Learning Microsoft Outlook from Scratch

Discover how Outlook's Focused Inbox filters important messages into the Focused section and switch to the Other tab for nonessential emails, noting Gmail's lack of default filtering.

Learn to filter and sort your Outlook inbox by unread, flagged, attachments, calendar invites, and more, then organize by date, sender, size, importance, or subject.

Use conversation view in Outlook to see related emails together, or switch to show messages separately via the view menu's messages and conversations options.

Manage Outlook message previews to hide email bodies on office or public computers, leaving only the subject visible, with a simple option to show previews again.

Explore Outlook's layout options on the view tab, including switching between simplified and classic ribbons, choosing the reading pane position, and toggling the My Day calendar.

Open a Microsoft Outlook email in a separate window by clicking the three-dot menu, selecting view, and choosing open in new window. See the email appear in a separate window.

Customize the Outlook ribbon by opening the home tab, selecting the three-dot menu, and choosing display options; drag items to rearrange groups and save changes to see the updated ribbon.

Save email attachments by clicking the down arrow, choosing save as, and selecting a location to download the file to your computer.

Save attachments from Outlook directly to your OneDrive, then view them in OneDrive with a single click. Learn to use the save to OneDrive option to manage attachments efficiently.

Create folders and subfolders in Outlook by right-clicking to create a new folder, then drag emails to organize content into main folders and subfolders.

Learn to apply bulk actions in Outlook by selecting single or multiple emails, using select all, and moving or deleting messages while categorizing and marking read or unread.

Pin emails to keep them at the top for easy access in Outlook; click the pin button to pin, and again to unpin (availability may vary with Gmail).

Learn to flag emails in Outlook to mark them as important and receive notifications. Flag multiple messages, unflag when needed, and use the flag filter to view flagged messages.

Learn to snooze emails in Outlook by right-clicking or selecting an email, choosing snooze, and picking later today, tomorrow morning, or a custom time, then save.

Archive emails to save messages for future reference without deleting them, moving to the archive folder. Restore archived messages back to the inbox as needed, including multiple emails at once.

Right-click the email and choose ignore to filter out newsletters. Deleting the conversation from all folders except sent items also deletes new items and stops future notifications.

Customize quick action buttons in Outlook by accessing view settings and selecting actions such as archive, mark as read, and delete. Save changes to tailor hover options up to four.

Mark emails as junk in Outlook, then report them as junk with never send future emails from this message in junk, and the email returns to the inbox.

Mark junk mail by right-clicking an email and reporting it as junk, which moves the message to junk and improves future junk detection.

Learn to manage junk email in Outlook by adjusting view settings, junk email, and safe senders and domains, then move messages to inbox and add senders to the safe list.

Learn to create and send a new email in Microsoft Outlook, choosing the sending address from multiple accounts, composing content, and sending to arrive in your inbox.

Learn to attach files or links in Outlook by using the new email’s attachments section, browsing your computer, uploading and sharing content, or adding OneDrive and web links.

Learn how to mention people in an Outlook email by tagging them to draw attention and automatically add them to the to list.

Learn to schedule emails in Outlook using Schedule Send, selecting a future time or custom date and time, then manage the scheduled draft in drafts and cancel or send.

master replying to emails in Microsoft Outlook by selecting a message, composing a response, and sending it from the inbox. forward emails, edit the subject, and send to another address.

Learn how to manage favorites in Outlook by adding and removing items from the favorites list, including using the three-dot menu and dragging folders or inboxes to favorites.

Enable outlook's attachment reminder to avoid sending emails without attachments, and turn the reminder on or off through view settings, mail and attachments, then save changes.

Learn how to create and apply signatures in Outlook, configuring separate signatures for new messages and replies, and saving them for specific accounts like Hotmail.

Create and share a meeting link in Outlook by selecting reply all by meeting, set a time, and send the calendar invite so recipients can join online via Microsoft Teams.

Save your email as an eml file by opening the message, clicking the three-dot menu, and selecting save as eml, a universal format you can open in any compatible app.

Learn how to configure automatic replies in Microsoft Outlook, set vacation time, block your calendar, decline invitations, and choose whether replies go to contacts or everyone.

Learn to switch between plain text and HTML in Outlook by changing compose messages in HTML or plain text under view settings, mail, and compose and reply, then save.

Learn to set Outlook's default message format by adjusting font, size, and color in view settings under compose and reply, then apply changes to new mail.

Enable the pop-out window for mail in Outlook by turning on the compose and reply pop-out option, so replies and new messages open in a separate window.

Learn how to enable and use undo send in Outlook, set a 10-second undo window, and revert a mistakenly sent email back to the editing window.

Learn how to set up automatic email forwarding in Outlook by going to settings, selecting mail, and choosing forwarding, then entering a forward address and keeping a copy if desired.

Discover how to control Outlook read receipts by adjusting the read receipt setting in mail message handling, choosing always ask, send by default, or never send to protect privacy.

Enable or disable action confirmation in Outlook to see prompts when you delete, move, or archive messages. Gain confidence by confirming actions and easily undoing mistakes.

Enable or disable link previews in Outlook by adjusting view settings under mail, then compose and reply, turning off preview links to stop automatic URL previews.

Explore how Outlook adds joyful animations like confetti when you receive or send celebratory emails, and learn to turn the feature off or on in mail compose and reply settings.

Understand how Outlook moves deleted messages to the deleted items folder, how to enable empty on sign out, and the 30-day default deletion policy.

Learn how to customize Outlook's mark as read settings by adjusting view settings and message handling, choosing options like mark displayed items as read after five seconds or upon selection.

Print emails directly from Outlook by selecting print, choosing a printer or saving as pdf, then adjusting orientation, paper size, margins, and header, footer, and background graphics.

Create a new contact in Microsoft Outlook by opening the people section, clicking the new contact button, entering name, email, and phone, saving to add it to your contact list.

Create a contact list in Outlook with multiple people, add your own email, and describe it as a closed group, then save to view the new group.

Display contacts by first or last name in Outlook by changing people settings and saving; switch the order to show either first names or last names at the top.

Learn how to use CC and BCC in Outlook, including sending a carbon copy and secretly sending a blind carbon copy to additional recipients.

Learn how to add an image in emails by using the insert menu, selecting pictures, navigating to your file, and inserting it into your message.

Learn to improve email accessibility by adding alternative text to images in Outlook, enabling screen readers to describe pictures when they're hidden or not displayed.

Learn to add a picture border in Outlook by selecting the image, opening the picture format options, and adjusting the border weight and line style.

Learn how to enhance pictures in Outlook by applying shadows, choosing from various shadow options in the picture format menu to create stylish effects.

Crop a photo in Outlook by selecting the photo, choosing picture format, and dragging to crop the area you like; sections aren’t deleted and you can restore parts.

Resize and rotate pictures in Outlook using drag handles, picture format size options (best fit, full size, medium, small), and flip or rotate for precise adjustments.

Click the picture you want to replace, open picture format, choose change picture, select a new image, and insert it with the same effects.