Microsoft Outlook is a prime example of a Microsoft product that stopped innovating as soon as it began dominating the Enterprise marketshare. Examples of these failings include:
- Their decades-out-of-date Spell Checker
- Their convoluted Hyper-linking process which assumes all links are intended to be linked drive files by default
- Their lack of an "All Unread" filter
- Inconsistent feature parity between desktop client/mobile client/browser clients
- Broken behavior when Rules/Filters combine Client processes and Exchange processes (Move an email into a folder (Exchange) and Mark it as read (Client))
- Inability to Import or create templates for customized Signatures (without doing this work outside of Outlook)
Despite Outlook's hesitancy to evolve, a defining virtue of Microsoft's email client is that it can be customized to adapt to most needs. When properly configured, Outlook can be a more powerful, more intuitive, and easier-to-use client than its competitors.
Here are some hurdles that, once jumped through, make Microsoft Outlook's Desktop Client good for email.
Contents
📬 Unread Mail Folder
💌 Mark as Read Immediately
💌 _Mark as Read when Deleted
🗃️ Change Default Save Attachments Location
📏 Disable Smart Selection
🔗 Create a Hyperlink Button
💙 Reply-To Text Color
Many email clients have an option to view just Unread Mail. This feature is fantastic for users who organize in a nested folder setup and for mobile clients to view just relevant new mail.
Outlook does not have an "Unread Mail" folder by default and even worse, collapsed folders display no indication when they contain unread mail in a subfolder. But not all hope is lost, because you can create one! // TODO: Specify how to use Custom Search Folders to create an Unread Mail folder
By default, messages in Outlook are not marked as Read until you click away from it. This presents a problem where in many circumstances, clicking parts of Outlook's interface won't mark your current mail item as read.
This is especially prevalent when dragging mail items into folders, where the mail is moved, but never marked as Read.
File > Options > Mail > Reading Pane (beside Outlook Panes)
[/] Mark items as read when viewed in the Reading Pane
Wait [0] seconds before marking item as read
By default, messages in Outlook are still marked as unread when deleted. This leads to an annoying unread number next to the Deleted Items menu option.
File > Options > Mail > Mark messages as read when deleted (under Other)
🔗 Mark messages as read or unread
Microsoft applications have a nasty habit of trying to save files into the My Documents folder or in System Directories. In most cases, these are less-than-optimal saving locations, when saving to the Desktop or Downloads folder may be more appropriate. // TODO: Investigate the registry setting that needs to be adjusted in order to set an optimal Save Location :link: How to Change the Folder Where Emails and Attachments are Saved
By default, when selecting parts of your message, Outlook will adjust your selection to select entire words and surrounding whitespace and punctuation. This can be frustrating when you're applying formatting to text and Outlook switches your selection to more than you intended.
This feature has yet to be useful to me, but instead a regular source of frustration. Luckily, it can be turned off.
File > Options > tab to "Mail" > Editor Options > tab to "Advanced"
Uncheck "When selecting, automatically select entire word"
🔗 Stop Selecting Entire Word Option Missing in Outlook
By default, there is no Hyperlink button in Outlook's interface. After selecting the text to link, you must always right-click your selection and then press "Add a Hyperlink"
Although you can't add the hyperlink button in Message > Basic Text (where it absolutely belongs 😡), you can do the next best thing.
The Quick Access Toolbar is a collection of commands pinned to the Outlook interface. It will be located in the Top-Left of the window or immediately underneath the ribbon, which can be moved. By default it has options such as "Save" and "Undo".
You can customize the Quick Access Toolbar by going to:
File > Options > tab to "Quick Access Toolbar"
Then Add "Add a Hyperlink" and click OK
Now instead of right-clicking your selection, you can just click the Globe with link icon.
The default message color is a shade of black, but when replying to messages, it's a shade of Blue instead. Speculation about this is that the blue was introduced when email clients first supported colored text in their RichText email as a gimmick. They suspected that there may still be use in differentiating replies for email chains.
This utility never manifested. The blue does not provide any essential visual cues to members in the chain, it has less-accessible color contrast than black text, and it can be inherited by email signatures or lead to extra time spent formatting for copy/pasted text in replies.
You can customize your Reply-To Text Color at:
File > Options > tab to "Mail" > Stationery and Fonts > Replying or forwarding messages