Microsoft Outlook 2003
Managing Your Email
This document will instruct you on how to manage your email so that you can stay organized. By creating flags, changing the read/unread status, and changing the subject heading of your emails, you are able to more easily and effectively manage your email messages.
Flagging Messages for Follow Up
If you receive many email messages and cannot immediately respond to them all, you may want to set up reminders to follow up the messages later. When you set up reminders, a red flag will appear next to the message with the reminder.
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From the listing of messages, select the message you want to flag
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From the Actions menu, select Follow Up » Add Reminder...
The Flag for Follow Up dialog box appears.
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From the Flag to pull-down list, select the appropriate flagging option
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From the Due by pull-down lists, select a due date and time
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From the Flag Color pull-down list, select a flag color
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Click OK
A follow up flag appears in the Flag Status column of the message list.
Marking Follow Up Messages as Completed
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Select the flagged message
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When you have completed the follow up task, from the Actions menu, select Follow Up » Flag Complete
Your flag will now turn into a gray checkmark showing the task is complete.
Removing Follow Up Flags
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Select the flagged message
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If you want to remove the follow up reminder, from the Actions menu, select Follow Up » Clear Flag
The follow up flag disappears.
Changing Message Status
For better organization of your email messages, it may be beneficial to change your email status from read to unread or vice versa.
NOTE: If you change a replied or forwarded message to unread, the message symbol will not change. However, it is still considered unread for sorting, grouping, or filtering.
Changing Message Status: Menu Option
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From the listing of messages, select the desired message(s)
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To mark the message(s) as read, from the Edit menu, select Mark as Read
To mark the message(s) as unread, from the Edit menu, select Mark as Unread
OR
To mark all of the messages in the mailbox as read, from the Edit menu, select Mark All as Read
Changing Message Status: Quick Menu Option
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From the listing of messages, right click the desired message(s)
A Quick menu appears. -
To mark the message(s) as read, select Mark as Read
To mark the message(s) as unread, select Mark as Unread
Adjusting Subject Lines for Easy Reference
With the option to change the subject headings on incoming mail, you have more flexibility for organization. If you want a message to go into a folder that is based on subject heading, but that message does not fit the criteria, you can change the message's subject heading.
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From the listing of messages, double click the desired message
The message window opens. -
Select the words in the subject heading
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Type the new subject heading
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From the File menu, select Close
OR
Click the X in the upper right corner
An alert box appears asking if you want to save changes. -
Click YES
Your new subject heading appears on the email.
