A storage folder within your mailbox, containing contact records and contact groups.

A block of time you schedule on your calendar that has a defined start time and end time, and to which you do not invite other attendees.

The program window displaying the form in which you enter information about an appointment.

A predefined combination of grouped and sorted messages in table view.

A feature that lets an Outlook user who has an Exchange e-mail account work offline, either by choice or due to a connection problem. A copy of the user's mailbox is stored on his or her computer and is frequently updated from the mail server. Any changes that are made while a connection to the server is not available are synchronized automatically when a connection becomes available.

The program window displaying the form in which you enter information about appointments, meetings, and events.

The center pane that displays content in the Calendar module.

Or client-side rule. A rule that Outlook applies to messages after they arrive on your computer.

See Also server rule

A person inside or outside of a user's organization, about whom the user can save several types of information, such as street and e-mail addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and Web page URLs.

An interactive informational box that appears when you point to the presence icon of a message sender or recipient. The contact card contains contact information as well as options for contacting the person by e-mail, instant message, or telephone; for scheduling a meeting; and for working with the person's contact record. The expanded contact card also contains information about the person's position within the organization and distribution list memberships.

A body of information you collect about a contact and store as an Outlook item.

The program window displaying the form in which you enter information about a contact to create a contact record.

The framework providing the functionality to display and manage address books.

The center pane that displays content in the Contacts module.

In Outlook, a means of organizing and viewing e-mail messages that have the same subject line.

The small calendar displayed in the Navigation Pane or To-Do Bar that provides a quick and easy way of displaying specific dates or ranges of dates in the Calendar pane.

See separated text file

A notification that appears on your desktop when a new e-mail message, meeting request, or task request appears in your Inbox.

On the ribbon, a button in the lower-right corner of a group that opens a dialog box or task pane containing features related to the group.

Data that binds a sender's identity to the information being sent. A digital signature may be bundled with any message, file, or other digitally encoded information, or transmitted separately. Digital signatures are used in public key environments and provide authentication and integrity services.

A group of recipients addressed as a single recipient. Administrators can create distribution lists that are available in the Address Book. Users can create distribution lists and add them to their personal address books.

A SharePoint site that is used for planning, posting, and working together on a document or a set of related documents.

On the Internet and other networks, the highest subdivision of a domain name in a network address, which identifies the type of entity owning the address (for example, .com for commercial users or .edu for educational institutions) or the geographical location of the address (for example, .fr for France or .sg for Singapore).

A temporary copy of a message that has not yet been sent, located in the Drafts folder.

Short for electronic mail. The exchange of electronic text messages and computer file attachments between computers over a communications network, such as a local area network or the Internet.

A message that is sent over a communications network such as a local area network or the Internet.

A computer that stores e-mail messages.

An e-mail message and all responses to that message. When an individual message receives multiple responses, the e-mail trail can branch into multiple trails. You can view all the branches of an e-mail trail in Conversation view.

The process of disguising a message or data in such a way as to hide its substance.

An activity that is not associated with a specific time, or an activity that occurs over a period of more than one day.

The program window displaying the form in which you enter information about an event.

A toolbar that is not attached to the edge of the program window. You can change the shape of some floating toolbars.

Rich, customizable list boxes that can be used to organize items by category, display them in flexible column-based and row-based layouts, and represent them with images and text. Depending on the type of gallery, live preview is also supported.

The address book that contains all user, group, and distribution list e-mail addresses in your organization. The administrator creates and maintains this address book. It may also contain public folder e-mail addresses.

An area of a ribbon tab containing buttons related to a specific document element or function.

In Outlook, an e-mail message format that supports paragraph styles, character styles, and backgrounds. Most e-mail programs support the HTML format.

A protocol used to access Web pages from the Internet.

A policy tool that gives authors control over how recipients use the documents and e-mail messages they send.

The ability to see whether a person is connected to the Internet and to exchange messages. Most exchanges are text-only. However, some services allow attachments.

A popular protocol for receiving e-mail messages. It allows an e-mail client to access and manipulate a remote e-mail file without downloading it to the local computer. It is used mainly by corporate users who want to read their e-mail from a remote location.

Unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE). Also known as spam.

Any combination of keystrokes that can be used to perform a task that would otherwise require a mouse or other pointing device.

A feature that temporarily displays the effect of applying a specific format to the selected document element.

The center pane that displays content in the Mail module.

A message form linked to an Outlook calendar item. Meeting requests are generated by Outlook to manage meeting attendance.

The program window displaying the form in which you enter information to place a meeting on your calendar.

Summary information that you download to your computer to determine whether to download, copy, or delete the entire message from the server. The header includes these fields: Subject, From, Received, Importance, Attachment, and Size.

The program window displaying the form in which you create or respond to an e-mail message.

An address book containing contact records that include mobile phone numbers, which is automatically created if you have an Outlook Mobile Service account.

The column on the left side of the Outlook window that includes panes such as Shortcuts or Mail and the shortcuts or folders within each pane. Click a folder to show the items in the folder.

A copy of an address book that has been downloaded so that an Outlook user can access the information it contains while disconnected from the server. Exchange administrators can choose which address books are made available to users who work offline, and they can also configure the method by which the address books are distributed.

An address book that is automatically created from contacts in the Contacts folder. The contacts can be people inside and outside of your organization. When you update your contacts, the Outlook Address Book is updated as well.

The button located at the right end of the ribbon, labeled with a question mark (?), that provides access to the Outlook Help system.

An e-mail message format that supports paragraph styles, character styles, backgrounds, borders, and shading, but is compatible with only Outlook and Exchange Server. Outlook converts RTF messages to HTML when sending them outside of your Exchange network.

A single-screen dashboard displaying the calendar events and scheduled tasks associated with your default e-mail account for the current day.

Rules associated with a shared resource on a network, such as a file, directory, or printer. Permissions provide authorization to perform operations associated with these objects. Permissions can typically be assigned to groups, global groups, or individual users.

A technique used to trick computer users into revealing personal or financial information. A common online phishing scam starts with an e-mail message that appears to come from a trusted source but actually directs recipients to provide information to a fraudulent Web site.

A Web site that prompts users to update personal information, such as bank accounts and passwords, which might be used for identity theft.

An e-mail message format that does not support character or paragraph formatting. All e-mail programs support Plain Text.

Messages that don't support character or paragraph formatting in the message content.

Files that contain no formatting elements. Plain text files are sometimes referred to as the "lowest common denominator" of files. They can be opened and edited with a variety of common text editor programs, including Microsoft Notepad and Microsoft WordPad, and can be accessed on all operating systems.

To pause the cursor over a button or other area of the display.

A standard method that computers use to send and receive e-mail messages. POP messages are typically held on an e-mail server until you download them to your computer, and then they are deleted from the server. With other e-mail protocols, such as IMAP, e-mail messages are held on the server until you delete them.

A colored icon that indicates the online presence and status of a contact.

A combination of paper and page settings that determines the way items print. Outlook provides built-in print styles, and you can create your own.

A small, customizable toolbar that displays frequently used commands.

A feature introduced in Outlook 2010 with which you can perform up to 13 actions with an e-mail message by invoking one quick step.

Instruct Outlook to delete or replace any unread copies of a message already sent.

An appointment, meeting, event, or task that occurs repeatedly on a specific schedule. For example, a weekly status meeting or a monthly haircut, can be designated as recurring. You can specify an appointment, meeting, or event as recurring, and specify the frequency of recurrence. Outlook then creates a series of items based on your specifications.

A message that appears at a specified interval before an appointment, meeting, or task that announces when the activity is set to occur. Reminders appear any time Outlook is running, even if it isn't your active program.

Create a new version of an original message with none of the extra information that might be attached to a forwarded message.

The process of matching a user name to the information on a network server, resulting in the user name being replaced by a display name and the name underlined.

A user interface design that organizes commands into logical groups, which appear on separate tabs.

See Outlook Rich Text Format (RTF)

Sets of criteria defining specific actions that Outlook takes when the criteria are fulfilled.

A note that appears on the screen to provide information about a toolbar button, tracked change, or comment, or to display a footnote or endnote. ScreenTips also display the text that will appear if you choose to insert a date or AutoText entry.

A protocol that supports secure mail features such as digital signatures and message encryption.

A file containing unformatted text organized into fields and records. Records are separated by carriage returns; fields are separated by a specific character such as a comma, tab, colon, or semicolon. Separated text files may have the file name extension .txt or .csv.

Or server-side rule. A rule that Exchange applies when receiving or processing a message, before delivering it.

See Also client rule

Attachment saved on a SharePoint document workspace Web site, where a group can collaborate to work on files and discuss a project.

A menu that shows a list of commands relevant to a particular item. Sometime referred to as a context menu.

Unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE). Also known as junk e-mail.

A line of information related to the current program. The status bar is usually located at the bottom of a window. Not all windows have a status bar.

A tabbed page on the ribbon that contains buttons organized in groups.

The person who creates a task, specifically when assigning the task to someone else.

The person to whom a task is currently assigned. After a task has been assigned, the task originator can no longer update the information in the task window.

The program window displaying the form in which you enter information to create or manage a task.

An arrangement of the Tasks module, displaying a list of tasks associated with a specific e-mail account in the Tasks pane.

See Also To-Do List

The center pane that displays content in the Tasks module.

A software program created by one company (the "third party") that extends the capabilities of a larger program created by another company.

In e-mail and Internet newsgroup conversations, a series of messages and replies that are all related to a specific topic.

The horizontal bar at the top of a window that contains the name of the window. On many windows, the title bar also contains the program icon, the Maximize, Minimize, and Close buttons, and the optional ? button for context-sensitive Help.

The pane at the right side of the program window that displays the date navigator, upcoming appointments, and a task list.

The area at the bottom of the To-Do Bar that displays an interactive view of the tasks associated with your default e-mail account.

The default arrangement of the Tasks module, displaying a list of tasks and flagged messages for your default e-mail account in the Tasks pane.

See Also Tasks List

An address that uniquely identifies a location on the Internet. A URL is usually preceded by http://, as in http://www.microsoft.com. A URL can contain more detail, such as the name of a page of hypertext, often with the file name extension .html or .htm.

A toolbar located near the right end of the status bar that displays buttons for switching between views of the current module.

Different ways in which Outlook items can be arranged in the Outlook module window.

The extension of a private network that encompasses encapsulated, encrypted, and authenticated links across shared or public networks. VPN connections typically provide remote access and router-to-router connections to private networks over the Internet.

A small, nearly undetectable graphic that links to a Web page and is embedded in a document for use as an eavesdropping device.

The days and times you define within Outlook as available for work-related activities.