Seven Microsoft Outlook Features You Never Knew Existed

Microsoft Outlook is one of the most popular email clients in the world, used by millions of businesses and individuals all over the globe. It, therefore, may come as a surprise to learn that there are many ‘hidden’ tools and features nestled within Outlook that many of us know nothing about.

These handy tools can help you get more done both at work and at home. Why not have a look and try some of them out for yourself?

Unsend an Email

We’ve all been there. We’ve hit the Send button on an email and realized a nanosecond later that the message contains an embarrassing error, a few typos, or is addressed to the wrong person. You might want to unsend an email for many reasons, and did you know that Outlook offers the facility to do this?

Wondering how to unsend an email in Outlook? Luckily, it’s an easy process…although it’s important to note that once a recipient has read the rogue email, you won’t be able to fully recall it. Firstly, head to your Sent Items folder and open the message you wish to unsend. From here, click Message, and then select Recall this Message from the Actions menu.

Note: Upgrading or downgrading to a different version of Outlook or moving to a new system altogether. Demands you to take backup and move your Outlook data as well.

Backing up and moving Outlook data is no longer a tedious task, when you use Remo Outlook Backup and Migrate tool, that lets you backup all of your Outlook data with just a few simple

clicks and restore it on any version of Outlook on any Windows system.
Remo Outlook Backup and Migrate tool is definitely a must have Outlook companion.

Alter Time Zones

In a world where more of us than ever are working remotely or in hybrid teams, it can be hard to keep track of colleagues working in different time zones. Outlook has a neat solution to this problem by displaying two different time zones on the same screen, so you can easily see when an overseas colleague is likely to be at their desk rather than asleep!

To enable this option, go to Options, and select Calendar. You’ll see a tab called Time Zone, and all you need to do from here is choose Show a Second Time Zone and pick the relevant details to be displayed.

Desktop Alerts

Outlook’s standard settings mean you’ll get a desktop alert when a message pings in. This can be very useful, but the constant pop-ups can be a distraction if you’re trying to focus on a task. Many people don’t realize that these alerts can be disabled for those times when we need to concentrate.

Again, head to Options, and from this menu, choose Mail. From here, you’ll be able to disable the Display a Desktop Alert option.

Public Holidays

Did you know that Microsoft Outlook can automatically add public holidays to your calendar to help you plan? Outlook has holidays associated with over one hundred locations in its library. Simply pick your home country, and all the relevant public holidays will be immediately incorporated into your calendar.

Under the File tab, choose Options, then hit Calendar, and from here, it’s Add Holidays. Each public holiday is automatically set as an all-day event, and you can have fun customizing each entry with colors and reminders!

Customized Colors

And talking of customization, Outlook allows the user to set pre-defined rules to automatically change specific messages and meetings to the colors you’ve chosen. In practice, this could ensure you quickly spot an email from your boss by having it always appear in bright green or ensure important meetings appear in red.

Try out this feature by clicking on View and then View Settings. Next, select Conditional Formatting (this may appear as Automatic Formatting), and from here, you’ll be able to add some simple rules to colorize and organize your inbox and calendar.

Automatically Add Events to the Calendar

To make your life run even more smoothly, Outlook can automatically add events from your email to your calendar, so you’ll never miss a party, meeting, or parcel delivery again!

Supported events that will be added to your calendar include flight and hotel reservations, package deliveries, bills, dining reservations, doctor’s appointments, and car maintenance visits. To change your settings regarding this function, go into Settings and then choose View All Outlook Settings. From here, select Calendar, and then click on Events From Email.

Clean Up

Keeping your inbox and folders tidy is an important job to stay organized, but it can be a time-consuming task. However, Outlook’s little-known Clean Up button can help! 

You can use this tool to delete lots of messages at once, setting it to leave undeleted only those emails that are unread or have unique information in them – thereby getting rid of all those pesky threads containing duplicated information.

Item Alerts

Finally, this ‘hidden’ Outlook tool means you need never worry about missing an important message or one you’ve been eagerly waiting for. Outlook allows you to set a rule so you’ll receive an alert for an incoming email containing specific details. The alert will pop up over any application you’re working on at the time, meaning you’ll never miss the message.

Hidden Outlook Tools to Try Today!

Microsoft Outlook features a wide range of useful functions that help make life easier in general. However, there are loads more useful tools tucked away that you may not know about that could make your daily life an even smoother ride! Try some of the features listed above today to see how they could benefit you – and why not take the opportunity to explore more of the lesser-known niches of Outlook at the same time?

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