Outlook 2007 Menus, Hyperlinks and Keyboard Features - Tips and Tricks for Working More Efficiently

Change Menu Behavior

If you upgraded from Office 2003, you may see only a part of a selected menu, which expands after a short delay or selecting the arrows at the bottom of the menu. The settings from Outlook 2003 carry forward to Office 2007 upgrades. Office 2007 returns to full menus – no more wait for the menu to expand.

Do you prefer menus the 2003 way or the 2007 way? To switch between menu styles, select Customize from the Tools menu. Select the Options tab and check or uncheck the boxes based on your preference.

You can also do the following in the Options tab:

• Change the icon size from large to small and back.
• Show font names using their style.
• Turn on and off screen tips.
• Turn on and off shortcut keys in screen tips.
• Modify how menu animation appears when opening a menu.

ScreenTips, also referred to as tooltips, show a small textbox when the mouse pointer hovers an icon, command, button or other interface element. The textbox displays the item’s name or description.

Use Hyperlinks with Buttons and Commands

You can use a hyperlink to replace a button or command. To use a hyperlink, you don’t have to change the behavior of an existing button or command. Instead, create a new one and associate the hyperlink with it. For example, you can create a command for creating a new email message with some of its information filled in. The following steps create a new command with a hyperlink that opens an already existing Outlook template:

1. Select Customize from the Tools menu.
2. Select Tools from the Categories list and scroll down to Customize.
3. Drag Customize to a toolbar.
4. Right-click Customize with the Customize window still open and enter a new name into the Name box.
5. Right-click Customize again, select Assign Hyperlink and Open the Assign Hyperlink window.
6. Browse to Office Templates, which is typically located in the directory: C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Locall\Microsoft\Templates.
7. Select the template to associate with the command.
8. Click OK.
9. Click Close on the Customize window.

Click Template or whatever you named the new button. You may get a Microsoft Office Outlook Security Notice. If so, click Yes and Open. The new e-mail message appears along with any content included in the template. Hyperlinks can also link to Web sites and documents.

Use Keyboard Shortcuts and Keyboard Accessible

Many users rely on Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V for copy and paste since it’s faster than selecting the menu and then the command. See a list of keyboard shortcuts in the Help by selecting “Accessibility” and “Keyboard shortcuts for Outlook” or do a search for “keyboard shortcuts”.

Access commands that have an underline beneath a letter by pressing Alt+[underlined letter]. Open menus show the keyboard short cuts next to the commands. Also from within an open menu, you can press the down and up arrow keys to move around the menu. Use the right arrow key to navigate over to a menu with a submenu as identified with an arrow pointing right, like “Follow Up” under Actions. With Follow Up selected, press the right arrow key to see its submenu.

Users can use the keyboard instead of the mouse to accomplish tasks tagged with “(keyboard accessible).”

This post is part of the series: Outlook 2007 and Microsoft 2007 Toolbars

Use, manage, create and change toolbars to suit your needs.

1. Use Quick Access and Advanced Toolbars in Microsoft Office
2. Create and Change Toolbars in Outlook 2007
3. Adding Buttons and Commands in Outlook 2007
4. Menu, Hyperlinks, and Keyboard Tips for Outlook 2007