Changed Outlook version and can now no longer find your favorite feature? Or have you heard of a feature but don’t know where to find it in Outlook?
This guide will help you on your way. It contains a list of most commonly used features and options that have been shifted around or renamed between Outlook versions and are sometimes hard to find back. In addition, a couple of options have links to them to find out more about how to use the feature.
Several options have multiple ways of accessing them. In most cases, we will only list one method as the intention of the guide is only to locate the feature. The main focus will be on accessing the options via the main interface by using a standard click (left mouse button).
Within this guide…
- “File” refers to the tab like File menu
in the top left (also known as Backstage). - “Ribbon” refers to the tabbed interface for command buttons also known as Fluent UI.
- “Simplified Ribbon” refers to the new single line Ribbon that is available in Outlook for Microsoft 365 (Version 1908 and later).
- “Expand icon” refers to the
icon on the Ribbon (in the the right bottom corner of some tab groups). - “Ellipsis” refers to the 3 dots (…) on the right side of the Simplified Ribbon which expands the command list.
Simplified Ribbon of Outlook as part of a Microsoft 365 subscription with the ellipsis (…) menu shown all the way on the right side.
The features have been grouped in the following categories;
- Global Outlook options and features
- Outlook management and maintenance
- Account and data file management
- Views
- Exchange
- Receiving Settings
- Messages (composing and reading)
- Calendar
- Contacts/People
This guide is not a full feature list of Outlook. Its intention is to serve as a Quick Reference guide. Feel free to submit feedback if you can’t find a specific feature or think that certain features should be listed here as well.
Tips!
If you regularly use a feature, you can check whether there is a keyboard shortcut for it in our Keyboard shortcuts guide.
Another way to find commands in Outlook is by using the “Tell me” feature that shows next to the Help tab in Microsoft 365 (up to Version 2004).
When you have the Search bar at the top in Microsoft 365 (in Version 2005 or later), then you can also type the command that you are searching for in the Search bar itself.
Global Outlook options and features
| Default message format | File-> section Options-> section Mail-> group Compose messages… |
|---|---|
| Signatures (define) | File-> section Options-> section Mail-> button Signatures… (more about creating signatures) |
| Mark as Read behavior | File-> section Options-> section Advanced-> button Reading Pane… |
| Print Options | File-> Print |
| Advanced Find | Simplified Ribbon (Microsoft 365) Click in the Search field-> the Search tab appears-> click on the ellipsis (…) button on the right-> Search Tools-> Advanced Find… Classic Ribbon Click in the Search field-> the Search tab appears-> Search Tools-> Advanced Find… |
| Startup Folder | File-> section Options-> section Advanced-> option group: Outlook start and exit-> Start Outlook in this folder |
| Tracking Options | File-> section Options-> section Mail-> option group: Tracking |
| Macros | tab Developer-> section Code-> button Macros (read here how to enable the Developer tab) |
| International Options (encoding) | File-> section Options-> section Advanced-> option group: International Options… |
Outlook management and maintenance
| About (show version number) | Outlook 2010 File-> section Help-> text link: Additional Version and Copyright Information Outlook 2013 / 2016 / 2019 / 2021 / Microsoft 365 File-> section Office Account-> About Outlook |
|---|---|
| Repair | Windows 7 and Windows 8 Start-> Control Panel-> Uninstall a program-> select your Microsoft 365 or Office installation-> press the Change or Repair button an not the actual Uninstall button. Windows 10 and Windows 11 Start-> Settings-> Apps-> select your Microsoft 365 or Office installation-> press the Modify button. (you can also run Repair from CD/DVD via setup or via Control Panel) |
| Check for Updates | Outlook 2010 File-> section Help-> button Check for Updates… Outlook 2013 / 2016 MSI Removed from interface. Outlook 2013 C2R / 2016 C2R / 2019 / 2021 / Microsoft 365 File-> section Office Account-> Office Updates (additionally see; Not getting Office updates via Windows Update) |
| Add-ins (enable/disable) | File-> section Options-> section Add-Ins More details can be found here. |
| Disabled Items | File-> section Options-> section Add-ins-> drop down list Manage-> Disabled Items-> button Go… |
Account and data file management
| Mail Account Settings (add/remove/edit account) | File-> section Info-> button Account Settings-> Account Settings…-> tab E-mail (use these configuration settings when using Outlook.com, Gmail, Yahoo or AOL/AIM or iCloud) |
|---|---|
| Mailbox Cleanup | File-> section Info-> button Tools-> Mailbox Cleanup… (cleanup tips) |
| AutoArchive | File-> section Options-> section Advanced-> button AutoArchive Settings… (troubleshoot common AutoArchive issues) |
| Archive | Outlook 2010 / 2013 File-> section Info-> button Cleanup Tools-> Archive… Outlook 2016 / 2019 / 2021 / Microsoft 365 File-> section Info-> button Tools-> Clean Up Old Items… |
| Empty Deleted Items (upon exit) | File-> section Options-> section Advanced-> option group: Outlook start and exit-> Empty Deleted Items folders when exiting Outlook |
| Add new Personal Folders (pst-files) | Simplified Ribbon (Microsoft 365) tab Home-> expand New Email button-> More Items-> Outlook Data File… Classic Ribbon tab Home-> button New Items-> More Items-> Outlook Data File… |
| Open existing Personal Folders (pst-files) | Outlook 2010 File-> section Open-> Open Outlook Data File… Outlook 2013 / 2016 / 2019 / 2021 / Microsoft 365 File-> section Open & Export-> Open Outlook Data File… (errors when opening a pst-file can often be fixed via scanpst.exe) |
| Data File Management (list connected pst-files, their locations, close them, set as default) | File-> section Info-> button Account Settings-> Account Settings…-> tab Data Files… |
| New folder | Simplified Ribbon Removed from interface. Right click on an existing folder in the Folder Pane instead and choose: New Folder… Classic Ribbon tab Folder-> section New-> New Folder |
| Import | Outlook 2010 File-> Open-> Import Outlook 2013 / 2016 / 2019 / 2021 / Microsoft 365 File-> Open & Export-> Import/Export |
| Export | Outlook 2010 File-> Open-> Import (also contains Export options) Outlook 2013 / 2016 / 2019 / 2021 / Microsoft 365 File-> Open & Export-> Import/Export |
Views
| Add Columns (Field Chooser) | Simplified Ribbon (Microsoft 365) tab View-> Current View-> View Settings…-> Columns… Classic Ribbon tab View-> button Add Columns (for more info about multi line and single line layout see this post) |
|---|---|
| AutoPreview | Outlook 2010 tab View-> button Change View-> Preview (this view has the Reading Pane turned off by default) Simplified Ribbon (Microsoft 365) tab View-> Current View-> Message Preview Classic Ribbon tab View-> button Message Preview |
| Organize | Simplified Ribbon (Microsoft 365) tab View-> Current View-> View Settings…-> Conditional Formatting… Classic Ribbon tab View-> View Settings-> Conditional Formatting… (for more info about Conditional Formatting see this guide) |
| Define Views | tab View-> Change View-> Manage Views… (how to apply a custom view to all folder) |
| Reading Pane (enable/disable, position right/bottom) | Simplified Ribbon tab View-> Layout-> Reading Pane Classic Ribbon tab View-> Reading Pane |
Exchange
| Automatic Replies (Out of Office Assistant) (OOF) | File-> section Info-> button Automatic Replies (for Exchange administrators: verify if Out of Office to the Internet is allowed) |
|---|---|
| Delegates | File-> button Account Settings-> Delegate Access (more about Permissions) |
| Recover Deleted Items | Outlook 2016 / 2019 / 2021 / Microsoft 365 Select the Deleted Items folder and use the link “Recover items recently removed from this folder”. Simplified Ribbon (Microsoft 365) Removed from interface. Classic Ribbon tab Folder-> section Cleanup-> button Recover Deleted Items |
| Add secondary mailbox | File-> section Info-> button Account Settings-> Account Settings…-> tab E-mail-> select your Exchange account-> button Change…-> button More Settings…-> tab Advanced-> button Add… |
| Open Folder from Other User | Outlook 2010 File-> section Open-> button Other User’s Folder Outlook 2013 / 2016 / 2019 / 2021 / Microsoft 365 File-> section Open & Export-> button Other User’s Folder |
Receiving Settings
| Send/Receive Settings | File-> section Options-> section Advanced-> button Send/Receive… |
|---|---|
| New Email Alerts | File-> section Options-> section Mail-> option group: Message arrival (configure the New Mail Desktop Alert to stay longer and show for all messages) |
| Rules and Alerts | File-> section Info-> Manage Rules & Alerts… |
Messages (composing and reading)
Unless specified otherwise, these instructions are about the message window, both composing and reading.
| Change message format; HTML/Plain Text/Rich Text | Simplified Ribbon (Microsoft 365) tab Format Text-> ellipsis (…) button on the right-> Message Format Classic Ribbon tab Format Text-> Group: Format (this option is not available when using Reading Pane Reply. Press on the Pop Out button to open the reply in its own window) |
|---|---|
| From and BCC field (enable/disable) | Simplified Ribbon tab Options-> ellipsis (…) button on the right Classic Ribbon tab Options (From is automatically enabled when multiple accounts are configured and can’t be hidden) |
| Resize picture attachments | File-> section Info |
| Message Options (composing) | Simplified Ribbon tab Options-> ellipsis (…) button on the right-> Message Options… Classic Ribbon tab Options-> section More Options-> expand icon |
| Message Options (reading) (message header) | File-> Properties (to view the message header without opening the message first see this tip) |
| Save Attachments (all) | File-> Save Attachments |
| New message with stationery (start from main Outlook window) | Simplified Ribbon (Microsoft 365) tab Home-> expand New Email button-> E-mail Message Using-> More Stationery… Classic Ribbon tab Home-> section New-> button New Items-> E-mail Message Using-> More Stationery… (you can also add your own Stationery) |
| Signatures (insert) | tab Message-> button Signature or tab Insert-> button Signature (note that this is a signature switching feature) |
| Do not AutoArchive | File-> Properties (or press ALT+ENTER for the old dialog) |
Calendar
| Show week numbers | File-> section Options-> section Calendar-> group: Display options-> option: Show week numbers in the month view and the Data Navigator |
|---|---|
| Import holidays | File-> section Options-> section Calendar-> group: Calendar options-> button: Add Holidays… (Missing Holidays? See; Holiday updates) |
Contacts/People
| Default File As format | Outlook 2010 File-> section Options-> section Contacts-> group: Names and filing Outlook 2013 / 2016 / 2019 / 2021 / Microsoft 365 File-> section Options-> section People-> group: Names and filing |
|---|---|
| Default Display format Address Book | File-> section Info-> button Account Settings-> Account Settings…-> tab Address Books-> select: Outlook Address Book-> button Change… |
| Mail Merge | Simplified Ribbon (Microsoft 365) Select Contacts/People folder-> tab Home-> press the ellipsis (…) button on the right-> button Mail Merge… Classic Ribbon Select Contacts/People folder-> tab Home-> section Actions-> button Mail Merge (more about mail merge) |
| New Contact from same Company | Simplified Ribbon Select Contacts folder-> select a contact-> tab Home-> expand the New Contact button-> Contact from the Same Company Classic Ribbon Select Contacts folder-> select a contact-> tab Home-> group New-> button New Items-> Contact from the Same Company |
