Top ten best practices for Outlook
November 25, 2022
Microsoft Outlook is the most popular and preferred email client around the world since it has been published in the year of 1997. This is due to its features and facilities available to the users. But who knows how many of them are taking the maximum benefit from its features? If you know the most useful practices for Outlook it will be helpful for you. Today in this article, I will share the top ten best practices for Outlook.
1. Best view settings
View settings I the most important thing for an Outlook user. If your Outlook interface view setting is not user-friendly you will not be able to use MS Outlook with full performance. As a result, your performance will also go down.
What do you mean by the best view settings in Outlook? In a single word, the view setting is the interface setting of Outlook where everything is at your fingertips. Like the inbox, the reading pane, the to-do list, and the calendar, everything is visible and set in a way that you can access it easily.
In my opinion, the best view setting for Outlook is where the folder pane is open always on the left side with the inbox and the reading pane is just beside it. When you select any email it will open in the reading pane on the right side. The calendar and the To-Do list can be set on the right side after the reading pane which should be always visible.
To learn more about best view settings please read the article below:
2. Backup of emails and contacts
The second most important practice for MS Outlook is taking backups regularly of both emails and contacts. Most people take backups of emails but do not care about contacts but it is urgent to back up contacts as well as email.
You may lose your device or change your device anytime. If you do not take a backup of your emails and contacts it will be a mess for you and your company as well. All valuable emails are at risk if you do not take backup on regular basis.
Many people are taking backup on regular basis but they store it locally in their own hard drive, which is also at the same risk. I suggest they should store the backup PST files in the cloud or on different devices to keep backup files secured. The same logic is applicable to contacts as well.
If you do not know how to take backup of your emails and contacts you may read the following articles to learn.
3. Junk E-mail settings
You should take keep an eye always to your junk e-mail setting as spam email is an important fact nowadays. Nobody likes to receive junk emails in his inbox. Microsoft Outlook has strong settings against junk emails. You should configure it as per your requirement. You must know how aggressive you should be against spam emails.
MS Outlook offers to block unwanted emails and domains. You can create safe sender lists and safe recipient lists as per your requirement. All features MS Outlook offers only you need to configure it accordingly.
If you do not know about junk email settings you can read the article below to learn more.
4. Use Rule to Organise your emails
Many of us do not create any folder, inbox is the only folder that contains all emails. When you do the same practices, it slows down your Outlook and it is very painful when you are looking for any specific emails.
The best practices for Outlook are creating new folders project-wise and creating rules for those email addresses. If you do that all emails will be received in the specific folder as soon as they arrive on your computer.
People who are used to creating rules and storing emails in a specific folder can organise their inboxes properly. They can find any old email in a short time and show performance to the management.
If you do not know how to create rules and organise your Outlook can read the content below.
5. Use the calendar and appointment
The people who are efficient enough use the calendar to make schedules for themselves and the team. If you use Outlook calendar and schedule your work, you can share the calendar with your colleague and other people. They will be able to plan their meeting with you as per your schedule as they can see your busy day. You can set your work days in your calendar.
If you are using another email address like Gmail, you can sync google calendar with Outlook.
Set a meeting with your colleagues and client using Outlook, it is one of the best practices. You can use team or skype to arrange a meeting in a short time. It saves time. MS Outlook offers to print blank calendars to schedule your task without having a computer with you. The use of Calendar makes your daily life easier.
6. Use a To-do list and my task
When a new email arrives in your inbox, take immediate action. If you think that you will work later, please use flags. A flagged email will move to your To-Do list and my task. Set reminder, MS Outlook will remind you as per your instruction.
Uses of a To-Do list and my task will increase your work efficiency. There will be no chance of forgetting any task. Do you know how to use a To-Do list and set reminders? If you do not please go through the content below to learn.
7. Create a contact group
Most people do not create contact groups or distribution lists. You can create contact groups of your colleagues and clients, it will help you to find out email addresses quickly while sending emails. For instance, if you are sending your daily report every day, please create a contact group for this daily report. While sending this report you need not search for email addresses to pick one by one. The chances of missing anyone are also less in that case.
You can create contact groups for each and every project and for every event. It is the best practice. Do you know how to create a contact group or distribution list? If not, read the article below to learn.
8. Use signature
It is urgent to let your recipient know your identity. The best way to declare your identity is to add a signature at the bottom of your email. An attractive signature can attract your recipient. Your signature should contain your name, designation ( in the case of a company), company name, contact number, etc. The salesperson can add a smart photograph in his signature.
In the case of replying to an email no need to add a full signature, you can create different signatures for replying and forwarding emails. Do you know how to create an attractive signature? To learn how to create it properly please read the article below.
9. Proper use of To, Cc and Bcc list
Most people do not know the proper use of the To, Cc, and Bcc lists. You should know whom you should keep in which field. Like,
To- The person who is concerned about your email, I mean from whom you need to take action should be in the To field. If you miss it, your mail will be in vain. If you do not send your email to the proper person, the recipient will not take action, your mail will be in his inbox idle. So, this is very important.
Cc- Those who do not need to take action but should be informed will be on the Cc list. May your boss, office management, boss of the recipient should be on this list. The personnel who are not directly involved with the task should be informed as they are the bosses.
Bcc- This is the list where you should keep them whose email addresses you do not want to disclose to others. Maybe when you are asking for a price offer from a different vendor can be on this list.
These are the best practices for Outlook you can maintain for To, Cc, and Bcc lists.
10. Set the priority of an email before sending
All your emails are not equally important. Some emails are normal, some may need more attention from your recipient. You can set priority to your emails. If your email needs immediate action you must set high priority to your email.
If your email is less important can set low importance to your email. Your recipient can understand your priority and take action accordingly.
Some people always send emails with high priority, it is not a good practice at all. It confused them too much.
It is very easy to set priorities for your emails. If you do not know how to set it please go through the article below.
I tried to mention the best practices for MS Outlook, Maybe you have your own opinion, you are requested to give your opinion in the comment box. I will check your opinion and add it here. Thank You,
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