10 Minute Guide to Outlook 97 - 23 - Customizing Outlook In this lesson, you will learn to set e-mail, calendar, and other options in Outlook. Setting General Options General options include choices that can make your work more comfortable or efficient. For example, you can choose to view large toolbar buttons if you have trouble with seeing or clicking the small icons, or you can choose to empty the Deleted Items folder automatically when you exit Outlook. To customize general options, follow these steps: 1. Choose Tools, Options. The Options dialog box appears. 2. Click the General tab. 3. In the General Settings area, check the boxes of the options you want to activate, which are listed here: Warn Before Permanently Deleting Items Empty the Deleted Items Folder Upon Exiting When Selecting Text, Automatically Select Entire Word When Online, Synchronize all Folders Upon Exiting Provide Feedback with Sound Large Toolbar Icons 4. In the Startup Settings area, choose Prompt for a Profile to Be Used or Always Use This Profile. Plain English: Profile A group of settings that control how your mail is delivered, received, and stored in Outlook, and the software used to transfer your mail, such as Microsoft Mail, Microsoft Exchange, or Lotus Notes. 5. When you finish setting the options on this tab, do one of the following things: Click Apply to set these options, and then click another tab to customize the options on it. Click OK to accept the changes and close the Options dialog box. Click Cancel to void any changes you made and close the dialog box. Setting E-Mail Options Use the E-mail tab to set options that govern how the program deals with new mail and how new mail is processed. Figure 23.1 shows the Options dialog box with the E-mail tab displayed. To set e-mail options, follow these steps: 1. Choose Tools, Options. The Options dialog box appears. 2. Click the E-mail tab. 3. In the Check for New Mail On list box, check all types of e-mail you want to receive. Timesaver Tip: Check for New Mail? The mail types listed in the Check for New Mail On list box are added when you add a new profile to Outlook. You add a profile by choosing Tools, Services. 4. In the When New Items Arrive area, choose the options you want to apply to your setup. Figure 23.1 Customize e-mail options to suit your needs. 5. In the Settings for Automatic Processing of Mail area, check the boxes next to the options you want to apply (described here): Process Delivery, Read, and Recall, Receipts on Arrival When this is checked, Outlook automatically records status when an item is delivered, read, or recalled. Process Requests and Responses on Arriva When this is checked, Outlook automatically places meeting requests on your Calendar and responses to meeting requests in your Meeting Planner. Delete Receipts and Blank Responses After ProcessingWhen this is checked, Outlook automatically deletes responses to meeting requests that have no comments when mail is delivered, read, or recalled. 6. When you're done, click Apply to save the changes and view another tab, or click OK to save the changes and close the dialog box. Setting Sending Options Sending options allow you to control the font used for new messages, tracking options, and choices for dealing with sent items. Follow these steps to set sending options: 1. Choose Tools, Options. The Options dialog box appears. 2. Click the Sending tab (see Figure 23.2). Figure 23.2 Set options for sending mail. 3. In the When Composing New Messages area, click the Font button to choose a different font for message text. 4. Under Tracking Options, choose when you want to be notified about mail you've sent. 5. In Save Copies of Messages in "Sent Items" Folder, choose the options you want to use for saving messages. 6. When you're done, click Apply to save the changes and view another tab, or click OK to save the changes and close the dialog box. Timesaver Tip: Reading Options Take a look at the Reading tab in the Options dialog box. It contains options you can use to choose fonts for message replies that you send and for forwarded messages. Setting Calendar Options If you work during unusual days or hours, you can change your default Calendar work week in the Calendar tab of the Options dialog box. Suppose your work week runs from Tuesday through Saturday, and your work day is from 4 am to 12 noon. You can make changes to the Calendar so that it reflects your actual work week. You can also set your time zone and add holidays to your calendar. To set Calendar options, follow these steps: 1. Choose Tools, Options. The Options dialog box appears. 2. Click the Calendar tab (see Figure 23.3). 3. In the Calendar Work Week area, choose the days of the week you usually work (the default is Monday through Friday). You also can set the first day of your week and the first week of your year. 4. In the Calendar Working Hours area, set your starting and ending time (the default is 8 am to 5 pm). 5. To set the time zone for your area, click the Time Zone button, and then choose the zone that describes your location. 6. To add holidays to your calendar, click the Add Holidays button. Then check the box representing your country (US is default) and click OK. Outlook imports the US holidays to the calendar. 7. When you're done, click Apply to save the changes and view another tab, or click OK to save the changes and close the dialog box. Figure 23.3 Set your calendar work week to suit your schedule. In this lesson, you learned to set e-mail, calendar, and other options in Outlook. In the next lesson, you learn to use Internet services.

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