Outlook Training Guide

Mastering The Outlook Basics

We all spend a great deal of time in our Outlook inboxes. It’s one of the most widely used Microsoft tools. Sometimes, though, it can take a little longer than we’d like to perform certain tasks, or perhaps you’re not sure how to do them – you might not even know certain aspects exist in the system! Our Microsoft Outlook training guide is filled with productivity tips and will help you nail the basics, so you can start working smarter and faster.

What’s included in the Outlook training guide?

Jump To Any Section:

The Basics of Email The Basics of Your Calendar The Basics of Your Contacts The Basics of Tasks (Classic View)

The Basics of Emails

Create, send, and reply to an email (including forwarding) ↓

Create and send an email, reply to an email message, and forward one.

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Create and send an email

Select Home > New Email.

Add recipients, a subject, and a message in the email body.

Select Send.

Reply to an email

Select an email to reply to.

Select Reply.

Type your message.

Select Send.

Note: Any received attachment is not added to a reply automatically.

Forward to share email with others

Select an email to forward.

Select Forward.

Add who you’d like to forward to.

Add a note in the email body if you’d like.

Select Send.

Note: Any received attachment is added when forwarded.

Adding recipients from your address book ↓

Adding recipients, including the difference between T, Cc and Bcc.

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Add a recipient from your address book

Select New Email.

Add recipients by either typing in their name, or by selecting ‘Address Book’.

Search recipient > select recipient.

Click To, Cc or Bcc > click OK.

Note: To is used when emailing someone directly, Cc (carbon copy) is used to copy someone in (all recipients can see who has been copied in), or Bcc (blind carbon copy) is used to copy someone in (no recipients can see who has been copied in.)

Send and receive attachments ↓

Send a file or image with your email message by adding an attachment.

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Add an attachment

Select Home > New Email.

Or, for an existing email, select Reply/Reply All or Forward.

Select Home > Attach File, and choose an option:

Recent items – select the arrow to find a file or image you have saved or worked with recently. These files could be saved locally, or they might exist on internal network locations.
Attach Item > Outlook Item – attach an email message.
Attach Item > Business Card – attach an electronic business card to the message.
Attach Item > Calendar – insert a calendar, with specific date range and other details.
Browse Web Locations – select files from OneDrive, SharePoint sites, or Group Files that you have accessed earlier.
Browse This PC – select a file from your local computer.

Tip: When you’re attaching a file stored in OneDrive or SharePoint, pick how you want to share the file: a link or Attach as copy. Right-click online docs to Change Permissions for editing or viewing.

When you receive an attachment

Select to preview or open the attachment.

When done, select Back to message.

Note: When you forward an email, the attachments remain with the new email.

Search and filter email ↓

Search is a powerful tool to help find email messages anywhere in Outlook.

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Search for an email

Select the search bar, located above the Outlook ribbon.

Type a name, subject, or phrase which is included in the email message that you want to find. You can use quotation marks around a phase to search on words in that exact order.

Creating new email folders and sub-folders ↓

Create new folders and sub-folders to organise your email inbox.

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Create a new folder

Select your Inbox > right click.

Select New Folder…

Name your new folder > click OK.

Create a new sub-folder

Select your Folder > right click.

Select New Folder…

Name your new folder > click OK.

Moving emails into folders

Select your email.

Drag into your chosen folder.

Setting up an out of office ↓

Adding recipients, including the difference between T, Cc and Bcc.

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Create an automatic reply

Select File > Automatic Replies.

Select Send automatic replies.

Select Only send during this time range: > select your start time and End time

Add a message in the email body under Inside My Organization

Copy and paste this into Outside My Organization > click OK.

Note: to put your out of office on indefinitely, don’t select ‘Only send during this time range:’

The Basics of Your Calendar

Adjust your calendar view ↓

Learn to switch your Outlook calendar view and see different calendars.

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Adjust your calendar view

There are different views to choose from:

Month – View the entire month.

Week – View the week from Sunday through Saturday.

Work Week – View the work week from Monday through Friday.
Day – View the current day.

See different calendars

To see different calendars side-by-side, select and open one under My Calendars.

With different calendars open, select the arrow on each calendar to overlay them and see when everyone’s available.

Select Today to go back to the current day.

Create appointments and meetings ↓

Appointments are just for you, Meetings are to invite people to.

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For a meeting, select New Meeting.

Add people in the To field, and then enter a Subject and Location.

Select a Start time and End time. Or select Scheduling Assistant to check the availability for attendees and pick a time.

Select Teams Meeting to have an online meeting.

Add your notes or an agenda.

When ready, select Send.

Share your calendar ↓

Share your calendar with others so they can view your schedule.

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Share your calendar

Select Calendar > Share Calendar.

Choose a calendar to share.

Select Add, decide who to share your calendar with, and select Add.

Select OK and you’ll see the added people with a default permission level.

Choose a name, select the access level to give, and select OK.

Open a shared calendar

Open an email with a shared calendar and select Accept.

Select Calendar > Shared Calendars to view a shared calendar.

Choose a calendar to open.

Select View in Overlay Mode to layer the shared calendar over your own.

Use calendar categories and reminders ↓

Keep your calendar organised so you don’t miss important meetings.

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Add or update reminders

Select New Appointment, New Meeting, or open an appointment by double-clicking on the event.
- Note: If it’s a recurring event, you can change the reminder for a single event or the entire series.
Select the Reminder drop-down menu and choose how long before the appointment you want to be reminded. The default is 15 minutes. Or choose None if you don’t want a reminder.

If it’s a new appointment, add a Subject, Location, and brief description.

Select Save & Close to finish.

Add a colour category

Categories are only seen by you to group similar messages, tasks, contacts, or calendar events.

Select New Appointment, New Meeting, or open an existing appointment by double-clicking on the event.
- Note: If it’s a recurring event, you’ll need to choose the series to add a colour category.
Select Categorize and then one of the preset colours.

If this is the first time using the colour, you may be asked if you want to rename it.

After you’ve chosen a category, a colour bar will go across the top of the event.

You can also use the same categories in People, Mail, and Tasks in Outlook.

The Basics of Your Contacts

Adding a contact ↓

Once a contact is saved, Outlook will fill in their email address for you.

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Add a contact from an email

Right-click a name on the To, Cc, Bcc, or From line.

Select Add to Outlook Contacts.

Add any additional details you want.

Select Save & Close.

Add a contact from scratch

Select People People icon > New Contact.

Add any additional details you want.

Select Save & Close.

Create a contact group ↓

Create a contact group so you can email a group instead of individuals.

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Create a contact group

On the Navigation bar, choose People.

Select Home > New Contact Group.

In the Contact Group box, type the name for the group.

Select Contact Group > Add Members, and then select an option:
- Select From Outlook Contacts.
- Select From Address Book.
- Select New E-mail Contact.
Add people from your address book or contacts list, and choose OK. To select multiple people, hold down the Ctrl key as you choose members.

Choose Save & Close.

Send an email to a contact group

Select Home > New Email.

Select To.

In the Search box, type the name of the contact group.

Double-click the name to add it to the To box, and then select OK.

Searching contacts ↓

Easily search your companies Active Directory and Address Book.

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How to search

Select the search bar, located in the Outlook ribbon (above Address Book).

Type a name, or group which is saved in your Address Book.

Alternatively, select Address Book in the Outlook ribbon.

Select the search bar, in the top-left.

Type a name, or group which is saved in your Address Book.

The Basics of Classic Tasks

Adding a new task ↓

Creating tasks builds a to-do list in Outlook to help you stay organised.

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Adding a new Task

Select Tasks in the navigation pane and choose New Task.

Add a subject, date, and priority.

Select the Reminder checkbox if you’d like to set a reminder.

Select Save & Close.

Flagging an email to assign as a Task

Hover over the email that you’d like to flag as a Task.

Select the flag on the right-hand side.

It will be added as a Task for today.

Note: you can change the Due Date on your flagged Task.

Editing a task

Double-click on the Task

Edit the subject, date, or priority.

Select Save & Close.

Create a recurrence ↓

Create a recurrence when tasks happen daily, weekly, monthly or annually.

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Create a recurrence

Double-click on the Task you’d like to open.

Select Recurrence

Select Daily, Weekly, Monthly or Yearly on the left.

Select which day you’d like it to reccur on.

Amend the range of reccurrence

Click OK

Mark a Task complete ↓

Easily manage your tasks by marking as complete, or removing from list.

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Mark Complete

Select the Task.

Select Mark Complete in the Outlook Ribbon.

Remove From List

Select the Task.

Select Remove from List in the Outlook Ribbon.

Adjust your Task view ↓

Learn to switch your task view for more or less detail.

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Adjust your tasks view

There are different views to choose from:

Detailed – see all details.

Simple List – see only Subject, Due Date, Category and Folder.

To-Do List – chronological list.

Prioritised – listed in priority order, based on importance (Flags).

Active – only Tasks that haven’t gone past their Due Date.

Completed – all completed Tasks.

Today – only Tasks with Due Date’s of today.

Next 7 Days – only Takss with Due Date’s within the next 7 days.

Overdue – only Tasks with Due Date’s that are overdue.

Assigned – Tasks which were assigned to you by someone else.

Server Tasks – sisplays Tasks stored on the server.