General tips and tricks to improve overall Outlook performance
How to set up Outlook for use with Internet mail
Outlook Internet Mail Enhancement Patch (IMEP)
MSN 2.0 and Outlook integration
Tame your inbox
Read your e-mail at lightning speed
Archive now or later?
How to set up, use, and back-up Outlook Personal Folders (PSTs)
Making Outlook Contacts appear in the e-mail Address Book
Installing and configuring Microsoft Fax
Installing and configuring Outlook for Lotus CC:Mail
Make more room on the screen
Use separate windows for different parts of Outlook
Using the Microsoft Exchange client and Outlook together--Outlook Forms Fix Utility
Replace the Windows® Desktop Inbox icon with the Outlook icon
Import Schedule+ or other PIM files into Outlook

1. General tips and tricks to improve overall Outlook performance:

• Turn off WordMail if you have it enabled. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the E-mail tab. Clear the "Use Word as the e-mail editor" check box.
• Turn off Outlook journaling. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Journal tab. In the "Also record files from" and "Automatically record these items" list, clear all of the check boxes.
• Occasionally, an Outlook profile, a personal folder, the Outlook Bar file, or a password list can become damaged or corrupted. Check to be sure these files aren't damaged, and consult the following KB article for additional details:http://www.microsoft.com/kb/articles/Q162/9/91.htm.
• The Outlook Forms Fix utility can improve performance if you happen to be using both Outlook and the Exchange client. For more information, see tip #15.
• The Internet Mail Enhancement Patch (IMEP) improves Outlook performance for sending and receiving Internet mail. See tip #3 for more information.

2. How to set up Outlook for use with Internet mail

To send and receive Internet mail, you must configure Outlook to use an information service that can deliver Internet mail. The Internet Mail Information Service holds information pertinent to your mailbox for login purposes and delivers your messages from the mail server to your computer and vice-versa. To add the Internet Mail Information Service to your profile, use the following steps:

1. On the Tools menu, click Services.
2. On the Services tab, click Add.
3. In the Available Information Services box, click the Internet Mail Information Service and click OK.
4. Type in the necessary information to log in to your mail server and click the Connection tab to configure your connection type.
5. Click OK twice.
6. Exit and restart Outlook.

For more information go here, here or here.

3. Outlook Internet Mail Enhancement Patch (IMEP)

This update is intended for Microsoft Outlook users whose primary e-mail system is a dial-up Internet service provider. The improvements we've made for this final release include:

• Support for multiple POP3 accounts in the same user profile
• Improved support for storing messages on POP3 servers
• Marking of original text with an angle bracket (>) when replying to messages
• Full message headers for Internet e-mail messages

For additional information and an immediate download of this functionality, go here and then here.

4. MSN 2.0 and Outlook integration

When you use Microsoft Outlook 97 with MSN version 2.0, you may, in rare cases, experience incompatibility problems such as:

• Outlook may stop responding (hang) on opening.
• You may get a general protection fault on opening Outlook.
• Sending and receiving mail may not work.
• You may have problems with Remote Mail services.
• You may receive a Fatal Exception Error 06 while in a session with MSN or following a session with MSN.

These problems can be corrected if MSN is installed and working properly before Outlook is installed. If the problem still persists after removing both products and then reinstalling first MSN and then Outlook, try starting Outlook through the MSN Viewer by clicking the MSN icon on the desktop, clicking Communicate, and clicking "start e-mail." For more detailed information on this issue or on setting up Outlook to work with MSN, go here or here.

5. Tame your inbox

The Outlook Rules Wizard provides several templates you can use to create rules and filters for your Inbox. You create rules using common words, not special commands or codes. You can use an existing message as a template for a new rule, or choose the type of rule you want to create and then fill in the blanks. Or you can start from scratch and make your own conditions and actions. Every rule has an exception. You can make a rule that's applied in almost every case: for example, you can have a rule for moving messages that ignores a message if it is marked as having high importance. For an immediate download of this functionality, go here.

6. Read your e-mail at lightning speed

For users who receive many messages in a day, Outlook's AutoPreview functionality can significantly reduce the time they spend reading e-mail. AutoPreview displays the first few lines of the body of their messages, which enables them to quickly understand what they are about and read or delete messages without actually opening them. Now, with the Outlook 3-Pane Extension, Outlook users also have the option of displaying an entire e-mail message at the bottom of a view without needing to open the message. The 3-Pane viewer can be used by itself or in conjunction with AutoPreview. In addition, users can adjust the splitter bar of the 3-Pane viewer up and down to see as much or as little of the selected message as they choose. For an immediate download of this functionality, go here.

7. Archive now or later?

Need to keep some Outlook items without cluttering up your computer? You can set up Outlook so those items are archived after a certain period of time. This way, you still have the information, but it doesn't get in your way. Outlook automatically archives the contents of certain folders. These folders and the age at which items are archived are Calendar (6 months), Tasks (6 months), Journal (6 months), Sent Items (2 months), and Deleted Items (2 months). To change the age at which items in these folders are archived, right-click the folder, and then click Properties. Click the AutoArchive tab and then change the options. For more information, ask the Office Assistant about "Archiving."

8. How to set up, use, and back up Outlook Personal Folders (PSTs)

Personal Folders are folders that you create to store all Outlook data (including e-mail messages) on your local hard disk or on another server. You work with a Personal Folders file as you would with any other file, and you can save, copy, and move a .pst file to another location (on your hard disk, to a floppy disk, or on a server) to back up your data or synchronize with another computer. Follow these steps to back up your Personal Folders file and all subfolders in a different Personal Folders (.pst) file:

1. On the Outlook File menu, click Import And Export to open the Import And Export Wizard.
2. In the "Choose an action to perform" list, click "Export to a personal folder file (.pst)," and then click Next.
3. In the "Select the folder to export from" list, click "Personal Folders."
4. Click the "Include subfolders" check box, and then click Next.
5. In the "Save exported file as" box, type the path and file name of a destination .pst file, or click Browse and select a destination .pst file.
6. Under Options, click the button corresponding to how you want duplicate items treated, and then click Finish.

Note: Outlook folders, such as Calendar, Contacts, Journal, Tasks, and e-mail message folders are components of the Personal Folders file.

For additional information about PSTs (including exporting Outlook folders to another file format), consult this KB article.

9. Making Outlook Contacts appear in the e-mail Address Book

When you use the address book to look up an address, information from your Outlook Contacts folder sometimes may not appear in the list. Microsoft Outlook 97 requires that you complete three steps before contact information will be available through the address book:

1. You must install the Outlook Address Book service.
2. You must check an address book option in the properties for the folder.
3. You must specify either an e-mail address or fax number for each item that you want to show up in the address book.

For more detailed information on completing these three steps go here or here.

10. Installing and configuring Microsoft Fax

Microsoft Outlook 97 works with the Windows 95 Fax service. However, to do so, the Microsoft Fax service must first be installed and working properly, so the Outlook setup program can update certain files correctly. If the Microsoft Fax service is not installed or not working properly, remove the Outlook 97 application, remove Microsoft Exchange and the Microsoft Fax service, reinstall Exchange and the Fax service, test Microsoft Fax to ascertain that it is working properly, and then finally, reinstall Outlook 97. For more detailed information on completing these steps consult http://www.microsoft.com/kb/articles/q160/7/46.htm

11. Installing and configuring Outlook for Lotus CC:Mail

Outlook offers Lotus CC:Mail users the ability to use Outlook as their mail client. To use Lotus CC:Mail with Outlook you must first install the Lotus CC:Mail transport from the Office 97 Value Pack. Once the transport is installed, it will show as an available service when you configure a profile. There are several tips that will make it easier to configure Outlook for use with Lotus CC:Mail:

• Obtain and install the latest Dual VIM Drivers from Lotus. These are available from the Lotus Web site as zip files. The file VDLW32.zip contains the 32-bit drivers, and VDLWIN.zip contains the 16-bit drivers.
• Place a copy of Import.exe and Export.exe in your Windows system or system32 directory. These files can generally be obtained from the server admin directory for cc:mail. If you are using Lotus CC:Mail with a DB8 postoffice, you should also follow the same procedure for the file IE.RI.
• Map a drive to the Lotus CC:Mail postoffice instead of using UNC pathing.
• CC:Mail program files are usually in a different directory than the CC:Mail postoffice. For example, a typical program directory is ccmail and a typical postoffice is ccdata. When making a profile it will ask you for both locations, so please read carefully.

For more detailed information on this issue, consult this Knowledge base article.

12. Make more room on the screen

The Folder List can take up a lot of room, but you can hide it when you don't need it. Here are some tips:

• Hide the list by clicking Folder List on the View menu.
• Display the list only temporarily by clicking on the Folder Banner, the horizontal bar that runs across the top of the view.
• You can move up and down the list. When you select a folder, the list closes automatically.
• On the Outlook Bar, create shortcuts to your favorite folders. Just display the Folder List, and then drag any folder you want to the Outlook Bar. You may never have to see the list again!

13. Use separate windows for different parts of Outlook

If you use the Calendar and the Inbox throughout the day, you may want to have them in separate windows. To do this, just show one of them (like the Inbox), and then right-click the other (such as the Calendar). On the menu that appears, select Open in New Window. Now you can use ALT+TAB to switch between them, just like you would with other windows. And this works for any parts of Outlook you want: your Tasks, Journal, or Contacts. When you close Outlook, Outlook remembers what you have done, and separate windows appear when you start again.

14. Using the Microsoft Exchange client and Outlook together--Outlook Forms Fix Utility

The Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Exchange clients each use a slightly different forms technology. When a user installs Microsoft Office 97 or Microsoft Outlook, their system is configured to run Outlook. So, switching to use the Exchange client can cause slower performance. We recognize there are some users who will use both clients on the same system. To address these users' requirements as quickly as possible, the Outlook team has made available both the Forms Fix Utility and the Switch Forms Utility.

The Forms Fix utility--in beta--is designed primarily for users moving temporarily from Outlook back to the Exchange client. Once downloaded, the utility runs in the background without user intervention. There is also a Switch Forms utility that accomplishes essentially the same task, but users must manually run it each time they switch between e-mail clients on the same system. You should use the Forms Fix utility if you:

• Started off using Inbox or the Exchange client and then installed Outlook, but are not yet ready to fully migrate over and begin using Outlook full-time, or
• Plan to frequently switch back and forth between using the Exchange client and Outlook on the same system.

You should use the Switch Forms utility if you:

• Prefer to install final release software rather than beta software.
• Plan to switch back and forth between the Exchange client and Outlook, but not frequently.
• Move permanently from Outlook back to the Exchange client and then later decide to move permanently back to Outlook.

For an immediate download of this functionality, go here or here .

15. Replace the Windows Desktop Inbox icon with the Outlook icon

Whether you have used Microsoft Exchange before, or have just started using Windows 95, there is an icon on the desktop called the Inbox. The Inbox provides access to Microsoft Exchange, also called Windows Messaging System, but does not start Outlook. Having two Inboxes can be confusing, so we provide a small program to remove the Inbox icon and make the Outlook shortcut a permanent fixture on the desktop. For an immediate download of this functionality, go the the Change Inbox page at Microsoft