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Blog: Outlook

The other week I encountered a user who wanted a specific Public Folder to display in his "Favorite Folders" windows in the [MAIL] view in Outlook (the one directly above all of the "Mail Folders"). He said he added it previously but now it wasnt updating. I asked him how he created it, and he said "I went to the public folder in the [Folder List] view, copied it, then pasted it into the "Favorite Folders" list in the [Mail] view." So that explained why it wasnt updating (b/c it was a static copy of a public folder). 

To remedy this, I deleted his copied Public Folder, browsed to the public folder in the [Folder List] view, right clicked on the public folder and selected "Add to Favorites". I changed back to [Mail] view and looked at the "Favorite Folders" but it wasnt there. I switched back to [Folder List] view and navigated to [Public Folders >> Favorites] and there it was. I right clicked on the "Favorite" that I had just created and selected the "Add to Favorite Folders"  view, then it was added to the "Favorite Folders" window in the [MAIL] view.  [more]

So in short, "Favorites" and "Favorite Folders" DO NOT mean the same thing. To add a public folder to your "Favorite Folders" view in the [Mail] view in Outlook:

  1. Navigate to the [Folder List] view in Outlook.
  2. Navigate to any public folder, right click, then select "Add to Favorites".
  3. Still in the [Folder List] view, go to [-] Public Folders >> Favorites >> XYZFavorite. Right click on the "Favorite" that you just created, select "Add to Favorite Folders".

  4. Your public folder will now appear in the "Favorite Folders" pane in the [Mail] view of Outlook.

 

General, Outlook, e-mail,
 

Distribution lists in outlook have a size restriction that will not allow you to add more members once a certain limit is reached depending on how big each contact’s information records are.  A work around is to split the distribution list up into multiple groups, or what I did was create a distribution list in AD and allow the user “owner” privileges on it.  After adding members, you can also remove it from being listed in exchange global address book and add the global DL contact to their local contacts list.

General, Outlook,
 

In troubleshooting a very obscure error in Outlook 2003 (0x800…error unknown), I ran across a very helpful tool called the Inbox Repair Tool (scanpst.exe). This tool can be used to find and fix errors in a .pst or .ost file. Scanpst.exe file is found at C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\1033\ on a standard Windows XP and Office installation. One of the less obvious things about .pst and .ost files is that they never reclaim unused space. They just keep growing much like Microsoft Access jet databases. If you want to shrink the size of your .pst or .ost file, you must manually compact it. If you use Office 2k3, go to Tools -> Options -> Email Accounts -> View or Change an Existing Account. Then select your Exchange account and click “Change”. Select “More Settings” and on the “Advanced” tab, there is an “Offline Folder File Settings” button. Click that and choose the “Compact Now” button.

General, Outlook, Office 2003,