribution List, or from the File menu select New > Distribution List.
   
   
   
   
3. Outlook then opens the Distribution List dialog box. Type in a name for your distribution list then click the Select Members… button to add contacts. First choose which address list(s) to use then double-click on the names of people that you want in your address list. If the people whom you want in the distribution list are not in the global address book, you must add them to your contacts first.
   
   
   
   
4. When you are done click OK and click the Save and Close button.
   
   
5. After you save the list, it will show up in your Contacts folder as a Distribution List.

Sending a message to a Distribution List

• Right click on the distribution list that you want to send a message to and select New Message to Contact.
  
  
  
  
• After a distribution list is created, you can rename it or add/delete members by double clicking it and following the same steps as above for adding members and naming the list.

To send a Distribution List to someone else

1. Open a new message.
2. On the Insert menu, click Item.
3. In the Look in list, click the folder that contains the distribution list you want to send. Distribution lists are saved in the Contacts folder by default.
4. In the Items list, click the distribution list you want to send, and then click OK.
5. Send the message.

Add a distribution list sent to you to your Contacts folder

1. Open the message that contains the distribution list.
2. Click the attached distribution list and drag it to Contacts.

About appointments, meetings, and events

An appointment is an activity that you schedule in your Calendar that does not involve other people or resources. A recurring appointment repeats on a regular basis.

A meeting is an appointment you invite people to or reserve resources (a conference room, TV, computer, projector, or any other equipment) for. A recurring meeting repeats on a regular basis. You can only send meeting requests if you use Outlook to send e-mail.

An event is an activity that lasts 24 hours or more. An annual event, such as a birthday, occurs yearly on a specific date. Events and annual events do not occupy blocks of time in your Calendar; instead, they appear in banners. A banner is an Event or Holiday that appears at the top of events you specify in the Calendar. A banner can span multiple days. Items in banners are marked as free time and are represented by the color white when you view you calendar.

Create an Appointment

1. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Appointment.
2. In the Subject box, type a description.
3. In the Location box, enter the location.
4. Enter start and end times.
5. Select other options you want.
6. Click Save and Close.

Tip: In Calendar, you can also create an appointment by selecting a block of time, right-clicking, and then clicking New Appointment on the shortcut menu.

Planning a Recurring Appointment

1. Open the appointment you want to make recurring.
2. On the Actions menu, click Recurrence.
3. Click the frequency (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly) at which you want the appointment to recur, and then select options for the frequency.
4. Click OK, and then click Save and Close.

Planning a Meeting with Outlook

1. Display the Calendar feature by clicking the Calendar icon in the shortcuts bar. Select Plan a Meeting from the Actions menu. The Plan a Meeting window is displayed.
   
   
   
   
2. Specify the start date for the meeting by clicking the arrow located to the right of the first field beside the Meeting start time field and clicking the date in the displayed calendar. Choose the start time for the meeting.
3. Repeat the same steps for the ending date and time.
4. To invite attendees to the meeting, click the Invite Others button. The Select Attendees and Resources window is displayed.
5. Select the attendees whose attendance is required or optional. Click OK.
6. Click the Make Meeting button. The email message to invite the attendees is displayed.
7. In the message window, enter the text for the invitation in the textbox.
8. Verify that all information is correct and click Send. Once the Send button is pressed, the invitation message will be forwarded to all attendees. The meeting is also automatically added to the Calendar as an appointment.

Create an Event

1. Click Calendar.
   
   
   
   
2. On the Actions menu, click New All Day Event.
3. In the Subject box, type a description.
4. In the Location box, enter the location.
5. Select other options you want.
6. To indicate to people viewing your Calendar that you are out of office instead of free, in the Show time as list, click Out of Office.
7. Click Save and Close.

Tips:

• Events are defined as lasting from midnight to midnight.
• In Day/Week/Month view, you can quickly create an event by double-clicking the date heading of the day of the event.

III. Troubleshooting Common Outlook Problems

How to I get rid of the Office Assistant?

• To Hide the Assistant: On the Help menu, click Hide the Office Assistant.
• Turn off the Assistant: Click the Assistant, and then click Options. On the Options tab, uncheck the Use the Office Assistant check box.

IV. Outlook 2000 Keyboard Shortcuts

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Revised: 3-17-2006