Sending an Encrypted Email in Outlook

Did you know you can send an encrypted email in Outlook with just one click or automatically by using a key word in your subject line?  This is so easy you'll be amazed you didn't know this. Ideally, of course you don't send private information in an email - but sometimes it's necessary.

When to Send an Encrypted Email?

Although it depends on your company and your position but odds are most of your messages don't contain information that requires you to encrypt your emails.

• PII (Personally Identifiable Information).
  This includes Social Security Number, full mailing address, spouse and family information, bank or credit card numbers, detailed work information, tax returns etc.
• Secure Business Data.
  Any information considered proprietary by your business that could be used or valuable to competitors.
• Logins and Passwords.
  If possible - don't send passwords and login information but sometimes it may be necessary, if so this should always be...

The Power of Email Merge

What is it?

When you use Word/Outlook/Excel to send a individual of emails to a list (usually in Excel)  with unique content specific to each user. This is not when you send the same email and put every user's email in the BCC field.

When do you use it?

Although there are a few scenarios, the most common one is when you export a list of users and related information from another program and need to send specific content to a group of users. For example, you want to send each customer an email that contains their name, shipping address and history of their orders last year. Another example, you want to send your employees an email that contains the benefit choices they have selected.

Can I (Should I) Use Constant Contact or Mail Chimp Instead?

Products like Constant Contact or Mail Chimp allow you to send large amounts of emails to groups of users. Most often, this content is mostly generic. These are great for newsletters, announcements and the...

Should you Schedule your Teams Meeting from Teams or Outlook? 

Does it matter you're wondering? As more and more people jump on the Teams train, the crossover of Teams and Outlook is undeniable. You have already noticed that your Outlook calendar also shows up in Teams. You have maybe also noticed you can schedule a Teams meeting from within Teams and in Outlook. So the natural question is - does it matter? Short answer - YES!

Question #1: Who are you inviting?

• If you're inviting people outside your organization, using the Teams Meeting button on your ribbon in Outlook is easier. This is because the To: field will bring up your list AutoFill list of people you send emails to and you won't have to either copy and paste or manually type in email addresses for invitees.
  
  
  
• If your meeting is strictly internal, then creating the meeting in Teams versus Outlook doesn't make much of a difference.

Either way - you will have a link and call in number...

Drawing in an Email Message

Sometimes you just need to sketch something out.  We've all heard a picture is worth a thousand words. Sometimes a lot of words can be eliminated in an email by just creating a simple drawing. Whether it's a diagram or something else - it's easy.  You can only create a drawing in an HTML formatted email.

In Outlook, you can create a drawing in your email by using the following steps.

1. Open a new message and click on the Drawing tab.
   
2. Click in the body of the message (the commands will be greyed out if you're not in the content area of the email).
3. On the Drawing ribbon, click the Drawing Canvas button.
   
4. Then you will be able to create your drawing within the canvas by either drawing  with your mouse or with your finger if you have a touch-screen.
   
5. You can use the drawing canvas handles to resize the image.

View your Calendar and Inbox at the Same Time

As an avid user of Outlook, you most likely pop back and forth between the calendar and the inbox.  There are a 2 ways you can view both your calendar and your inbox at the same time.  If you have multiple monitors, the first method is great - it gives you a full view of each window whereas the 2nd method is great for a smaller view of the calendar and if you only want it on a single screen. 

Method 1: Open in New Window

It's pretty standard that most people have multiple screens and there's an easy way in Outlook to have your inbox and calendar open in their own separate windows, one on each monitor. You can use this method with  Inbox, Calendar, People, Folders, Tasks and Notes.

1. To view the Inbox and the Calendar simultaneously, in Outlook, open the inbox.
   
   
2. Then right-click on  the calendar icon and choose Open in New Window.
   
   
   
3. You will now see when you hover over Outlook, both windows. You can drag one...

Outlook's Focused Inbox

Who doesn't need help having a more focused inbox?? I will take ALL the help I can get. Outlook's built in Focused Inbox feature allows you to take advantage of automatic organization so you can quickly and easily see the more important emails and filter out the less important ones. Additionally, you can customize how Outlook organizes your emails by adding emails to the focused or the other lists.

Turn the Focused Inbox Feature On

1. Click on the View tab in Outlook.
   
   
2. Click on Show Focused Inbox button. This toggles the feature on/off.
   
   
   
3. Click Focused to view the focused emails. This should be the more important emails. The marketing and mass emails should be in the Other category. You can toggle between the 2 filters. You can also turn it off completely. 

Customize the "Focused" List

As you use this feature, you will need to "teach" Outlook what should be in the Focused list and what should be in the ...

Tricks to Sort your Inbox Like a Pro

Sorting your inbox might not seem like a big deal BUT if you have 100's or 1000's of emails in your inbox like most people, sorting like a pro can literally save you hours!

Using Outlook Columns

The new default view in Outlook looks like this.

If you change the width of the window - you will see all the column headings displayed. (It's easier if you watch the video than to explain it in steps.)

Once you have the columns visible - you can simply click to sort by that column.

Super simple - but so useful when you're trying to find all the messages from a certain person.

New Read Aloud Feature in Outlook

If you're like me, sometimes you just can't sit at your desk another minute. I heard a statistic the other day that since COVID we are spending more time sitting in front of our computers. Using Outlook's new Read Aloud feature allows us to have emails read to us allows us to stand up, stretch, maybe even walk around while catching up on email.

There are so many features that get rolled out in updates and if we don't know about the feature - we can't take advantage of it. This is one of those features. So, watch the video to see and hear how easy it is to use.

How to Use It

It's super simple. Select the email, click the button.

1. Select the email to read.
   
   
2. On your Home tab, look for the Read Aloud button.

If you don't see the button, you may need to enable it.

1. In Outlook, click File....Options...
   
   
2. In the dialog box, choose Ease of Access and make sure Show Read Aloud is checked and click OK.
   

Reply with Meeting

I'm on a role for super simple tips. This is another quick and easy tip - but a HUGE time saver if you setup meeting request with people you've been in email conversations with.

Have you used Outlook's Reply with Meeting button? It's awesome. In just a single click - you can respond to an email conversation with a string of people on it - and turn it into a meeting invite. The more people on the email - the more time you are saving. The other cool thing - it copies all the contents of the email into the body of the meeting including attachments. It also transfers over the subject line of the emails as the meeting title.

Scenario

You receive an email with 5 (or any number) other recipients in the To: or CC:  fields. The string of emails now merits setting up a meeting with these same (5) people. If you know this trick  - it's a simple click to generate a meeting invite. If not - you will need to create a new meeting request and add each...

Sharing Office Files as PDF's

Did you know there's a 1-click option to share files as PDF's? You don't have to save as PDF or convert to PDF and then share - just a single click.

It's so easy - I almost didn't want to do this tip but I've learned lately some of the easiest tips are the best and so many people just don't know these shortcuts.

Whether you are using PowerPoint, Word or Excel - it is now SO EASY to share files as PDF's. Although this isn't new - I've learned working with a few people lately - not everyone knows this little shortcut.

Emailing PDF's 

Whether you are in PowerPoint, Word or Excel, you can use the Share menu item to email a PDF version of the file in a single click.

1. While you're in the file, click File...Share...Attach as PDF
   
   
2. A new blank email will open up with the PDF version of the file.
   

That's it. SO EASY!! If you send PDF's - this is a huge time saver. I use it multiple times per week sending PDF versions of files and it saves so...