Chapter 8: Outlook Notes

It is time to unclutter your monitor and trash those sticky notes. Outlook Notes will give you the confidence to do that. Notes are electronic sticky notes, often referred to as digital notes, and are a version of the traditional sticky notes that we all have that love/hate relationship with. I used to have these sticky notes all over my monitor, on the walls, on my calendars, and just about everywhere that I could put them. I can laugh at myself now to think that I used a sticky note on my calendar to remind me of some details. Is that not what a calendar is for? I finally started using Outlook Notes and got all those physical sticky notes off my desk. Digital notes reside on the right side of my desktop inside Windows.

In this chapter, we're going to cover the following topics:

• Creating a new note
• Organizing notes
• Displaying notes on the desktop
• Sending notes

You can access these notes on your screen while working and use them to jot down text, directions, data lists, phone numbers, information from the web, emails, and more. You may want to consider leaving a note open while working, which will allow you to interact with and even copy and paste information and pictures as needed. You will learn how to not only create, organize, color code, and email these notes to others, but also how to save them inside Outlook as well as on your desktop.

Creating a new note

Let's learn how to create a new note in this section:

1. Click on the Notes object in the bottom section of the navigation pane of Outlook. If you do not see the Notes button on this pane, click on the … button, and in the new selection, click on Notes.

Figure 8.1 – More objects

Instead of selecting Notes, you should set it up on your navigation pane so that the Notes object is easily accessible next time.

2. To do this, select Navigation Options…:

Figure 8.2 – Navigation Options selection

3. In the Navigation Options dialog box, set Maximum number of visible items: .

The maximum number you can set is eight objects, and this includes the More button. I have found that I like displaying six items, and I think having more than six items makes the buttons a little too small for my liking. Also, you can use the Move Up and Move Down buttons after selecting one of the objects to place them in a particular order from left to right on the navigation pane:

Figure 8.3 – Navigation Options dialog box

Once Notes has been selected, the Notes window will open. This resembles a yellow sticky note that you might have sitting on a desk, monitor, mirror, or wherever.

A note, as shown in Figure 8.4, will have these five characteristics, as numbered in the following screenshot:

• Notes menu: Use this menu for Save As, Delete, or Forward functions for any note. You can also use this for Cut, Copy, and Paste operations or for assigning a Category color, or simply for Save and Close operations.
• The move handle or title bar at the top of the note allows you to move the note around on the screen.
• This X is the close button to close the note.
• This is the resize handle that you can click on and drag to resize the note. You may also resize the note on the sides of the note like you would in a window.
• The date and time when you last modified the note will appear in this section at the bottom of the note.

To use this note, simply start typing in it. The first line that is entered in the note will be used as the title of the note, so don't make it too descriptive. Use it like the subject of an email.

Figure 8.4 – Note

There is no versioning for Outlook Notes, and when you close the note, it will automatically be saved. The first line of the note becomes the filename (even if you leave it blank), and to edit the name, simply change this text. You also need to have data in the note window, or the title will not appear until it is entered.

Note

To create a new note, you could also click on New Note in the note window, or a quicker method is to press Ctrl + Shift + N. When you press Ctrl + N, a new item for the app that you are in will open. For example, if you are in an email, you will get a new email window; if you are in the calendar, you will get a new appointment. Adding the Shift key makes it works differently, as this shortcut key is reserved for New Note no matter which app is active. Try it out, it's one of my favorite shortcut keys!

Organizing notes

Hopefully, by now you have taken down all your paper notes and created digital notes in Outlook. Now it's time for us to organize these notes so that we can find what we need quickly. I recommend that you use the first written line of the note to help you organize your notes as well. You could enter the first word as the intended action of the note. Use terms such as To-do, Call, Reminder, and Lunch as possible ideas, and try to stay consistent in your naming, which will help you refer to your notes in your free time. For instance, if you only have 10 minutes, you could look at a note whose first line/word action helped you complete that task in 10 minutes. One example could be the call item, which would allow you to find a note and make a quick call.

There are multiple ways to organize your notes, and the top three ways I suggest are as follows:

• Categories: If you apply a category to your note by right-clicking on the note and selecting Categories, apply a color so you can quickly search by category. All the category colors will be grouped together. Click on the Categories menu in the notes list to group all the same colors together:

Figure 8.5 – Notes list sorted by Categories

• Current View – Icon: In this view, you can click on a note and drag it where you want in the notes window. You can arrange these in whatever order makes sense to you.

Figure 8.6 – Notes Icon view

• Folders: Create a folder in the notes navigation pane. To do this, right-click on the Notes folder and then click on New Folder… when prompted to enter a name for the new folder. You can now drag icons to the desired folder. Use this folder to view those notes that you have placed inside.

Figure 8.7 – Notes folder view

It does not matter which of these or other methods you choose to organize your notes. If you are comfortable with and can remember how to access your notes, it is the best method for you.

Displaying notes on the desktop

If you would like to have notes available to you on the desktop, you can save notes outside of Outlook and open them without opening the main Outlook application:

1. To do this, click Menu | Save As on the Note.

Figure 8.8 – Menu item on note

2. A Windows dialog box will open and allow you to choose a location to save the note. Choose the Desktop folder to display the Notes on the desktop.

Figure 8.9 – Desktop notes

Note

The version and style of Windows you're running will determine how the notes appear on your desktop.

Let us understand another convenient way to get a note on the desktop.

1. Press and hold the Ctrl key while you click on the note and drag it to the desktop. This will create a copy on the desktop without having to get the menu icon on the note.
2. When you open the saved note on your desktop, you can edit and add to the note.
3. When you add to this note, it will not synchronize with the note in Outlook. When you edit the note in Outlook, it will also not synchronize with the note on the desktop. Decide where you want to store this note and use the note from that location.

Now let us understand how to send notes.

Sending notes

Use the Forward button to send a note to someone else through email or another channel:

1. Select the note and click on Home | Forward.

Figure 8.10 – Forward selected note

2. The selected note will be an attachment in a new email.

Figure 8.11 – Forward note email

If the recipient opens the email through an application such as Gmail, it will be opened as a plain text email, but if opened in Outlook it will be treated as a note. This makes sending a quick note to your co-workers in the office very useful.

Summary

The next time you want to jot down a note on a piece of paper, do it on an Outlook note instead. Use notes for anything you would write on paper or for items you need to use again on the computer, such as reminders, ideas, addresses, and directions. Outlook Notes is very convenient for saving information that you may need later. You learned in this chapter not only how to create a note quickly with Ctrl + Shift + N, but also how to organize and send notes through email to recipients. This is a quick and efficient way to get information stored on your computer for use now or later without having to keep track of paper, which risks the loss of the note as it could be thrown away by accident.

In the next chapter, we will discuss creating tasks to help you be proficient in your daily work. You will learn how tasks are stored in Outlook's default folders. You will learn several tips and tricks on how to turn Outlook into a powerful task manager to enhance your daily productivity.

Questions

1. Is there a shortcut key to move to notes?
2. What are the sticky notes that I see on my Windows computer?
3. How do I change the font in my notes?
4. Can I retrieve a deleted note?
5. Can I open the notes folder in a new window?

Answers

1. Ctrl + 5 is the shortcut key combination to open the Notes workspace.
2. Sticky notes appear on Windows computers as well as inside OneNote and the OneNote app. When you add a note inside OneNote – a sticky note on your phone, for example – that note will automatically sync with Outlook. If you turn on the sync feature and select your Microsoft 365 account on the Windows sticky notes, the notes created will also sync with OneDrive.
3. In Outlook 2010 and 2007, you can change the fonts in the notes by clicking File | Options | Notes and Journal. This option was taken away in Outlook 2016 and later versions. The default font in these later versions is 11-point Calibri.
4. You can retrieve a deleted note as long as it still resides in your deleted folder in the navigation pane. Click on the Mail button on the navigation pane, then open the contents of the Deleted Items folder. You will find your deleted notes in this folder as well. To retrieve the note, move it to another folder.
5. To open the Notes folder in a new window, click on the Notes button in the navigation pane to display the notes in the workspace. Right-click on the Notes folder, which displays your email ID located on the navigation pane for the notes, and click Open in New Window.