Outlook Overview
Outlook is the email client we use within our organization. There are three versions of outlook, a desktop application, a web application and a mobile application. This article will give an overview on how to use all versions of outlook, and troubleshoot various issues.
Desktop Application
The desktop application is most commonly used in Epitec. The Mac and Windows versions are extremely similar.
If it’s your first time logging into outlook on a device, you should be met with a welcome screen. Enter your email and Microsoft password, then login
The ribbon at the top of your screen from the home screen is very powerful. This ribbon allows you to customize how outlook appears, report messages, send emails. Most of the functionality Outlook offers can be found searching through here.
Looking a bit lower, you can select to view different emails, switch what folder you’re looking in and access your calendar. We’ll come back to the calendar later.
To create an email, select the ‘New email’ option at the top left corner of the mail section
You can select who you want the email sent to, and who else should receive a copy of the email
If you want to get someone's attention with an email type @ their name. It will highlight their name and make the email stand out in their inbox.
If you want your appointments to show up on the right side of your outlook client, from the top ribbon select ‘View’. From here you can select ‘To do bar’ and select ‘Calendar’. This is a very basic customization and there’s tons you can customize about your view.
Managing your Calendar:
To open your calendar, select the calendar icon in the bottom left corner of the screenFrom the top ribbon here you can create meetings, teams meetings, add other users calendars and change how the calendar appears
It’s possible to setup appointments that happen weekly, monthly etc. If you need to cancel an appointment you can double click it on your calendar. This will ask you if you want to modify just that appointment or the entire series you’ve created
If you need to just cancel one appointment you can select ‘Just this one’ and delete the appointment. If you were trying to change what day a certain appointment happens, you could open the entire series and modify what day you want it to occur
Common issue: Someone's outlook appears strange.
Many times Outlook changes default settings for no reason. We’re not sure why. Sometimes messages don’t have a preview or spacing is too close. Always check the settings in view. ‘Tighter spacing’, ‘Folder pane’, ‘Reading pane’ and ‘To do bar’ are very common settings to randomly chance and cause issues with how outlook appears.Common issue: Outlook crashing or is slow
This tip can be used for most general Outlook issues.
Go to the Start menu and enter ‘outlook.exe /safe'. This will launch Outlook in Safe mode, which can resolve various issues.Focused inbox. Outlook starts you with the focused inbox option enabled. With this feature enabled Outlook will only show you emails it determines are important. All other emails will be placed in the ‘Other’ inbox. I suggest turning this feature off in the ‘View’ tab.
Select ‘View’>'Show focused inbox'. Instead you’ll have two tabs, one for all emails and one tab for email’s you haven’t read.
Web Application
The web application is not as commonly used in Epitec. It has most of the same features as the desktop client, and extra features you can only find from the web version. These extra features can actually be used to troubleshoot various issues.
The web version of outlook can be found by googling ‘Outlook’ or following this link
Outlook – free personal email and calendar from Microsoft (live.com)
You can sign in by clicking ‘Sign in’ in the top right corner of the screen.Accessing mail rules that can only be accessed from the web version of Outlook
From the web version of outlook you can access mail rules that you can’t normally see from the desktop app. Click the gear icon in the top right corner then select ‘View all settings’From here you can go to Mail>Rules
There have been a couple times when an email was blocked for one user, but wasn’t blocked for anyone else. Running a message trace we determined the issue was a mail rule. The rule blocking the sender could only be found here and took some time to figure out.
From the web version of Outlook you can basically do everything you do with the desktop client. Some of the areas to change settings have been scattered around but all in all it’s essentially the same program.
Troubleshooting issues with the web version of outlook: Most issues tend to be browser side issues. Typically some corrupted cookie or cached data. Have the user clear their cache and cookies for all time. If they still have issues have them attempt a different browser.
If both browsers have issues it could be a network error or an account error. Have them attempt a different network and if that doesn’t work contact Microsoft.
Mobile Application
The mobile application for Outlook is used more commonly that the web version. It can help users check in on work when they don’t have a reliable way to access their computer.
Outlook mobile can be used very similarly to the desktop and web versions. It has most of the same features and some extra features. Once logged in you can click to read emails.
You can also plug in headphones. This will bring up a prompt to listen to your emails
Outlook will read you your emails, which can be helpful in certain situations.
Using Siri or Cortana: To use a virtual assistant with Play My Emails, say "Hey Cortana/Siri" and then say the following actions: Skip, Flag, Archive, Delete
Personalize Play My Emails
Select Account > Play My Emails. From here, you can:Customize swipe options
Keep emails as unread
Choose Cortana's voice
Ask Siri to Play My Emails
Troubleshooting issues with the mobile version of Outlook
To start have the user reset their device. Sometimes having a mobile device run too long without a reset can cause strange issues
If that doesn’t work clear all cached data for the application. depending on whether you’re using Android or Apple the process will be slightly different. Simply google ‘Clear cached data for outlook IOS/Android’ and follow instructions
If clearing the cached data doesn’t work try uninstalling and re-installing the application.
It could also be a network error. Have the user attempt using a different Wi-Fi network
Past that you can have the user try a different mobile device. This will determine if it’s a device issue (possible factory reset) or an account issue of some sort (contact Microsoft)